[Freakzilla]

I'd like some advice on making my audio and computer parts work together.
I just got a Yamaha HTR 5730 receiver second hand today and want to know the best way to add it to my current setup.

What I have:
SR-80 headphones from another head-fi member
Computer with Audigy 2 running ubuntu linux most of the time
Creative FPS 2000 4.1 Computer Speakers
and the new piece of the puzzle is a Yamaha HTR 5730 receiver

What I tend to use/do:
Listen to mp3s
Watch downloaded movies and tv


I really don't know much about receivers and I don't want to hook it up to a tv right now. I figured I 'd just connect the reciever to my soundcard and connect speakers/headphone to the reciever. I've read up a bit and know that Audigy 2 cards don't have a great way to connect the audigy digital out into the reciever. How do i get the most out of the new reciever without spending a lot of money?

I'm willling to send a little money if it means getting a new sound card or something but would like to keep it to a minimum.

 

[sdgserv]

Will your rec. run 4.1 speakers? If not I am not sure what you can do.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I just pulled up your Yamaha receiver. Did you know that it has an internal 24 bit, 192kHz DAC as well as two TOSLINK and one coax inputs? That's pretty sweet for a rig that goes for $150 or so.

Now, your Audigy 2. It has a coax digital out on it, and will output 5.1 surround.

So yeah, there is a simple way to connect the two! Just run a digital coax cable from one to the other and configure. You can get the cable for under $10 at Radio Shack. Sure, you can spend more, but try the cheap cable first and see what you think. I think that's all you need.

And I like your receiver. I'm going to look into it more, and be sure to tell us how it sounds. That internal DAC is interesting.

 

[davvy]

Hello Freakzilla

My advice to you is basically to clarify what your goals are - ie what kind of system you want to end up with - and do some more research and planning. You need to decide: Do you want 5.1 surround or is plain old stereo for music more important. Do you want better speakers ? How big is your room ? And most importantly, what is your total budget ?

What you have at the moment are some fairly crappy amplified computer speakers. You can't bypass their internal amplifier, so your receiver is not going to be much use to you unfortunately unless you upgrade your speakers. The only benefit at the moment that you might be able to get out of the receiver is if it has "preouts" (ie unamplified analogue output) you could connect that to your speakers (ie Audigy 2 digital out --> receiver --> speakers). Even if possible, this would probably only be a marginal benefit with your current setup.

 

[ObiHuang]

Sorry to say this, but I agree with davvy, but I'm going to be more blunt than him. Your idea makes no sense. Your speakers aren't designed for a home theater receiver. What are you going to do... plug cheap 28 watt speakers into a home theater receiver and expect gains? You do realize you're also eliminating the subwoofer from this equation since everything seems to plug into the subwoofer if this Amazon.com picture is right.

Option A) Keep your speakers plugged in the way they were. You just got a Home Theater Receiver for no reason.

Option B) Look in the manual and find out the wattage/resistance of the speakers you SHOULD buy and go buy a 5.1 set. Good speakers ain't cheap... good luck. Buy FOUR sets of mini-stereo to RCA cables. Run one cable from the digital output of the card and shove the left-channel plug into the digital coax input. Run each of the other 3 from one of the analog outputs into the Multi-Channel inputs of the receiver. This is when you're playing a game (if you even play games) that isn't Dolby Digital but still supports multi-channel sound. This is because unless the digital output is outputting DD or DTS, you're only going to get 2 channels of audio.

 

[Freakzilla]

Thanks for everyones help. The receiver was a cheap second hand impulse buy. It doesn't sound like it works well with my present set up.

So, maybe I can use this as an excuse to upgrade a few things. And to get some benefit I need 5.1 speakers. If I do get a new set of speakers, should the sound card be replaced as well? Am I just getting myself in deeper and deeper here?

Is it just a bad idea to try to use receivers with computers? I just liked the idea of getting better sound for TV/movies/music for my computer and getting a bit of amp for my sr80. But like a said, the receiver was just an impulse/second hand buy, not really planned.

 

[ChaseD13]

im 15 (letting you know that i dont have a big budget)

i have a receiver settup and it is really awesome.

id recommend spending 100 bucks or so an a auzentech xplosion sound card. it will encode dts or ddl. i believe it is the only card that currently encodes dts.

then you go optical or coax to your receiver (im using coax as the included optical cable is like 3 feet and i just used an rca cable. there is no noticeable diference in sq)

you can use your receiver as a cheap headphone amp as well as for 5.1 or 7.1 sound.

you are going to want 2 floor standers or decent shelf speakers for your front channel. then you can use junky speakers for rear and my monitor came with decent speakers so i just use the built in one as the center channel.

i dont have the money for a sub yet. (it isnt high on my list right now)

plus my fronts are good floorstanders my dad wasnt using so i stole em! lol


reciever works awesome with computer, but id recommend the above soundcard.

if you are a headphonelistener i think you might be better off with a seperate dac and amp but i only use headphones at night for now...

 

[Uncle Erik]

Why don't you run a $5.99 coax from the sound card to your receiver? You can find out for sure whether or not it sounds good. Try it. You don't need yto sepnd a huge amount of money on a system for it to sound good.

 

[Freakzilla]

Well, looks like I should definely get some new speakers when I can get some money together. For now i'll just use some random speakers I have around. As for the sound card, thats a good idea. Maybe i'll get a card like the Chaintech av710 i've read about in other posts. Looks to be cheap and allow pass though to the reciever. Or might spend some money and go with the xplosion. Anyway, thnks for the suggestions. I find this audio stuff can be confusing but slowly worthwhile.

 

[ChaseD13]

just wanting to make sure you know the diff between the chaintech and the xplosion:

the chaintech just allows pass through (pre encoded surround like a movie) you wont get gaming surround with this card

vs

xplosion - encodes into ddl or dts so you get surround out of anything that was surround in the first place. so you get games and movies.


if you dont game, dont bother with the xplosion, but if you do, it is a must!

 

[Ingo]

You may have your heart set on surround sound, I don't know. One thing I do know is that you can get some really decent sounding bookshelf speakers from Best Buy for 44.95 right now. They're 'Insignia' brand (a best buy facade brand name), but they've been getting excellent reviews. They may really not be what you're looking for, but I think that would work out quite nicely in your situation.

 

[Freakzilla]

Thanks, Ingo.
I'm listening to a couple pair of insignia speakers and they sound great. Fit perfectly into my meager budget. I might get a fifth speaker for a center later. Might even try one of those speaker mods i've read about. Maybe one of the simpler mods after enjoying the speaker as is for awhile.

Thank, for the head up on the sound card ChaseD13. I've ordered a chaintech for now since i don't game as much as just listen to music and watch TV on the computer. Plus, i'm keeping thing cheap for now. I'll upgrade later after getting some more money.