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Soundstorm and new 5.1 speakers...

A

Actaeon

Diamond Member
I'm thinking of getting a set of these eventually to replace my ugly, crappy, and old 2.1 sound system.

Would my SoundStorm on my NF7-S V2.0 be sufficient? I remember hearing about how good it was supposed to be, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I did a search here, and I really couldn't find much info on SoundStorm other than rumors it might appear on Nforce4, blah blah. I did a google search, but all I really found was just a review of my board and a glance over of its SoundStorm capabilities.

So.. I suppose my questions are...

Is my SoundStorm sufficient? If not, what would you recommend?
Are those speakers ok? If not, what would you recommend? I was looking at the Z-680s and while they're a bit more than I'd like to spend, is it worth the extra cash? I was also looking at the Z-640s, but I hear mixed reviews on them, so I rather spend $130-ish for a good system than $50 on a crappy one. But comments on those are appreciated as well.
Any notes or comments I should keep in mind while upgrading? I'm not a huge audiophile, so I don't know much, just a few basics, so I'm sure any hints would be great.

I have no idea when I'll get a new sound system, but I'm doing research right now and looking for opinions. I think I need a job first 😉.

Thanks.

EDIT: Oh, and a few other questions I forgot to ask.

There is an SPDIF adapter thing on the back of the board. I'm pretty sure thats used for audio. Can I use that in any way? Will it sound better than the regular analog?

Also, there is only 5 analog things in the back for speakers. I'm assuming 1 for each channel. How would I hook up headphones and a microphone to the computer if all 5 channels are being taken up by the 5.1 system?

Thanks again.

EDIT AGAIN:

I might be using this system on my Xbox down the line I could... right now it would be difficult to set up (Xbox and PC are far apart), but the option to do so would be very appealing. So if you have a recommendation for speakers, keep that in mind 🙂.

Once again, thanks.
 
There's already reviews out there like one by PCStats that shows that soundstorm runs neck and neck with separate soundcards giving them a run for their money. It's also better than other integrated solutions currently by via, intel etc.
 
And SoundStorm is the only solution that will ENCODE sound from all sources into DD. Other cards can only DECODE DD, or pass bitstream DD signals.
 
You've got to decide whether or not you're going the DD5.1 route. If you are, the SoundStorm audio is perfect. If you're going to go with an analog setup, maybe look at a different card.
 
Originally posted by: TerryMathews
You've got to decide whether or not you're going the DD5.1 route. If you are, the SoundStorm audio is perfect. If you're going to go with an analog setup, maybe look at a different card.
Click to expand...

Sure, DD5.1 sounds good to me. Is that better?

As I said, I don't know much about audio and all that 🙂. I know Dolby Digital is supposed to be good I think, and if that sounds better, than I'm all for it.
 
I don't know if Soundstorm would outdo Intel's Hi-Def 32bit audio would it?

Oh, and 3 of the analog ports are for the speakers (front, center, and rear), and the other two are for headphones and microphones.

If it has optical in, then you could run your Xbox doing that. You'd need the S-Video or Component cables for the Xbox though.
 
why doesnt nvidia put soundstorm on the nForce 3 250 Gb chipset motherboards for the athlon 64's? soundstorm is exactly what most people need.
 
Maybe, maybe not. Intel is trying to merge computers with home entertainment with their new audio. It's supposed to aim for the same fidelity, but in a computer.
 
Originally posted by: TerryMathews
You've got to decide whether or not you're going the DD5.1 route. If you are, the SoundStorm audio is perfect. If you're going to go with an analog setup, maybe look at a different card.
Click to expand...

That's way too complicated. If it was say realtek or something worse, it'd be worth it to get a soundcard.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Thanks darkswordsman17 for elaborating on the analog outputs.

I suppose the general concensus is that the Soundstorm is fine for my plans. As far as the DD5.1 route, what do you guys think? I mainly just something easy to setup with some good sound. If DD5.1 isn't that much harder to "install" or whatever, then I'm all up for that.

Are those speakers ok? If not, what would you recommend? I was looking at the Z-680s and while they're a bit more than I'd like to spend, is it worth the extra cash? I was also looking at the Z-640s, but I hear mixed reviews on them, so I rather spend $130-ish for a good system than $50 on a crappy one. But comments on those are appreciated as well.

Any notes or comments I should keep in mind while upgrading? I'm not a huge audiophile, so I don't know much, just a few basics, so I'm sure any hints would be great.
 
Originally posted by: Actaeon
Originally posted by: TerryMathews
You've got to decide whether or not you're going the DD5.1 route. If you are, the SoundStorm audio is perfect. If you're going to go with an analog setup, maybe look at a different card.
Click to expand...

Sure, DD5.1 sounds good to me. Is that better?

As I said, I don't know much about audio and all that 🙂. I know Dolby Digital is supposed to be good I think, and if that sounds better, than I'm all for it.
Click to expand...

DD5.1 has two things going for it:
-Simplicity of cabling... It's one cable instead of a minimum of three. Whether you go optical (TOSLINK) or coaxial (RCA), you only need one cable to manage all six channels of audio.

-Simplicity of use. If you're going to be using this computer for watching DVDs et cetera, if you use a non-SoundStorm audio solution you're going to have to toggle back and forth between analog input and digital input if you want to listen to the DD5.1 or DTS soundtracks from your movies and still have 5.1 sound from the rest of your Windows applications. This is less of an issue when the receiver/processor is nearby, but in a true HTPC application, you don't want to have to continually select analog or digital everytime you start doing something else.

For us to give you a more detailed recommendation, you really need to lay out exactly what you want to do with this setup and where it's going to be located in relation to the computer.

EDIT: In regards to your most recent post, if you're already looking at the Z-680s, maybe if you go the SoundStorm route, you should give some thought to a real stereo receiver and speakers. The kind you put in a home theater. A good cheap set would be around $300 vs. $150 for the Z-680s and be much more functional. Of course, it may be overkill but it'd probably be the only one you'd buy for a while.
 
Originally posted by: TerryMathews
Originally posted by: Actaeon
Originally posted by: TerryMathews
You've got to decide whether or not you're going the DD5.1 route. If you are, the SoundStorm audio is perfect. If you're going to go with an analog setup, maybe look at a different card.
Click to expand...

Sure, DD5.1 sounds good to me. Is that better?

As I said, I don't know much about audio and all that 🙂. I know Dolby Digital is supposed to be good I think, and if that sounds better, than I'm all for it.
Click to expand...

DD5.1 has two things going for it:
-Simplicity of cabling... It's one cable instead of a minimum of three. Whether you go optical (TOSLINK) or coaxial (RCA), you only need one cable to manage all six channels of audio.

-Simplicity of use. If you're going to be using this computer for watching DVDs et cetera, if you use a non-SoundStorm audio solution you're going to have to toggle back and forth between analog input and digital input if you want to listen to the DD5.1 or DTS soundtracks from your movies and still have 5.1 sound from the rest of your Windows applications. This is less of an issue when the receiver/processor is nearby, but in a true HTPC application, you don't want to have to continually select analog or digital everytime you start doing something else.

For us to give you a more detailed recommendation, you really need to lay out exactly what you want to do with this setup and where it's going to be located in relation to the computer.
Click to expand...

My computer is just sitting in a room, and uh, I want the speakers around it? I'm just going to game and listen to music on it. Thats all I really want to do with it for now, but I'd like the ability to move to hook it to my Xbox if possible, that would be awesome. I don't plan on having an HTPC or watching DVDs on this computer.
 
Well, in addition to your post edit, the Z-680s are around $200 I think. I wouldn't want to spend that much unless they're alot better than the Z-5300's I linked too earlier. From what I read, it appears the Z-5300 is probally fine for me, but I just wanted second opinions.

I already have a Soundstorm, so if my Soundstorm is fine and I don't have to buy another card I won't.

I mostly just plan on gaming/music on this.
 
You'll be able to hook up your Xbox using any of these speakers including Z640s. So I wouldn't worry about that.

I own Z640s and Z680s. I don't own Z5300 and have never heard them so I can't give you opinion on that although people seem to generally like them. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the three. All are pretty good in their respective price range IMO. It sounds to me like even Z640s will satisfy your needs.

As for soundcard, I would just use the onboard on your NF7-S. It sounds pretty decent. If you find it lacking, you can always buy something like Audigy 2 later on.

I would recommend buying Z640 from Amazon for $45 and using your onboard. If you upgrade your PC speakers later on, use the Z640s for your Xbox or TV.
 
I was in your same situation before, my nforce2 sound or audigy 2. I played some games on my friends comp and didn't notice too much of a difference between both, so I stuck with the nforce2 APU.
 
Hrm, thanks for the replies guys. Sorry for not coming back on earlier, my HDD is busted. Long story 😉, but I think its on its final legs.

Maybe the Z640s would suit me fine, I think I need a new HDD first before I can go ahead with these 5.1s 🙁.

So, I suppose all I need is to decide how much I want to spend on speakers. It appears they'll hook up to my Xbox or whatever other 5.1s I wanna setup, and my Soundstorm is just fine 🙂. Sounds good to me.

Thanks again!
 
5.1 speakers use 3 analog jacks. 1 for front pairs, 1 for rear pairs and 1 for the centre channel.

SPDIF would sound better than analog.

Yes, it's good enough. It's great when you're comparing features and CPU usage, but it's adequate when it comes to analog output. It's the digital output that has been recieving the praise. The DD decoding is only available using analog.

You have your board, SoundStorm is good enough to drive analog but would be great using digital.
 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
5.1 speakers use 3 analog jacks. 1 for front pairs, 1 for rear pairs and 1 for the centre channel.

SPDIF would sound better than analog.

Yes, it's good enough. It's great when you're comparing features and CPU usage, but it's adequate when it comes to analog output. It's the digital output that has been recieving the praise. The DD decoding is only available using analog.

You have your board, SoundStorm is good enough to drive analog but would be great using digital.
Click to expand...

As I've mentioned before, I'm a newbie at this.

Is there a way I can "use or enable" the digital output? An adapter or different speaker set of the sort?

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by: Actaeon
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
5.1 speakers use 3 analog jacks. 1 for front pairs, 1 for rear pairs and 1 for the centre channel.

SPDIF would sound better than analog.

Yes, it's good enough. It's great when you're comparing features and CPU usage, but it's adequate when it comes to analog output. It's the digital output that has been recieving the praise. The DD decoding is only available using analog.

You have your board, SoundStorm is good enough to drive analog but would be great using digital.
Click to expand...

As I've mentioned before, I'm a newbie at this.

Is there a way I can "use or enable" the digital output? An adapter or different speaker set of the sort?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

thats exactly what i want to no too. Someboy plz explain....
 
Soundstorm is not included on the Nforce 3's because Nvidia was gungho about 1 chip solution.

Now Sounstorm is awesome no doubt but in analog the A2 is supposedly better. However SS is the ONLY solution that can encode in realtime Dolby Digital via SPDIF header to an external receiver. So what you would need to do would be run over to BB or Circuit City get a receiver and then by some nice speakers that connect to it (like a home theatre system).

Soundstorm is also much lower CPU usage than anything else on the market.

A2 however is the best (generally speaking) soundcard for analog output (Z-640's).

-Kevin
 
Glad I found this thread. Right now I have a 2.1 speaker setup, and have been looking at the Logitech Z-5300's as well. I'm thinking about upgrading to a 5.1 setup, but only if the price is < $200. I have a Shuttle SN41G2V2, which has soundstorm. It has 3 analog jacks, and a SPDIF output. I'm curious about the latter because I've read that would give better quality.

Forgive my ignorance, but after reading Gamingphreek's post, it looks like I won't be able to connect my shuttle directly to the logitech speakers using the SPDIF. Using the SPDIF out would require plugging it into a separate receiver that can decode a Dolby Digital signal first, correct ? Or, I could plug it into a set of speakers that has a digital hardware decoder built in, like the logitech Z-5500's. But, those are like $300. Is there any decent 5.1 system, with a digital decoder built in, for less than $200 ?
 
Soundstorm will encode everything from your PC into Dolby Digital 5.1 and then send it to a HT reciver or a set of PC speakers that will decode this into your output, it only requires one cable either Coax or Toslink depending on your Mboard and Reciver or speakers and generaly provides some of the best sound quality avi. on the PC w/ the lowest CPU usage around. The only Cavet is that if you don't use the digital connection you end up using a Realteck ALC650 DAC on most Nforce 2 boards, and it's basicly garbage, so unless you are sure you can use a digital connection w/ soundstorm you might want to look into an Audigy 2 or 2ZS card as it tends to have the best analoug sound output for a gaming card at the moment.
 
Originally posted by: Mik3y
why doesnt nvidia put soundstorm on the nForce 3 250 Gb chipset motherboards for the athlon 64's? soundstorm is exactly what most people need.
Click to expand...

Because they are reportedly going to put it into the nForce 4 boards. It's just speculation at this point, mostly, but we'll see around the end of the month.
 
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