Are 3D audio cards really worth it with only 2 speakers?

[Nemi]

I currently have an AudioPCI sound card with hooked up to my home stereo and it sounds great. I get positional(stereo) effects fine. What will a SBlive add with only 2 speakers? And is it worth it?

Setting up rear speakers in my environment would be difficult, but I ask you this: I assume I can just go out and buy a cheap pair of computer speakers and plug them into the rear channel of the sound card, correct?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Jumpem]

Another sound question, I too have my speakers running from a stereo receiver/amp. For EAX do the speakers have to go directly to the outputs of the sound card? Or will EAX work through a receiver.

 

[Fant]

I found in too many situations..4 speakers around a computer is impractical. So a 2 channel sound card should suffice. However you can use a 4 channel sound card with 2 speakers. What I've found is newer sound cards tend to have better electronics and stronger signal/noise ratios so it's worth getting the newer 4 channel cards if you are interested in sound quality even if you have only 2 speakers.

 

[arod]

Also if you ever decide to upgrade your speaker system or add 2 to the rears you would need a new sound card. it is just an investment in the future.

 

[sandorski]

Nemi: My Aureal SQ2500(Vortex2 A3D)card does do 3d position well through 2 speakers, how good the Live is with 2 speakers I don't know, but I do know that my SQ2500 has better 3d positioning then my bro's Live with 5 speaker surround. A lot depends also on how good your speakers are. Cheap speakers matched to a high quality souncard, like the Live or SQ2500, will still produce cheap sound. Whatever you do, never skimp on the speakers, even your current card may produce a better sound improvement with better speakers then a new soundcard with your current speakers, depending of course on what speakers you currently have. If your speakers are good, you may or may not notice better 3d positioning with the Live, but you will notice an improvement in the clarity and overall quality of the audio.

Jump: No problem, the effects will work fine through a receiver

 

[wesman2]

I just moved from the AudioPCI (orignal ensoniq card) to the SBlive! value. The thing I noticed most was the line noise from the 'line in' (my tv tuner card) was greatly reduced. I also changed my cpu, mobo, case, ps and cdrom so it could be that.

 

[Zucchini]

The live! doesn't do squat for two speaker positional audio. Aureal cards do, but aureal is gone. The turtle beach santa cruz supports all 3d formats and 2 speaker output as well as 4 and 5.1 speaker output. I would go with that, it also has 18 bit dacs and very good signal to noise ratio. It also has a separate jack for headphones.

As for hooking up a quad speaker card to a reciever, yes you can as long as your reciever has 4 inputs for 4 speakers Basically two sets of stereo speakers at once and separately.

 

[Goi]

Actually, even if your receiver/amp has 2 sets of speaker outputs(front and rear) you won't be able to take advantage of whatever 4 speakers positional/environmental sound that the sound card offers. The sound card itself will have 2 sets of unpowered speaker outputs(or line outs). If you have a single amp with 2 sets of speaker outputs, that amp will be be connected to only 1 speaker output of the soundcard(presumably the front) and the other won't be used. So, your front and rear speakers will sound exactly the same, unless your amp itself does some sort of processing to the sound(dolby stuff, etc). You won't be able to take advantage of EAX or A3D without 2 separate sets of powered speakers. By powered it would be the speakers have integrated amps in them, or you could have 2 separate amps connected to the soundcard driving the front and rear speakers.

 

[Tominator]

Nemi
If it has the 1370 chip on it, it will handle 4 speakers. Use the Creative PCI64 drivers, just install right over the Ensoniq drivers.

It does A3D 1.0 btw.

 

[R2D2]

My SBLive front speaker output is connected to my stereo receiver inputs (via a cable adapter that changes the '1/8" stereo mini jack' to stereo 'RCA jack' inputs - left & right).

I then run 2 shielded bookshelf speakers and a powered sub from the receiver. This absolutely Rocks.

I sometimes hook a set of Cambridge Soundworks computer speakers to the Rear speaker output on the Live, to get the 4-speaker effect. However, the sound from the rear is so much lower grade than the fronts, that it is painful to listen to.

I get fairly good positional effect from the Live in "2-speaker" mode. And the overall sound is better (in my view) than the Monster Sound I had in there before.

I'm currently looking into purchasing a receiver with 5.1 INPUTS. (that is 5 discrete INPUT channels). I can then hook my Live's front speaker output to the receiver's front speaker input, and the Live's rear speaker output to the receiver's rear speaker input, and they will be amplified independantly.

Technics has a 100watt x 5 Dolby Digital receiver for about $150 - 175 US.


I currently have a Sony 100w x 2 receiver, Infinity Reference bookshelf speakers, and a JBL 12" 120watt powered sub. This darn near breaks glass - truly!

I'm going to rob the sub from my Home Theater system to use for the rear speakers next (getting a new dual 12" for the home theater).


Bottom line Nemi: You can't go wrong with the Live. I'll attest to that.

R2

 

[Soccerman]

I actually heard that Aureals cards were the best for 2 speaker situations, and that they actually sound the best with Headphones on (with 4 speaker mode coming a close second), rather then 4 speakers.

 

[NicColt]

Guys like I posted in another thread, never mind the left and right outputs. The question is can you run the digital out from the SBLive to a Surround receiver digital input and have the EAX effects or surround. Does a digital in on a receiver exist?



<< My SBLive front speaker output is connected to my stereo receiver inputs (via a cable adapter that changes the '1/8&quot; stereo mini jack' to stereo 'RCA jack' inputs - left &amp; right). >>


R2D2 I have a similar setup 100W Clements speakers, I went to a computer store yesterday to listen to computer speakers, and nothing they had even came close to this Quality of sound. Check out the pic this setup on my webpage. and I agree it Rocks.

 

[BD2003]

Sb live is garbage for 2 speaker 3d audio, and extreme garbage for headphone 3d audio. With 4 speakers it sounds fantastic. Aureal is dead, but I heard the canyon 3d chips are pretty good in 2 speaker 3d audio, so you might want to look into getting an MX400.

 

[Zucchini]

From what i know, the digital out would only be useful for feeding ac3 dvd audio streams to your reciever. Other then that,nothing.

 

[Vrangel]

Aureal is dead ,however its assets have been bought by Creative.
We might see driver updates at some point. At least for Win2k.

In the meantime I am enjoying awesome 3d sound
with 2 speakers/headphones while playing HL/c-strike.
Aureal walked extra mile and wrote all A3D sound code for HL.

Now SQ2500 can be found online for $25.
And it sounds great in every game I play.
But in HL you have to hear the difference yourself to believe it.