[sureshot1234]

so in january i bought 6 monitor 40 series 2 speakers and and CS1 series 2 speaker for a 7.1 or 7.2 setup and was planning on buying an onkyo TX-NR609 receiver but the place i was going to buy it from stopped selling 

 it and that has changed things and am now looking for another option and was wonder what you guys recommend as far as brand and which model of that brand to run them, also when i buy the receiver i will need to upgrade my sound card from 5.1 to 7.1 i currently have a Asus Xonar DG 5.1 card mainly for price and the headphone amp and would like to get another car with an amp if possible otherwise i was looking to get the new HT omega Claro 2 card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271007[size=1.4em] [/size]unless you guys know of something better and in that price range or less with a headphone amp built in i would love to hear about it
 
 
and the price range for the receiver is about $400 and maybe up to a max of $500 if it is worth the increase in price 
 
 
thanks for your help and time in advance  

 

[trog]

Nope ditch the soundcard and connect via HDMI from your GPU to the AVR? For DTS-HD/Dolby TrueHD with discrete GPU you'd be looking at HD 5XXX and GT4xx or later

 

[Blurr]

Indeed just forget about the soundcard as your receiver would have a just as good or better dac built-in, one less component in the chain equals more quality, less noise. Use optical/coax or HDMI to bypass the post processing from your motherboard sound processor, preferably get a receiver with pre-outs so you could add poweramps or active speakers later on.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Yamaha RX-A700 or RX-V667, the cheapest Yamaha's with the better amplifiers.
Yamaha's Silent Cinema, surround sound for headphones.
Just use HDMI, if not HDMI, then digital optical from the motherboards optical output to the Yamaha's optical input.

 

[sureshot1234]

well i have a HD radeon 2gig 6950 graphics card, but why would a sound card using optical not be better and without the card would i be sending a 7.1 signal to the receiver? also how would those receivers compare to ones like Pioneer VSX-1121-K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117401, 

Denon AVR-1912 ​

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033AV1912/Denon-AVR-1912.html?tp=179, 

Yamaha RX-V671 ​

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_022RXV671/Yamaha-RX-V671.html?tp=179, 

Yamaha RX-A710 ​

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_022RXA710/Yamaha-RX-A710.html?tp=179, ONKYO TX-NR616  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882120197.
 
and like the onkyo i linked which is the 2012 model are there any of the other brands that are coming out with anything new i should wait for ? plus one of the reasons i liked the onkyo is the on screen setup menu thats easy to use and auto calibration with a mic with my room shape speaker layout may be a little funky and that would help me and thanks for the help so far guys

 

[Blurr]

The reason you don't need the soundcard is because the receiver already has a better DAC(in case of the onkyo Burr brown) build in which can even decode THX and DD Tru HD, by getting the source directly from either the optical out or HDMI out through the 6950, you get a cleaner signal, no unneccessary double processing, less prone to electromagnetic interference from within the computer. Getting the soundcard just to passthrough a digital signal that you already have is just a waste of money.

 

[sureshot1234]

so i should use the hdmi on my graphics card not the optical on the card i have now since it would process it more than need be correct?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Well i have a HD Radeon 2gig 6950 graphics card, but why would a sound card using optical not be better and without the card would i be sending a 7.1 signal to the receiver? also how would those receivers compare to ones like Pioneer VSX-1121-K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117401, 

Denon AVR-1912 ​

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033AV1912/Denon-AVR-1912.html?tp=179, 

Yamaha RX-V671 ​

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_022RXV671/Yamaha-RX-V671.html?tp=179, 

Yamaha RX-A710 ​

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_022RXA710/Yamaha-RX-A710.html?tp=179, Onkyo TX-NR616  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882120197.
 
and like the Onkyo i linked which is the 2012 model are there any of the other brands that are coming out with anything new i should wait for ? plus one of the reasons i liked the Onkyo is the on screen setup menu that's easy to use and auto calibration with a mic with my room shape speaker layout may be a little funky and that would help me and thanks for the help so far guys

Yamaha is one of the few brands that offer surround sound (Silent Cinema) for headphones, the Pioneer, Denon & Onkyo do not.
The Yamaha RX-V671 & RX-A710 would both be fine choices.
 
 
 

 

[Blurr]

I would think so, on the other hand HDMI provide more bandwidth and synching between the image with the sound output. The only thing you have to do is plug the HDMI out of your 6950 into one of the input of the receiver and then the output to your TV set, windows should auto-detect and your good to go.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So, I should use the HDMI on my graphics card not the optical on the card I have now since it would process it more than need be correct?

HDMI offers more bandwidth then digital optical.
HDMI can carry Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master audio, digital optical (& Coaxial) can not.
 
 

 

[sureshot1234]

oh ok sweet so i will do hdmi      and i dont really need silent cinema i only use my headphones for gaming and need dolby headphone which my sound card i have now has just using the receiver for the speakers so you still say yamaha is best for audio quality and ease of setup without the silent cinema being a factor? and does thx select 2 plus certified really mean anything?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Oh, ok sweet so I will do HDMI and I don't really need Silent Cinema I only use my headphones for gaming and need Dolby headphone which my sound card I have now has just using the receiver for the speakers so you still say Yamaha is best for audio quality and ease of setup without the silent cinema being a factor?

I found my previous 3 Onkyo A/V receivers were easier to setup my current Yamaha RX-V671.
My idea is to totality bypass the Asus Xonar DG sound card.
The Yamaha A/V receivers come with better DACs (then the DG) and can drive 600-Ohm headphones.
You would use Silent Cinema for headphone surround sound (gaming and movies) instead of Dolby Virtual Headphone.
 
 
 

 

[sureshot1234]

so everyone says yamaha for sound quality right?    and it has an on screen setup correct ? guess i will give the silent cinema a try and if i dont like it can go back to my sound card and my headphones for gaming arent anything crazy just razer Carcharias and want to get the razer tiamat 2.2 when it comes out for better bass with explosions and what not when i am not using speakers and they are only 32ohm i believe  also what is the difference of the 671 to the 571 i could get the 571 for a little over 300 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So everyone says Yamaha for sound quality right?   And it has an on screen setup correct? Guess I will give the Silent Cinema a try and if I don't like it can go back to my sound card and my headphones for gaming aren't anything crazy just Razer Carcharias and want to get the Razer Tiamat 2.2 when it comes out for better bass with explosions and what not when I am not using speakers and they are only 32ohm I believe.  Also what is the difference of the 671 to the 571, I could get the 571 for a little over 300 

Well, at least I like the sound quality of my RX-V671, at the website AVSforum they have a thread(s) dedicated to different Yamaha models, get some feedback from those Yamaha owners.
Yea, you can always keep the Xonar DG around as a back up.
I believe the RX-V671 has more Internet and networking feature then the RX-V571.
I'm also "guessing" the Yamaha RX-V5XX series does not have as good amplifiers as the RX-V6XX and RX-A7XX series.
I believe the RX-571 has USB features that the RX-667 & RX-A700 do not.
Newegg sells the RX-A700 refurb for $320, 12 or 18 month warranty?
Sometimes RX-A700s sell new for $325, the new ones come with 3 year warranty.
Check the website bountii, good site to find the best prices on lots of stuff.
also Techbargins is a good site for good prices on stuff.
 
 
 

 

[sureshot1234]

found out the main difference in the a to rx series is the seperation of the dac and power supply and a better warranty so if i go with yamaha i will try to find an A series if anyone else has any comments i check this every few hours or so and thanks everyone for all your help