Question about digital out , soundcard and Z-5500

[Flying Knee]

Id it true that i i won't notice a difference in sound quality if i use the digital out of my soundcard to my Z-5500 ?

Basically , i now have an Audigy 2 ZS and a Logitech Z-5500 speakers set. I'm thinking about upgrading to a Xi-Fi Prelude/Xonar D2X but i have read in a few places that i won't notice much of a difference if any with digital between the two cards considering that the Z-5500 does all the decoding. In other words , that the card simply pass the digital signal to the speakers and let the Z-5500 does the rest of the job.

I have heard that i would notice a big difference in analog but not in digital for the reason i mentionned above. I'd like to know if it's true before spending 150$ on a Prelude/D2X.

 

[Slugbait]

Are you currently connected with coax? I never bothered with my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum, since the damn cards didn't come with the cable, Creative didn't sell them, and there was so much confusion for so long on which cable to buy...so I skipped it and went all analog to my Z-680, and then dumped Creative when I got my Bad Axe II and went all digital.

 

[Absolution75]

bit for bit it will be the same sound, thus, won't really be worth it. The instant Dolby solution seems to be incredibly buggy though. Also, you can use a normal 1/8th inch andio to 2x coax cable (red & white) and it will work. You just plugin one cable as coax

 

[olmer]

No point. I have Z5500 with Music version of Audigy and it is all soft-based anyway. Use only 6ch direct. As much as i try to THX/SA-setup speakers i cannot notice any difference between digital optical and direct whatever the source. Using direct you at least make that Creative piece of junk work for you. Believe me – i would have dropped that buggy piece of piece altogether if i had a half decent integrated like 888/9+. Do not waste you money.

 

[0roo0roo]

no point. as said the digital speaker thing is mostly a gimmick, you move the final decode from one place to another. big deal. most home theater/high end audio doesn't bother, why would cheap computer speakers need it. the limitation for audio is almost always being limited by the quality of speakers, not the soundcard. and in your case most definitely so.