Sound Card upgrading question

[Larry_OHF]

I am now the proud owner of an Audigy 2.
Not the Platinum Edition.

I am loving it, of course, but now I am left with wanting something else. It has the capability to play digital. I have the Creative Labs 5.1 analog setup. The only difference that I can see in the analog that I have and the digital setup is the converter box. (Is that what it's called?).
Tell me, is that box sold separately? Can I buy it, run my speakers and subwoofer through it, and then install the digital cable that my soundcard came with that plugs into the card? Or do I have to buy the whole 5.1 or 6.1 speaker setup that comes with the control box? If that is the case, then I won't be getting it. Only if I can buy the control box on it's own.

I think that is all I need to ask about at this time.

[Animal]

Originally posted by Larry_OHF: I am now the proud owner of an Audigy 2. Not the Platinum Edition. I am loving it, of course, but now I am left with wanting something else. It has the capability to play digital. I have the Creative Labs 5.1 analog setup. The only difference that I can see in the analog that I have and the digital setup is the converter box. (Is that what it's called?). Tell me, is that box sold separately? Can I buy it, run my speakers and subwoofer through it, and then install the digital cable that my soundcard came with that plugs into the card? Or do I have to buy the whole 5.1 or 6.1 speaker setup that comes with the control box? If that is the case, then I won't be getting it. Only if I can buy the control box on it's own. I think that is all I need to ask about at this time.

You need a digital speaker systems to take advantage of the digital output on your soundcard, but honestly you won't be able to tell the difference between analog and digital output.

As for control box, I'm not sure what you're meaning is. If you're refering to the Live! Drive option, that connects to the soundcard and installs in a free 5.25" bay, then this will do nothing to change your existing setup other than providing you with some connections up front.

[Larry_OHF]

Thanks for responding, Animal. So...you say that there is not enough difference between digital and analog to care about? That sounds wierd, but I hope it is true. If it is not, then I'll have to buy the digital setup. If it does not matter, then I am happy with what I have. What about if I wanna watch DVDs? Does it matter then?

FYI>>>This is what I was referring to. Below are two links. The first is what I have now. The second is what I was referring to that has the digital thingy. I wanna know if that control box is sold separately or not. I cannot find info on thier website, adn tehir e-mail option is down.


What I currently have

The digital system

Just decided to include this for fun

[lethoso]

i'm fairly sure you cannot buy the control box seperately, and there would be little to no advantage in getting one if you could.... it would sound almost identical... the bottleneck in terms of sound quality is your speakers... your best bet if you want better sound is buy a proper receiver and some proper speakers, i know that my current setup in my room (old harman kardon amp/big cheap speakers) kicks the poo out of the computer set i had before (hercules xps 210).

[Animal]

Larry,

Whether or not the decoder box can be bought seperately, I don't know but it's a moot point, you couldn't integrate it into your current setup even if you wanted to. Although digital will make a very miniscule difference in sound quality, the average person won't be able to tell the difference especially given the usually cramped quaters of a speaker setup in a PC environment.

Your current 5.1 setup is more than sufficient for DVD's, but take note that many games do not output to 5.1, only 4.1 so you won't have the centre channel functioning as intended.

My advice is to stick with what you've got unless you're looking for something with a lot more power. Check out http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?pa...2&languageid=1 for a really hot set of speakers. Prices are in CDN but I think they run about $300 in the US if not lower.

[Stormymystic]

hmmm, this seems a good place to ask this question
I want to buy a sound card, but am unsure of the compatibilt to my secondary speakers, they are yamaha's would there be any thing I sould look for when buying a card? or will they still work with any card?

[Animal]

Originally posted by Stormymystic: hmmm, this seems a good place to ask this question I want to buy a sound card, but am unsure of the compatibilt to my secondary speakers, they are yamaha's would there be any thing I sould look for when buying a card? or will they still work with any card?

There's a few decent soundcards on the market these days, but Creative is leading the pack with the Audigy 2. I'm not sure what you mean by secondary speakers, but if they're working on your PC right now, they'll probably work on any new soundcard you purchase.

I'd look at something with a low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). The only downside to the Audigy 2 is that it provides 192 KHz playback which is good, but only over 2 speakers. When outputing to more than 2 speakers, the Audigy 2 is limited to 96 KHz. Not a big issue unless you're really intent on the sound quality of your PC.

I run a set of 5.1 Klipsch through an OEM version of the Audigy card and am hard pressed to find any faults in the system at all.

[Larry_OHF]

You would not have any trouble at all with those speakers on a soundcard that had the intakes for it. I would recommend only that you choose Sound Blaster, by Creative Labs. I have the Audigy2, for $120, but they have some cheaper than that that are great sound cards. Look at that website that I linked to. Follow the prompts to see all soundcards. YOu could get a decent one between $50-$80