Here are the components that I have:
1) A laptop (as the main computer).
2) 7.1 Surround Speakers: Creative Inspire T7700 Speakers - Newegg.com
3) A musical instrument as a 'line in' device.
Ideally, I would love to have a 7.1 surround sound setup which would allow me to play video games or watch movies on 7.1 surround, HOWEVER, I would want this setup to be intelligent enough to 'upmix' sound that is stereo and play it through all 7 of my speakers. I also want the 'line in' to play through all my speakers.
In my old computer, I had the creative audigy 2 ZS and that did everything I wanted to do:
1) Play 7.1 surround
2a) Play stereo sound through all my speakers (i.e., CMSS functionality)
2b) Also play 'line in' through all 7 of my speakers.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a 7.1 solution like that which is USB based that I can use this with my laptop (microsoft surface pro). I have tried a few that are on the market and I will list their cons:
1) Audigy 2 NX: does not allow 'line in' to play through all 7 speakers.
2) ASUS Xonar U7: has too much 'line in' latency to allow playing a musical instrument.
3) Startech 7.1 USB: does not allow 'line in' to play through all 7 speakers.
So really, I don't think I have many options to support my requirements. Can you guys think of anything?
The only thing I can think of is to use Creative Xi-Fi 5.1 USB and just connect my 'side' speakers to my rear speakers and just make it a 5.1 surround setup instead. This way I will be able to get creative's upmixing capability for both my stereo sound and also my line in sound.
Any thoughts and advice on my long post? Thanks.
