My Sweet Speakers

I was thinking of getting myself the Z-2300 as well but just bought myself the v20 notebook speakers for my PC instead, I've grown tired of wires and these speakers only use a USB cable.

I sacrificed good audio for minimalism.
 
Pooky said:
I wouldn't know where to start. Would you be able to point me in the right direction?
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You just need to compare specs, signal-to-noise ratio is a good start...
Your speakers are around 100 dB SNR.

Now the ASUS Xonar has around 118 dB SNR which are better than your speakers...
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=25&l2=144&l3=0&l4=0&model=1769&modelmenu=1

You just need a soundcard that supports 100 dB SNR, if your soundcard already does 100 dB you probably wont notice a difference.
 
I've got a cheapie soundcard but it's cool since my speakers aren't exactly top of the range either :D
 
Pooky said:
Gigabyte 965P-S3
Click to expand...

That motherboard uses Intel HD audio(probably realtek) and this is all I can find on Intel HD standards...

Intel has also worked with Dolby Laboratories to create three audio "levels" for PCs using HD Audio:
Dolby Sound Room: This is targeted at entry level users and supports 2-channel 5.1 audio using only 2 speakers. It has a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of at least 75 dB.
Dolby Home Theater: This is targeted at mid-level users and supports 6-channel 5.1 audio with a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 85 dB
Dolby Master Studio: This is targeted at high level users and supports 8-channel 7.1 audio with a signal-to-noise ratio of at leas 95. This also supports music transfer through wireless LAN.
Click to expand...

If you can use sisoft sandra to get your soundcard chipset make then I can probably find your specs.
 
sufferwell said:
That motherboard uses Intel HD audio(probably realtek) and this is all I can find on Intel HD standards...



If you can use sisoft sandra to get your soundcard chipset make then I can probably find your specs.
Click to expand...

It is realtek.
 
Pooky said:
It is realtek.
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yeah, but what chipset model?

Edit:
Regardless it does not matter the best Intel HD can do is 95 dB SNR, a creative XFI card can do 108dB SNR which will make good use of your speakers.
 
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carderne said:
I'm also about to have Z-2300s. I have a horrible motherboard with 915G chipset, with AC'97 audio - Realtek I believe. Do you think I would notice an improvement with a cheap Audigy soundcard, being not at all an audiophile?

I'm mostly going to be playing music in my hostel dorm anyway, off my iPod...
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Which Audigy are you thinking of getting?
 
sufferwell said:
yeah, but what chipset model?

Edit:
Regardless it does not matter the best Intel HD can do is 95 dB SNR, a creative XFI card can do 108dB SNR which will make good use of your speakers.
Click to expand...

Cool. Sorry for being stupid, you think you can give me a link to a cheapish sound-card that I will benefit from?

Thankslots.
 
Pooky said:
Cool. Sorry for being stupid, you think you can give me a link to a cheapish sound-card that I will benefit from?

Thankslots.
Click to expand...

I'll use prophecy for reference...

Audigy value should be good enough for your speakers and only R370.39...
http://www.prophecy.co.za/creative-sbs0570-sound-blaster-audigy-value-sound-card-p-20186.html

This card is as good for a little cheaper and is 100db SNR.
http://www.prophecy.co.za/asonic-87688c-sound-card-cmedia-cmi8768-chipset-p-25996.html
I've installed a card with the same chipset before and was pleasantly surprised by the quality.
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/PCI/CMI8768

Edit: But I personally recommend the Xfi Extreme Gamer(not the Xfi Extreme Audio with inferior chipset) or ASUS Xonar which are in the R1000 range
 
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carderne said:
The cheapest one. And only because I like the Creative brand. But if you think the Asonic mentioned above will cd good then that's cool.

Won't all of the 7.1 and optical out etc be lost on a 2.1 set? Don't you get a card with all of the quality, but without all of the connections? I don't expect i'll have anything more than 2.1 for at least a couple of years...
Click to expand...

Ok, well that Audigy does not actually use the proper Audigy chipset...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audigy#Sound_Blaster_Audigy_SE_.26_Audigy_Value
but it still is a nice card for just listening to music.

Personally I've not tried the Asonic so cant recommend it but I have installed a genius soundcard with a C-media chipset and I was impressed, it is notably better than a Realtek Chip.

Don't worry about it being 7.1 you can disable the channels you don't need, besides it's good knowing you have a surround sound card just in case you may need it some day ;)
 
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