New Speaker question

[Sutorx]

Im looking to get some decent speakers, right now i have some creative 2.1's cheapies, and i have an audigy 2zs,
was wondering what exactly the digital port was for? or if there are speakers for it?
any suggestions i would love thanks.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1940133&enterthread=y

What's your budget for this?

Are you looking for 2.1 or a surround set?

 

[Sutorx]

probably a surrond set and great post on explaining what a digital out is, why does my audigy 2 zs even have one then?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Sutorx
probably a surrond set and great post on explaining what a digital out is, why does my audigy 2 zs even have one then?

Digital out is most useful for people hooking up to receivers and such. Bass management is easier that way and as long as you don't need to encode anything in real time, digital out on even cheap soundcards can be a great way to get audio out to your receiver.

 

[Sutorx]

ahhhh ty sir, just wondering for my own info,
what about some decent inexpensive gaming speakers

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I don't think you mentioned a budget yet?

 

[Sutorx]

haha sorry, i would love to try to stay under 200 dollars, obviously the cheaper the better

 

[konakona]

digital out is there as some people prefer using a DAC circuitry better than what is used on the sound card. Though audigy is known to be moddable to sound quite alright, in its purest form it isnt really all that great, or such is the opinion of many enthusiasts. By having a digital out, they are giving you an option to bypass the inferior on-board one and spring for a better standalone DAC, or a receiver, amp that has a better DAC built-in.

Some "multimedia" speakers come with a digital-in, and often the quality of their DACs are not any better than audigy's, so I see it as a gimmick rather than a feature.

I am a headphile, Yeo's Monica 2 USB works fine for me

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Sutorx
haha sorry, i would love to try to stay under 200 dollars, obviously the cheaper the better

The Logitech z-5500s can be had for less than $200 if you get a good deal. A lot of people are happy with speakers on that level.

You be able to hook up via analog or try out your digital out and let the z-5500's control pod do the conversion to analog to see (hear) for yourself.

The entry level "real" 5.1 systems at that budget are generally really crappy so if you must have surround, the z-5500s are probably a good starting point.

 

[konakona]

if music is higher priority to you, Swan M10 is a very compelling choice @ $100ish.

 

[Sutorx]

thanks for the info, im going to look for the logitechs, they look pretty sweet.