SBLive 5.1: difference from regular SBLive?

[JackKane]

Hi all!
My question is this:
What does SBLive 5.1 have that is different from regular SBLive? Does the card actually have a Dolby Digital decoder, or the like? Can a DVD decoder be hooked up to it and the incoming PCM (or AC-3) stream willbe properly decoded? With that said, can any pair of speakers be hooked up to the card?

The reason I am asking it this way is that it seems that if you have a Desktop Theater system with a built-in decoder, there is no need to have SBLive 5.1, since the regular SBLive will supply the same signals to the speaker set. Maybe an exception is a DVD decoder, as SBLive may not do pass-through. I originally thought that you can hook up plain speakers to your SBLive 5.1, front and back, and get something close to a 4.1 setup.

Please, if I am too confusing let me know.

Thanks!

[qball]

These may help.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/014994.html

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/014939.html

[JackKane]

Thanx, qball!
So, basically, the major difference is the extra support for the center speaker... Interesting marketing for their speaker systems http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

I just got done looking at the hook-up diagram for SBLive 5.1 - it actually has 3 pairs of analog outputs, for all 6 speakers! Helps to pay attention, I guess.

[This message has been edited by JackKane (edited 08-04-2001).]

[This message has been edited by JackKane (edited 08-06-2001).]