[DireWolf08]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mpgxsvcd /forum/post/14535920


Bose speakers with the exception of the Studio on Wheels system in the Infiniti cars are not High Quality speakers. In fact the speakers in those $2000 Bose cubes actually cost about $5 online to replace them..


If you want a good system then you will need a receiver, possibly an amp, and some Truly good speakers.

Haha, yeah. He lost me at "high quality like Bose".

 

[agoutihead]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr /forum/post/14542467


This thread is making my head hurt

.


Anyway, based on the link you gave for your sound card, you need to get this:

http://us.creative.com/products/prod...6&product=1780


This will plug into the port labeled "Digital IO" on your sound card and give you toslink (optical) and coax digital inputs and outputs. You'll want to connect the toslink output to the SAT input on your Sony. You just need to get a normal Toslink cable long enough to connect the Creative adapter to the Sony box such as one of these:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10229


Yes, Monster Cable is a very poor value IMO. I purchased many of their cables in the past before I knew better and the construction quality is not very good at all. I had some cables literally fall apart. I now get my premade cables (I also make some of my own cables) from Blue Jeans Cable and have been very happy with them (and the cost is a lot more reasonable than Monster).

By having to go through a couple of different cables and a converter box, am I going to lose sound quality?



By spending money on the converter box and the cable, with shipping, I may be better off finding a new 5.1 sound card with a digital output and will support supports dolby live or dts connect.


Will that give me better sound quality? And this way if I get the dolby live or dts, I will have games in surround as well.


I think that may be the way I want to go.


But I need to make sure it is compatible in ubuntu.

 

[agoutihead]

Alright, i searched newegg and i focused on finding 5.1 cards that have a digital audio 24-bit, I found 4 that offer that, but which one do I need?


Does anyone know which one will work in Ubuntu with out any issues?


These two have a couple of extra ports, what are they for?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118103

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118105


These next 2 cards are cheaper, and probably not as good as the first 2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829128003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102010

 

[gsr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by agoutihead /forum/post/14543721


By having to go through a couple of different cables and a converter box, am I going to lose sound quality?

No.

Quote:
By spending money on the converter box and the cable, with shipping, I may be better off finding a new 5.1 sound card with a digital output and will support supports dolby live or dts connect.


Will that give me better sound quality? And this way if I get the dolby live or dts, I will have games in surround as well.


I think that may be the way I want to go.


But I need to make sure it is compatible in ubuntu.

Do what you want - a bunch of us have been trying to steer you in the right direction to both minimize the cost and maximize the performance for the money you're spending and have given you some suggestions for things you can do inexpensively to make what you currently have work for you. I get the impression that you're hell-bent on getting something new now and are expecting that spending a couple of hundred bucks is going to completely transform your listening experience (sorry, but that just isn't going to happen). The Sony system you currently have is probably at least as good as anything else you're going to get for $300-400. IMHO, it really doesn't make sense to worry about Dolby Live / DTS Connect for now as you'll be spending yet more money on things you'll probably end up throwing away later and I do get the impression that the budget is limited (which may be the wrong impression) in which case it would make the most sense to keep the spending to a minimum for now.


Keep in mind that you can shop around for both the Digital I/O module and the Toslink cable and probably find both at the same place and save a bit on the shipping (hint: google and amazon mind be your friends here). For the cost of these 2 items and shipping, I really doubt that you could get a sound card that would be a worthwhile upgrade over what you have now. Besides, you still need to get the same Toslink cable anyway so you don't save anything there unless the new sound card happens to include a Toslink cable (most don't).

 

[gsr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by agoutihead /forum/post/14543863


Alright, i searched newegg and i focused on finding 5.1 cards that have a digital audio 24-bit, I found 4 that offer that, but which one do I need?


Does anyone know which one will work in Ubuntu with out any issues?


These two have a couple of extra ports, what are they for?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118103

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118105


These next 2 cards are cheaper, and probably not as good as the first 2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829128003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102010

Umm, that last card is the low profile version of the card you already have

.

 

[agoutihead]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr /forum/post/14543893


No.



Do what you want - a bunch of us have been trying to steer you in the right direction to both minimize the cost and maximize the performance for the money you're spending and have given you some suggestions for things you can do inexpensively to make what you currently have work for you. I get the impression that you're hell-bent on getting something new now and are expecting that spending a couple of hundred bucks is going to completely transform your listening experience (sorry, but that just isn't going to happen). The Sony system you currently have is probably at least as good as anything else you're going to get for $300-400. IMHO, it really doesn't make sense to worry about Dolby Live / DTS Connect for now as you'll be spending yet more money on things you'll probably end up throwing away later and I do get the impression that the budget is limited (which may be the wrong impression) in which case it would make the most sense to keep the spending to a minimum for now.


Keep in mind that you can shop around for both the Digital I/O module and the Toslink cable and probably find both at the same place and save a bit on the shipping (hint: google and amazon mind be your friends here). For the cost of these 2 items and shipping, I really doubt that you could get a sound card that would be a worthwhile upgrade over what you have now. Besides, you still need to get the same Toslink cable anyway so you don't save anything there unless the new sound card happens to include a Toslink cable (most don't).

No, I'm fine with keeping my current system until I can afford something new.


But I wanted to do it right and figured a new sound card with a digital output with dolby live would be the best bet to go. Less clutter and achieve the same things.


Is the digital outport on those 2 first cards taht weird little black thing?


is that just like a plug or stopper? I remove that and then i can plug the cable in right?

 

[agoutihead]

I think those 1st two cards are the same arent they?


there only seems to be a couple of differences...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118105


The are the only ones with that little black plug that is labeled digital Optical S/PDIF.


That is what I'm looking for right?


i can just get that cable from new egg then. I gotta get a couple of other things from them anyways.

 

[gsr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by agoutihead /forum/post/14543948


But I wanted to do it right and figured a new sound card with a digital output with dolby live would be the best bet to go. Less clutter and achieve the same things.

Unless I'm missing something, none of the cards you linked to show Dolby Live or DTS Connect in the specifications. So these aren't going to give you anything you don't have now.

Quote:
Is the digital outport on those 2 first cards taht weird little black thing?


is that just like a plug or stopper? I remove that and then i can plug the cable in right?

The wierd little black thing is a protective cover. You pull the cover out and plug the cable in.

Quote:
The are the only ones with that little black plug that is labeled digital Optical S/PDIF.


That is what I'm looking for right?

Yes, that is a Toslink / Optical digital connection.

Quote:
i can just get that cable from new egg then. I gotta get a couple of other things from them anyways.

Keep an eye on both product and shipping cost. NewEgg doesn't price the shipping for the entire order - each item has it's own shipping cost. So if you get a sound card for $23 + $8 for shipping and then a toslink cable for $9.99 and $10.95 for shipping, I don't see where you have a savings over paying $14 for the adapter I suggested from Creative plus $10 for shipping and then $5 for the toslink cable from MonoPrice plus plus $2.65 for shipping regardless of what else you need to get at NewEgg. Maybe it's just me

.

 

[agoutihead]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr /forum/post/14544379


Unless I'm missing something, none of the cards you linked to show Dolby Live or DTS Connect in the specifications. So these aren't going to give you anything you don't have now.



The wierd little black thing is a protective cover. You pull the cover out and plug the cable in.



Yes, that is a Toslink / Optical digital connection.



Keep an eye on both product and shipping cost. NewEgg doesn't price the shipping for the entire order - each item has it's own shipping cost. So if you get a sound card for $23 + $8 for shipping and then a toslink cable for $9.99 and $10.95 for shipping, I don't see where you have a savings over paying $14 for the adapter I suggested from Creative plus $10 for shipping and then $5 for the toslink cable from MonoPrice plus plus $2.65 for shipping regardless of what else you need to get at NewEgg. Maybe it's just me

.

Hmm. I will have to take all the shipping into account. If its too much, i will opt for the convertor like you suggested.


Under features for those cards, they both say this...


Optical S/PDIF output S/PDIF output allows for pass-through of Dolby Digital? and DTS?multi-channel DVD sound to external A/V receivers Selectable 2, 4, or 6 analog line output channels External line input Internal CD and Aux inputs Supports Game Surround Sound APIs such as EAX, A3D, I3DL2 and DirectSound 3D support Converts stereo sound sources to multi-channel format Environmental Effects Full-featured software suite


Thats what I'm looking for right?

 

[agoutihead]

Is this the right cord?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812120146


it doesnt look like the kind of fittings taht go into those ports, but I could be wrong.

 

[captain_video]

Rather than beat a dead horse on the issue I'll just say that Bose has earned a reputation in high end circles as being more about hype than quality. I used to own a set of the original Bose 901's that I bought because I read a glowing review in Popular Science back in the late 60's or early 70's. They sounded impressive at the time because the sound was huge and they'd absorb a lot of power. What I didn't realize was that the speakers were all 4" full-range units that were equalized to hell and back in order to obtain a full range of frequencies. That was before I learned about imaging and accurate reproduction of sound. I ended up trading them in on a pair of Dahlquist DQ10's and I practically had to beg the dealer to take them as a trade-in (he knew the calibre of clientele that frequented his store would avoid the 901's like the plague and was trying to figure out how he was going to unload those turkeys).


That being said, $400 isn't going to buy you much of anything in the way of a "quality" surround setup. You might be able to get a decent center channel speaker for $400 but if you're looking for a complete system you're going to have to make some serious compromises in quality. OTOH, if you feel Bose is a quality speaker then finding something that will satisfy your tastes shouldn't be too difficult in that price range.


Your best bet would be to check out some home theater magazines for reviews instead of relying on recommendations in a public forum. You'll get a lot of fanboys of certain brands and bashers of others (i.e., Bose, for instance). Better yet, visit a few showrooms and see what is offered in your price range and also look at systems selling for a few hundred dollars more. Then, consider getting a set of used speakers on ebay or Craig's list based on what you heard.

 

[kapone]

+1


Not to belittle the OP (hey we all have our budgets), $400 is literally nothing when it comes to sound. As captain_video said, it might buy you a decent center channel, if you really were looking for quality.


To add, I'd say even that spiffy HTIB sitting in BB or CC is probably better than the overpriced piece of cra* that Bose sells. Speaker engineering is a decades old science, and while there have been "some" radical advances in the last few years (ribbon speakers, planar speakers etc), the basic speaker design has not changed for decades. Reason? Why fix something, that aint broke?


Bose is like Monster cable. All advertising and very little substance. Monoprice will sell you the EXACT same cable for 1/20th the price that Monster charges, and the cable will probably be better than Monster.

 

[JoelGordon]

I should not have mentioned dobly live or dts connect without explaining it. The jist is that an optical cable does not have the bandwidth to transfer 6 channels of uncompressed audio so this tech allows the sound to be compressed by hardware or software in the soundcard/drivers to either dolby digital or DTS so that it can be transported on the optical cable. Either method will degrade sound. This is only important if you need to transfer more than 2 channels of uncompressed audio on the optical cable. In the case of DVD, the audio track is already DTS or DD and can be passed as is if configured correctly.


The specs you referenced just say that the card can pass thru DTS and DD tracks and supports some 3D positioning instructions for surround sound in games. But the soundcards can only output 5.1 over the analog outs unless it is pre-encoded DD or DTS.


I would take the advice of previous posters and buy the digital I/O addon for you current soundcard and optical cable, see how that works and then consider an upgrade path for you HT system.

 

[agoutihead]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JoelGordon /forum/post/14545254


I should not have mentioned dobly live or dts connect without explaining it. The jist is that an optical cable does not have the bandwidth to transfer 6 channels of uncompressed audio so this tech allows the sound to be compressed by hardware or software in the soundcard/drivers to either dolby digital or DTS so that it can be transported on the optical cable. Either method will degrade sound. This is only important if you need to transfer more than 2 channels of uncompressed audio on the optical cable. In the case of DVD, the audio track is already DTS or DD and can be passed as is if configured correctly.


The specs you referenced just say that the card can pass thru DTS and DD tracks and supports some 3D positioning instructions for surround sound in games. But the soundcards can only output 5.1 over the analog outs unless it is pre-encoded DD or DTS.


I would take the advice of previous posters and buy the digital I/O addon for you current soundcard and optical cable, see how that works and then consider an upgrade path for you HT system.

I will def do the digital I/O addon if I have to, but I am trying to keep this HTPC as clean and clutter free as possible.


If it costs a few more dollars, to get the right card and the cable, then so bet it, but I will be happier with the cleaner setup.


I dont believe newegg has any 5.1 card that offers this dolby digital then or am I wrong?


i wish i knew what you were talking about when you say 6 channels, 2 channels etc. I have no idea.

 

[SnoopKatt]

The channels is the amount of speakers usually. A 5.1 channel (or sometimes called 6 channel system) system lets you use 5 speakers and 1 subwoofer. 2 channel audio is just regular stereo.

 

[gsr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by agoutihead /forum/post/14544491


Is this the right cord?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812120146


it doesnt look like the kind of fittings taht go into those ports, but I could be wrong.

Yes, that's the correct type of cable, though the MonoPrice cable I posted the link for would work out to cost you a LOT less. If you order the cable from NewEgg, it will cost you $18.98 with shipping regardless of what else you buy on the same order. If you buy the same length cable from MonoPrice, it will cost you $6.09 or a little more if you opt for a faster shipping option other than First Class mail (3-4 business day delivery).


As to keeping your system as clean and clutter free as possible, you're quickly going to find as you upgrade to better equipment that the connections do tend to get a bit more involved. I bet if I posted a picture of the back of my home theater system showing all the wiring you'd agree that the clutter created by the Digital I/O adapter isn't all that bad after all

.

Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_video /forum/post/14544664


Rather than beat a dead horse on the issue I'll just say

Consider the dead horse beaten beyond recognition...

Quote:
Your best bet would be to check out some home theater magazines for reviews instead of relying on recommendations in a public forum. You'll get a lot of fanboys of certain brands and bashers of others (i.e., Bose, for instance). Better yet, visit a few showrooms and see what is offered in your price range and also look at systems selling for a few hundred dollars more. Then, consider getting a set of used speakers on ebay or Craig's list based on what you heard.

The recommendations in this public forum have been reasonably broad and intended to point the original poster in what we feel is the right direction. That direction is is stay away from Bose, do some research (which would include reading some of the magazines), visit some stores and actually listen to some good equipment, and take an approach to upgrading his system that will hopefully result in wasting as little money as possible by buying things that he won't find useful when he reaches his end goal of a higher quality system. This means buying less of the system, but better components at a time, and choosing those components carefully. Where I've made specific recommendations, such as NHT SuperOne's my intent was to suggest these as an example, not as the only option - there are as many speaker options out there as there are opinions.


If he takes your advice literally, he'll ignore your recommendation too as it came from a public forum

.

 

[agoutihead]

Wow, I cant belive how much cheaper the cable you linked to was. For sure I'll get that one.


I dont care where they come from, just figured it would be easier and cheaper all at one place. Clearly not the issue here.


I will get that cable and the 5.1 sound card with the digital optical port.


Anyone have any suggestionf for one with dolby digital?


The rest of the advice was appreaciated and noted.


I obviously know nothing about home theaters, there is just so much to know and its hard to learn it all when you are trying to make a quick purchase.

 

[captain_video]



Quote:
Originally Posted by agoutihead /forum/post/14548105


I obviously know nothing about home theaters, there is just so much to know and its hard to learn it all when you are trying to make a quick purchase.

Any type of audio equipment should be carefully considered and not purchased spontaneously. After all, sound preferences are a very personal thing and making the wrong choice could end up being something you'll regret for a long time. Make an informed decision and then purchase your speakers knowing that you made the best choice.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr /forum/post/14547278


The recommendations in this public forum have been reasonably broad and intended to point the original poster in what we feel is the right direction. That direction is is stay away from Bose, do some research (which would include reading some of the magazines), visit some stores and actually listen to some good equipment, and take an approach to upgrading his system that will hopefully result in wasting as little money as possible by buying things that he won't find useful when he reaches his end goal of a higher quality system. This means buying less of the system, but better components at a time, and choosing those components carefully. Where I've made specific recommendations, such as NHT SuperOne's my intent was to suggest these as an example, not as the only option - there are as many speaker options out there as there are opinions.


If he takes your advice literally, he'll ignore your recommendation too as it came from a public forum

.

I didn't mean to belittle anyone's opinions as I'm sure they were all offered with the best intentions. The thing is, many such recommendations tend to be made based on what the poster owns and considers to be the best since they bought it and are reticent to believe they bought a turkey instead of a prized goose. There are good recommendations and there are not so good ones. It's just very difficult to weed them out if you're trying to learn, which is why I recommended sources that review these things professionally on a regular basis. I believe there are dedicated sections of these forums that deal with speakers and home theater setups so your best bet would be to check them out for recommendations. You may also want to check out a local home theater salon if there's one in your area. Many of them carry budget speakers that are a good value for the money as well as the no-holds barred high-end setups. I'd tend to avoid the retail chains like CC and BB for knowledgeable sales people since they'd probably want to sell you a Bose system.

 

[agoutihead]

fair enough.


Anyone have anything for a 5.1 sound card that has a digital optical output and also has dobly digital?

 

[Theron2]

take a look @ http://www.teufel.de/de/PC-Systeme/

it´s a highly recommended german manufacturer, they are very good with price/performance because they sell their stuff themselves, no other retailer has their hands in it and ups the price that way, you get what you pay for

their pc systems have built in decoders but also the possibility just to amp the already decoded signals

might be worth a look for you