Impact Acoustics September Contest Giveaway - USB 5.1 Audio Adapter

[Audioholics]

For September, Impact Acoustics is giving away five (5) of their new USB 5.1 Audio Adapters.

To be eligible to win, you must:
1) Have either USA or Canadian residency.
2) Answer the following question before the contest end date of September 30, 2005. Winners will be selected shortly thereafter.

Do you currently have a PC connected to your A/V system? If so, what kind of programming does it supply? If not, what would encourage you to consider a PC as an audio/video source component?


Best of luck from Audioholics and Impact Acoustics!


What does the USB 5.1 Audio Adapter do?
The Impact Acoustics™ USB 5.1 Audio Adapter enables you to generate Dolby® Digital or DTS® Surround Sound through your desktop or laptop. Now you can listen to your MP3 and WMA files that are on your PC through your stereo receiver. Get the clarity of an expensive 5.1 sound card with easy to use, cost-effective USB technology. This attractive audio adapter connects your computer to your mini disc recorder, receiver, amplifier, portable stereo, or PC multimedia speakers delivering full 5.1 sound.

 

[supervij]

Wow. That USB Audio Adapter looks pretty cool. Yeah, sign me up!

I currently don't have my computer connected to my a/v receiver. I haven't really felt a need to, since I can't imagine enjoying the sound of mp3s on my stereo. And I can always move audio and video to a disc and play it directly from my DVD player.

For me to consider using my PC as an a/v source component, it would have to be wireless (cos it's not only in another room as my HT, but on the other side of the apartment), easy to connect to both my PC and my receiver (USB -- okay; how does it connect to the receiver?), and to be fairly inexpensive. Sound quality is important -- how do audio files on my computer sound on my HT setup? If all four of these criteria were met to my satisfaction, I would seriously consider trying it out.

Thanks, AH, for having all these cool contests! It just makes the best forum out there(that's you guys) even better.

cheers,
supervij

 

[korgoth]

i had the audio hooked up very poorly for a while but didnt want to spend money to do it right.

id love to have this gadget though, it would lead to a lot more music listening

 

[AverageJoe]

I have a PC connected to the RGB input on my 50" Panasonic LCD TV, and the audio from the sound card also to the TV. The TV audio out is to the receiver. I set it up mostly for gaming (I don't have a game console) and MP3's, but with wireless keyboard and mouse it's comfortable to kick back in the easy chair and check email, etc.
An optical connection from the PC straight to the receiver is a great idea and very appealing. The price is good, too. I may not wait for the outcome of this giveaway.

 

[Pyrrho]

Do you currently have a PC connected to your A/V system? If so, what kind of programming does it supply? If not, what would encourage you to consider a PC as an audio/video source component?

I do not have my PC connected to my A/V system. I would want a very quiet PC to use it as a source, though even then it would be less than ideal. It would be inconvenient to start up an operating system every time I want to listen to something. If I turn on my CD player, it is virtually instantly ready to play. Why would I want something less convenient?

Now, as a recording and editing device, the computer has much more potential, and for that, all I would need is an appropriate interface and a very long cable to go into the next room, and I would be using it from time to time.

 

[L-Jay]

When I lived in a small apartment about 5 years ago I had my PC connected to my A/V system and actually used it as my main source for listening. I have a huge MP3 collection(about 2500 songs). Going foward 5 years in time, I now live in a nice size home and my laptop is no where near my A/V system. Wireless would be a must. It would not be difficult to move my laptop to my A/V system, but to be honest, I would much rather just burn em and play em on my Denon. Wireless would be a whole different story.

 

[furrycute]

I have my laptop computer connected to my stereo system.

This is my setup. Computer USB to outboard Yamaha USB sound processor, to my preamp/amp, to speakers.

I have all my CDs ripped to harddrive, stored in the lossless compression format Monkey audio. So I can instantly access anyone of my 1,000+ CDs at the touch of a mouse button.

 

[Jason Coleman]

We had our PC hooked up to our HT system via a wireless connection, but found the interface too clumsy and unstable. We'd love to marry our PC to our HT, but I don't know enough about HTPC to attempt it. Maybe a new piece of HTPC gear would be the impetus?!

Jason

 

[biorep]

I looked at set top boxes this weekend, but not willing to pay $200-$600 for one, or $1500 for a HTPC w/ windows media center. I won't keep movies on my HD, but would love to stream/play mp3s through the HT

 

[abboudc]

I have my laptop connected to my main stereo via an Airport Express. I ripped all my CDs on my laptop and have pretty much stopped using my 200CD changer, since the laptop is so much more convenient. I'll probably end up buying a second Airport Express for the CD740 in the kitchen.

I wouldn't have hooked up my PC to my stereo if i couldn't do it wirelessly.

 

[algernon]

My laptop is connected to a receiver and speakers via the headphone out jack to RCA adaptor, using the CD input on the receiver. Not Hi-Fi, but good enough to play MP3's. Most of my CD's are now on my hard drive, the accessibility and ease of playing anything almost instantly almost makes up for the small hit in quality (that I can hear). Also listen to internet streams of some radio stations at times, I have a very fast and stable broadband connection, so the quality is decent.

 

[varkeast]

I have my PC hooked to my samsung 50" HDTV via RGB and my receiver via a toslink cable using a Envy 24/ht card for a bit-perfect audio stream. I would like something that allows surround sound for games however, because even though i can get dobly 5.1 from DVDs, games are limited to stereo using the toslink. I would have to pass all 6 channels across analog, and my receiver only has enough inputs for my dvd-a player.

 

[TamaraDLeonard]

Do you currently have a PC connected to your A/V system? If so, what kind of programming does it supply? If not, what would encourage you to consider a PC as an audio/video source component?


Nope, PC is not connected. When I have a nifty A/V system, instead of the bare bones basic that I do now, I would have it connected. What would encourage me? Winning a top notch A/V system or a really nice GC to buy one.

 

[jrfuda]

Do you currently have a PC connected to your A/V system? If so, what kind of programming does it supply? If not, what would encourage you to consider a PC as an audio/video source component?

Yes, I have a PC that is mostly dedicated to home automation, but also provides access to some HDD-stored music and video. It also shows short (30-60 second) trailers on my TV while my DVD changer is queing-up a disc to be played. The audio from both is output via SPDIF to my receiver. I also have a second USB sound device that I use for text-to-speech announcements throughout the house. I could always find use for another output method (I could add another zone to the music system).

 

[jaxvon]

Wow! I need one o'thems. I'm in the process of getting my system together (trying get get the hookup from a friend at Best Buy on my receiver) and this is exactly what I need! I know firsthand how crappy the analog sections on laptops are, and since my friend and I both have huge music collections on external drives, we need a way to turn our room into a jukebox. Come to papa!

 

[Josuah]

Yes, I have an Airport Express running TOSLink to my receiver. It is controlled via my iBook using iTunes. And the backing store is my Linux file server.

 

[jcPanny]

I have a laptop that I can use to play DVDs and its video card outputs a digital audio signal to the receiver. The laptop can output 720P to a projector via the VGA cable and PC software.

The USB card looks like a great solution for PC users without a high-end sound card.

 

[mlbillow]

I had my laptop hooked up at one time, but the audio wasn't that great. Some of it was my setup, some of it was the quality of some of my MP3's. This gadget would definetly help out on the setup.

 

[Randos]

Do to the lack of an optical out on my laptop (my only PC) I do not have a "computer" connected to my receiver. I do however have a modded xbox that streams mp3s, xvids/divx, and other various media from my computer through the xbox and into the receiver. This seems like an interesting solution that would alleviate some issues.

 

[Reorx]

Like many, I have a laptop in my living room connected to my receiver mini to (left/right) rca cable. It would be nice to do a 5.1/7.1 setup from my laptop.

I listen to music, and watch (s)vcd/dvdr movies like crazy.

Reorx