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Digital Sound FAQ

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jcw122 said:
how bout some info on Wattages, and Freq. Responses.
Emon said:
What about class-D digital amplification?
shard said:
That is a different game all together. Expect to see a thread come up soon covering that though.
Yeah, I'll leave that for someone else. It deserves it's own thread.

thegreek said:
JCLW, I didn't know you were an audio head. Good job on the FAQ.
I'm not really, I'm just trying to cover the basics because is seems at least half the threads in the audio section tend to be some kind of question about digital audio.

gvblake22 said:
WOW, very good info indeed. This really helps clear up a lot of the confusion. But I still have one question: Does DTS still do the same thing that the DDLive! real time digital encoding? As in, will DTS still output 5.1 digital sound with music, DVD's, as well as games or Does the DDLive! only do that? Now what about the ALC883?
DTS will do the same thing as DDLive!. Think of it like ZIP vs RAR, or DivX vs WMV. Or even ATi vs nVidia. Different way of doing things, but pretty much the same result at the end. IIRC both will support 7.1 now. The ALC883 seems to be a respin of the ALC882, with a few improvements like better SNRs (Signal to Noise Ratio).

I'll revamp the first posts and try and include all the answers to questions people have asked since.

edit: Actually, after reviewing the datasheets the ALC883 is a cut down version of the ALC882.
 
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JCLW said:
DTS will do the same thing as DDLive!. Think of it like ZIP vs RAR, or DivX vs WMV. Or even ATi vs nVidia. Different way of doing things, but pretty much the same result at the end. IIRC both will support 7.1 now. The ALC883 seems to be a respin of the ALC882, with a few improvements like better SNRs (Signal to Noise Ratio).

edit: Actually, after reviewing the datasheets the ALC883 is a cut down version of the ALC882.
AAAHHH, ok, that makes it much more clear. So then why is everyone still comlaining about a lack of sound cards that have DDL or DTS? It seems there are a lot with at least DTS, a few with DDL. :shrug:
One more question. If I were to use the digital optical out (TosLink) the digital coax (S/PDIF), would the speakers then have the same plug on them? I looked at the pictures of the Z-5500 speakers and it looks like they just have a coax port for every speaker (and I didn't even see one for the sub). How would a coax or optical cable attach to the speakers? What do we need to look for in the speakers in order to take advantage of the coax or optical on the sound card?
(yeah, sorry, I'm a huge audio n00b) :rolleyes:
 
Almost all soundcards will decode DTS and AC3 bitstreams, but very few will encode them. In fact as of today there are only two (consumer) PCI soundcards you can buy that will encode AC3, and none that will encode DTS (due in January).

Here's a picture of the inputs on the Z-5500s:
z55000jd.jpg

You'd plug the coax cable into the coax jack, or a TosLink cable into the optical jack.

I think the jacks you were looking at were just where the speakers plug into the amp.
 
JCLW said:
I think the jacks you were looking at were just where the speakers plug into the amp.
Yes, indeed, those were the ones I Was looking at. I didn't know there were others :bang head
Thanks for all your help man, you have managed to completely lift the fog surrounding digital audio! THANK YOU!!! :clap:
 
whitebloodcell said:
Thanks alot for putting this together, answered alot of my questions.
I vote Sticky.

One question though, what adaptor do you use then for X-Fi cards?
For which speakers? Creative/Cambridge speakers with the Digital DIN connection won't work in digital mode. Well, you could get out the soldering iron and make an adaptor to get the front two speakers working, but not the rest. If you're using something with a RCA coax connector then you just need a 3.5mm (1/8th inch) mono to RCA adaptor like the one above.

But remember you'll only get sound from the two front speakers, except when watching DVDs, with the X-Fi cards.

soundblaster.com said:
FlexiJack (Performing a 3-in-1 function, Digital I/O(1) / Line In / Microphone) via 3.50mm mini jack.

(1) Supports SPDIF Out compressed ac3 signal or PCM for Stereo Digital Speaker.
 
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How does X-Fi compare to X-Mystique? If X-Mystique is one of 2 cards that can encode DD whats so special or better about the X-Fi?
 
I think the X-Fi is just hyped because Creative Labs is a marketing machine. It's a good card, but I'd hardly call it revolutionary.

X-Fi supports EAX 5, X-Mystique EAX 2.
X-Fi supports 128 voices, X-Mystique 64.
X-Fi will record at 24bit/96kHz, X-Mystique at 24/48.
X-Fi comes with a more refined software suite (if you're into that stuff), X-Mystique contains no "bloatware".

I've never used either card but comparing my Audigy 2 ZS to my HDA C-Media CMI9880 (which has the same features as the X-Mystique) I don't find I miss anything using the C-Media chip. And both the C-Media drivers and Realtek drivers have been problem free for me. I've had many "IQRL not less or equal" blue screens over the years using creative drivers. But that's just me - you may need 24/96 recording, or 128 voices.

The X-Fi is probably a better card if you're using analog outputs. But if you've got a good set of digital speakers or a HT receiver the X-Mystique can sound better.

If you're just a casual listener then you may not notice the difference between the X-Fi w/analog out and the X-Mystique w/digital out anyways.
 
I just wanted to make note that your pictures are slightly deceiving. If you're not in straight mode then the reciever (at least mine, a yamaha RX-V650) will re encode the bit stream to 5.1/ 7.1 channels for 'pseudo surround sound'. It actually isn't that bad.

If the source is already 7.1/5.1 then it behaves like it is in straight mode. Some signals will behave better in forced mode (like if it is 2 channel ac3 > most tv series dvds... for some reason the reciever doesn't like that in straight mode). Personally, I think the whole dolby digital thing is a bit overworked and I used analog outs on my card for 5.1 until I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

I used my system for both pc & movie watching and needless to say its very difficult to have your computer near your couch (otherwise you end up in some crazy spot in the sound field and it sounds like crap). Eventually I decided to forego the surround sound as my girlfriend is always monopolizing the speakers with her damned movies and get a usb headset. It's painless and actually better for games because it filters out the ambient noise without having insane volumes (neighbor doesn't appreciate explosions @ 3 am). I wouldn't trade it for the world when watching films though, its a bit more contrived for gaming.
 
True, but the channel input indicators (lower right side) always display what channels the receiver is receiving regardless of what upmixing you do (at least on my Yamaha HTR-5740).

For me "Sur. Standard" is exactly the same as "Straight". Except maybe the "Sur. Standard" mixes the SB channel into the SR & SL channels (with 6.1 sources) when you only have 5.1 speakers, like me.

Anyways, you are correct - I should have taken the pictures in Straight mode for simplicity. Or maybe just blank the middle part - I was just trying to get people to see the PCM/DD/DTS logos and the input channel display.
 
This is a good FAQ.

The only thing that raised a flag in my head was calling a Yamaha receiver a "digital receiver". While I know what you mean, a Yamaha receiver is going to be an analog receiver because its amp is analog. The only decent digital receivers are Panasonics and the Sony ES line...they don't convert the signal to analog before sending it to the amplifier. Their amps are digital and give the Panasonics especially give you unparalleled sound quality. Because they have digital amps, their referred to as digital receivers.


Now, what solution do I have? My laptop has S/PDIF out and I want to use it for music only as the analog headphone output isn't so great. I'ld rather not have a full fledged receiver(space issue) so something small would be nice. Any ideas?
 
Hallo !

First of all THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the heads up...! This thread was magnific ! Really the best I found on Google...

Yesterday I ordered a Logitech Z-5400 5.1 310W :santa: and a Creative X-FI MX Xtreme Sound Card.
I have an old Abit AN7 uGuru with Soundstorm and I thought my audio on-board card won't handle that system...
I found by mistake this forum and looked at the back of my computer and what do you know!?! It has optical SPDIF out... Didn't believe my eyes! :)

I really don't want to spend another 80 EUR or so on a separate sound card if I don't need to... I bought the system for movies and music, I haven't played a game for a while now and I don't think this will change in the near future.
Some told me that I won't get different channels (true 5.1) in a game with optical output. It's the same with watching a dvd movie on my computer? e.g.: I won't be able to get a voice in the front left speaker and the other one in the rear right let's say? That EAX is working on optical as well as on the classic connection?

And... If I turn the volume up... Will there be any noise or differences between my audio on-board - optical output and the Creative X-FI? Which would be better? I really don't know what my old Abit AN7 is capable of... I didn't know that it has SPDIF out :bang head - really unknown resources :)

I'm really thinking now to call and cancel my order on the X-FI... and if anyone could help me out as soon as possible I would really appreciate it!

TX !
 
The X-Fi is better, but the onboard should work just fine. EAX isn't what you want...rather you want Dolby Digital and DTS support for movies. I wonder if a program like TheaterTek would allow for this via S/PDIF?
 
WeaponX6X said:
This is a good FAQ.

The only thing that raised a flag in my head was calling a Yamaha receiver a "digital receiver". While I know what you mean, a Yamaha receiver is going to be an analog receiver because its amp is analog. The only decent digital receivers are Panasonics and the Sony ES line...they don't convert the signal to analog before sending it to the amplifier. Their amps are digital and give the Panasonics especially give you unparalleled sound quality. Because they have digital amps, their referred to as digital receivers.


Now, what solution do I have? My laptop has S/PDIF out and I want to use it for music only as the analog headphone output isn't so great. I'ld rather not have a full fledged receiver(space issue) so something small would be nice. Any ideas?

Something like this: http://www.edirol.com/products/ma15d/ma15d.html ?

Note that they will not do Dolby Digital or DTS decoding, so everything you pass via your SPDIF will have to be PCM.
 
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