2.1 Audio Setup

[nick9871]

So I am looking for a new computer audio setup. I listen to all of my audio through my comptuer via ripped mp3's or lossless files. Currently I have a Audigy 1 and Kiplsch 2.1 Ultra speakers and some Sennheiser headphones. I want the ultimate mp3 listening setup. I will probably be upgrading the klipschs to a 2.1 Adire Audio Hi-Fi setup built by me. But what soundcard should i get? I asked a while ago about the x-fi, but was wondering if there were better options for 2.1 audio. I do game, but not in surround and i do not listen to 5.1 music. Any suggestions?

 

[OdiN]

Terratec makes good cards. Also Chaintech's I think AV710 that YoYo always recommends is supposed to be excellent for 2.1 listening.

Of course...for the ultimate in listening....

http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/ces2001/accessories/image_014.shtml

 

[Meuge]

Make sure you have good equipment driving your speakers. A good amp will go a long way towards better sound. Personally I prefer a full component system. External DAC -> Analog Preamp -> Crossover -> Amp for speakers / Sub.

Depending on how much money you're willing to spend, I could offer you some options.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Audiotrak Prodigy would suit your needs well.

 

[nick9871]

Well I can't see why I would want to buy all seperate components for a mp3 listening station. In the end I would still be limited to the quality of the source file, soundcard's processor and soundcards internal DAC's. Unless I use some kind of spdif output but again wouldnt the soundcard ahve to uncompress the compressed mp3 file? So lets stick to the sound card here, and not worry about speakers/amplifiers. Just assume I will be using teh analog out on the soundcard and a stereo hifi amplifier and speakers.

 

[Slammy1]

Budget? The cheaper cards would include (in order of cheapness) Chaintech, Santa Cruz, Revo. The issue with Creative's earlier releases is that they upsampled the 44.1kHz sources to 48kHz. Can't say if the X-Fi does it cause I don't pay attention to creative cards anymore (past the one I have). If you were looking to connect to a receiver, something like the X-Plosion would be decent though since you're not, scratch that. If you want to spend significantly more than $100 for a soundcard, you might research here for some higher end gear.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=91

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, I do recommend the chaintech for music listening. It has a lot of good opinions out there and althought it's not a great gaming card, it's very good at stereo analog or digital out.

You can use it's wolfson DAC for the 7/8 jack to output stereo and there are some different mods you can do to it.

I only used it for digital out and didn't try to get the absolute best out of it, but it's a great deal for a music card at ~$25.

A rather old thread about it and other Via Envy cards:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=364771

Beyond that, even if you don't game in surround sound, the X-Fi cards are supposed to have a great surround feature from standard headphones. The Xtreme Music was going for $75 after rebate last week and that was quite the deal.
If you don't enable the "features" like the crystallizer, the X-Fi looks to have very good music performance.