Why do you need a receiver with a good sound card and software?

[yank_in_oz]

Why do you need a receiver these days when you can output 5.1 from a decent sound card and with good dvd players, they can decode dts, dolby thx,....???

[Guest " "]

Your right...PC's are entering the home media entertainment zone. The gaming systems are also entering this zone.

There are some nice surround sound packages that connect to a home computer's sound card...many are THX certified.

There are also home computers rigged up as media centers (record video, recieve TV broadcast, can connect to a cable or sat system).

However, the computer would need to be on, and unless you had a media center PC (which has a remote system), the reciever solution is a little more user friendly.

[toddvj]

Well, if you want to power Home Theater speakers, you need a receiver. Unless you have some speakers that take a direct RCA connection.

[DrWho]

Why do you need a receiver these days when you can output 5.1 from a decent sound card and with good dvd players, they can decode dts, dolby thx,....???

Because the inside of a computer is an EMF nightmare introducing noise and distortion into the signal path...even with really expensive nice sound cards. Getting the dacs outside of the computer results in a huge leap forward in sound quality. You also need to purchase (expensive) software in order to get your computer to decode dolby/dts into discrete analog multichannel (stupid antipiracy crap).

And then it is much easier to select between multiple sources (dvd, vcr, video game systems, cable tv, etc etc...).

[yank_in_oz]

Instead of dumping $2500 into a receiver, if you put even half that in a decent amp or some monoblocks, you will have a killer system.

[yank_in_oz]

Hmm, I don't notice anything noise or distortion but I output digitally over fiber. Current software WinDVD etc all have the decoding built-in. I don't have multiple source, I run everything through the monster computer.

All the current receivers all of crap processing bullshit, I would never use or want. I really don't care what is sounds like in a closet or bathroom, kitchen,..

[DrWho]

Instead of dumping $2500 into a receiver, if

you put even half that in a decent amp or some monoblocks, you will

have a killer system.

Not if you're feeding a garbage signal to the amps...

Hmm, I don't notice anything noise or

distortion but I output digitally over fiber. Current software WinDVD

etc all have the decoding built-in. I don't have multiple source, I run

everything through the monster computer. All the current receivers all

of crap processing bullshit, I would never use or want. I really don't

care what is sounds like in a closet or bathroom, kitchen,..

So you output digitally out of your computer into what?

I'd have to agree that the baseline recievers are pretty crappy if you

use them for their amplification, but the preamp stages are more than

adequate (there are only a select few chips for all the manufacturers

to choose from). But if you're going to use a reciever for the preamp,

then you might as well just purchase a dedicated preamp with digital

decoding and use a digital connection to output from the computer. All

of these approaches are going to be much better than an internal sound

card. I've actually had the opportunity to conduct A/B comparisons with

quite a few sound cards.

[Guest " "]

Some additional info...media center PC's are built with these concerns in mind.

My HP555 media center, onkyo NAS-2.3 media server (a linux PC that stores and plays MP3's), perform very close to each other.

Both the HP555 media center PC and the onkyo NAS 2.3 have the same foot print as my onkyo DVD player, and both can be remote controlled.

The only noise I can say I hear the HP555 and NAS-2.3 add, is a slight whirl, on occassion, from their cooling fans.

Getting back to the original question....my take is that it can be dones....but for most folks...I would recommend the traditional route.