My current TV card is a leadtek tv 2000 xp (series 1). To get sound, I need to connect a cable from it's Audio-Out port to the motherboard's Audio-In port.

I just got 5.1 speakers (6 channels), and it requires all 3 ports of my motherboard. That means I lose my microphone and tv audio.

How can I remedy this? I was thinking about buying a sound card like Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 PCI Sound Card -RETAIL .

Would this work? IE: let me connect all 3 speaker cables, the tv cable, and microphone at the same time? Or do certain ports get disabled/adjusted on it when you select 5.1 mode?

2nd option - Are there any new tv cards that don't require me to use audio cables? Is this a viable solution to getting a sound card? If so, how would I go about connecting the microphone?

(This is my first attempt at going past a 2-speaker system with on-board audio)

Also, I noticed for sound cards, they have various features, like 16 bit audio versus 24 bit...what should I look for? Or can I go get something cheaper?

Hauppauge pvr 350 requires no sound cable jump. 24 bit audio cards are overkill unless you have digital speakers, IMHO.

The Golden Age of Love Thy Neighbor

I think you are getting a little bit confused. It sounds like you your motherboards onboard soundcard does not support 5.1 audio. If it did you should have at least 5 ports. The three you have are probably coloured pink, blue and green. The pink is for mic, blue is line-in and green is audio out. You can't get audio out of the blue and pink.

So to get your new 5.1 speakers to work, you will need a new 5.1 sound card like the SB Live you mentioned above, or you could go for an SB Audigy. This will also allow you to plug in your tv card and mic.

So you need a new sound card, not a tv card, but you can get a tv card if you want.

:)

Onboard 5.1 audio uses the three ports as OUT when selected. Unless an S bracket is available, for digital output, qbone is stuck using those three ports. Analog.

The Golden Age of Love Thy Neighbor