[Ahriman4891]

Quote:

Am I naive when I say that a DAC is a digital to analogue decoder... For me this means that the sound did not went thorough the DAC on the soundcard because it's still digital.... The digital signal is then used for the line out to the receiver....

That is absolutely correct. The DAC on your soundcard will be bypassed, and the DAC in your receiver (or a standalone DAC device) will perform the conversion.

As for the DAC in the receiver being good enough... Depends on the receiver

Receivers are usu. tuned for movies, so "audiophile" sound fidelity is not necessarily their highest priority. This is not to say YOU won't like the sound. The influence of DACs on sound is quite insignificant compared to actual speakers. Great speaker out of $30 soundcard >> cheap speaker connected to $3000 DAC.

As was advised, try visiting a hi-fi shop or two. If a stereo setup strikes your fancy, go with it. In Netherlands, I guess you should be able to audition Dynaudio and B&W easily--both those brands are very highly regarded. Ordering X-ls from across the ocean without having listened to them first is somewhat risky.

 

[SirVesseur]

This sounds ok. for me. I'll visit the shop were I went the last time and have a good listen.


Quote:

Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif My advise: hold on to your wallet tightly. Does your mini-system have digital inputs or are you using 1/8" or RCA analog inputs?

My mini system is about 7 years old and has no dig. input. Just using a analog cable.

 

[awptickes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobaltz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sir has $800 so he gets a pair of BX8a Moniters (great speakers by the way) and the upgraded cables. Next year are you figuring he buy the Amp and cables? With a computer and $800 you can get a very good sounding system that will do what he wants and more. So what do you want him to do?

I'm pretty sure the BX8a Monitors still are bi-amped out of the box, unless they pulled the amps out of them in the past 5 months. </flame>

Sir:
I highly reccomend that you do research on every option pointed to you. Do lots of research, and only spend a dime when you are completely sure you have waited the "2-week" cool-off period. Following the "2-week" cool-off period technique has helped me save into the thousands of dollars after becoming a member of head-fi.

Do what's right for you, and remember; it's your money and you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

 

[SirVesseur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by awptickes /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do what's right for you, and remember; it's your money and you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

Let's start those two weeks from now. I'll post my findings in two weeks, and we can finish this conversation.

Danke

 

[Cobaltz]

If you want to hear the Creative Labs soundcard go to a computer store. Creative sells world wide about 50 million soundcards a year, not 50 million X-Fi.

 

[chesebert]

8800GTX

get that and be happy.

 

[Ingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirVesseur /img/forum/go_quote.gif I thought I had it figured out all by now, but this is getting me confused. Isn't the DAC in the receiver not good enough??? About the Logitech cableless surround system, I doubt if that will sound as good as a wired surround system with a heavy receiver. This are de specs. of my soundcard: http://sounden.terratec.net/modules....rticle&sid=147 Please correct me if I am wrong... Edit: at this point I'm not even sure if I wanna have a surround system anymore...All that extra stuff, cables and speakers maybe don't even be used a lot... When I play my music not all the speakers will be used? Is that right? p.s. Thank for the help.

I say go with the reciever + AV123 bookshelves + sub idea I saw earlier in this thread. Are you really going to watch that many movies on your computer? Another thing is that surround isn't the greatest way to listen to stereo music, although, even if you had a 5.1 setup you could probably easily switch from 5.1 to stereo.

 

[asdf]

Just to muddy the waters a bit:

I would check out the Panasanic XR57 surround amp (inexpensive, decent SQ), which is discussed at the AVS forums here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...highlight=xr57

This will save more of your budget for a decent pair of speakers, which will provide the biggest return on your money. GoodSound.com (http://www.goodsound.com/home.shtml) provides reviews of quality speakers within your budget. I know they liked the AV123s as well. That site will, at least, point you to some brands that you should go audition for yourself. In my opinion, this option will provide very nice sound now and an upgrade path for the future.

--asdf

 

[LeonvB]

Quote:

When I play my music not all the speakers will be used? Is that right?

Correct. 2 speakers will work for music, unless you let the amp artificially split the signal across all speakers. Some people like that, but it seems many don't.
Overall, the DAC in a receiver will do a decent job. But in general it won't beat a separate DAC+stereo amp at roughly the same price.
Also note: the SR5001 on paper LOOKS like a powerful amp, but the numbers are boosted. With a max. 500w power consumption, there's NO way it can deliver 7x90W to the speakers, with some luck it might manage to pump 60W to each. Usually, the control it has over the speaker suffers. Most receivers have this problem.
And about the Logitech speakers: given the price, it's a very good speakerset. But remember it's this: DAC+amp+many speakers. At this price point that means it is using a Tangband speaker unit. Not a bad unit, but you can find it in DIY speakers costing 33 euro (unit itself is around 20 euro).

 

[SirVesseur]

Update:

Went to my hifi shop a had a chat with the salesman. He advised me to go stereo, if I'm not planning watch movies all the time. He also made a very logical calculation. 5 amps cost more than 2 amps. So for the same quality I had to upgrade by a whole lot.

For speaker: I found these on a 2nd hand forum for about €475,-
http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/Pro...egis_evo_3.asp

Now I have to find out what receiver I'm gonna buy.