Sound Card for Music?

[WayOut]

Alright, so I'm looking to get a new rig here in the next few months. I really want a good sound card, as I've only used onboard before and all the FLAC converting/downloading I'm doing isn't really making a difference in sound quality. So I want a sound card and a set of speakers to really make a difference in my music. Gaming sound is a second priority, as I only game in my free time (I've got a lot of homework and other stuff), but I have music on whenever I'm at my computer, which is quite a lot. I've been looking at the HT Omega Claro Plus+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271003) and really like it, but onefstsnake suggested I try the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019&cm_re=creative_sound_blaster-_-29-102-019-_-Product) instead, which is $80 cheaper with the promo code currently on Newegg. I'm also set on the Logitech Z-5500 speakers (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120), which I've heard are spectacular. But will either sound card give me better quality music than the other?

[Sir Barton]

With those Z5500s, youre only going to hear differences in the DSPs on the sound cards and not so much that overall quality of the sound itself. In other words, those speakers are a bottleneck for a nice sound card. For games, theyre awesome speakers, but for music, youre going to want something better. Id pick up a couple bookshelf speakers along with a stereo amp or receiver. Whats your speaker budget?

[MadMan007]

Yeah Logitech speakers are great for games and movies and if you want surround, less so for music imo. They are very 'boom and tizz' which is exciting but a little fatiguing and not smooth for music, $400 is a lot for them too. The major benefit of a soundcard these days if you're looking at $100+ is for gaming with environmental effects or if one is dead set on using other features like I/O or mic input. But you can find pretty good external stereo DACs in the $100-$200 range and either use onboard to pass digital or a USB DAC.

[WayOut]

What're some good brands? I've got some Altec Lansing ones right now that I just dug up outta my garage a few months ago, they're like five years old and the speakers are very, very tinny in some songs (ie. I'm listening to Fireworks by Animal Collective right now and the snare drum is really piercing and annoying; on my friend's system it's not bad at all). The sub's alright but doesn't give me that BOOM or fill in the low notes very well. But, I mean, for budget, 6 year old speakers, they do a pretty good job. Does Altec Lansing make anything good now?

I've got approximately a $500 budget for speakers, but if I don't need a high-end sound card like you both said, I can probably up it to $600-700. Got any suggestions? I'm completely new to this stuff. :)

edit: Found these
Polk Monitor 40 Two-Way Bookshelf speakers (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290010&cm_re=bookshelf_speakers-_-82-290-010-_-Product)
Polk PSW10 10-inch Subwoofer (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290034)

[Sir Barton]

For a good external USB DAC, the Maverick Audio D1 (http://www.mavaudio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1/) is a great bargain at $200. It can function as a preamp as well, and has a nice vacuum tube output stage. I have an earlier edition of it, and its an awesome unit. As far as speakers, you can save alot of money buying used. I found a pair of Dynaco A25s (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/1583068818.html) in your area for $140. Not a steal, but a good deal. Theyre vintage, but theyre one of the best sounding bookshelf speakers around. They sound much bigger than they look. They have a very huge soundstage....enormous for a speaker its size. You wont be out alot of money, and if you dont like them, you can always sell them and make your money back. I h ave a pair, and I dont think Im ever going to sell them.

[Randyman...]

If temporarily forego the extrenal DAC and possibly even use onboard audio temporarily, and invest in some good speakers. A nice DAC won't be of much use with low-end speakers IMNSHO, and if you get an external DAC you won't need a good soundcard (unless it is to offload processing).

Good bookshelfs and a descent integrated amp would be a great start IMO. The speakers (transducers) are always the weakest link in the audio chain, so until those are up to snuff, the rest is putting the cart before the horse.

I, personally, like powered speakers as long as the amps and associated circuitry are of good quality - this eliminates the seperate amplifer, and generally provides built-in "Bi-Amping" of the drivers for better driver integration and often provides more SPL over a passively crossed over system of the same total amplifier power.

I'd recommend disabling all enhancements and stuff, and go with more of a natural "real" sound. This might sound "boring" if you are used to all of the silly enhancements and "Smiley EQ's" that make the sound brittle and "3D", but believe me, that is not how music was meant to be heard.

Used is good IMO :)

:cool:

[ChaosInMind]

If your concerned about accurate and very good sound REproduction, any modern sound card will do, but I would recommend monitors that they use in Studio's. I have some M-Audio stereo speakers that sound fantastic and will get VERY loud without distorting. They do not color sound like Logitechs or other off-the-shelf speakers, what they do is produce the sound as accurate as possible to the original song.

You can add a subwoofer to a modern soundcard (just plug it into the subwoofer port on your soundcard) and your good to go :thup:

Decent subwoofers cost maybe $99~150 at like best buy maybe cheaper online. This would be a great 2.1 setup for music.

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Professional-Desktop-Monitoring/dp/B0002F4F4K

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YS2YSQZCL._SS500_.jpg

[Sir Barton]

I'd recommend disabling all enhancements and stuff, and go with more of a natural "real" sound. This might sound "boring" if you are used to all of the silly enhancements and "Smiley EQ's" that make the sound brittle and "3D", but believe me, that is not how music was meant to be heard.

Exactly. Most of the enhancements artificially bloat the highs and lows, and virtually drown out the mids. The mid range is where the magic lies. Usually, this is to compensate for a not-so-good speaker, while on a pair of good speakers, itll definitely sound flawed. Get out there and audition and pick which yout hink sound best. Dont go to Best Buy or anything like that, go to places that specialize in it. What kind of music do you listen to? That would be a good start.

[WayOut]

First of all, thanks everyone, this is helping me a ton.

Barton, I couldn't answer that without going on for pages and pages. Lemme give you a few links to the last songs I listened to.

Animal Collective - Peacebone (they might not sound good now, but try getting baked :) ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvGHQHiY70)
Blackstar - Thieves In The Night (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQiuQ1xIBM)
Atlas Sound - Walkabout (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FnEy3XDNxE)
Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma (no, they're not some band capitalizing on the Twilight craze, they just happened to be around at the same time, and they're damn good (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g)
Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyqbISKd2nk&feature=related)

That's just what I'm into this week, but most of my songs are along this kind of stuff (i've got nearly 3,000 of 'em :P )
Are there any speakers that can play to all the highs, carry the mids, and a sub that can hit all the bass notes well? If so, I'd be in love.

[WayOut]

What about these? http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-AV-Powered-Speakers/dp/B000MUXJCO/ref=pd_cp_MI_0