Need soundcard for 5.1 Surround mixing

Can anyone recommend a sound card for mixing 5.1 surround?  And while you're at it, can you recommend a speaker system that would be compatible with that particular sound card?

I'm using Sonar Pro 8 and running Windows XP Pro.

Thanks!

Thanks for you reply.  Surround is very new to me and I know nothing about getting it going.

I searched for the Audigy 2 ZS card.  Is it only a notebook card?  I'm sorry, but I'm on a desktop system.  I should have made that clear up front.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

I'm currently using an Echo Mia soundcard and a pair of Mackie HR824 monitors.

I'm thinking I need a new set of matched speakers for a surround setup.  Do they need to be powered?

Thanks.

Get three more HR824s and a subwoofer, and you need some sort of bass manager to integrate the subwoofer with the mains (some subwoofers have this built in).

You need a soundcard with six analog outputs (if you want to continue with Echo products, the Audiofire 8 looks like the cheapest alternative). Decoding, etc. have nothing to do with your needs - you need an audio interface with six outs.

Sonar is the surround decoder for your project and then you would play the exported wave file on a home theater system.  SB cards will do decoding if you want to hear the wave file on 5.1 on your computer, tho.  the soundcards like the audiofire with 6 outputs may or may not have surround decoding for 5.1 systems, you'd have to check with each one.

sonar (not sonar home studio or music creator) DOES encode for surround.  it's the playback that nokey was talking about.  if you create a wave file with 5.1 surround in sonar, you have to have a soundcard that will decode it or it will just sound like stereo.

SB cards will decode surround, but other cards like the audiofire might or might not, you'd have to check on their website to be sure.

home theater systems should decode surround - as long as they say they will play 5.1 or higher then that means they will decode them.

I might be a few months behind on this thread but wanted to add a few things.... 1 is a simple box that separates up to 7.1 surround... I got it for $25 including shipping:

http://www.google.com/pro...mp;ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p

This will allow you to separate each channel if you are using a self powered speaker system or a system using a mixer/amps.

The cheapest and not the best quality solution is to simply get a SPDF output card for your computer such as this for $15:

http://www.meritline.com/...243.aspx?source=fghdac

And then buying a home theater system from Wal-Mart and come out of your computer via the SPDF and into your home theater system with it... it will decode the data and give you a 5.1 mix.

I would recommend using the 1st option as you can always "Tune" your seperate compnents to THX standards using RTA software/hardware an RTA microphone and an SPL meter.... I have made ther crappiest soudning system sound pretty damn good with processing alone... so your options are unlimited.. it just depends on what your needs are and what budget you're looking at.

I design systems if you need assistance I would be happy to consult.

I read above someone stated for music the LFE (or Sub Woofer channel) is really used, but it is.. for certain tracks though such as Kick, Bass, Some percussion like low toms.... What is ever being discussed is using more than just voice in the Center and/or using voice in the L and R.... but again that depends on what you want to do... music is generally not used in the center channel and voice is not generally used in L and R but it is your palette and your free to paint however you want.