Personal/HTPC Hybrid

[topher219]

I want to use my personal computer to watch movies and listen to music through a premium sound system, I am currently building a new pc so I havent bought anything as of yet.
Im kinda new to this whole thing of not just buying a computer speaker set ready in box, but actually getting a reciever and speakers to make my own stereo system. Im looking at the Onkyo TX-SR705 Reciever and speakers that Ive yet to decide on. Ive been trying to figure out how to hook up the reciever to my PC. Not sure how to do it. Do I use my video card and hook it up that way or do I go through my SoundCard. Just so you know Ill be getting the 8800gts(g92)512 and looking at the Creative 7.1 Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion.

Any info and advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[albundy2]

if your receiver has a digital audio input [coaxial or optical] and your mobo has a digital out, thats all you need. you wont need the sound card if your mobo has digital out. there's nothing a sound card will do to improve the quality.

 

[groo]

not that I've found anything wrong with onboard sound myself, but...
I cant imagine a discrete sound card wouldn't help sound quality, even with digital out.
I have heard that sound cards come in 2 flavors, those geared toward gaming, and those geared toward sound reproduction quality. I'm guessing anything by that fatal1ty dweeb is geared for gaming.

you might want to wait for the 9 series nVidias as they will draw less power, and should therefor need less/quieter cooling. don't forget to take into acount PSU noise (thats the noisiest part of my current system).

As it sounds like your getting at least a uATX and probably a fulllsized ATX, dont forget that you probably dont want lots of light escaping your case through various windows of a "gamer case". also a case with 120mm fans moves more air quiter than a case with smaller fans. I'd say get something classy not flashy, like a LianLee or similar.

 

[Noya]

For HTPC use I recall the Turtle Beach sound cards. Checkout AVSforum for all the info you'd ever need about HTPC.

To connect the PC to the monitor, I would just use a DVI-HDMI adapter cable, like this.

I've also read the best Onkyo for the money is the Onkyo sr605

I don't know what your budget is for speakers or what you plan on listening to, music wise (DVD-Audio, SACD, Dolby Digital / DTS concerts, etc.) but Polk audio makes some great upper entry level speakers in their Monitor Series.

Monitor 40 $230 shipped

CS1 Center Channel $113 shipped
Though in reality, the best sound comes from having 3 IDENTICAL speakers in front (or even better, all speakers including the surrounds), as they'll have the EXACT same sound and panning from side-to-side will be seamless (though most people don't like having a vertical speaker in the center as it can look somewhat strange depending on the stand). Not to mention that a horizontal speaker does not spread sound as well as a vertical speaker.

Many people then use cheaper/smaller bookshelves for the surrounds, such as these R150's at $50/pair

The best subs for the money are SVS and HSU ($400+). Good budget subs are the Bic H-100 on eBay ($230-240 shipped) and the JBL Venue 12" ($200 shipped from Amazon or JR).

Buy your cables from Monoprice if you don't want to get ripped.


If your budget is higher, of course the speakers will sound better. Stop by a local high-end audio dealer and listen to some Paradigm Studio 20 bookshelfs...amazing. Or even a pair of towers fed by a 500watt RMS per channel amp...it will blow your mind it sounds so real (the clarity, depth, etc.). But if you don't have the budget for these types of speakers ($1500+ minimum for a three front (left/right/center) bookshelf setup), don't check them out as even decent speakers like the Polk Monitors won't sound good in comparison. It's akin to driving a $50k Lexus, then having to go back to rental grade Fords/Chevys lol.

 

[topher219]

I think i have decided on a 3.1 set of Elegant Design Speakers.
A6-6T6 TOWER PAIR
A6-6T6 MTM SINGLE for the center
A3-300 Subwoofer
$994.50 for a package deal. And then I have found the Onkyo 805 for around $800 and the 705 for about $600. Still havent decided which one to go with.

As far as hooking my soundcard up to my receicer I found this nice wire set on Creatives web site just for what Im trying to do. At a good price also.
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=677&product=14309

 

[albundy2]

not that I've found anything wrong with onboard sound myself, but...
I cant imagine a discrete sound card wouldn't help sound quality, even with digital out.

how does a sound card improve a 1 or 0? cause thats all a digital output sends.

now if ya need an analog preprocessed signal, then a sound card is far and away the best thing to use. if you just need to get a signal from your pc to an actual stereo receiver [which has signal processing ect... built in, with better quality] then one should use a digital output if mobo and receiver support it . that way there is no signal degredation or quality lost.

like digital tv or radio you either have a signal or you dont. eax is the only thing i can think of where a sound card would be useful that a modern home receiver would not have built in processing.

i have been researching this very thing for my next build. i want to build the same thing. checking audiophile site's, i found a digital connection was all that you needed if you intended to hook up your htpc to a receiver. the receiver would handle the processing and that just about any home receiver would be better than a sound card in the end.

hope this help's.

 

[groo]

how does a sound card improve a 1 or 0? cause thats all a digital output sends.

I assume that meens on board graphics with DVI are just as good as video card too, nothing but ones and zeros

even though the output is digital, doesn't meen there isn't processing going on.

 

[albundy2]

I assume that meens on board graphics with DVI are just as good as video card too, nothing but ones and zeros

even though the output is digital, doesn't meen there isn't processing going on.

yes it would if the monitor had built in video processing. like i said a receiver has built in processing. dts, surround, thx ect... why would you need to double process the signal? but hey what do i know right, i meen somethings gotta be wrong if you dint pay for it right. your money dude waste it if ya want. be sure to use monster cables too.

 

[MrCommunistGen]

I think i have decided on a 3.1 set of Elegant Design Speakers

That would be "Elemental Designs". They make good stuff. I have one of their 6.5" subs in a custom enclosure under the driver seat of my car. Onboard digital audio should be fine. Onkyo makes pretty good receivers too. I have an SR-700 (5 generations older). Polk's Monitor series isn't bad if you're on a budget.

-mcg

 

[Crashman]

not that I've found anything wrong with onboard sound myself, but...
I cant imagine a discrete sound card wouldn't help sound quality, even with digital out.

Multi-channel digital output through a Creative X-Fi soundcard is limitted to PRE-ENCODED signals. Since they're pre-encoded, it doesn't matter what they come from. Digital data doesn't suffer from analog distortion.

Furthermore, using a digital cable for audio that's not pre-encoded (such as games) will limit you to stereo. You might be able to get stereo out four speakers, but it's still going to be stereo. You might even get stereo with an echo effect (output delay) on the rear speakers to make it sound like four channels, but you still lose the front-to-rear directional audio feature.

Two technologies that can force 5.1 sound into a digital signal in real-time are Dolby Digital Live (DDL) and DTS Interactive (part of DTS Connect feature set). Creative doesn't support these technologies, and non-Creative cards don't give you the added sound effects of EAX 3-5.

Thus, there's no "perfect" solution. And if you're looking for an imperfect solution just to play pre-encoded digital audio, the onboard will output the same pre-encoded signal as a high-end soundcard.

 

[Crashman]

I assume that meens on board graphics with DVI are just as good as video card too, nothing but ones and zeros

even though the output is digital, doesn't meen there isn't processing going on.

Read what I just said and then think, your analogy doesn't work. Onboard graphics work fine for playing DVD's, but that's giving your analogy too much credit too. You see, DVD's are decoded by the computer. Digital sounds are decoded by the receiver. I haven't seen a monitor cable that takes data directly from a DVD.

There isn't any sound processing going on in the PC when you read encoded video from a DVD, then transmit it unaltered to a digital speaker set. A soundcard might be able to alter the signal, but then it wouldn't be a perfect match of the recording now would it?