I recently purchased the MidiLand s4-7100,
5 speakers and sub. I've seen the SB Live! card recommended, however, judging from the description it supports 4 speakers and sub. Is there anything of similar quality that supports 5.1? Any info would be great appreciated. Thanks!

Self Destruct,

I'm no pro, but what you can do is use the digital out (SB live has this) and input the digital bitstream into a receiver that supports 5.1, and i'm guessing you should have 6 channels. or I can be totally wrong!

I am pretty sure the SB Live supports 5.1 surround otherwise there would be no point to this speaker package. The Cambridge Soundworks PC speaker line is supposed to primarily compliment the Creative Labs cards (They are part of the same company) and this one is obviously 5.1. I have the SB Live card but I only have stereo speakers right now even though I have a DVD Rom drive as I also have a stand alone player as part of my HT setup. Therefore I have no personal experience with this setup.
www.hifi.com/consumer/hifi/default.asp

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Self-Destruct,
I'd recommend the Diamond Monster Sound MX400. It has a standard coaxial S/PDIF connector (I could be wrong, but I believe the SB Live MP3+ does not) which you can combine with an external Dolby Digital decoder and surround sound speaker system for full 6 speaker/5.1 channel support. I should know: I'm using it myself! My previous card was a SB Live, and the difference in the sound is plain to me (although acoustics is a very subjective thing), both for the computer speakers and stereo ones. Worth a try....

The Soundblaster Live Platinum (which comes with the "live drive") has 2 s/pdif digital outs. To get 5.1 simply connect the "Digital out" on the sound card with the "Digital in" on the speakers. There should be a digital input on your speaker set since it is a 5.1 set

If you want a SB Live! Platinum I have a brand new one for sell, e-mail if interested.

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"...that gum you like is going to come back in style"

Better yet just pick up an OEM sblive value with digital out. Should be no more than 50 bucks. Platinum is a tad overkill for your needs.

WRT the Sound Blaster Live Value model, which is the digital coax output. Their are 5 input/output connections on mine. I know one is for a microphone and one is for the speakers or headphones. What are the other three for and which is the digital out. By the way I have a DELL desktop with an OEM SB Live Value. http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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MY SHORT BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST

"The earth does not belong to people; people belong to the earth. Everything that happens to the earth happens also to the sons and daughters of the earth." -Chief Seattle.