what's the best soundcard with optical out for <$200 ?

[reallyill]

I was just curious what the best soundcard with an optical out would be if my budget was around $200. I'd like to hook it up to my Logitech z680's.
Thanks

 

[OdiN]

I have an Audigy Platinum and it works great for me!

 

[Pariah]

If all you plan to use is optical out, then it doesn't matter what you get. A Fortissimo III for $40 will work fine.

 

[reallyill]

how about something with DTS decoding too?

 

[Maetryx]

I'm delighted with my Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 with it's cool heavy duty breakout box. They're often acronymed as GTXP.

 

[psy44]

200 is a lot for a soundcard nowadays...If you want the most expensive consumer card (Some people think it's the greatest), get the Audigy 2 Platinum.

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by: reallyill
how about something with DTS decoding too?

There are no cards that decode DTS. Software players will but you can't use the optical out then.

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: reallyill
how about something with DTS decoding too?

AFAIK, you'll need a seperate decoder to decode DTS signals. Only raw data is transferred via optical and has yet to be decoded.

techfuzz

 

[reallyill]

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: reallyill
how about something with DTS decoding too?

AFAIK, you'll need a seperate decoder to decode DTS signals. Only raw data is transferred via optical and has yet to be decoded.

techfuzz

So what does one of these cost and where can I get one (preferably one that's fairly compact)? The optical will do Dolby Digital 5.1 though right?

Thanks

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: reallyill

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: reallyill
how about something with DTS decoding too?

AFAIK, you'll need a seperate decoder to decode DTS signals. Only raw data is transferred via optical and has yet to be decoded.

techfuzz

So what does one of these cost and where can I get one (preferably one that's fairly compact)? The optical will do Dolby Digital 5.1 though right?

Thanks

I have a set of Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500 speakers with the decoder that I got about a year ago. It has a Dolby Digital decoder built in that will take a SPDIF or Optical signal. I think you might have a hard time locating a DTS decoder though. I have only seen DTS decoders in home theater receivers previously. I haven't been paying attention lately so something new might have come out that has a built in DTS decoder as well as a Dolby Digital decoder.

techfuzz

 

[dakels]

ProMedia DD-5.1

 

[reallyill]

Originally posted by: dakels
ProMedia DD-5.1

That looks great! This just keeps getting more expensive though... sigh... seems that's how it always is...

 

[dakels]

heavier features = lighter wallet

sorry but I don't know of any sound cards that process these signals either. This is te simplest solution I could think of for your area of usage.

 

[psy44]

Originally posted by: reallyill

Originally posted by: dakels
ProMedia DD-5.1

That looks great! This just keeps getting more expensive though... sigh... seems that's how it always is...

I'm pretty sure you still need a soundcard in addition to the DD-5.1...It's really not worth it to buy a decoder only for DTS since only about 10% of movies have DTS, and you already have a Dolby digital encoder on your z-680's, I would only recommend the DD-5.1 if you bought promedia's or Megaworks.

 

[GustySoul]

Hey reallyill,

The Logitech Z-680 speakers ALREADY HAVE a built in hardware DTS Decoder (Not to mention a built in hardware Dolby Digital Decoder and Dolby Pro-Logic II Processor). The Z-680 control pod (with the blue LCD screen) is functionally just like the Klipsch ProMedia DD-5.1 Control Unit.

As such, your already all set. Whichever soundcard you choose, all you need is a Digital Optical OR Digital Coax output to support all those sound formats.

Several sound cards support Dolby Digital decoding nowadays, and the popular software DVD players also support software based DTS decoding (PowerDVD & WinDVD), but going that route would be redundant if your using the Z-680's.

(You would just hook up your speakers via 3-Cable Analog instead of 1-Cable Digital, and be doing the sound processing on your computer instead of in the speaker hardware. Seems to make more sense to use the speaker decoder since it's already there and would lighten the burdner on your CPU.)

I have a Hercules Game Theater XP, like Maetryx mentioned earlier, that works very well. It's break-out box has almost every connection one could want (digital optical out, digital coax out, and analog out). They GTXP can be purchased pretty inexpensively (~$85 new) as well.

If you have the budget though you might want to consider some of the newer cards such as the Creative Audigy 2 series or the M-Audio Revolution. These cards have have support for the newer higher resolution audio formats (24-bit/192KHz) (Audigy 2 even includes DVD-Audio support / software) whereas the older generation cards such as the GTXP and Sound Blaster Live! generally only support CD-Audio resolutions (16-bit/44-48KHz).

Hope that helps,
obispo21

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: obispo21
Hey reallyill,

The Logitech Z-680 speakers ALREADY HAVE a built in hardware DTS Decoder (Not to mention a built in hardware Dolby Digital Decoder and Dolby Pro-Logic II Processor). The Z-680 control pod (with the blue LCD screen) is functionally just like the Klipsch ProMedia DD-5.1 Control Unit.

As such, your already all set. Whichever soundcard you choose, all you need is a Digital Optical OR Digital Coax output to support all those sound formats.

Several sound cards support Dolby Digital decoding nowadays, and the popular software DVD players also support software based DTS decoding (PowerDVD & WinDVD), but going that route would be redundant if your using the Z-680's.

(You would just hook up your speakers via 3-Cable Analog instead of 1-Cable Digital, and be doing the sound processing on your computer instead of in the speaker hardware. Seems to make more sense to use the speaker decoder since it's already there and would lighten the burdner on your CPU.)

I have a Hercules Game Theater XP, like Maetryx mentioned earlier, that works very well. It's break-out box has almost every connection one could want (digital optical out, digital coax out, and analog out). They GTXP can be purchased pretty inexpensively (~$85 new) as well.

If you have the budget though you might want to consider some of the newer cards such as the Creative Audigy 2 series or the M-Audio Revolution. These cards have have support for the newer higher resolution audio formats (24-bit/192KHz) (Audigy 2 even includes DVD-Audio support / software) whereas the older generation cards such as the GTXP and Sound Blaster Live! generally only support CD-Audio resolutions (16-bit/44-48KHz).

Hope that helps,
obispo21

nice post

 

[reallyill]

Originally posted by: obispo21
Hey reallyill,

The Logitech Z-680 speakers ALREADY HAVE a built in hardware DTS Decoder (Not to mention a built in hardware Dolby Digital Decoder and Dolby Pro-Logic II Processor). The Z-680 control pod (with the blue LCD screen) is functionally just like the Klipsch ProMedia DD-5.1 Control Unit.

As such, your already all set. Whichever soundcard you choose, all you need is a Digital Optical OR Digital Coax output to support all those sound formats.

Several sound cards support Dolby Digital decoding nowadays, and the popular software DVD players also support software based DTS decoding (PowerDVD & WinDVD), but going that route would be redundant if your using the Z-680's.

(You would just hook up your speakers via 3-Cable Analog instead of 1-Cable Digital, and be doing the sound processing on your computer instead of in the speaker hardware. Seems to make more sense to use the speaker decoder since it's already there and would lighten the burdner on your CPU.)

I have a Hercules Game Theater XP, like Maetryx mentioned earlier, that works very well. It's break-out box has almost every connection one could want (digital optical out, digital coax out, and analog out). They GTXP can be purchased pretty inexpensively (~$85 new) as well.

If you have the budget though you might want to consider some of the newer cards such as the Creative Audigy 2 series or the M-Audio Revolution. These cards have have support for the newer higher resolution audio formats (24-bit/192KHz) (Audigy 2 even includes DVD-Audio support / software) whereas the older generation cards such as the GTXP and Sound Blaster Live! generally only support CD-Audio resolutions (16-bit/44-48KHz).

Hope that helps,
obispo21

Thanks man!!

 

[madthumbs]

Asus A7N8X .... Well under $200