I recently got an ONKYO HT-S790 system and i want to connect it to my laptop to play/mix music.
I only have a headphone output on my laptop so I guess that is the only way to connect it to the Onkyo system. What is the best way to do this? what kind of cables?
If I get a sound card (like the Audigy 2 ZS for notebooks) this will also have a headphone output. will it be better to do it this way?
If so... what is the best way to connect my Audigy 2 ZS to my Onkyo system? What kind of cables?
You will need a sound card that has line level outputs. I believe that one has analog outputs which will enable you to connect to an external amp wihtout having to use headphone outputs.
This Audigy sound card does have analog outputs for 7.1. and also an optical output (mini toslink).
My question is very simple. Will the sound quality improve by using the sound card between my laptop and the Home theater? Isn't the home theater system a lot better than the sound card? I mean if the output go through my laptop out straight to the home theater system tis will clean the signal. Isn't this the same thing done by the sound card? Will it help to do it twice? or maybe I do not understand how this works.
If the answer is yes, the soundcard plus the home theater will give me better sound. Is the mini toslink better than the analog standard 1/8" jack; the home theater system has an optical input too.
The improvement in sound is dependent on a lot of things. If you are using compressed audio, there won't be much improvement.
A toslink will provide the most convenient link from your laptop to your HT and I suggest you use it.
There is no signal cleaning done at any stage, and there is no redundancy so don't worry too much about that. Get the toslink and connect them together and you should be good to go.
