do I need ASIO compliant sound card to output 5.1?

Hi all, I have recently bought surcode to edit in 5.1 and thought the best way to monitor this while editing would be with a 5.1 headset or speaker system.

I checked my motherboard had the relevant ports (the black, pink, green, yellow etc 3.5mm audio ports) and when I saw it did I thought perfect, it'll work.

The speakers work very well when playing a 5.1 video in media player, but I cannot enable 5.1 within premiere. The only speaker configuration option seems to be stereo, is this because despite having the sockets my PC doesn't have the right software to be able to do the job properly?

If so do I need to buy a sound card and if so would a cheap one like this do the trick

I'm working my way through this issue as well. Some of what I'm using to make some headway:

Specify ASIO device settings (Windows only)
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/premierepro/cs/using/WSAC4A12C8-C7AD-4e6d-AE53-...

Surround sound ASIO fixed
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2339269

Let me know if this helps; we can compare notes.

I think I got my issues fixed, but had to run to work before final configuration and tests

Finally, I recommend you read this post. It helped me understand how to set up the 5.1 surround in Premiere Pro better. A lot of things to line up, huh?

Want to learn how to do Dolby 5.1 without paying for Surcode?
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/921599

Key points as I understand them:

1. Your "Master" audio has to be set to 5.1 (You can't change a sequence after the fact, so create a new Sequence and under the "Tracks" tab, make sure the master is 5.1)

2. Your source tracks can be stereo, but once you assign the output of that track to the 5.1 Master Mix (or a Submx that is 5.1), you can use the puck control to position the audio within the sound space of the 5.1 (L Front, R Front, L Rear, R Rear, Center, Sub).

As I read, I am recognizing I may have some research to do and challenges ensuring the exported file or created DVD plays the 5.1 surround sound. I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it {sigh}. But, I am doing it with a very short test project ... not trying to tackle the learning of this within my 1 hr 50 min movie.

Again ... I hope that helps!