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Im planning to buy new speakers for Full surround 5.1ch effects.i want to take full advantage of DTS HDMA audio Movies and Music Videos.Following are my quires
1 what kind of Sound card will be best
2 What kind of connection will be of Sound card and Speakers like HDMI,Coax,RCA
3 What is sound receiver and its benifits
PC config
2gb ram
2.88ghz dual core
1tb hard drive
1gb graphic card
I know nothing, too. Things have changed tremendously since ye olde SoundBlaster 32AWE days.
I just use whatever audio comes integrated on my mobo ... USB headphones/speakers, HDMI cable from graphics card to TV or whatever. I still have an ancient once-godly "M-Audiophile" PCI (not PCIe) card which sometimes moves from computer to computer, no idea what sorta specs matter but it's always sounded fantastic no matter how high I crank the volume. I once purchased an AOpen motherboard with onboard tube audio amplifier, and it wasn't that bad but also not that great, I decided that while tube amps are technically superior to their digital counterparts, this particular implementation was just a low-cost mid-performance marketing gimmick. (I used to build and repair audio/radio equipment for local ham radio and music shops, so I understand my decibels, frequency response, impedence matching, filtering, THD, SNR, DSP, ALC, etc - but I basically hope/assume it'll "just work" whenever the IN and OUT connectors are all the same type and size and plug into each other without needing hammer and pliers.)
I have learned that HDMI is basically just DVI plus audio in one cable/connector, in fact there are even combo adapter/splitter things for graphics cards which lack HDMI but have DVI-Out. Even in this, I might be inadequately informed.
Learn me more!
great reply but i dont get it
What are you going to be using this system for? You said music, movies, games, but is it primarily a HTPC with you sitting on a couch or is it a desk setup, where you will be sitting in a task chair browsing the web, listening to music, and gaming most the time with some movies every now and then?
If it's the latter, then I'd recommend just getting an all-in-one system that will just plug into the surround sound that is (probably) already on your motherboard. Logitech has some nice 5.1 systems.
If you want to get a sound card, I would recommend against anything made by Creative. Their stuff may be nice, but they have a history of releasing "updates" that break cards to force people to buy new or (not as bad) refuse software updates to certain equally-capable products to try and get people to upgrade. It's obnoxious.
YES i want to use it mainly for playing movies from my HDD no online or server based.what are good sound card available that support surround speakers and what type of wire connection will it support like coax
If you want a proper 5.1 system for movies don't go logistics get a home cinema set up and just use a HDMI cable for both audio and visual passed through the reciever.
Otherwise if you go something cheaper like one of the logitech set ups then just use the coaxial input. Still no need for an audiocard as the speakers will do the sound processing in both vases
For movies I'd say get a reasonably priced amp and get a decent set of surround sound speakers. Use the HDMI audio passthrough on your mobo or video card to pass along the audio. Since it's just passing along a signal, which will be processed by the amp, you don't need a sound card for your pc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Markwinstanley
http://www.woot.com/ usually has pretty decent stuff come up, but get the camelizer plugin for your browser and go check prices on amazon and other sites to see if the stuff listed is really a "deal" or not. Often enough it's not really a "deal" it's just marked that way.
My pc have only 3.5mm sound connector so if i buy speakers as you told, are they compatible with it or notQuote:
Originally Posted by d_stilgar
Again, if the connector fits then it will usually work. You can purchase speakers with their own self-powered amps if you want more volume, although audio quality might not be great if they're really cheap, and they can't make sound any prettier than the signal quality of your audio source (sound card output). You won't blow anything up by putting all your volume controls (including PC software volume) on minimum levels when first testing compatibility.
3.5mm connectors are very common for consumer speakers, headphones, headsets, appliances; they usually have a 5V signal drive, and receiving devices (like the speakers) are often safety-fused plus may have a transformer-equipped amp which can safely accept overvoltages for at least brief periods. The smaller 2.5mm connectors are typically only used for mobile devices, light-duty headphones/headsets, and such stuff - these might work (with a 3.5mm-to-2.5mm adapter) but would probably be designed to operate on lower voltages and not last very long when overdriven.