Okay, I need some advise. (It's a long post, sorry).
I'm still having a difficult time trying to understand PC Audio technology despite the fact I've been purchasing sound cards and audio equipment for the past 10 years (Sound Blaster, Turtle Beach Multisound, Logitech SoundMan Wave, SoundBlaster AWE32, AWE 64, SoundBlaster Live, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, M-Audio Revolution, SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS). I still have the M-Audio Revo, I think it was a 7.1, not a 5.1 version. Anybody want to buy this?
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a big gamer though I do occasionally like to fire up a few games (non Quake type, mostly arcade type games like car racing and Madden football, etc) and I want a good sound experience while playing these but it doesn't have to be earth shattering.
What I am looking for is a very rich playback from Audio CD's that I rip, .wma songs I download from MusicMatch, and .mp3's that I've already had recorded on my computer. I do not listen to music through headphones so that's a non-isssue. My current speaker configuration is a setup of two M50 Cambridge Soundworks speakers along with their 8" base/amp module. I'm pretty happy with these speakers, not thrilled with the bass module and I have no idea what amp is driving my seperates (the bass module??). The speakers are definately not powered.
What I still feel I've never been able to get a crystal clear answer on is the differences between Digital Out versus anything non digital out. Let's assume for a minute I had an external $400 - $500 receiver from a quality vendor like Denon, Harmon Kardon, etc. I presume the DAC's and the amp inside that receiver are of a higher quality than the DAC's on the sound card and the amp in the little subwoofer unit right? Why wouldn't I buy a cheap $30 Chaintech sound card with Digital Optical out, spend $400 on a Dolby Digital receiver with DAC's and amp's built in, and then run it straight through to the receiver to power all my speakers and sound?
From ALL the various sound card reviews I read, all I see are various posts about signal to noise ratio, total harmonic distortion, blah blah blah. Isn't all of this a complete NON-issue when you are sending your data out digitally?
I understand the benefits like EAX, CMSS-3D, etc that Creative bundles into their chipsets and drivers and thus games. But if I only play certain games occasionally are they REALLY going to make a difference? I have a pretty powerfull computer so I'm not worried about a little bit of CPU useage by the sound if that's necessary. There must be some article or documentation on using digital out and the benefits associated with it.
In regards to this Crystalizer technology, I respect most have said it's somewhat questionable though respect that it appears Creative has done something that is a benefit to the end user. The part that nobody has really talked about though is the encoding quality using Crystalizer? Since I still have a shelf full of about 400 CD's of which many songs still need to be ripped, I would imagine this technology could probably do a pretty good job of ripping VBR .MP3's right from the CD digital source. Anything for me to know that the .mp3's I encode from CD's that I buy are actually just about the highest quality possible is pretty cool.
Anyhow, I hope I'm not rambling too much and that most of you actually understand my question/frustration. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!
Jon
I'm still having a difficult time trying to understand PC Audio technology despite the fact I've been purchasing sound cards and audio equipment for the past 10 years (Sound Blaster, Turtle Beach Multisound, Logitech SoundMan Wave, SoundBlaster AWE32, AWE 64, SoundBlaster Live, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, M-Audio Revolution, SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS). I still have the M-Audio Revo, I think it was a 7.1, not a 5.1 version. Anybody want to buy this?
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a big gamer though I do occasionally like to fire up a few games (non Quake type, mostly arcade type games like car racing and Madden football, etc) and I want a good sound experience while playing these but it doesn't have to be earth shattering.
What I am looking for is a very rich playback from Audio CD's that I rip, .wma songs I download from MusicMatch, and .mp3's that I've already had recorded on my computer. I do not listen to music through headphones so that's a non-isssue. My current speaker configuration is a setup of two M50 Cambridge Soundworks speakers along with their 8" base/amp module. I'm pretty happy with these speakers, not thrilled with the bass module and I have no idea what amp is driving my seperates (the bass module??). The speakers are definately not powered.
What I still feel I've never been able to get a crystal clear answer on is the differences between Digital Out versus anything non digital out. Let's assume for a minute I had an external $400 - $500 receiver from a quality vendor like Denon, Harmon Kardon, etc. I presume the DAC's and the amp inside that receiver are of a higher quality than the DAC's on the sound card and the amp in the little subwoofer unit right? Why wouldn't I buy a cheap $30 Chaintech sound card with Digital Optical out, spend $400 on a Dolby Digital receiver with DAC's and amp's built in, and then run it straight through to the receiver to power all my speakers and sound?
From ALL the various sound card reviews I read, all I see are various posts about signal to noise ratio, total harmonic distortion, blah blah blah. Isn't all of this a complete NON-issue when you are sending your data out digitally?
I understand the benefits like EAX, CMSS-3D, etc that Creative bundles into their chipsets and drivers and thus games. But if I only play certain games occasionally are they REALLY going to make a difference? I have a pretty powerfull computer so I'm not worried about a little bit of CPU useage by the sound if that's necessary. There must be some article or documentation on using digital out and the benefits associated with it.
In regards to this Crystalizer technology, I respect most have said it's somewhat questionable though respect that it appears Creative has done something that is a benefit to the end user. The part that nobody has really talked about though is the encoding quality using Crystalizer? Since I still have a shelf full of about 400 CD's of which many songs still need to be ripped, I would imagine this technology could probably do a pretty good job of ripping VBR .MP3's right from the CD digital source. Anything for me to know that the .mp3's I encode from CD's that I buy are actually just about the highest quality possible is pretty cool.
Anyhow, I hope I'm not rambling too much and that most of you actually understand my question/frustration. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!
Jon
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