DAC vs 7.1 Soundcard for home theatre

[Geoff332]

Using a PC as source, what are your thoughts on DAC vs Soundcards (eg E-Mu or Audigy) for getting the sound out of the PC and into the amp?

And recommendations would be welcome too.

 

[Sycraft]

For home theatre? Well unless you mean 3 or 4 DACs, or a multi-channel DAC like the Apogee Rosetta 800, then the soundcard is the only way to go. You want multi-channel for home theatre as all movies these days are mixed for 5.1 or 6.1 channels.

That being the case, get an X-Fi. They do a stellar job. The Extreme Music will do just fine for what you want, though you could look at the Elite Pro if you want better sound and a remote control. Also, one of the few cards that can do full rate DVD-A playback (due to RIAA idiocy, you have to have a soundcard that can do hardware decryption to get full rate playback).

If you just don't like Creative or have to have something with better converters and electronics, look at a Delta 1010. Less flexable over all, and not good for games, but better sound. It'll work just fine, when combined with DVD playback software with proper decoders.

You CAN go the D/A route if you really want, but it'll be a pain andvery expensive. You'll either need a multi channel D/A or a soundcard with multiple digital outputs. You can't just hook up 3 USB DACs because those will appear as three seperate stereo devices in Windows and HT software wants to use one multi-channel device. So you need something that can gang the digital outputs together. An Echo Gina3G ($350) would work to a DAC that had ADAT in, like the Rosetta 800 ($2500). The Rosetta's own firewire addon ($350) might work too.

The other option is to take a digital out form the computer to a reciever, and have your computer just pass unmodified AC-3 and DTS streams and let the reciever deal with it. Of course with that method you get surround only for movies, games and such will all be stereo since S/PDIF uncompressed is 2 channel only.

 

[Geoff332]

I've got a yamaha surround receiver/amp. I'm looking at my options for using a PC as a source for both films and music. From what I've gathered from this forum and other places, you get much better music (stereo) from a D/A into an amp than from using a soundcard. But the amp has all the necessary converters to handle a digital input for surround sound.

The PC I'm planning on using is oldish (about 5 years old) with onboard sound and graphics cards. The processor is more than capable of handling music and films, but won't produce a good enough audio or video output. So, I'm going to need to add hardware to make this work. For stereo sound, I'm guessing a USB D/A would be the best option; but I also want surround sound out; a D/A doesn't seem to be a good option there.

I guess I want to know what my options are for making this happen.

 

[lowmagnet]

If you're doing home theater from a PC, then the best option is to go with either a soundcard's s/pdif or toslink connector to your Yamaha. That way your cd player software will just read the PCM stream and push it out the door to your receiver.

 

[Sycraft]

In theory you get better sound from a DAC since it's all dedicated electronics just for that. In practise, there are soundcards that beat the snot out of many DACs. I'd bet a Delta 1010 is better than their cheap USB DACs (not saying you want a 1010, just as an example).

Ok so if you JUST want stereo music and movie surround, and you aren't concerned about videogame surround or surround music, then the cheapest and simplest option is just to get a soundcard with S/PDIF out. You have it output 2 channel uncompressed PCM for music, and the unmodified AC-3 or DTS stream for movies. Let your reciever handle the D/A conversion and decoding and such. That AV710 that pepople on this forum are so enthralled with should work fine and be cheap.

Now if you want surround from more than just movies, you need a soundcard. I push the X-Fi as always, best all around soundcard I've ever owned. Good for mvoies, good for games, good for music, and even does DVD-A in 32-bit Windows. You take it's outputs and hook them to the multi-channel in on your reciever. Probably just set it to pure direct mode, if it has that feature, and use it just as an amplifier.

 

[Geoff332]

I think the answer for me is a soundcard with S/PDIF out and letting the receiver do most of the work; it'll save me worrying about upgrading other hardware - and I don't care about surround sound for games or music. I assume that it works as well with uncompressed ripped music/dvd as it does with a CD/dvd source.

Thanks again.