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A/V Need a PC Soundcard Guide

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by UberTiger, 17 Sep 2009.

  1. UberTiger

    UberTiger What's a Dremel?

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    Anyone know where I can read up on the different inputs/outputs in PC sound so I can figure it all out please?

    Got a buddy who has a sound system with a load of speakers hooked up to an amp, but I believe that the amp currently hooks up to the PC using co-axial. I'm trying to figure out if this is necessary or not as I don't think he really needs a dedicated soundcard considering the integrated chips including on many modern boards.

    Cheers.
     
  2. Diosjenin

    Diosjenin Thinker, Tweaker, Et Cetera

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    Alright, here's the deal.

    Sound on your PC is stored digitally as a series of ones and zeroes, that much is obvious. There's also the fairly obvious point that your ears hear in analog; you can't broadcast a series of ones and zeroes and expect to hear music. So at some point a conversion needs to be made between a digital signal and an analog signal, and the way in which that signal is converted is directly related to your sound quality.

    If you connect through the 3.5mm jack on your motherboard (an analog signal), you get the worst sound quality possible, because very cheap DACs (digital-to-audio converter) are used on motherboards. If you connect through the 3.5mm jack on a dedicated soundcard (again, an analog signal), the signal is much cleaner, because the DACs are much higher quality.

    There are also digital (S/PDIF) outputs which relay a bit-for-bit replica of the ones and zeroes that make up your music on your hard drive. These outputs can be electrical (through a jack that looks like an orange RCA output, which sounds like the one your friend is using) or optical (i.e. over a fiber optic cable). Digital output is consistent regardless of whether you hook it up to the motherboard itself or to a soundcard with a digital output - again, it's just a stream of ones and zeroes, the same as any USB connection.

    Technically, this is the cleanest way to get music off of your PC. However - remember what I said earlier about how the signal must be converted to analog? Well, S/PDIF doesn't convert to analog; it just sends the digital signal - which means that whatever you're hooking it up to (in your friend's case, the amp) must then do the digital to analog conversion.

    So S/PDIF is the best option provided that what you're hooking it up to is capable of some stellar digital to audio conversion - and if your friend's amp can do that, great, good for him. The best way to ensure you're getting a good audio feed out of your PC regardless of what else you hook it up to, however, is to get a soundcard with the cleanest analog output possible, and pump the audio out that way. (Enter the ASUS Xonar Essence STX).


    - Diosjenin -
     
  3. Mister_Tad

    Mister_Tad Will work for nuts Super Moderator

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    Not necessarily. Most sound playback apps need specific plugins, and most sound cards need specific drivers to provide bit-perfect playback. Quite a few sound cards/chipsets don't support it at all.
     

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