Soundstorm vs Regular Onboard vs Audgy 2ZS

[Gamingphreek]

My friend has a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP Ultra (KT400). He is using the onboard realtek codec right now however i got wind that he was using an external dolby digital receiver. I told him the he should sell is board for about 50 and go pick up an Nforce 2 board with Soundstorm.

He is adamant that Soundstorm is better than what he has, and he said he would rather get an Audigy. He wants outside opinions other than mine about which is better.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Bump....

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The 2ZS is an overall superior solution to soundstorm but it can't help his system performance the way moving from KT400 to nF2 can I think SS may have even lower CPU utilization than the 2ZS as well. For DD encoding/decoding through S/PDIF Soundstorm rocks. I'd go SS if he is connecting via S/PDIF to his A/V so I could get the nF2 chipset's performance benefits and still get excellent sound by by-passing the realtek.

EDIT: the creative will still be a better gaming solution regardless, so take that into consideration if gaming is a big priority for this system. Though with a KT400 I doubt that's the case

 

[Gamingphreek]

He is connecting Via Optical. So same principle as SPDIF. Still need more post though, however i will refer him to the thread now.

-Kevin

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Optical is SPDIF. By connecting through the digital interface with SS it's capable of copying any kind of digital audio off a DVD and passing it on unchanged. It can do AC3 6channel 20b/48khz or 2 channel PCM 16b/48khz as well. It also means super low CPU usage. If he doesn't have really good speakers then it's all moot anyhow.

 

[Vette73]

Yea I use to have SS sound and really liked it. I did not have to worry about creative drivers f-ing up my system etc...
But when I went to a A64 system SS was not a option. I got a board that has the VIA Envy soundcard and used the optical output.
So another option for him is to keep his current board and get a $24 Chaintech VIA Envy soundcard and use the optical output.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Yea I use to have SS sound and really liked it. I did not have to worry about creative drivers f-ing up my system etc...
But when I went to a A64 system SS was not a option. I got a board that has the VIA Envy soundcard and used the optical output.
So another option for him is to keep his current board and get a $24 Chaintech VIA Envy soundcard and use the optical output.

I read Via has taken great efforts to make the envy a great auido choice for D3, have you played yet, and if so, would you say that seems to be true? TIA for any feedback

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Yea I use to have SS sound and really liked it. I did not have to worry about creative drivers f-ing up my system etc...
But when I went to a A64 system SS was not a option. I got a board that has the VIA Envy soundcard and used the optical output.
So another option for him is to keep his current board and get a $24 Chaintech VIA Envy soundcard and use the optical output.

I read Via has taken great efforts to make the envy a great auido choice for D3, have you played yet, and if so, would you say that seems to be true? TIA for any feedback

No, no D3 yet. I am waiting for ATI to update their GL drivers and for the first patch to fix some erros in D3 to come out.

BUT I know the VIA Envy sounds awesome. Mind you I am using the Optical output, not the AC97 analog output, and my reciever has DD and DTS so that does not hurt either.

 

[Odeen]

If your friend only watches DVD's, listens to music and does not play video games:
Irrelevant. Any codec can pass along stereo PCM or multichannel Dolby Digital or DTS stream unchanged from the original source. Any gaming, or other "interactive" sound usage, however, is done solely in stereo.

If your friend plays games AND prefers using a single-cable audio connection to his multichannel receiver capable of Dolby Digital decoding:
Any nForce2 motherboard with MCP-T southbridge and digital output. The one thing that Soundstorm can do that no one else can at the moment is "Interactive Dolby Encoding." Essentially, it takes 5.1 data and compresses it into a digital stream.

However, in the great words of Robert A. Heinlein, "there ain't no such thing as free lunch." The penalty for DD encoding is lossy compression (the entire 5.1 stream is compressed to just a 640kilobit/sec bitrate (that's 80 kilobytes per second), without such techniques as "joint stereo," where several channels are defined in terms of differences from the "primary" sound, thus increasing effective bandwidth) The practical effect of this is that you lose ALL sound above 18 kilohertz when you're encoding to Dolby Digital.

(MCP southbridge does NOT have the Soundstorm DSP. MCP-T does have the Soundstorm DSP)

The MCP-T in analog mode is a DAMN capable sound chip. However, it is invariably paired with a CRAPPY Realtek front end, so, while the quality of the 3d sound rendering is great, the compatibility with games is excellent, and the drivers are very good, and the CPU hit when doing 3d sound is minor, the quality of the actual analog output can best be described as "sux."

If your friend has a multichannel ANALOG input in his receiver (i.e. six or eight RCA plugs), then an audigy2ZS is his best bet.

While it cannot fold a 5.1 stream into a digital signal the receiver can understand (the choices are limited to either using older proprietary Creative Labs digital speakers, or plain stereo output), the quality of the audio rendering is excellent, the CPU utilization lowest yet, and the card is a benchmark for compatibility with games, so it offers the most advanced 3d audio rendering features, such as EAX 4.0 HD.

Given the infrastructure your friend already has (i.e. a DD receiver and an optical cable running to his computer) it sounds like he will benefit the most from a new MCP-T-equipped motherboard, such as a Leadtek K7NCR18D Pro II, or the Abit NF7-S. But his gaming experience will be slightly diminished by the audio quality decline due to compression.

 

[Gamingphreek]

My friend is not going to use the analog outs though. He is using the Digital outs for a digital receiver. Therefore he needs this in words... Is the Soundstorm better than his regular onboard.
Also he would like to know how it stacks up to Audigy 2.

I would also like for someone to reiderate what i said a KT400 is piss slow compared to an Nforce 2 board.

(also as a sidenote is there anyway a Ti4600 can run UT2004 @max everything at 1280x1024 resolution with PC2700 memory on a Barton 2500+ using onboard sound.)

-Kevin

 

[Odeen]

If he insists on using digital out, then Soundstorm is his ONLY choice for multichannel gaming.

No other audio chip, Audigy/2/ZS included, can encode multichannel audio information into a digital output stream. Period. There's no way to transmit uncompressed 5.1 over a single digital cable and only Soundstorm can encode multichannel audio into a single Dolby Digital stream that can be transmitted over a single digital cable in a way a receiver understands.

Audigy2 ZS DOES offer superior 3d audio features (it uses even less CPU, and it provides even better 3d effects) but it limites you to stereo over digital or up to 7.1 using analog only.

The KT400 is no real slouch of a chipset. nForce2 will give him a performance boost, though, at stock settings, if he has a pair of identical DIMM modules to run in "dual channel". If he only has one single stick of RAM, the nForce2 will provide some, but not much speed boost (2-5% tops).

Generally speaking, a Ti4600 will be the limiting factor in most resolutions, so the CPU/chipset combination becomes less relevant, especially with EITHER Soundstorm or an Audigy2 card.

Also, swapping motherboards requires a windows format and reinstall. You CAN do a "repair install" but there's a good chance it won't work, and it still requires a lot of time to remove the old, now inactive chipset drivers, which necessitate removal of a lot of other drivers (i.e. video card drivers that are installed differently depending on the GART drivers provided by the chipset manufacturer. So you're getting rid of chipset, video, sound, LAN, storage, USB, etc drivers, all while the computer is in a fairly perilous state) So factor in a day for backup, format, and reinstall if you upgrade the mobo. Factor in an hour to remove sound drivers, installing an Audigy2, and installing and updating its drivers.

So.. MY suggestion is an Audigy2 and lots of 1/8" to dual RCA cables. But an nForce2 MCP-T will do too.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

What has been said here begs one question; Does he overclock?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
What has been said here begs one question; Does he overclock?

Sort of. He is hesitant now because he sort of screwed up his Ti4600 a while back and he fried an AXP 2000+. All this he did without overvolting. I was like, jeez what the hell did you do. So he wont overvolt and he will only OC his AXP to around 2800+ in summer and 3200+ in winter. No to very little overvolting.

I will refer him to this thread, thanks for the replies. Any others would help a lot.

-Kevin

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
What has been said here begs one question; Does he overclock?

Sort of. He is hesitant now because he sort of screwed up his Ti4600 a while back and he fried an AXP 2000+. All this he did without overvolting. I was like, jeez what the hell did you do. So he wont overvolt and he will only OC his AXP to around 2800+ in summer and 3200+ in winter. No to very little overvolting.

I will refer him to this thread, thanks for the replies. Any others would help a lot.

-Kevin

Older boards didn't offer functional overheat protection or read the die temp. They also lacked AGP/pci locks before nV got involved. He could hav damaged his hardware by both heat and the AGP&pci buses running beyond spec. Those are things of the past with any good nf2 board. He could achieve better result without the potentially disastorous results that made him gun shy. I say get back in the saddle! nF2+MCP-T will smoke the KT400 once you start overclocking.

 

[Brian48]

i got wind that he was using an external dolby digital receiver.

Soundstorm.