Optical vs. Direct?

[big4x4]

Which one is better? I have an audigy 2 Plat. Pro and z 680's. What are the advantages? It seems with optical I only have 2.1 sound in games! Thank you

 

[ponyo]

direct. better sound and 5.1 in games.

 

[JBDan]

Actually the optical will give you better sound quality for DVD's encoded in 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS and optical is by far superior in music CD sound, but as Naustica states gaming will sound better (surround) with Direct connections. I'm guessing this is due to the audio encoding that games support. Its not the same as DVD's.

 

[ponyo]

direct will sound better for everything.

 

[JBDan]

WHY?

 

[JBDan]

FYI optical is the ONLY connection that is 100% immune to EMI therefore is the BEST in quality 🙂

 

[SynthDude2001]

It hasn't been pointed out yet, so I'll do it:

There is no way to get a digital 5.1 signal through that optical output if it's not already premixed (DVD's, etc). The Audigy 2 cannot encode a Dolby Digital signal in real-time; you'd need an nForce2 motherboard with SoundStorm for that.

 

[bigj3347]

why is soundstorm no longer used in the newer generation nforce boards? Soundstorm was awesome with my Z-680s but once I upgraded, I had to buy a audigy 2 gamer to get good 5.1 sound. Audigy 2 and Z680 is awesome with direct connections. But I still miss the simplicity and beauty of soundstorm. Is it ever gonna make a comeback?

 

[imported_alp]

maybe

 

[Auric]

Real-time software DD encoders are available but alas shan't work for games. Best of all worlds is to connect both digital and analog and just use analog for 4+ channel games. However, the DAC in the Audigy is superior to that in such cheap-o speaker/amp/decoder kits so you may find analog better for even movies and music. Of course either way you are at the mercy of the kit's amp for noise and speakers for fidelity.