Basic PC Audio Setup

[Tosicc]

So I'm getting pretty tired of my z2300s getting distorted out at 50% volume so I've decided to go the route of getting a monitor and sub setup... Sadly I know little to nothing about any of the gear I need to setup my hardware to my PC.

Currently I have:
Creative XFI Sound Card
KRK ST6 Monitors (2)

I already have a few subs in mind but I need some feedback about what mixers, etc I should be using. I am trying to keep it simple and cheap as I don't need any fancy mixer options or anything like that.

Can someone guide me in the right direction?
Are there no frills receivers (small/portablish)?

 

[robodude666]

I'd recommend taking a quick look through my thread I started last year when I was getting into audio. As a quick summary, I decided on a pair of Paradigm Atom speakers and a Yamaha 6140 ($210) receiver. Like mentioned in the thread, the Sherwood 6500 is also a fair pick for basic use (can be had for ~$125 or so - check ebay).

Another options I was considering is the Fubar USB DAC, which goes for about $140, and last but not least the Sonic T-Amp (about $55-70) was another unit I was considering (although I wasn't able to find many trustworthy stores that sell it, and its not discontinued). You can also checkout Craigslist as you never know what kind of sweet deals are down the block.

-robodude666

 

[Tosicc]

I just don't really understand... If I wanted to run 2 studio monitors and a sub the least I would need is a amp or receiver or both... then one of those connects to my sound card?

 

[ashmedai]

Passive speakers need something driving them with more power than a sound card can put out. This could be an amplifier, or it could be a receiver (which integrates an amplifier, a DAC, source-selection functions, and some other crap into one device). Active speakers integrate the necessary amplifier into the speakers themselves, and can thus take input straight from a sound card, otherwise the sound card needs to be connected to something that can step it up further and drive the speakers. If the something else includes a DAC, you can connect it optically and use the external DAC to hopefully get better sound quality and a lower noise floor.

Qs if that didn't clear anything up?

 

[Tosicc]

Thanks for detailed response, I believe I'll go the receiver route. I intend on putting a htpc in the future... What specs should I aim for/what are the dealbreakers? Can possibly get a cheap Harman Kardon AVR 110.

 

[obobski]

Passive speakers need something driving them with more power than a sound card can put out. This could be an amplifier, or it could be a receiver (which integrates an amplifier, a DAC, source-selection functions, and some other crap into one device). Active speakers integrate the necessary amplifier into the speakers themselves, and can thus take input straight from a sound card, otherwise the sound card needs to be connected to something that can step it up further and drive the speakers. If the something else includes a DAC, you can connect it optically and use the external DAC to hopefully get better sound quality and a lower noise floor.

Qs if that didn't clear anything up?

I wish my receiver had a DAC

Thanks for detailed response, I believe I'll go the receiver route. I intend on putting a htpc in the future... What specs should I aim for/what are the dealbreakers? Can possibly get a cheap Harman Kardon AVR 110.

H/K makes nice kit
as far as what specs do you want, what do you need in terms of connections? thats what you want, basically speaking

 

[Snufykat]

As far as what connections, the question really is what out puts does your sound card provide and how do you want to connect it to the receiver. If your sound card does not have optical out then you may not need optical ins on a receiver unless you want to plan for the future when you might want to use an optical in etc..


H/K makes nice kit
as far as what specs do you want, what do you need in terms of connections? thats what you want, basically speaking[/QUOTE]

 

[450]

As far as what connections, the question really is what out puts does your sound card provide and how do you want to connect it to the receiver. If your sound card does not have optical out then you may not need optical ins on a receiver unless you want to plan for the future when you might want to use an optical in etc..

I don't think I'd bother with any 5.1 [or better] receiver that didn't have optical inputs. If you can afford it, I'd look at the Marantz SR4003. Accessories4Less has them for $350 (refurb).

For a home theater application with other modern equipment (Blu-Ray, upscaling DVD player, HD DVR, HDTV) I'd get a receiver with HDMI.

 

[Tosicc]

Hmm. Now I torn between by my PC's audio setup its own amp/receiver for now and buying a HDMI capable one in the future.

If I did this, what do they call these speaker amps specifically? Can't really find anything that cheap/small... is this my only option? http://www.simplifidigital.com/shop...4.html?zenid=be1ba8dc39b67b3b2acab210010d604d

edit: I just got a call about a Harman Kardon AVR 110 and he says he will let it go for $140... Based on reviews and other prices online this seems like a steal. Any reason this would be a bad buy for me? Does the lack of a HDMI port completely exclude me from ever getting 'HD' sound or does it just require a workaround/adapter?

 

[obobski]

I don't think I'd bother with any 5.1 [or better] receiver that didn't have optical inputs. If you can afford it, I'd look at the Marantz SR4003. Accessories4Less has them for $350 (refurb).

For a home theater application with other modern equipment (Blu-Ray, upscaling DVD player, HD DVR, HDTV) I'd get a receiver with HDMI.

theres a lot of vintage gear with 6 or 8ch analog ins that work just fine, I would either suggest getting something with digital inputs -or- analog inputs (or both, in a perfect world), basically just avoid the ProLogic 4-6ch setups that can't take a discrete multi-ch input

Hmm. Now I torn between by my PC's audio setup its own amp/receiver for now and buying a HDMI capable one in the future.

If I did this, what do they call these speaker amps specifically? Can't really find anything that cheap/small... is this my only option? http://www.simplifidigital.com/shop...4.html?zenid=be1ba8dc39b67b3b2acab210010d604d

edit: I just got a call about a Harman Kardon AVR 110 and he says he will let it go for $140... Based on reviews and other prices online this seems like a steal. Any reason this would be a bad buy for me? Does the lack of a HDMI port completely exclude me from ever getting 'HD' sound or does it just require a workaround/adapter?

Simplifi is probably the cheapest option for a multi-ch amp, yeah, not too many people own them either (never heard a negative comment about them, they just don't seem to have much recognition/marketing), would be worth a look if you've got something to act as the front-end (like a soundcard)

as far as the whole "HD sound", get out of the marketing hysteria, please
if you've got analog inputs on the thing you can feed it anything you please, if you've got digital inputs you can feed it S/PDIF AC-3 or DTS, which is suitable for basically anything excepting Blu-ray/HD-DVD (transcoding isn't bad, but a lot of people whine I don't say it this way), honestly I'd probably focus more on having analog inputs, and if you want proper HDMI decoding just get a soundcard like the HTHD or HDAV, as an HDMI audio/video decoding receiver with TrueHD and MasterAudio is still somewhat expensive