upgrading my PC for 2 channel ALAC/FLAC playing.

[nitrousninja]

I want to upgrade my PC to play ALAC/FLAC music. I'm going to start ripping my CDs to my hard drive this weekend. Right now I'm using Itunes and 128 MP3s and listen to rock and blues mostly.

What i have: i5, 8G ram, GTX 460, and Rocketfish 7.1 audio card, Bose Companion II speakers.


I was looking at the X-Fi Titanium HD sound card and M-Audio AV40 monitors(powered).

It's for my bedroom so it doesnt need to be stupid loud but I'd like it to sound clean at low to medium volume. I'd be hooking the line out to the speakers. (no RCA line out on my RF card)

I have a $200 gift card to Best Buy and a $200 gift card to Apple so if i got these it would be pretty much free. I'm not married to it but I'm looking to spend around there if possible.

I'm just looking for a modest upgrade for playing "lossless" music.


Is there anything else i should look at in that range? I'm pretty new to this stuff.

Thanks for any help!


Matt

 

[joetekubi]

+1 on ripping to FLAC - you will be amazed at the sound quality difference from 128K mp3. I'd suggest an ASUS Xonar card for music. The X-Fi cards have a lot of "bells and whistles" for gaming, but the Xonar is better quality. Everyone likes 'em a lot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-006-_-Product

 

[gorb]

my suggestion is to buy an old receiver and a pair of quality speakers and a subwoofer

 

[darkswordsman17]

+1 on ripping to FLAC - you will be amazed at the sound quality difference from 128K mp3. I'd suggest an ASUS Xonar card for music. The X-Fi cards have a lot of "bells and whistles" for gaming, but the Xonar is better quality. Everyone likes 'em a lot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-006-_-Product

Actually the Titanium HD is comparable to the Xonar Essence cards (I'd even be willing to say better, as it has better input, and actually has a bit better DAC and opamp configuration), and is cheaper. Plus X-Fi is much better for games than the ASUS cards. Even the drivers are basically a wash, as ASUS has not been great about them either.

I'd echo finding a nice vintage receiver and some quality speakers. You might also consider a decent T-amp. Depends on your budget.

 

[weez82]

My advice, try to find someone that will buy the gift cards then spend $400 on a used receiver with Optical in and a pair of decent speakers and maybe a sub if you have $ left over.

edit: your sound card is fine. and in all honesty you wont notice any difference if you upgraded. Focus on getting good speakers and an amp