[Tim182]

I am looking for a new soundcard and was hoping to get some advice on which one would be most suitable for my purposes.
 
I connect a set of Logitech Z5450 to my PC. The speakers are currently connected via SPDIF to my onboard sound. I have read that I can get an improvement in audio quality if I get a good sound card to do the digital to analogue audio processing and connect the speakers via analogue instead. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I also want to connect a pair of Sennheiser HD558 so a soundcard with a decent headphone output would be a plus!
 
I use my PC to listen to music and as a media center connected to my TV to watch movies. So the soundcard needs to be able to process AC3, DTS, DD and whatever else you can find in HD encoded movies.
 
I would really appreciate some info! Someone suggested a Xonar DG, not sure if this would suit my purpose?
 

 

[trog]

I would suggest moving to better speakers rather than sinking big on a sound card for PC/Multimedia speakers For DTS-HD Master[size=small]/Dolby[/size][size=small] TrueHD[/size] you could go with a HDMI AVR but cheaper coax/optical DD/DTS AVRs could be had very easily these days and just pass out digital audio out (omit soundcard)

 

[Tim182]

 
Quote:

I would suggest moving to better speakers rather than sinking big on a sound card for PC/Multimedia speakers For DTS-HD Master[size=small]/Dolby[/size][size=small] TrueHD[/size] you could go with a HDMI AVR but cheaper coax/optical DD/DTS AVRs could be had very easily these days and just pass out digital audio out (omit soundcard)

I don't want to invest in better speakers at this point . I stay in an apartment and am limited with space and volume. All I want is a decent driver for my headphones and a card which can handle a good 5.1 output for movies. My onboard sound often has issues with decoding...
 

 

[weez82]

You wont get better sound quality by getting a new sound card and using your current speakers. But if you need the features that the xonar dg has, get it. And it might help the headphones but I cant say cause I dont have either. But with all that said, you cant go wrong with the $27 xonar

 

[Tim182]

Quote:

You wont get better sound quality by getting a new sound card and using your current speakers. But if you need the features that the xonar dg has, get it. And it might help the headphones but I cant say cause I dont have either. But with all that said, you cant go wrong with the $27 xonar

I am having a issues with clipping using my onboard sound and decoding doesn't work properly with some movies. Apart from that its the headphone output that I am after.
 
So you basically don't see any benefit in spending extra money for the DX or a Auzen X-fi Forte?
 
Would I see a difference in sound quality with a slightly better sound system like a Z5500 or does it only make a difference with a proper high-end home theater?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim182 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
So you basically don't see any benefit in spending extra money for the DX or a Auzen X-fi Forte?

 
The Xonar DX does not have a headphone amplifier, and is not ideal for the HD558.
 

 

[Tim182]

Quote:

 
The Xonar DX does not have a headphone amplifier, and is not ideal for the HD558.
 

Very true.
 
I think I may just go for the DG. Seems good enough for my purposes. I am a bit confused though with the formats. It says it supports DD and DTS but not Pro Logic. Does this mean that the card can't decode Pro-Logic and put it out over analogue 5.1 or this this means that it doesn't support Pro-Logic throughput over optical?
 
I just want a card that easily supports any audio I throw at it and puts it out to my 5.1 system via analogue. I really don't want to spend hours configuring the thing every time I play a movie.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Very true.
I think I may just go for the DG. Seems good enough for my purposes. I am a bit confused though with the formats. It says it supports DD and DTS but not Pro Logic. Does this mean that the card can't decode Pro-Logic and put it out over analogue 5.1 or this this means that it doesn't support Pro-Logic throughput over optical?
I just want a card that easily supports any audio I throw at it and puts it out to my 5.1 system via analogue. I really don't want to spend hours configuring the thing every time I play a movie.

There is a Pro-logic setting in the Xonar Control Panel, but only works when the Dolby Headphone is enabled.
The Xonar DG will do a decent job of driving the Senn HD558s.
Some places sell the Xonar DG this month with a $10 mail in rebate.