to use HT Receiver or separate Computer Speakers?

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bettadays

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Jun 10, 2007
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bout time I upgrade to a better audio solution, considering i have hundreds of gigs of music.

currently only using the onboard audio from the MSI K9N SLI mobo, with an Altec 2.1 system. nothing special.

home theather setup has, Pioneer 1016VSTX, Def Tech Pro Cinema 5.1 system.

im curious if i should just get a new soundcard with digital outputs, hook it up to the receiver, and get rid of the computer speakers.
do a lot of people have separate computer speakers simulatenously hooked up?

i was thinking of just buying another 5.1 computer setup just for backup, to have a little upgrade on those.

was looking at this HT Omega
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

any ideas?
 
if your HT receiver has digital in then you might want to use that from the onboard. If not I would suggest getting a good soundcard and running a analog patch to the receiver.
 
Hey d00d that looks like my setup. I got Yamaha RX-V661 and Def Tech Pro Cinema 800 5.1. I hook them up by using analog 5.1 using three 3.5mm stereo to RCA cable. Good choice though :D
I like the good sound card analog route better though. Lossless audio from HD DVD, BD and DVD-A can only be passed by analog currently. Digital is more suited for plain old CD and DVD movies.
 
ky22 said:
Hey d00d that looks like my setup. I got Yamaha RX-V661 and Def Tech Pro Cinema 800 5.1. I hook them up by using analog 5.1 using three 3.5mm stereo to RCA cable. Good choice though :D
I like the good sound card analog route better though. Lossless audio from HD DVD, BD and DVD-A can only be passed by analog currently. Digital is more suited for plain old CD and DVD movies.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the right way to go with a soundcard that produces great sound over the analog outpus. I don't know how well the HT Omega Striker's DACs do at converting the digital sound info into analog. If you are willing, you might want to save a bit more and go for the HT Omega Claro instead that uses the same DACs as the X-Meridian, Sondigo Inferno and the b-Enspirer from Bluegears. These cards have DACs that are proven to compete well against those found in receivers and high-end DVD and CD players that cost thousands of dollars.

The Sondigo Inferno goes for as little as $79.00 and I have a brand new b-Enspirer for sale for about sixty bucks in the for sale section of the forum. The best values out of all those cards new from a retailer would probably be the Sondigo Inferno at the lower end and the Omega Claro at the high end (highest number of features at the lowest price out of the box IMHO). The X-meridian is possibly the best of them at only $30 or so more than the Claro, but keep in mind that it has been discontinued.

The Striker is a really nice card, but you'll absolutely have to send the sound to your receiver through the SPDIF to get good sound out of it. You may get significantly better sound going with one of the higher level cards mentioned above and using analog connections to your home theater receiver.

Once you've connected your PC to a real receiver and/or amp with nice speakers, there's no going back. I was absolutely shocked at the difference from the Z-series, Creative and Altec speakers that I used to use years ago. You've got a pretty nice setup with your 5.1 system. Don't let it go to waste!:cool:
 
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