looking for a sound card with digital optical out

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

DaRkPhAnToM

Member
Dec 15, 2004
48
0
0
im looking to get a sound card to use instead of my onboard sound on my epox 8rda+. i want one that has optical digital out so i can run it to my surround sound reciever. i was considering the turtle beach catalina but found out it doesnt have a onboard processor for gaming and i would get lower frames in games... please reccomend a good sound card for games and also has a optical digital out plug and is fairly resonably priced. thanks guys

Mike
 
L

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,127
0
0
Audigy 1 or 2...even the SBLive (although not my preference) will get you D/O at a lesser price and does games well
 
Baked

Baked

Lifer
Dec 28, 2004
36,052
17
81
Get the Chaintech AV-710. Its DAC's better than SB's Live and Audigy series.
 
L

LED

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,127
0
0
Originally posted by: Baked
Get the Chaintech AV-710. Its DAC's better than SB's Live and Audigy series.
Click to expand...

He's a Gamer so I woyuldn't go with the Envy's Software based surround sound although the Music 2 channel is the tits
 
S

SynthDude2001

Lifer
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
2
71
I can't tell from your post if you realize this or not, but just as a heads up - you're not going to get "real" surround sound (like Dolby Digital, for example) out of any optical digital out except for the onboard Nvidia Soundstorm solutions - in all other cases the digital outputs will only pass a stereo stream (I've heard of stuff like ProLogic being used, but that seems more like a hack to me than real positional sound...).

For reference, I have an Abit NF7-S 2.0 with Soundstorm myself, and I've used the optical digital out several times before (at LAN parties mostly) - Half-Life 2 in Dolby Digital on a nice HT system (with the picture displayed on an HDTV) is freakin' sweet. :D
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
Do you want to Game in EAX and get surround ?

If so I would get a Sterio receiver that will take mutli-channel in and allow the SoundCard to do the decoding.

Otherwise the only time you will get surround is when playing movies and thats all.

I have 5.1 Surround on my 2nd computer that is hooked to my Sony A/V system and a ATI x800 Pro Connected to my 62" DLP HDTV.

The surround from Half-Life 2 sounds great!!
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
Thats what I did as well but used 3 paris of Monster THX Cables from an Audigy 2 ZS.

All my A/V Receiver takes in is 5.1 even though it does 6.1 through it's onboard decoder.

I need a better sound system.
 
P

PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
4
0
Originally posted by: Gunnman
Thats what I did as well but used 3 paris of Monster THX Cables from an Audigy 2 ZS.

All my A/V Receiver takes in is 5.1 even though it does 6.1 through it's onboard decoder.

I need a better sound system.
Click to expand...

HAHA you wasted your money....

I can't tell from your post if you realize this or not, but just as a heads up - you're not going to get "real" surround sound (like Dolby Digital, for example) out of any optical digital out except for the onboard Nvidia Soundstorm solutions - in all other cases the digital outputs will only pass a stereo stream (I've heard of stuff like ProLogic being used, but that seems more like a hack to me than real positional sound...).
Click to expand...

Incorrect. You WILL get anything encoded in dolby digital. However, anything that needs to be endoded will not be in surround sound. So MOVIES will be in surround sound. But most games...will not
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
That's ok I am rich. I never waste my money. I enjoy buying the things I like.

But, how do you figure?

I am letting my sound card do the decoding instead of my A/V Receiver.


Oh yeah, I got my receiver for free through a shopping spree when I bought my new house. I didn'y pay for it and it is not very high end. But when my Christmas bonus comes in next I am buying a new rig.

And as far as the Auidigy 2ZS I perfer them over many others for gaming. Most all new games support up to EAX 3.0 and my games sound great. Not to mention the framerate increase letting the Audigy 2 ZS process my sound and free up the CPU. Its is the best sound card on the market for that very purpose (except for the new Audigy 4). It might not be ideal if you want to run optical out to you receiver in letting the receiver decode the DTS signal. But the processor onboard the Audigy 2 ZS can decode DTS just great and the solution I am using gives me DTS and EAX for games.


 
R

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
Talk to me when you do. I can help you get the most out of your dollar. Oh, what rleemhui meant is that to buy monster cable is to waste money! I agree!
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
Monster Cable is wrapped to loose the majority of line noise compared to it competition and does produce a better signal, you do the research. All professional audio installers know this. Its is night and day when it comes to RGB. I have seen and heard the differance on audio and video. So go figure!

Its the HaHaHA part that was anoying, he is a punk and doesn't know what he is talking about.

People tend to knock what they cant afford!

I appreciate that but I am an audiofile, I know exactly what to get.
 
R

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
I can afford monster cable just fine.

In fact, I have afforded one, just to splice it to all hell, and see exactly how it was made.... $500 cable worthless, not because of what I did to it. It was that way to begin with.

And do give me that 'Professional Audio Installer' bullshite. Any teenager who works at car toys could be called that. Real audio professional like the ones who work in studios and on auditoriums/stadiums, who install most every piece of equipment into a 19" rack, know that monster cable is a hyped product with a hyped price tag. If they need a highly shieled cable they use 24-wire XLR or RG-6 and make it themselves or they buy from General Cable's Carol Division or Sound King or Belden. What made Monster famous is still thier best product. Plain ol wire.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-515
 
S

SynthDude2001

Lifer
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
2
71
Originally posted by: rleemhui
I can't tell from your post if you realize this or not, but just as a heads up - you're not going to get "real" surround sound (like Dolby Digital, for example) out of any optical digital out except for the onboard Nvidia Soundstorm solutions - in all other cases the digital outputs will only pass a stereo stream (I've heard of stuff like ProLogic being used, but that seems more like a hack to me than real positional sound...).
Click to expand...

Incorrect. You WILL get anything encoded in dolby digital. However, anything that needs to be endoded will not be in surround sound. So MOVIES will be in surround sound. But most games...will not
Click to expand...

You're right, I just worded that incorrectly I guess. Of course you'll get Dolby Digital out of DVD's and other sources that already have an encoded stream. However, the OP was referring to gaming use, and to my knowledge no games do the encoding themselves, so you'll only get the stereo. The Soundstorm chip encodes the 6-channel PCM streams into Dolby Digital, so you can send it to a receiver over one digital cable. :)
 
P

PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
4
0
Thanks Ribbon for sticking up for me. Yes I was talking about the cable not the receiver. There is no difference between a Monster THX 1000 cable (Which can cost upwards of $100 per cable) to one that costs $40-80. I assume this is the type you mean? as the other Monster THX is rather cheap. Wasn't trying to be a "punk" but as you said I have done my research and there are many better companies out there that are equal to or on par with those monster THX cables. For reference: www.bluejeanscables.com, www.bettercables.com, Acoustic research's Pro series II and master series. Do a blind A-B test and I guarantee you you wouldn't notice a difference between your cables and anyone of these companies. (FYI: Bettercables and bluejeans are two of the most highly regarded in terms of build quality among home theater enthusiasts

Synthdude:

I figured it was just an error just making sure that we didn't get the OP confused
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
Hommie said!!
________________________________________________________
I can afford monster cable just fine.

In fact, I have afforded one, just to splice it to all hell, and see exactly how it was made.... $500 cable worthless, not because of what I did to it. It was that way to begin with.

And do give me that 'Professional Audio Installer' bullshite. Any teenager who works at car toys could be called that. Real audio professional like the ones who work in studios and on auditoriums/stadiums, who install most every piece of equipment into a 19" rack, know that monster cable is a hyped product with a hyped price tag. If they need a highly shieled cable they use 24-wire XLR or RG-6 and make it themselves or they buy from General Cable's Carol Division or Sound King or Belden. What made Monster famous is still thier best product. Plain ol wire.
__________________________________________________________

Whatever dude , you need to get over yourself, what the hell is wrong with you and your sensative aloof ass. But now I do know what you consider a professional audio installer/engineer. Geese!!!

What did you think I ment when I said professional audio installer???

You think I meant Concert Halls and the such. Well no I didn't we were talking about home audio and Radio Shack vs Monster. Not professional grade audio cables and video cables. You would be talking about $1000.00s (you were originally talking about saving money???? right!)

Monster does sell a budget line of products and those are not the cables that I am referring to.

I am referring to the higher end line they sell and if you took apart your $500.00 cable you would see that the cable is braded and if you look it up , you would see that the signal to noise ratios are much lower.

I have bought the cheapies and compaired in real world and I can hear the differance. If you attach a spectrum analyzer you will see there is a distinct differance.

If you bought a $500 cable and didn't see it was rapped differantly you were robbed!! Why would you take apart the cable in the first place, your an ideot. Go buy a spectrum analyzer and save the money.

Were talking about signal to noise is what we were discussing. You need to be slapped!

This link is the tip of the iceberg man! You can see you precious Sound King side by side with Monster biotch!!

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/aud.../interconnects/SpeakerCableFaceoff.htm



 
P

PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
4
0
nothing I mentioned was more expensive than monster cable. Almost any cable you buy thats not the cheapest around will have 2 layers of shielding. I am not saying that the monster THX 1000 cables aren't well built...because they are. But for the price they should do some sort of magic to the signal. You can get the same or better quality for less. Any well made cable will be good enough to make no noticeable difference to signal quality.

People like this are the ones that think BOSE is the pinnacle of the home theater experience....

You might wanna take those $500 cables back and use it to learn how to type/spell
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
Just so you know I am not an idiot talking out my booty!! :)

Your quote "'Professional Audio Installer' bullshite. Any teenager who works at car toys could be called that"

I am not someone who needs schooling on the obvious and yes I am not full of shit.

You can say it!! Monster is better than Radio Shack. And there is a differance in their cables.
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
Oh , a personal attack ehh. Do you want me to type and spell correclty for you? Your an asshole!

I never said I bought a $500.00 cable!!
 
P

PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
4
0
Actually radio shack gold cables are quite good for the price. Not the best by any means though. I already said that monster is good. Just not good for the price. And they are NOT the best.

Loose = Lose

ideot = idiot

differance = difference

geese = geez

Braded = Braided

We'll save lesson two for sometime else
 
G

Gunnman

Member
Feb 10, 2005
77
0
0
too used to spell checker, pertty sad huh! O'well

I just type and forget. And when I am stoned it gets worse!

i say geez geese the way they did in Grease. So don't get too picky!
 
R

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
Actually recently Parts Express had a factory buyout of some 12' (R)-branded S-Video/2RCA cables cables for $12. I got one for my gf's computer with a 3.5mm-2-2RCA adapter. S-video and audio right to her tv for playing emulation. They were actually pretty nice. I could buy a Monster S-Video cable and run some video sweeps just to shoot down you RS vs Monster, but I won't bother.

I wasn't try to attack you personally, but demonstrating that Monster cables are over-priced for what they do. You can go to partsexpress.com and any of thier in-house Dayton cables will out perform the higher priced equivalent Monster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom