Okay, I am seeking to get into the HTPC + MIDI/Guitar recording Studio. Now the one thing i'm unsure of, is how the soundcard works with the amp. I've been reading around and there seems to be 2 (seemingly) contradictory points people have made; 1. That AV Recievers take a 2 chanel input and beef it out into surround. 2. That Creative sound cards cannot do anything more than 2.1 surround via optical due to DTS bitstreaming. (or sopmething to that effect) So can anyone help me out on this one? Does X-Fi not support 5.1 via S/PDIF? I'd like to try and stick to coax or optical if I can to remove clutter, but i suppose analogue would be too bad if I was to route nicely. The Reciever I had planned on is the Denon AVR-1907 But if anyone can tell me what the difference would be, besides the speaker wattage (no biggie) between the 1907 and the 2 lower ones (1507, 1707) then I could save some pennies, but wouldn't want to restrict any clarity as such. I already have 2 floor standers and 2 bookshelfs btw, running 100 Watts (6 ohms nominal) each from my hi-fi that I can steal. No connections for anything but 2.0 though =( The soundcard I planned to go with X-Plosion as it sounds like it's great for the money: "Q : Is the X-Plosion sound card the best choice for playing games on my PC? With an SPDIF or Coaxial optical cable connection to my AV receiver, will I be able to hear 5.1 channel surround sound? A :The X-Plosion is the right choice as it supports Dolby® Digital Live DTS in real time. The package includes an optical cable." Which is what makes me think that X-Fi uses AC-2?? am I right? If I am, are there any other cards people know about that use AC-3? The soundcard itself doesnt have to be uber, because the reciever will do all the pretty stuff?? It would also be nice to know what other people have, and how they've set it up. Thankyou for any help/
I've never got any creative to output more then 2.1 UNLESS it's streaming from a compressed source, like DVD
The 1907 has pre outs and optical out but the 1507 and 1707 don't. I got a 1907 last week and I'm really happy with it (you can even Bi amp your front spreakers if you sacrifice the 7.1 for plain old 5.1)
Well i'll get the 1907, then, with perhaps the X-plosion card. 5.1 sounds fine to me, I only have 4 speakers for now, and the room isn't that big enough to make the use of 7.1 without nasty cramped sound anyway. So bi-amping my front ones would be perfect. Reading around it seems to be that noone can get more than 2.1 on an x-fi or audigy 2 =( I suppose its a good way for creative to monopolise speakers =S **** speakers mind.. Sp! do you have yours rigged to your pc? If so what soundcard are you using?
you can pick up an NF7-S 2nd hand for about 20 - 25 quid these days. and a barton 2500 to go with it for about the same. Soundstorm onboard audio ***
Yer it's connected to a shuttle with an Nforce 2 chipset using the onboard optical connection, it plays 5.1 just fine... we'll slightly too fine as it up mixes my stereo audio to 5.1 or something... (although you can set this on the amp to be stereo) just needs a bit more fiddling I think.. that and my HTPC needs a rebuild)
I wouldn't really be willing to get a whole new rig, even though sopundstorm was fantastic, i need power for my recording, so i will just buy a media case and wack all my current gear in it, hence the need for a new soundcard >_<
Just to bump this up. I'm about to purchase an Onkyo TX-SR504E, for it's price (only £250) it seems very tasty. I would have got the 604E but I don't need HDMI (plus I can always use component if I decide to get my HDTV fixed). What I need to know is this; My current HiFi's speakers (through which im running my pc now) are 6ohms 100watts maximum. Now, the Onkyo's amp is 130Watts @ 6ohms Stereo/110 watts @ 6ohms 7 channels. Will it blow my speakers or will I be ok?
It will be fine as long as you don't max the volume, and if you hear any popping turn it down. but as long as your not stupid it will be ok.
I thought that might be the case, thanks, It will have to do till I can come up with some more money If only I had £30k
Seriously mate. If I were you I'd go for the Marantz 4001 and in richer sounds it's not expensive. It's the only AV amp in your price range that il do justic to your music collection, or else just get a hi amp. Budget AV amps generally awful with music.
well in fairness I might just save up a bit more money. Might need some more thought on this one. I know for fact that Marantz and Denon are the names to go with if you're prepared to pay the price for their boxes with the features I need. But i've also heard great things about Onkyo. and i would likely stick with the names i mentioned in that order. Perhaps someone with good knowledge can help me out here. 1. It must have 2 optical ins for both an e-mu 1212 soundcard, and the x-meridian soundcard to connect to, and thus must use 192kHz/24bit DAC's on all channels (i'm not bothered about analog as I don't have a seperate dvd player). 2. It would help to have an optical out for a minidisk deck to record my compositions too, but since the soundcard itself has one it's no biggy. 3. It must support at least 5.1 for movies, but with stereo B speakers (2nd channel dedicated to zone 2 stereo) So I can switch between movie mode and creating music. 4. It will need all the usual decoders, DTS, DTS-ES, DTS: NEO PC, Dolby Pro Logic II and IIx, Dolby headphones would be a plus but are not essential. THX ultra or select i'm not too fussed about, as those fetures double the price of the Reciever. As for video connections, not a biggy, and I only have 2 sources (pc's) But what I need over anything is top sounding audio, which is what tempted me to buy a denon in the first place. But hell, I figure i'll spend 500 maximum on a reciever.
