So simple(ish) question, I have a laptop with a generic onboard soundcard (listed as VIA HD Audio) and I have a 7.1 surround sound usb headset.
My understanding was the soundcard had to output all the relevant channels for the headset to consume and output correctly. However I assume my default onboard sound card only has 2 channels. I am aware that some USB connection have some primitive sound card-esque chip in there which piggybacks off the CPU to do some magic with the audio, but I was wondering if in this setup am I actually getting 7.1 audio, or is the USB chip or Soundcard merely emulating it somehow? and if so how (at a high level, does it achieve this as it would imply that there is 0 point getting a better/external usb soundcard).
A scenario would be, I play a game which outputs audio in 5.1 with my USB headset plugged in and all audio settings are as high as are allowable.