Audio Advice

[FMod]

Your asking fro it :D

A Pioneer HD 7.1 1000Watt receiver.

Boston acoustic High end bookshelf speaker-really high OHM quality speakers, they range around 8.

 

M25 you mean? Seems to be their top offering. That and a Pioneer make it for an entry level Hi-Fi setup. That should make serious differences in sound quality noticeable.

 

But the receiver's onboard DAC is a likely weak link, being a Pioneer and "1000 watt". Pioneer's not into that today and it's not as good as the DAC on high-grade analog sound cards like X-Fi Elite Pro, TiHD or Xonar Essence.

 

 

Coming from me a discrete sound card makes a big difference, make sure to look at the db range, anything higher then 116db your golden.

I am very much considering getting a HDAV pci sound card. Sense my gtx780 ti has some decent sound but limited to hdmi, the thing about those Xonars they have Digital Coaxial out as well.

SNR numbers ("db range") are really just marketing.

 

Real-life recordings have a range of less than 96 dB. If you get any noise from any sound card that promises 90 dB or better (as they all do) - then it's either a bold lie in specs or a defective unit.

 

That said, only because marketing SNR claims have been steadily increasing, and sound quality has been unsteadily but still increasing, higher claimed numbers, everything else equal, tend to correlate with higher quality. Don't mean higher quality and certainly don't make it, just correlate with.

 

For any digital output, this SNR doesn't apply, it's a spec of the DAC converter and output op-amp after it.

 

 

HDMI allows for significantly higher quality than coaxial audio, since it supports 24-bit depth and uncompressed multichannel streams as standard. S/PDIF coaxial is limited to uncompressed stereo or compressed multichannel and uses 20 bits as standard. HDMI Audio is packet-based with forward error correction, while S/PDIF coaxial uses a simple CDDA-like code prone to temporal and content errors.

 

Put short, HDMI Audio is strictly superior to coaxial. The only reason you may want to consider downgrading to coaxial is if the advantage of sound processing (like EAX) outweighs the loss of quality from inferior connection.

 

This loss of quality would make very little difference on a basic hi-fi system, which doesn't get over 20 bits with its DAC anyway, but it can be noticed, and with multichannel added, due to compressed streams, will likely be noticeable on music. Since most movie and game audio is already compressed, it won't matter there, so EAX should take priority.

[Thor.]

EAX is technically dead in the water, ever sense direct sound was discontinued.

[FMod]

EAX still works with Alchemy in FO3 and such. If you're not going to use that, then yes, it's of no use to you.

 

Which is why HDMI output is generally preferable to a discrete sound card if you use digital output - it allows for higher quality and loses nothing in comparison.

[Thor.]

Yes but there is a problem with HDMI audio, you need a always on device at the other end. I rather not have to have my tv on 24-7 for the audio to be piped through. One setback with HDMI audio.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Thor.

[FMod]

As I understand from another thread, you have a buggy receiver that doesn't work with HDMI audio like it should. It's a TV receiver, probably wasn't intended for audio-only use in the first place.

 

In which case, you have to do what you have to do, but, please, don't try to persuade others to do the same who have no reason to. When using digital output, the only time you have any reason to switch from onboard or GPU sound to a discrete card is if your current setup has a malfunction. Just how you'd buy an Ethernet adapter if (and only if) your onboard LAN isn't working - the analogy is particularly fitting because a non-EAX sound card employing HDMI output isn't even an audio device, it's a networking device.

[Thor.]

Ya it is, its a HD receiver, they are not designed to pipe HDMI audio only, its not a buggy receiver by any means. Its just the way it is, you can't find any on the market that just pipes audio only, it doesn't work with HDMI. Sense the video signal is being piped at the same time. it won't handshake without a video capable device.

 

You obviously never worked with a HD receiver before.

Even video cards require a video signal or it won't recognize the device as a audio capable device. Any hdmi device really won;t work without a video source, even the Xonars only did pass through, you needed video card with capable sound through hdmi for it to work. If you look at the back of the HDAV models they have two hdmi ports on the back for that reason alone.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Thor.

[FMod]

I have dealt with HT receivers, thank you.

 

You are obviously using some sort of display with your computer, and I assume it's not an ancient CRT. Which means you have a video device, which is normally connected via the receiver.

So IDK what's not working for you that you're trying to fix with a sound card, especially also a HDMI one.

 

If you have to listen in the dark, doesn't your TV have a screen off button?

[Thor.]

Sorry if that sounded rude :teehee:

 

No the screen off Button won't work because the video card or sound card in question will think the display is turned off. Its a digital handshake that the sound card searches for.

 

I need to get a new tv sooner or later though, its a first gen Sharp Aquos 120hz tv.. Pretty basic features.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Thor.

[FMod]

Screen off, not power off.

Works just fine for me, I can hear audio loud and clear whether the screen is on or off.

[Thor.]

Well you learn something every day, i do not mind being wrong once in awhile :D . Dang fangled modern tv's lol.

 

Still have to disable it once i switch from consoles or other devices. Sense it uses a single hdmi cable to display.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Thor.