New soundcard or not?

mackis5 · 06-02-2005, 04:46 AM

I only use Digital output direct to my Surround amp. I never rip audio, DVD or use MIDI.
Like it is now, I use my onboard AC97 7.1 soundcard. Does it make sence to change to a "better" PCI soundcard? Can I expect any improvement via the digital output if I upgrade?
Is the soundcard really working when I use the direct digital sound, or is it just passing by the Zeros and Ones?
The only thing I use the mic for is for MSN / skype voice chat, and since its any how poor sound quality, I dont really care.
My question is:
Will I get a sound quality impr. if I upgrade? I know that a good AD/DA converter is very important, but in my case, I guess, I am not using this feature. I use my sound for listening to CD's, watching DVD's, streaming radio (listen as well as streaming out).

jimscreechy · 06-02-2005, 08:14 AM

Well the question you have to first ask yourself is "Am I happy with the sound quality I am getting?" the the answer is yes, don't upgrade, if the answer is no, then you can 'consider' an upgrade.

You haven't said what type of card or onboard chip you have so it is diffucult to say if you could get any improvement. Still having said that, most of the cards/chips today give you a level of quality (especially through SPDIF/digital output) that is good to excellent. In terms of quality of sound it is very difficult to justify upgrading unless you are what I call a 'power sound user' or have an extremely discerning ear, and even then it is not so much the quality of the sound you hear that is upgraded as the quality of sound delivered and the facilities provided by the more expensive cards.... in my humble opinion that is. Also better quality cards tend to remove some of the processing overheads from your PC, but again this is not to say you will notice any substantial (if any) improvement in the speed of your system if you do.

If you are using a digital output, either via SPDIF or optical then this is indeed a series of '1's and 0's being sent down your cable, though the manner in which this is encoded/decoded by your pc Codecs and then your receiver decoder (if indeed it is doing any decoding 'as such') is a fairly complex issue with many possible senarios and configuration options. Suffice to say it is digital and I will leave it at that. However there can be many drawbacks to using this method to transfer your audio signal, though fortunately reduced sound quality is not one of them.

My advise to you is if your happy with your sound then leave it as it is. As they say, if it aint broke, don't fix it.

06-02-2005, 04:46 AM	#1 (permalink)
mackis5 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2 OS: Fedora 3	New sound card or not? I only use Digital output direct to my Surround amp. I never rip audio, DVD or use MIDI. Like it is now, I use my onboard AC97 7.1 soundcard. Does it make sence to change to a "better" PCI soundcard? Can I expect any improvement via the digital output if I upgrade? Is the soundcard really working when I use the direct digital sound, or is it just passing by the Zeros and Ones? The only thing I use the mic for is for MSN / skype voice chat, and since its any how poor sound quality, I dont really care. My question is: Will I get a sound quality impr. if I upgrade? I know that a good AD/DA converter is very important, but in my case, I guess, I am not using this feature. I use my sound for listening to CD's, watching DVD's, streaming radio (listen as well as streaming out). Last edited by mackis5; 06-02-2005 at 04:54 AM. Reason: spelling

06-02-2005, 08:14 AM	#2 (permalink)
jimscreechy Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 372 OS: xp	Well the question you have to first ask yourself is "Am I happy with the sound quality I am getting?" the the answer is yes, don't upgrade, if the answer is no, then you can 'consider' an upgrade. You haven't said what type of card or onboard chip you have so it is diffucult to say if you could get any improvement. Still having said that, most of the cards/chips today give you a level of quality (especially through SPDIF/digital output) that is good to excellent. In terms of quality of sound it is very difficult to justify upgrading unless you are what I call a 'power sound user' or have an extremely discerning ear, and even then it is not so much the quality of the sound you hear that is upgraded as the quality of sound delivered and the facilities provided by the more expensive cards.... in my humble opinion that is. Also better quality cards tend to remove some of the processing overheads from your PC, but again this is not to say you will notice any substantial (if any) improvement in the speed of your system if you do. If you are using a digital output, either via SPDIF or optical then this is indeed a series of '1's and 0's being sent down your cable, though the manner in which this is encoded/decoded by your pc Codecs and then your receiver decoder (if indeed it is doing any decoding 'as such') is a fairly complex issue with many possible senarios and configuration options. Suffice to say it is digital and I will leave it at that. However there can be many drawbacks to using this method to transfer your audio signal, though fortunately reduced sound quality is not one of them. My advise to you is if your happy with your sound then leave it as it is. As they say, if it aint broke, don't fix it. __________________ []Intel Q6600 []2GB Samsung DDR3[]EVGA 790i Motherboard[]2 x Asus Geforce 8800GTX, Thermaltake Duorb VGA coolers[]OCZ 850 GameXtreme[]Adaptec 3805 Raid adaptor A Custom made car is always better than its production alternative.