Newbie friendly PC audio advice needed

[ravenus]

Hi,
this is probably my first post on this forum and it's to ask advice in an area I am quite clueless in. I am currently using the onboard audio (Realtek) on my Home PC and I feel that the sound is not as punchy and clear as compared to my DVD player, both connected to the same Amp + Speakers. I would be happy to get useful suggestions to improve this lot.

My current home media setup is as follows:
1. PC - Intel Desktop Board DH55HC, Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66 Ghz, 2x2GB Corsair DDR3 1333, MSI Radeon 5850 1GB
2. Pioneer DVD player DV-220KV
3. Norge Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Indian make, accepts only analog input) http://norgeaudio.com/
4. Mordaunt-Short Avant 902i speakers

PC is connected to amp by RCA stereo cable (Bandridge), as is the DVD player.

Should I consider getting a discrete sound card? I was looking through forum threads that suggested DAC's and other stuff but I'm confused by the technical jargon. My max budget for any such improvement would be $200 (preferably lower). Improvement in music playback would be my primary concern, then gaming.

Thanks in advance

 

[sdifox]

well, DAC just means digital to analogue converter and that is what your onboard soundcard is doing right now.

What are you using to playback music? Also, when you say not as clear as your dvd player, are you playing the same material for comparison?

Find out what the problem is before spending cash :biggrin:

 

[joetekubi]

Almost any discrete music card will give you greater fidelity than the on-board Realtek audio. Choose Creative Audigy or x-fi for cheap, or an Asus Xonar for a bit cleaner audio:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...cription=xonar

I haven't heard any of the Xonar cards, so I can't tell you if the $200 cards sound that much better than the $80 cards.

 

[ravenus]

Comparing Same CD's. I use Winamp to play CD's. Volume is definitely lower and sounds muddier than when I play the CD on the DVD player. Yeah, I'll be happier to spend less money too, I'm not that much of an audiophile

 

[sdifox]

Comparing Same CD's. I use Winamp to play CD's. Volume is definitely lower and sounds muddier than when I play the CD on the DVD player. Yeah, I'll be happier to spend less money too, I'm not that much of an audiophile

did you try foobar 2000?

http://www.foobar2000.org/

 

[Thump553]

I'm a quasi-audiophile (interested in it but too cheap) and I use foobar 2000 and onboard audio on two different computers and am perfectly happy with it. I suspect you have some setting wrong somewhere.

I doubt foobar 2000 is the difference, even the makers of the program admit that essentially all audio playback programs are essentially the same.

It's possible that the connection to your stereo amp is messed up somehow, or maybe you have a really bad set of interconnect cables (I'm not of the golden ear school that claims to be able to hear differences in interconnects).

Finally, remember that a very old audio salesman trick is to play the speakers you want to sell louder than the others. Louder speakers (up to the point of distortion) always sound better. Balance the output volume of the computer and DVD player so they are the same, then do an A/B test on the same audio material. I'd do this first.

 

[bobdole369]

8-channel (5.1+ 2 independent multi-streaming) audio subsystem with three analog audio outputs using the Realtek ALC888S* audio codec

The Realtek ALC888S is a damn fine codec with excellent paper specs. Intel makes incredible sounding boards, as does (usually) Gigabyte, and I take offense to the thought that "onboard audio must suck"

Almost any discrete music card will give you greater fidelity than the on-board Realtek audio.

The quoted statement is blatantly false and I back it up with real data

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=317219

http://learjeff.net/RMAA/results.html

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=223806&page=2

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=73731

http://translate.google.com/transla...10.php&langpair=de|en&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

(you'll note the big problem that exists for Creative Audigy stuff is that they all resample to 48khz). I suspect maybe its something with the input on that Indian Receiver.

There is nothing that the soundcard is doing to effect this BTW, audio is sent digitally to the DAC, its translated to audio, then out the back it goes. Perhaps you have some setting on (like an environmental thing in the realtek software)?

 

[ravenus]

Finally, remember that a very old audio salesman trick is to play the speakers you want to sell louder than the others. Louder speakers (up to the point of distortion) always sound better

Thing is, my PC audio device settings show that it is set at max volume. AT max settings I require to set the volume higher than with my DVD player. Why I'm worried is, I'm planning to get a BluRay drive for this machine mainly to watch movies / concert performances and I'd hate to have a lower sound output than what I get now with my DVD player.

Thanks for suggestions so far.

 

[Thump553]

Ravenus: can you turn the output down on the DVD player before it goes into the receiver? Also, remember you have two volume controls on the computer side, one in winplay and the other for audio generally-if using windows
you should find a volume icon in the lower tray, right hand side.

Also a long shot-(this is showing my audiophile age) do you have the computer running in to the PHONO inputs on the receiver? If so change it to any other set of inputs.

 

[ravenus]

Both my PC audio and Winamp vol settings are at max.
OK now, I have gotten what I feel is a noticeable improvement by downloading a newer set of drivers from the Mobo support page. I'm a little surprised since the previous drivers were less than a year older, but I won't complain .
The sound is definitely louder although I feel it's still not as punchy as the player while keeping other settings same. Then again I guess I can tweak the amp settings bit instead of spending on a new soundcard, eh?

 

[s44]

Some mobos have a bug where they split the power to all 6/8 analog outputs even if you have only two connected, causing excessively low volume. In any case, onboard codecs are basically fine *except* if you have audible electrical interference issues.

 

[joetekubi]

The Realtek ALC888S is a damn fine codec with excellent paper specs. Intel makes incredible sounding boards, as does (usually) Gigabyte, and I take offense to the thought that "onboard audio must suck"



The quoted statement is blatantly false and I back it up with real data


(you'll note the big problem that exists for Creative Audigy stuff is that they all resample to 48khz).

OK! I stand corrected. Every comparison I've found shows that the newer Realtek audio tests very good compared to most add-on sound cards.

BTW, no need to "take offense". I readily admit that some people can hear subtle differences that I can not. All that really matters is one's subjective experience balanced by objective measurements.

 

[joetekubi]

Well the good folks at TechReport (certainly no slouches) agree with my original statement with a comparison to the latest Realtek:
"That brings me to the question we posed at the beginning of this review, which is whether you really need a sound card at all. The simple answer is no. You can get by with integrated audio and live blissfully unaware of what you're missing or stubbornly claim that no difference exists. ..... The question is not whether you need those upgrades, but if they're worth the additional expense. In the case of the $30 Xonar DG, the answer is a definitive yes. If you have halfway decent headphones or speakers, the DG offers a very real step up in sound quality for what amounts to a pittance. That's Editor's Choice material—easy."
http://techreport.com/articles.x/19997/1

 

[Thump553]

revenus: I'm intrigued how you solve this. If s44's suggestion of a possible motherboard bug is the problem (and you seem to have eliminated every other possible cause already) then the Xonar XG ($23 after rebate from Newegg) suggested by joeteubi) looks to be a satisfactory low cost solution.

Let us know if you find a solution.

 

[ravenus]

Well I live in India, so those rebates don't apply to me. I'l have to see if the local PC market has the Xonar DG. Last I heard (admittedly several months ago) they only had the higher end Xonar models, so it was a choice between mobo sound or spending nearly 200$ equivalent.

 

[cheesehead]

The old M-Audio USB Audiophile is pretty easy to find secondhand, and works very well. If you can't find it, there's also a lot of fairly good USB soundcards based around the PCM270x chips.