[Cloud]

So I just got the new MBP and was wondering whats the best option for hooking it up to a 5.1 surround sound system. i plan on getting a 24" dell monitor that has hdmi, dvi-d, composite etc to hook up to my xbox + mbp.

but since the mbp only has audio out, is there anyway to upconvert it to 5.1? i plan on getting these logitech speakers to use them with. http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/sp...4&cl=ca,en

if not these I'll just get the Bose Companion 3 speakers instead... same price... but i would really like to use the 5.1 system for gaming + movies.

thanks

[ibook_steve]

If your surround system has optical in, use an optical cable to connect the sound out port of your MBP to it. If you don't have optical, you'd probably have to find a USB solution which I'm sure exists and others here can point you in the right direction.

Steve

[P]

ibook_steve is correct, although it is worth noting that 5.1 audio over optical only works for movies. Games on the Mac (and most PCs) will not get 5.1 audio that way, although it works on the Xbox. The reason is fairly convoluted, so I won't bother with it unless you're really interested.

Upconverting stereo sound to 5.1 is done using a special algorithm, of which there are two: Dolby Pro Logic II and Neo:6. The former is far more common. It works very well for music and is a nice boost for movies as well, but it's not a patch on real 5.1 audio.

The Logitech set you linked to supports both regular 5.1 decoding from optical and Dolby Pro Logic II, so it seems to suit your needs. You will run out of inputs, however - only one optical in - so you will either need to pull plugs and switch around or get a manual switch.

[kylef]

There is a Logitech ExpressCard X-Fi card, might be worth a look if that is relevant.