Many customers seem to get confused when trying to obtain 5.1 speaker output
from the Riviera card connected to a home theater receiver/speaker system with
Dolby Digital decoder. The question is usually:
"Why it is necessary to put the Riviera into 2-Speaker mode
to use its S/PDIF Out, when what I want is 6-Speaker playback?"
In order to answer this question, it's necessary to explain how 5.1 surround
playback will work when playing a DVD in a PC directly into a 5.1 speaker
setup, as opposed to how surround playback works when playing a DVD in a PC
connected to an external home theater system with built-in Dolby Digital
decoder.
SETUP 1) DVD playback from PC connected directly to 5.1 speaker system
(using ANALOG inputs):
- In this setup the DVD movie disc is played in the PC's DVD drive, using a
software DVD player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD.
- The software DVD player decodes the Dolby Digital sound data, and sends
the 6 separate audio channels to the six channels (outputs) of the
Riviera. The DVD software will need to be set to play back 5.1 audio, the
Riviera will need to be set to 6-Speaker mode, and a 6-Speaker setup will
need to plugged into the multiple ANALOG outputs of the Riviera card:
(GREEN = Front L/R, BLACK = Surround L/R, BLUE = Center/Subwoofer).
SETUP 2) DVD playback from PC connected thru S/PDIF Out to Digital In of Dolby
Digital decoder (DIGITAL input):
- In this setup the DVD movie disc is played in the PC's DVD drive, using a
software DVD player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD, but the software DOES NOT
decode the Dolby Digital audio data.
- This time, the Dolby Digital data is sent out through the Riviera's S/PDIF
Out, unaltered. This is called "Dolby Digital Pass-Thru."
- In order to use the Riviera S/PDIF Out, the Riviera Mixer must be set to
2-Speaker mode, with the S/PDIF Playback option enabled. Also, the
software DVD player must be set to send digital audio data through the
S/PDIF Out.
- The Riviera S/PDIF Out is connected to the Digital Input of a home theater
receiver or surround speaker setup that includes a *hardware Dolby Digital
decoder*. Neither the DVD software player nor the Riviera decode the Dolby
Digital (DD) data.
- The DD data is received at the Digital Input of the home theater receiver
or surround speaker setup. The DD data is decoded by the home theater
receiver or surround speaker's DD decoder, and the audio is sent through
6 separate amplifiers to 6 separate speakers.
SETUP 3) DVD player to Home Theater Reciever - the simplest way to play back a
DVD movie with surround sound:
- Play the DVD in a set-top DVD player.
- The DVD player's Digital Out should be connected to the Digital Input of a
home theater receiver with a built-in Dolby Digital decoder.
- The DD data is received at the Digital Input of the home theater receiver
or surround speaker setup. The DD data is decoded by the home theater
receiver's DD decoder, and the audio is sent through the receiver's 6
separate amplifiers to 6 separate speakers (Front L, Front R, Surround L,
Surround R, Center, Sub).
- As you can see, this setup does not involve a PC (or a Mac, for that
matter...)
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