Can I use an external sound card instead of an AV Receiver?

Ethereal Cereal

Hi

I'm currently setting up a projector. I have the Optoma HD27HDR projector.
I have a set of Z607 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System but no AV reciever.

If I am using a laptop as the source, can I use one of these (cheaper) external sound cards instead of an AV receiver?

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/pcs/sound-cards/50423/creative-sound-blaster-x-fi-51-pro-review

thanks!

The Ritz

Short answer is yes, longer answer is you need to check that the output of the soundcard will work with your powered speakers, and be aware that getting software players and soundcards to play ball can be tricky, when it all works straightforwardly it's grand, when they don't it's a pain to troubleshoot. Just a heads up, the one you linked to has certain limitations:

The output bit- and sample-rate is 24-bit/96kHZ on the stereo phono outputs, but only 16-bit/48kHZ on the other surround channels. Our surround sound test movies and games still sounded good, with plenty of detail and clarity, but the sample rate limitation means that you can't listen to a 96kHz DVD audio track at full quality on all channels.

.......this may have no impact for you but its worth making sure everything will work the way you expect it to.


Cheers,

Ritz.