need good sound card for Focals

**bginamercedes** · 06-18-2005, 07:45 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

this a good sound card to get for my computer in the back that is hooked up to my amp that is hooked up to my focal speackers???

**ALonDonThinG** · 06-19-2005, 05:49 AM

Yes

**RS3RS** · 06-19-2005, 07:09 AM

Yes, it is. Very nice card.

Another, though slightly lower end (it's 25 bucks though) card to consider is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829120103

Chaintech AV-710

**SickVette** · 06-19-2005, 09:29 AM

Did you notice that the Ebay card is refurbished? Might not make a difference to you but you should know before hand.

**stapan** · 06-19-2005, 12:55 PM

audigy 2's are very bad for sound quality, but they're good for gaming.

whats more important to you?

if the former, get the chaintech AV-710 that RS3 mentioned. don't let the low price fool you; its a steal at that price and a lot better sound quality than the audigy2.

**ALonDonThinG** · 06-19-2005, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by stapan

audigy 2's are very bad for sound quality, but they're good for gaming.

whats more important to you?

if the former, get the chaintech AV-710 that RS3 mentioned. don't let the low price fool you; its a steal at that price and a lot better sound quality than the audigy2.

Pffft absolute tosh my friend , what data have you to backup such a statement, talk about splitting hairs.

**RFMan** · 06-19-2005, 02:13 PM

If you really want to be picky, SNR on the Audigy 2 Center and subwoofer channels is rather poor (low 90 dBs, if I remember correctly). On the sub channel, it doesn't matter that much, but on the center, it was enough to make me look elsewhere.

I ended up getting a M-audio Revolution 5.1 (here is an eBay link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...PageName=WD1V). That card performs very well sound-wise and has some very nice set-up features like ajustable crossovers for every channel as well being able to input the distance from each speaker to get the time delay right for 5.1.

The only downside is that the audigy 2 plays DVD-A discs out of the box. While the M-audio can technically play DVD-A also, there I have not found any software that will allow me to do so.

Luc

**stapan** · 06-19-2005, 05:20 PM

Pffft absolute tosh my friend , what data have you to backup such a statement, talk about splitting hairs.

I figured a couple people might be up in arms about what I said. after all, audigy cards do have a pretty good reputation, especially around these parts. I didn't have time to post more earlier -- taking care of Dad -- but sit down young'n, I'll teach ya the ways.

its pretty simple actually and has nothing to do with the SNR specs like the other guy mentioned (although thats also a small factor). but while we're on that subject note that creative is known for falsely advertising higher specs than their cards really get (particularly audigy cards). so while the box may say 90db -- which is bad to begin with -- or 108 db -- you may not get nearly that much. I don't want to get into this, cause its not the important thing, specs are only a small part of the big picture, but if you want more information on that go to www.audiocardsettlement.com, or http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22019.

the problem is obvious if you know a little about how the data on your CD gets turned into a speaker signal. In our case, the amplifiers and processors (if any) are not the focus, but rather, how can we get the cleanest signal up to that point? In other words, how much of the sound is distorted before it even goes out of the computer to the amplifier or processor?

now, I realize that most of the people here aren't audiophiles. they just want a reasonable level of sound quality from the computer. and thats perfectly ok, we all have our tastes, preferences, and priorities. if you can't tell the difference between a 128kbps mp3 and the actual CD or the same thing at 320kbps, then this advice is not for you. you'll be perfectly o.k. with an audigy 2 -- it doesn't really matter. you may be happy with your car's factory sound. it would be like me installing a nice sound system in my father's car, when he only listens to AM Radio. its just not worth it. save your sound card money and buy another one of those "awesome sounding" wal-mart $19.99 stereo systems you love and an inverter and put it in your car. but anyway the guy was asking about sound quality and an audigy 2, going through an amp to focal speakers... so here we go.

the problem:
99.9% of music has a sample rate of 44.1kHz.
audigy 2 cards resample that to 48kHz -- using a VERY poor algorithm.

in other words, the audigy 2 cards butcher your music data automatically, at a hardware level, causing noise artifacts and distortion. while this may not sound like anything major, it absolutely destroys sound quality. the hardware is physically incapable of handling clock rates that are not multiples of 48khz.

be careful with the settings. setting the audigy 2 to 44.1khz actually forces the card to upsample to 48khz, and then resample down to 44.1khz. so it gets even worse.

the best thing you can do is use software to resample to 48khz-- at least the algorithms are better. but you're still forcing lots of artifacts and distortion into the music. with a really good external processor you could compensate for a lot of the problems, but why? its even cheaper just to buy a $25 chaintech.

add to that fairly bad DAC's (which is one of the most important things for sound). the $25 chaintech has better DAC's than an audigy 2 also. if you're using optical spdif output (to a processor) the dac's don't matter, but it still resamples.

In addition, Audigy cards clip and distort badly if you set the channel or main volume above 50% (when using full amplitude signals). This is clearly audible to the human ear.

audigy 2 does have its advantages -- mainly, its great for gaming. in fact I use one on my gaming pc. but I woudln't listen to music on it.

**therussman2002** · 06-19-2005, 05:29 PM

i'm dumping thousands on focal speakers and a nice amp or two... and i have a laptop setup in the car. i'm using the audigy 2 zs notebook card, with some nice minijack to rca cables... would your 48khz sampling statements apply to the notebook version as well? (im asking this because theres obviously less electronics in the notebook pc card than the desktop pci card, and perhaps more of the work is done in software)

if not, know of any good usb sound cards? (with front/rear/sub outs at least?)

ive tried the maudio sonica theater, and the two creative external cards... no dice

**RS3RS** · 06-19-2005, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by stapan

I figured a couple people might be up in arms about what I said. after all, audigy cards do have a pretty good reputation, especially around these parts. I didn't have time to post more earlier -- taking care of Dad -- but sit down young'n, I'll teach ya the ways.

its pretty simple actually and has nothing to do with the SNR specs like the other guy mentioned (although thats also a small factor). but while we're on that subject note that creative is known for falsely advertising higher specs than their cards really get (particularly audigy cards). so while the box may say 90db -- which is bad to begin with -- or 108 db -- you may not get nearly that much. I don't want to get into this, cause its not the important thing, specs are only a small part of the big picture, but if you want more information on that go to www.audiocardsettlement.com, or http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22019.

the problem is obvious if you know a little about how the data on your CD gets turned into a speaker signal. In our case, the amplifiers and processors (if any) are not the focus, but rather, how can we get the cleanest signal up to that point? In other words, how much of the sound is distorted before it even goes out of the computer to the amplifier or processor?

now, I realize that most of the people here aren't audiophiles. they just want a reasonable level of sound quality from the computer. and thats perfectly ok, we all have our tastes, preferences, and priorities. if you can't tell the difference between a 128kbps mp3 and the actual CD or the same thing at 320kbps, then this advice is not for you. you'll be perfectly o.k. with an audigy 2 -- it doesn't really matter. you may be happy with your car's factory sound. it would be like me installing a nice sound system in my father's car, when he only listens to AM Radio. its just not worth it. save your sound card money and buy another one of those "awesome sounding" wal-mart $19.99 stereo systems you love and an inverter and put it in your car. but anyway the guy was asking about sound quality and an audigy 2, going through an amp to focal speakers... so here we go.

the problem:
99.9% of music has a sample rate of 44.1kHz.
audigy 2 cards resample that to 48kHz -- using a VERY poor algorithm.

in other words, the audigy 2 cards butcher your music data automatically, at a hardware level, causing noise artifacts and distortion. while this may not sound like anything major, it absolutely destroys sound quality. the hardware is physically incapable of handling clock rates that are not multiples of 48khz.

be careful with the settings. setting the audigy 2 to 44.1khz actually forces the card to upsample to 48khz, and then resample down to 44.1khz. so it gets even worse.

the best thing you can do is use software to resample to 48khz-- at least the algorithms are better. but you're still forcing lots of artifacts and distortion into the music. with a really good external processor you could compensate for a lot of the problems, but why? its even cheaper just to buy a $25 chaintech.

add to that fairly bad DAC's (which is one of the most important things for sound). the $25 chaintech has better DAC's than an audigy 2 also. if you're using optical spdif output (to a processor) the dac's don't matter, but it still resamples.

In addition, Audigy cards clip and distort badly if you set the channel or main volume above 50% (when using full amplitude signals). This is clearly audible to the human ear.

audigy 2 does have its advantages -- mainly, its great for gaming. in fact I use one on my gaming pc. but I woudln't listen to music on it.

Uh, yeah.... What he said!!!