PC Sound options

[|Blunt]

Hey guys, have a question regarding PC sound and how to get the best out of it

Let me start with my set-up and the options i have available to me and we can take it from there

Speakers/amp - Logitec z906 with and optical in and 3.5mm jack options and a samsung amp with optical ins, HDMI in and out and coaxial

Sound card - Onboard optical(not working) Asus xonarDX2 with coaxial out currently going through the Samsung amp or a 1080gtx hdmi audio OR im looking into this if its worth it ASUS Xonar AE as a replacement sound card to get back to using optical out like i have been all along with the z906 speakers

So, my optical out on my motherboard has failed and this is how I used to get sound to the z906s
I have had to revert to using the Samsung amp with coaxial in with a asus xonar dx2 supplying the coaxial out

I have tried to setup the 1080 HD audio but with minimal success - for some reason i just never get all the channels to beable to work. I essentially only get stereo from this setup and this amp doesn't have 4k pass through so i cant use my TV in 4k from my PC

Considering using the 3.5mm jack options for surround sound but i am wondering if this will give poor audio experience compared to the other options

The other option is to buy this ASUS Xonar AE sound card that supports the optical out and basically just revert back to how i was set-up originally(kinda)

I'm open to suggestions. I just want the best possible sound that i can get with what i have, Willing to buy that sound card if its the best option

Thanks in advance

 

[flamevector]

If i can recommend a decent sound card. Creative X-Fi Titanium reasonably well priced does 5.1 32bit sound over SPIF. i own one and increadibly happy with it.

 

[|Blunt]

The sound card im looking at seems to be fine in that regard. however im still looking for advice with regards to the different options. If the sound is just fine over the 3x 3.mm jacks ill just go that route

Im clueless as to if that would give me DTS or Dolby experiance when that is the the type of media being used with that output

 

[garyc]

Both co-axial and optical are different was of implementing S/PDIF. This is a bandwidth limited format, meaning that you are guaranteed stereo but getting full surround will be dependent on the level of compression of the audio signal. The most robust way of getting surround out of the PC would be to use the analogue out or the HDMI.

If your 3.5mm analogue outputs are from your sound card then the quality should be good. Chances are good that the DAC on that DX2 is better than the one on the amp that would otherwise be handling the S/PDIF or HDMI signal. Most amps that I have heard are worse than on-board PC audio if they are fed the digital signal directly.

If you are looking for a new sound card at the moment then your choice may be down to the Asus Strix and DGX. Just about everything else is sold out.

 

[|Blunt]

Thanks for the solid information! Ill try the analogue option today when i get home

 

[crysis]

Both co-axial and optical are different was of implementing S/PDIF. This is a bandwidth limited format, meaning that you are guaranteed stereo but getting full surround will be dependent on the level of compression of the audio signal. The most robust way of getting surround out of the PC would be to use the analogue out or the HDMI.

If your 3.5mm analogue outputs are from your sound card then the quality should be good. Chances are good that the DAC on that DX2 is better than the one on the amp that would otherwise be handling the S/PDIF or HDMI signal. Most amps that I have heard are worse than on-board PC audio if they are fed the digital signal directly.

If you are looking for a new sound card at the moment then your choice may be down to the Asus Strix and DGX. Just about everything else is sold out.

This is true. It almost negates the need for a decent soundcard if you use SPDIF, as the digital to analogue conversion is taking place within the speakers, who's internal components are usually built to a price.