Need help with my new system...confused on the pc audio

[kpierce123]

I've always been pretty savvy at building my own computers and setting up a/v equipment but I'm a little stuck at the moment....I just built a new computer and am starting to revamp my home audio. Most of the files I am listening to are FLAC or some other lossless audio. I have a very moderate budget but am still trying to get the best sound possible. Currently I have my pc hooked to a Deneon avr-1610 through spdif. Ultimately I will get the Marantz 1403 with a separate amp for my mains (Aperion verus grand bookshelf). Right now I have an older X-Fi sound card that Im looking to upgrade. My dilemma is what is the best way to go about getting the best audio quality out of my pc as a source. I was looking into the Xonars (Essence stx or xonar dsx). Im not sure if the essence will give me better sound for what Im using it for....or also the M-Audio's Audiophile 2496 or 192....And on any of those would I get better sound through the spdif or just the analog plug into the rca jacks on the receiver? And also does software make a big difference? Im using Foobar at the moment but heard J River is good as well. Im really just looking for the best, cleanest sound, 2 channel audio out of my pc as I have a PS3 for blu-rays and surround sound and such. I do use the pc for gaming quite a bit so I would like something that supports dts connect or dd live if possible but if it means losing those for a much better sound quality option i would be ok with that...Any thoughts would be much appreciated, sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks, Keith

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Right now you already have the best possible setup. Digital out from pc and let AVR do the dac function.
If you Upgrade internal sound card and continue to spdif out - this will change absolutely nothing.
My advise to you is - Keep pc connected to avr with digital (spdif or hdmi) and don't waste any money upgrading sound card...

You'll be amazed how clear my pc system sounds which is using optical spdif out from crappy onboard realtek chip.
Aperion verus grand bookshelf are great speakers, but don't handle lower bass - so I would recommend to get a small sub and make it 2.1 system

p.s: Also software makes zero difference. Foobar2000 is as good as it gets. JRiver is as good, but not better in SQ

 

[panteragstk]

Right now you already have the best possible setup. Digital out from pc and let AVR do the dac function.
If you Upgrade internal sound card and continue to spdif out - this will change absolutely nothing.
My advise to you is - Keep pc connected to avr with digital (spdif or hdmi) and don't waste any money upgrading sound card...

You'll be amazed how clear my pc system sounds which is using optical spdif out from crappy onboard realtek chip.
Aperion verus grand bookshelf are great speakers, but don't handle lower bass - so I would recommend to get a small sub and make it 2.1 system

p.s: Also software makes zero difference. Foobar2000 is as good as it gets. JRiver is as good, but not better in SQ

What he said.

 

[kpierce123]

I thought I read somewhere that the x-fis downsample the bitrate to 48 through spdif whereas the xonars go a lot higher....I may have misread it though...

 

[connieflyer]

Read this article...ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX soundcards | Stereophile.com. I have been using the stx for 2 years now and would not go back to a creative sound card. Those were all I would buy previous to the stx. I use JRiver after trying the free version for a month and love it. It has alot of flexability for storing and cataloguing files, options for watching and checking the waveform while playing and many other features. It is not just a media player. I listen mostly through Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, but also have the optical outputs running to a Harmon-Kardon avr510 and Sentry Five horn loaded speakers. They sound very good with this setup. I currently have it connected to a Project Ember tube amp thru the rca outputs and this is where I do most listening from the pc. The specs on the card are these from Asus's website.....
[h=1]Xonar Essence STX[/h]<nav class="row" style="margin-left: -24px;">

• Overview
• Specifications
• Review
• Support

</nav>

<article><aside class="product-aside row" style="margin-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 26px;">Print
</aside>

• Audio Performance
  Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
  124dB for Front-out,117dB for Headphone-out (600ohms) dB
  Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
  118 dB
  Output THD+N at 1kHz:
  0.0003% (-110dB) for Front-out, 0.001% (-100dB) for Headphone-out
  Input THD+N at 1kHz:
  0.0002% (-113dB) for Line-in
  Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input):
  <10Hz to 90KHz
  Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage
  2 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p)
  ​
  
  [*]Bus Compatibility
  PCI Express:
  -PCI Express Rev. specification compatible
  -Compatible with X1, X4, X8, X16 PCI Express slots
  ​
  
  [*]Main Chipset
  High Fidelity Headphone Amplifier:
  Texas Instruments 6120A2*1 (120dB SNR, 100dB THD+N @ Vcc±12V, RL=600Ω, f=1kHz) Audio Processor:
  ASUS AV100 High-Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192KHz/24bit)
  24-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources:
  Texas Instruments PCM1792A*1 for Front-Out (127dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
  24-bit A-D Converter for Analog Inputs:
  Cirrus-Logic CS5381* 1 (120dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
  ​
  
  [*]Sample Rate and Resolution
  Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution:
  44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
  Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution:
  44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
  S/PDIF Digital Output:
  44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital
  ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:
  Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @16/24bit with very low latency​
  
  [*]I/O Ports
  Analog Output Jack:
  RCA jack *2 (Front R / Front L), 6.30mm jack*1 (Headphone out)
  Analog Input Jack:
  6.30mm jack *1 (Shared by Line-In/Mic-In)
  Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner):
  Aux-In (4-pin header on the card)
  Digital S/PDIF Output:
  High-bandwidth Coaxial/TOS-Link combo port supports 192KHz/24bit
  Front-Panel Header:
  Shared by Headphone out / 2 channels out /
  Microphone in
  S/PDIF Header: Connects to compatiable graphic cards for HDMI output​
  
  [*]Driver Features
  Operation System:
  Windows Vista/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005
  Dolby® Technologies:
  Dolby® Digital Live
  Dolby Digital Live encodes any audio signal on PC in real-time to Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sounds to your home theater environment through one single S/PDIF connection
  
  Dolby® Headphone
  Dolby Headphone technology allows users to listen to music, watch movies, or play games with the dramatic 5.1-channel surround or realistic 3D spacious effects through any set of stereo headphones.
  
  Dolby® Virtual Speaker
  Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers.
  
  Dolby® Pro-Logic II
  Dolby Pro-Logic II is the well-known technology to process any native stereo or 5.1-channel audio into up to 6.1 channel output, creating a seamless, natural surround soundfield.
  Smart Volume Normalizer™:
  Smart Volume Normalizer™
  Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming
  Xear 3D™ Virtual Speaker Shifter:
  Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning
  Magic Voice™:
  Xonar Essence STX provides VocalFX, the latest vocal effect technologies for gaming and VoIP, including: -VoiceEX: produces vivid environmental reverberation for your voice in EAX games -ChatEX: emulates different background environment effects when you chat online -Magic Voice: changes your voice pitch to different types (Monster/Cartoon…) for disguising your real voice or just for fun in online chatting
  Karaoke Functions:
  Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects like professional Karaoke machine
  FlexBass™:
  Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system
  3D Sound Engines/APIs:
  Vista: DirectSound3D® GX 2.5, DirectSound® HW, DirectSound SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability
  
  XP: DirectSound2.5 SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability
  ​
  
  [*]Bundled Software Utility
  ​
  
  [*]Accessories
  1 x 3.5mm-to-RCA adaptor cable (8ch)
  1 x S/PDIF optical adaptors​

</article>

 

[itschris]

I've played around with this quite a bit over the past year or so. As much as I wanted to, I could not hear any difference between various setups. What I ultimately ran with is a pretty conservative HTPC connected HDMI to my Pioneer Elite. Running "Pure Direct" which is my preferred setting for 2 channel, I simply cannot distinguish any difference at all between that and running a disc through my ADCOM, or my OPPO player. You don't need any sort of fancy card for perfect sound.

 

[JMJVK]

S/PDIF has bandwidth issues for anything requiring more than a stereo PCM or compressed 5.1 sound. DTS HD-master and Dolby True-HD are not supported. The rest is standard and the same across the board.

Wiki quote:

S/PDIF is used to transmit digital signals of a number of formats, the most common being the 48 kHz sample rate format (used in DAT) and the 44.1 kHz format, used in CD audio. In order to support both systems, as well as others that might be needed, the format has no defined data rate. Instead, the data is sent using biphase mark code, which has either one or two transitions for every bit, allowing the original word clock to be extracted from the signal itself.

S/PDIF is meant to be used for transmitting 20-bit audio data streams plus other related information. To transmit sources with less than 20 bits of sample accuracy, the superfluous bits will be set to zero. S/PDIF can also transport 24-bit samples by way of four extra bits; however, not all equipment supports this, and these extra bits may be ignored.

.

So unless you insist on having DTS HD-master and Dolby True-HD which requires using HDMI, I think you would be wasting your money. Any onboard TosLink, Coaxial or 3.5mm S/PDIF output will do. Keep your dough, and spend it on a nice Receiver, Pre-Pro or power amp. I seriously doubt any significant difference could ever be seriously noted from one S/PDIF output to another, but I'm quite certain a beefier receiver would make a notable difference. The Xonar product has a nice set of chips on it, like it's DAC, but while using S/PDIF they remain utterly useless and unused, while adding to cost.

Just my 2 cents.