dakayus Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Hey guys I was wondering how do you connect your HT speakers to your computer? I'm planning on buying some RF-3's or RF-35's. I'm not sure of the receiver and sound card and such. I was reading about the dts-610 that creative made that supposedly bridges the two, but can just the sound card do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsakura Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 The best you can get out of computer into reciever would be using VIA Envy24HT(or -S) sound card and send them out by digital signal into reciever. Pretty much any reciever would do it nowadays. Depends on whether you want it 2 channel audio or HT, pick the reciever/pre/pro that you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 If you are going to use the computer as a source for movies then you must have some form of digital output going into a reciever. If you are going to use the computer as a source for surround sound gaming then you must have analog multichannel inputs. If you wanted to connect these to a reciever, then all you need are 1/8" stereo minijack to stereo RCA connectors. If you want both, then you should get a card that outputs both. But ya, the best way to connect speakers to a computer is with a nice sound card and a good reciever. What kind of budget are you looking at? I would even suggest a reciever for 2-channel as well. At the very least you are going to need some sort of sound card for the computer. And then this sound card need to connect to a preamp and then an amplifier for the speakers. The nice thing about recievers is that the preamp and amplifier and all the source switching and all that are already built into one single unit. For your setup I might suggest the Creative Audigy 2 ZS with a Denon 1803 reciever...they are older products but should cost you probably around $300 on the used market for both of them. I'm not sure if you can still buy them new - maybe some outlet stores or something. If you go new, then I would suggest Audigy 4 with a Denon 1903. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakayus Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 oh man if i only need an audigy 2zs that'd be great. I personally don't want to drop like $400 on creatives new x-fi's soundcard. I actually was intending to buy a Pioneer VSX0815-K receiver. That's the specs I found on audioholics.com or something like that. I know someone who's willing to sell them to me for $200 new. Also when you mean by digital out, do you mean the 3 1/8 stereo wires (green, orange, and black) or the fiber optical inputs? I have the optical outputs on my current sound card (Philips Aurilium). And as for the setup I'm planning to use RF-3's or RF-35's with a sub. I'll be running a 2.1 system for a while until I can purchase the other components and eventually have a 5.1 system. Power Amplifier Design: Thermal Compensation Transistor Surround Power: 100 watts x 7 (1kHz; 1% THD @ 8-ohms) 700 Watts total system power Stereo Power: 100 watts x 2 (20Hz-20kHz; 0.7% THD @ 8-ohms) 200 Watts total system power Digital Decoding & Processing: Double-precision 48-bit Motorola DACs; 192kHz/24-bit DACs, 96kHz/24-bit ADCs DSP: Dolby Digital 5.1/EX, DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete, DTS 96/24/Neo6, Pro Logic IIx/Game Mode, WMA9 Pro, 9 Advanced Surround modes, 7-chanel stereo, Virtual surround back Inputs: 4 audio/video/s-video, 5 digital ins (2 optical/1 front optical/2 coax), 5.1 multi-channel input, 3 component video, front AV inputs (including optical) Outputs: 1 component, 2 audio/video/s-video, headphone output, 7.1 preamp outputs (includes subwoofer) Room EQ: Auto/Manual MCACC (including 5-band EQ), Additional Features: Sleep timer, dimmer option, multi-way loudspeaker binding posts, AM/FM tuner Remote: Preprogrammed with manufacturer codes and 1-line 8-character LCD Dimensions: 16 9/16 " W x 6 1/4" H x 15 13/16" D Weight: 22 lbs. 4 oz. Warranty: 1 year parts & labor MSRP: $365 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsakura Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 The issue would be are you going to do any gaming? If you plan on going for those multichannel gaming yea Audigy is the only thing that you can go for(other cards are simply far from EAX 3.0 or something like that that and keep going up). I remember Aurilium is using some 16/48 DAC which is not that good compare to Audigy series(not to mention Envy24HT which is even better). Although you get the signal out digitally the sound card still makes it process the signal a little. You were quite similar to what I used to do 2 years ago or so [] . I used an Audigy 2ZS platinum and connect it to Pioneer Elite 43TX(through coaxial) then to the RF-3IIs. Both of the Audigy 2ZS Platinum and Pioneer reciever are lying in the storage now as I do not do gaming anymore and listen music much more on stand alone players etc(and kept buying more expensive recievers to replace the 43TX too.........) I considered about the VSX815 you mentioned above before picking up the 43TX too, the 815 unit has auto calibration but I ended up with 43TX instead. It was a little bit more expensive and without the auto calibration but sound quality is way better(Elite goes to another level than electronics like 815 does). I remember RCA has OEM from VSX815 which has exactly the same appearance and take me away from picking it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakayus Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 I usually don't do much gaming and I honestly don't plan to buy a 5.1 for at least a year or so. I just want a good 2.1 system. Oh yeah as for the Aurilium, I only purchased it because I had a laptop and it was around $30 on amazon so I just bought it for the heck of it. And yes, I do notice that the Aurilium is a pos. It distorts quite badly when you turn the preamp on high on 30% of instrumental songs. I do play games here and there like World of Warcraft and such, but for the most part, no. Sorry I'm rather rambling. Long day, little sleep, etc. Oh yeah, how much difference does a receiver make? I'm budgeted on the lower side and I'm focusing more on speakers as of now. I'm willing to spend about 200-300 or so on a receiver, used of course, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 I wouldn't suggest Pioneer unless it's one of the Elite models...though it'll depend on the price range you're looking at. The reason I always suggest Denon is because I feel they have one of the best preamp stages out there...so in the future if you wanted to improve on your amplification you can just go with a dedicated 2-channel amp via the pre-amp outputs. I'm sure there are other brands with good options too, I just have the most experience with Denon (and very little with Pioneer). The reason I suggest the Audigy is because Creative is pretty much the standard for which everyone is writing software. That's not to say you can't find better quality elsewhere, you just won't have any of the other possible headaches. If you are serious about the sound quality from your computer then I would highly recommend going with a USB/Firewire external device - in fact, this would be the ideal best way to get audio from a computer (it's also what they're doing in the digital recording studios...) M-Audio is another brand to check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsakura Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 I usually don't do much gaming and I honestly don't plan to buy a 5.1 for at least a year or so. I just want a good 2.1 system. Oh yeah as for the Aurilium, I only purchased it because I had a laptop and it was around $30 on amazon so I just bought it for the heck of it. And yes, I do notice that the Aurilium is a pos. It distorts quite badly when you turn the preamp on high on 30% of instrumental songs. I do play games here and there like World of Warcraft and such, but for the most part, no. Sorry I'm rather rambling. Long day, little sleep, etc. Oh yeah, how much difference does a receiver make? I'm budgeted on the lower side and I'm focusing more on speakers as of now. I'm willing to spend about 200-300 or so on a receiver, used of course, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Besides the speakers themselves the reciever is including the processing of the sound and powering the speakers(unless you go for seperate processor and amplifier). So put your bet on how important they are [] If you are fine with used gear I may be able to get you some deals. The stuff I have are lying in storage without great use(I have like 5 sound cards which the audigy stays at the bottom of the chain...... I would never get it used). Then work your way towards big upgrade later on as you want more. Let me know if you are interested [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakayus Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'd definately be interested in your items. Can you give me a list of them along with the pricing? I'm looking at all things such as subs, speakers, receivers, sound cards. I'm not into blasting my windows out, just quality, although power is also nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepinitcool Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 In theory, all soundcards that output digital S/PDIF signals by optical connector or coaxial connector should be sending the same signal for standard audio (I don't mean games). Of course without measuring you really don't know what you're getting. In any case, I just listen to music mostly and have the S/PDIF optical out on my motherboard go to a Denon DAC and then a T amp to Synergy bookshelf speakers. The only reason you would really want to use the analog audio outputs is if the games you are playing won't support multichannel digital output, or if your soundcard has better DAC than your receiver. The DTS-610 that Creative is talking about is one of those realtime DTS encoders, so that way all computer audio output is converted to DTS in realtime and then you just use your receiver to decode DTS. In that way, all audio coming from the computer would be a stereo or DTS stream that would automatically be handled by the receiver without adjusting inputs or wires. My nvidia motherboard outputs Dolby Digital in realtime accomplishing a similar result, but I never really tested it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsakura Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'd definately be interested in your items. Can you give me a list of them along with the pricing? I'm looking at all things such as subs, speakers, receivers, sound cards. I'm not into blasting my windows out, just quality, although power is also nice. I only have the Pioneer Elite 43TX and Audigy2ZS platinum for you need. For speakers I only have a pair of RB-5IIs that can spare out, my RF-3IIs are still rocking until I can get a pair of 83s [] . The older RW-10 sub was sold to another forum member earlier that do not have it anymore....... as in price....... depends on how many you need and what your budget at, we can figure something out later. There's the spec below for the 43TX unit: THX Select Certification Advanced Direct Energy MOSFET Wide Band Frequency Response (5Hz-100kHz) 100 watts x 2 Stereo 100 Watts x 7 Multi-Channel Decoding: Dual Motorola DSP Engine DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 DTS NEO 6: Music & Movie DTS 96/24 Dolby Digital-EX Dolby Pro Logic II Music & Movie Processing: Hi-Bit Audio Scaler converts digitalsources to 96kHz/24-Bit Resolution 96kHz/24-Bit A/D Conversion (2 Ch.) 192kHz/24-Bit DAC Standard MCACC w/Multi-Channel Multi-Band EQ THX Select Post Processing 7-D Theater 7 Channel Stereo 6 Cinema Modes 6 Concert Modes Digital Noise Reduction Midnight Mode Connectivity: Multi-Channel Input - All Multi-Channel Outputs - All Digital Input - 4 (2 coaxial, 2 optical) Digital Output - 2 optical 4 Audio/5 A/V Inputs 2 Audio/2 A/V/1 Video Output S-Video Component Video Front A/V Inputs SR Terminals Banana Speaker Terminals AC Outlet Convenience: 30 Tuner Preset Macro Commands Smart Remote Construction: Extra Large Extruded Aluminum Heat Sinks CAD Design 3-D Space Frame Construction Frame Reinforced Isolated Chamber Single Layered Transformer Stabilizer Gold Insulator Aluminum Front Panel Aluminum Volume & Multi-Jog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmxfelon420 Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 fyi on an audigy /audigy 2 sound card there is a driver pack that installs the audigy 4 drivers, which let you run eax 3.0. The only significant difference in the audigy 4 as opposed to the audigy 2 is a lower noise pcb design. And the new drivers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakayus Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'm interested in the receiver. The RB-75's, although are good, I prefer to get floor speakers. Oh yeah and I need a sound card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsakura Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'm interested in the receiver. The RB-75's, although are good, I prefer to get floor speakers. Oh yeah and I need a sound card. Goes off technical here [] Please send me an email: vince0312@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsakura Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 fyi on an audigy /audigy 2 sound card there is a driver pack that installs the audigy 4 drivers, which let you run eax 3.0. The only significant difference in the audigy 4 as opposed to the audigy 2 is a lower noise pcb design. And the new drivers Well reative force people to upgrade to their latest product to make more money..... many people are against it will do the crack, like what they did to Audigy1 upgrade to Audigy2. I wonder does it support the Audigy 1 to jump to Audigy 4. Gamers would be happy if it does [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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