[CloudySkies]

I'm completely new to this and just wanted to clear up a few things. First of all, what exactly IS the optical out that everybody keeps talking about? For a barebones computer to speaker/no amp, etc setup, is this something that I would even use? Then as far as surround goes, the similarly priced Creative Soundblaster Live has some sort of Dolby encoding or whatever and a bunch of other features.software for shaping the overall sound....is this stuff actually useful and something that I would need as compared to the barebones Chaintech? And finally, I want to go with a 5.1 or higher speaker setup for surround sound, how many channels would I want/use for this, as I also keep reading that the Chaintech is only good for 2 channel use. What exactly IS a channel anyway and how does this affect music and gaming? Thanks in advance....I am the noob

.

 

[Gegtik]

I'd also like to know more about providing a quality source for my sound system; I recently invested in a decent sound system and it's a shame to be using my Audigy 2's line-out as its source.

I suspect the best thing I can do is invest in a dedicated DAC but I don't even know where to begin researching about this stuff... is 'digital out' a standard that all devices adhere to, does it require special cables, etc.

What advice would you give computer-source newbies for setting up a new system?

 

[fjf]

The digital info contained in an audio file can be outputted digitally in two ways: an optical or an electrical encoding (both should be ideally bit-perfect) from an s-pdif or a coaxial out respectively. This info has to be converted to analog electrical signal (something that can go to amplifiers --> headphones or speakers) by a DAC (digital-to-analog-converter). This is usually the weak point of sound cards and cd players. The AV710 gets you a bit perfect optical out and a decent two-channel analog out because it has a decent DAC chip. You can use the former to go to an external DAC-->amplifier or use the second to a go to an amplifier directly. There is an hercules fortissimo thread below about another cheap card with a decent DAC, that seems better that the DAC in the AV710. I use the analog out of the 710 and is good, but I am looking for an external DAC+amplifier because I know it can be better. Poor wallet of mine!....

Regards.

 

[Gegtik]

Where could I find a comparison of the quality of the onboard DACs for different sound cards?

eg. audigy2 vs AV-710 vs Fortissimo vs ....



I'd be rather interested in seeing this

thanks

 

[fjf]

Use the search option of this forum. However, remember that the expressed opinions are just that, opinions. There are few nonsubjective things in this hobby!. The AV710 has many threads, as well as many of the other cards. The fortissimo is new and virgin territory!.

 

[parrot5]

I've been researching for a new soundcard also. From what I've gathered in the numerous posts about soundcard comparisons in terms of the DACs (and so analog output quality), looks like it's a consensus that:
Audigy2 < Chaintech AV-710(output 7,8 only) < M-Audio Revolution 7.1 < M-Audio Revolution 5.1 < M-Audio Audiophile 2496 and Emu's. (Due to price concerns I didn't consider the ones higher than the Audiophile 2496 so I can't list them. But for the ones below that, I'm pretty sure that's the consensus of the people here).

 

[Gegtik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by parrot5 I've been researching for a new soundcard also. From what I've gathered in the numerous posts about soundcard comparisons in terms of the DACs (and so analog output quality), looks like it's a consensus that: Audigy2 < Chaintech AV-710(output 7,8 only) < M-Audio Revolution 7.1 < M-Audio Revolution 5.1 < M-Audio Audiophile 2496 and Emu's. (Due to price concerns I didn't consider the ones higher than the Audiophile 2496 so I can't list them. But for the ones below that, I'm pretty sure that's the consensus of the people here).

thanks parrot

 

[CloudySkies]

I have another question. I'm going to buy a 5.1 speaker setup and wanted to always make use of every speaker, even when listenign to stereo encoded music files. If I buy something like the Creative T5400 5.1 speaker set, does the Chaintech have some sort of feature that will make sure that all 5 speakers of the 5.1 setup are enabled at all times, even when listening to stereo encoded mp3 files? I really want to buy the Chaintech, but Creative has some sort of "CMSS" technology within their speakers and sound cards which supposedly upmixes stereo sources and then spreads them throughout every speaker as opposed to just using two. Is there a way for the Chaintech to always enable all 5 speakers too regardless of a music file being encoded in stereo or surround?

 

[Tachikoma]

Lol, the chaintech AV-710 will certainly _play_ all 5 channels, but its really meant for stereo only since the wolfson DAC only works when you use the alt-out channel.

 

[fjf]

Yes, you can chage the setup using the "audio deck" (the via controller) from 2-->4-->6-->8 channels. However, the setup must be in 2 channels with activated digital out and high sampling rate (96KHz) to use the wolfson (good) dac in stereo mode.

 

[CloudySkies]

It's kind of weird, but I ended up asking this question because of a remark made within a review for the T5400 speakers. Basically it said that music which was encoded in stereo would only come through in 2.0 as opposed to having all 5 channels working. The review didn't bother to mention what sound card or setup was used during the product testing, so I guess this could have been a result from using some kind of onboard audio or sound card which doesn't have something like stereo expand or creative's cmss. If the Chaintech only sound good when usign the Wolfson DAC in 2.0 mode, would I be better off with something like the Creative Soundblaster Live! 24 bit card if I wanted to use all 5 speakers for music?

 

[parrot5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CloudySkies It's kind of weird, but I ended up asking this question because of a remark made within a review for the T5400 speakers. Basically it said that music which was encoded in stereo would only come through in 2.0 as opposed to having all 5 channels working. The review didn't bother to mention what sound card or setup was used during the product testing, so I guess this could have been a result from using some kind of onboard audio or sound card which doesn't have something like stereo expand or creative's cmss. If the Chaintech only sound good when usign the Wolfson DAC in 2.0 mode, would I be better off with something like the Creative Soundblaster Live! 24 bit card if I wanted to use all 5 speakers for music?

If it's for music, Soundblaster Live! 24bit won't cut it. Scroll up a few posts and see my post about the the Audigy2 being the lowest quality in the chain. The Live! 24bit is even lower than that. I would consider the M-Audio Revolution 5.1 or 7.1 instead. (note that the 5.1 is rate higher than the 7.1 though, as they actually use different components on the board).

 

[Riordan]

the chaintech av710 basically has two uses:

1. it's the cheapest solution for use with an external DAC (where the only thing you need is a bit-perfect digital out, provided your DAC is competent.)
2. very good 2 channel (stereo) music for the price.

this card is being raved about around here specifically for those two uses, it's not an all-rounder at all. you could combine it with a soundblaster/audigy for gaming, but if 5.1 music (or dvd) is what you want, there are better solutions.

 

[CloudySkies]

Is there anything else that's cheaper than the M-Audio which is better than the Chaintech for 5.1?

 

[Ikon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gegtik Where could I find a comparison of the quality of the onboard DACs for different sound cards? eg. audigy2 vs AV-710 vs Fortissimo vs .... I'd be rather interested in seeing this

By your command

Audigy2:
Crystal CS4382 DAC
NJM4556 op-amp (front-out)
ST 4558C op-amps (surround-outs)

Summary: The DAC is the best of these 3 cards, but it's bundled with some really crappy amps (at least the one for the front-out is half-bearable). Also, the EMU chip seems to do bad things to the sound on these cards (might have something to do with the board-layout).

---------------------------

Chaintech AV-710:
Wolfson WM8728 DAC (channel 7+8)
VIA VT1616 Codec/DAC (the other channels)

Summary: The Wolfson-DAC makes it a good card for stereo-use, but the VIA Codec for the other channels is crap. Note that this card has no op-amps, which means you should avoid connecting long cables to it.

---------------------------

Fortissimo IV:
Wolfson WM8776 DAC (front-out)
Wolfson WM8766 DAC (surround-outs)
NJM4580 op-amps (all channels)

Summary: The DAC of the front-out is slighty better than the AV710's Wolfson DAC (in stereo-mode). The DACs for the other outputs are not as good, but still much better than the AV-710's VIA Codec. The Op-Amps are nice, for the price of this card even excellent (M-Audio Revolution 5.1, Terratec Aureon Space/Sky, ESI Juli@, etc. use the same).

Whether you only need stereo output or all 8 channels, the Fortissimo should sound best of these 3 cards. The AV-710 can't really be recommended if you need more than 2 channels.