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Thread: Output from PC

  1. #11
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    Feb 2006
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    Just from what I've read:
    Since you have Dolby Digital Live Encoding on your chipset, then you can just use the digital out on your mobo to the receiver. Not sure what the settings would be, but all your surround can be encoded to DD5.1 and output digital. (ie. it's all good)

    Quite fortunate really, because later nvidia chipsets lost the DD encoding

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    I used that exact motherboard (A7N8X Deluxe) in my HTPC before I upgraded late last year. The sound quality is very good, and you have the Dolby Digital encoding feature already. I wish I could have used SoundStorm in my current setup, but I upgraded to an Intel box. I had an extra Audigy 2 lying around, so that's where it went. It was not my first choice, but it does the job.

    I have the Creative X-Fi Platinum sound card in my main PC, and I can honestly say the quality is greatly improved over the Audigy 2. Worth every penny. If you game with headphones at all, I would strongly suggest buying the X-Fi immediately! I have never heard better 3D positioning through headphones than with this card. I used to game exclusively with a 5.1 Klipsch ProMedia system, using expensive Sennheiser HD-595 headphones only for music. I hated losing the 5.1 experience when gaming. Once I got this card things have changed, and I now game almost exclusively with headphones! Keeps the wife happier and the volume where I like it .. I feel more immersed in the game with headphones and the X-Fi card than I do with a dedicated 5.1 setup.

    Sorry if you are still confused. Only you can decide what fits your situation the best. If money is an issue, I would use the nForce2 sound for now and get the X-Fi with your next upgrade. By then it will be cheaper and you can still have great sound now.

    You can't go wrong with the X-Fi either. It doesn't have Dolby Digital Live, but if you are running stereo it won't matter.

    BTW, you have already made the best decision with the 170SE's .. they are great speakers!

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    Hmm....so you're saying I should use my Soundstorm over the Audigy 2, swank?
    How does the quality compare between the two?

    At this point it seems like I would eventually like to get an X-Fi, but I'm a slight bit confused as to what exactly I'll lose in terms of future expandability with the loss of the DDL encoding. In the future I might get more speakers so that I'll have a 5.1 system, and in that case I think I would still be relying on having a 5.1 source (eg, a DVD with it) to get the full use of my system because of the Platinum's functionality being limited to a passthrough.

    To sum things up, for the time being, should I use the DDL on my soundstorm exclusively, and hook the headphones up to the reciever whenever I need them? Would this (because of the DDL being there) allow me to listen to everything in 5.1 Dolby in the case that I get more speakers later on down the road?

    Or should I stick with the digital out on the Audigy 2, buy a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, and input to the reciever through that?

    I have also heard that I can use a standard 3.5mm Stereo > L/R RCA splitter, and just plug in my RCA cable to the mono(white or left) channel on the splitter and the Digital Coax input on my reciever?

    Once again, tremendous thanks for everyone's help and input. I greatly appreciate it

    p.s. one last thing, since I'm using the 170SEs without a sub, I should set the reciever settings to Large speakers and no sub, correct? Is there anything else I should do on that aside from fiddling with the eq and selecting the correct input? I have a Panasonic XR55

  4. #14
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    Dec 2005
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    Firingsquad wrote a very in-depth comparison between the Audigy 2 and SoundStorm. They even used the A7N8X.

    http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...e2/default.asp

    When comparing digital outputs, the nForce2 rolled off the bass significantly. You can likely compensate for this with your receiver, but it's definitely not as good as the Audigy2. The Audigy 2 card also supports 24bit/96khz digital output, where SoundStorm does not.

    I liked SoundStorm solely for the Dolby Interactive Content Encoding since I game quite a bit in my home theater. Since I lost DICE, I am using an H/K AVR-635 connected to my Audigy2 through the preamp inputs and digitally (minijack to RCA), so I can switch to the analog connection for gaming and DVD audio.

    I would say stick with the Audigy2 digital out until you get a 5.1 system, then either use SoundStorm or upgrade to a DDL card. Since your receiver doesn't have preamp inputs, an X-Fi card would not be a good idea for future expandability.

  5. #15
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    Jan 2006
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    What do you mean by Preamp inputs? Is that another term for 3.5mm jacks, like the signal coming out of the soundcard is unamplified?

  6. #16
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    Dec 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by Siba
    What do you mean by Preamp inputs? Is that another term for 3.5mm jacks, like the signal coming out of the soundcard is unamplified?
    A receiver with preamp inputs has line level (usually RCA, not 3.5mm) inputs for each speaker. For example, on my 7.1 H/K AVR-635 I have 8 RCA inputs on the back of the receiver, one for each channel. If I choose, I can tell the receiver to use these 8 RCA inputs, basically bypassing all the processing the receiver does and only using the amp portion.

    See the left side in about the middle:
    http://manuals.harman.com/HK/QuickSt...5RearPanel.pdf

    This allows a full surround analog connection to my Audigy 2 using cables like these:

    http://www.soundblaster.com/products...&product=14309

    Since your receiver doesn't feature preamp inputs, you wouldn't be able to get full surround sound with an analog connection, only stereo or prologic.

  7. #17
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    Jan 2006
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    Setup now with Digital 3.5mm output going to a 3.5mm to L/R RCA splitter, white plug going into the digital input on the reciever via Digital Coax

    Thanks for all your help

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    Syracuse, New York
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    Quote Originally Posted by sensibull
    I use a Chaintech AV-710 that is not only a hell of a lot cheaper, but also offers bit-perfect output and automatic switching between 44.1 and 48kHz sources.
    I just installed the 710. I am one very happy camper. I only use my PC for two channel so I can't speak to other uses. I'm using kernel streaming in foobar 2000.
    Replaces a Xitel Pro HiFi-Link. I was pleased with the Xitel but it upsamples everything to 48khz and there was no way around it.
    Thanks, Sens.

    David

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Bloomfield, CT
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    291

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    Quote Originally Posted by bikeman
    I am one very happy camper.
    Glad to hear it. The VIA drivers can be a bit tricky (read: buggy), so let me know if you run into any problems. I've had the notion for a while now of creating a "Best Bang for Your Buck" website with links to all sorts of products. You can bet the 710 and Ascends (and probably your Panny) would be among the first on the list...

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Call me value-oriented but that is exactly my setup
    AV710, XR55, plain 12 gauge, Ascends+Hsu

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