[Davesbeard]

That Bit-Perfect DAC/HP Amp looks great. The home cinema system can be standalone with some video and audio out from my graphics card/onboard sound. It'll likely only be streamed video from my pc anyways.

Can that DAC handle gaming? Doesn't need to be amazing or anything but as long as it works.

Edit: Why only the 3.5mm Jack as well? Does it make much difference having a 3.5mm or a quarter inch?

 

[Zaubertuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesbeard /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just to clarify. I want to use my PC as the heart of my sound system. For now i will just use headphones and PC speakers so i want a noticeable sound improvement for these two immediately. I want the option in the future to run good quality passive speakers and a home cinema system. What would be the best bit of gear to meet these requirements? Would a soundcard alone do the job or is it best used as a link from the pc to an external amp/home cinema system?

A lot of good info. here for you so far. There are a lot of different ways to integrate your PC into a home audio/theatre system. It depends on your end configuration, and what's important to you.

1.) Where do you spend (or plan to spend) most of your listening/viewing time. If you divided it into percentages, what percent of time would you be listening to music/gaming/watching movies? Of these, how much viewing would be on headphones -vs- on your speaker system?

2.) Where will the PC be in relation to the rest of your system? Are you planning on using the PC for more "office" functions as well?

For me, music and movies are important. I have a 21" widescreen Samsung LCD TV for my monitor, and my viewing/listening chair is kitty-corner close to the computer "desk." (Table, really), that is also used for home-office functions.

My onboard audio card feeds a receiver for speakers/casual listening TV/watching. It's not perfect but it's mostly for the kids' TV shows and background music for the wife.

My E-Mu 1212m "prosumer" audio card feeds my headphone setup for more critical listening and movies when everyone else is asleep. I switch between the two in software now, but am planning on a setup where the E-Mu can feed everything and I can switch with a preamp.

A higher-end sound card feeding a receiver/preamp sounds like a more elegant solution, but depending how far you go you may end up needing to split out the 7.1 solution from the stereo solution. In the meantime, maybe a good sound card with good analog stereo out that can also output 7.1 to s/pdif?

 

[FinalSight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by momomo6789 /img/forum/go_quote.gif stx i could never hear it but with forte geez that thing is bad but i did keep the forte and not the stx

...why? Wouldn't that mean you should keep the stx?

 

[Davesbeard]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help.

Think i'm gonna go for that Hotaudio DAC/headphone amp. I'm gonna be moving around a lot the next few years so a standalone home cinema system would probably be better.

Just to bump and ask this again. Can that DAC handle gaming? Doesn't need to be amazing or anything but as long as it works.

Why only the 3.5mm Jack as well? Does it make much difference having a 3.5mm or a quarter inch?

 

[ROBSCIX]

A DAC would give you sound for games of course.
If your game is using any type of effects such as EAX or OpenAL you are out of luck.

 

[Davesbeard]

Well i ordered the DAC yesterday, guess we'll see how game sound works with it. I'm not sure whether my onboard audio supports it at the moment or not.

Another thing, how do you guys get around having your headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time? Do you have it setup so that your headphones are always plugged in and making sound and then just turn your speakers on as well if you want them on?

I'm using some crappy quality headphone switch at the moment which will obviously be a total bottleneck if i keep using it but it has made the headphone/speaker switch easy.

 

[ipumuk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesbeard /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well i ordered the DAC yesterday, guess we'll see how game sound works with it. I'm not sure whether my onboard audio supports it at the moment or not. Another thing, how do you guys get around having your headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time? Do you have it setup so that your headphones are always plugged in and making sound and then just turn your speakers on as well if you want them on? I'm using some crappy quality headphone switch at the moment which will obviously be a total bottleneck if i keep using it but it has made the headphone/speaker switch easy.

you can plugin your headset and speakers at the same time. the dac has 2 analog outputs.

connect the mic to your old onboard soundcard.

 

[Stereo_Sanchez]

I've been using an old headphone switch as well. Thanks for the insight on a better approach.

 

[Davesbeard]

If they're both plugged in won't the headphones always be on? Is this an issue?