Best sound card for movies

[Charlezman]

Hi
What's a good sound card for movies? I need to connect with my pc to my home cinema digital receiver. Thanks

 

[WR2]

A sound card is not required if you use a HDMI cable to connect your PC to your receiver.

 

[Charlezman]

Yes I know, but I want a better sound coming out from my pc cause when I see a movie from my home dvd the sound is much better so I though that if I buy a sound card my pc sound will get better. At the moment I am connected trough coaxial cable from an on board card.

 

[MEgamer]

theres very little difference if your passing the audio thorugh digital....

 

[ksampanna]

No doubt the sound card will improve audio quality. People think there's very little difference & that sound card is just a waste of money (when onboard sound serves you rather well), but trust me, once you hear w/ a sound card attached, the expense seems totally worth it. Also the sound card frees up the CPU to dedicate itself to pure data processing rather than also have an additional audio overlay.
The Creative X-Fi titanium is a good one. You could also get the Fata1ty version if possible.

 

[WR2]

Yes I know, but I want a better sound coming out from my pc cause when I see a movie from my home dvd the sound is much better so I though that if I buy a sound card my pc sound will get better.

Your home theater speakers are:
(1) Attached to your digital receiver? (home audio speakers)
(2) Attached to your PC? (PC speakers)

 

[Charlezman]

I have 5 b&W speakers + yamaha sub woofer. Front main are big floor standing 200w the others center and surround are smaller hang on speakers 100w. The sub woofer is 100w everything is attached to my home receiver

 

[MEgamer]

No doubt the sound card will improve audio quality. People think there's very little difference & that sound card is just a waste of money (when onboard sound serves you rather well), but trust me, once you hear w/ a sound card attached, the expense seems totally worth it. Also the sound card frees up the CPU to dedicate itself to pure data processing rather than also have an additional audio overlay.
The Creative X-Fi titanium is a good one. You could also get the Fata1ty version if possible.

dude if its dgital... there is no or absolutely tiny difference.... its passing the raw signal that was barely processed or not at all.... this guy is talking about passing to the receiver... if u have an amplifier at home, then im sure you'd understand that there is barely perceptible difference when passing digital signals, the only difference you would mostly be able to tell, would be the reasons of using bad wires.

we are not talking about analogue here.....

and yes i know theres a diff in audio cards (analogue > digital)....

and creative isnt as gd as ASUS or Auzentech or HT omega//, quality is better on these cards, oh and the price.

 

[MEgamer]

I have 5 b&W speakers + yamaha sub woofer. Front main are big floor standing 200w the others center and surround are smaller hang on speakers 100w. The sub woofer is 100w everything is attached to my home receiver

if you want to have gd sound quality, use your SPDIF, or Co-ax, HDMI from your motherboard to your receiver, if you have one. And invest in a gd Monster digital cable.

 

[WR2]

I was thinking of suggesting a HD 5450 video card instead of sound card.
Radeon HD 5450 512MB DDR3 Video Card Review

Charlezman;
Can you describe your HTPC components for us?

 

[Charlezman]

Thanks dude, that's an interesting idea, I'll be catching 2 birds with 1 stone, better sound and a gc upgrade and as I am into a quite pc this card seams to have everything I need its passive so no noise, consumes few power so its good for my fanless psu and its not expensive. I will give it a serious thought

I have a pioneer receiver, nvidia 7300gt with dvi out asus mb and an infocus projector

 

[Charlezman]

If I buy this card how am I going to connect the sound to my receiver? There is no coaxial or optical out in this card and my receiver doesn't have hdmi.

 

[MEgamer]

then there is no way, use the digital connection from your mobo

 

[WR2]

That complicates things a bit.
But I think a HD 4350 with S-Video is still an option.
Better video decode and HD audio options I think.

 

[MEgamer]

well s-video connection doesnt carry audio signals.

anyway i dont really see the reason why the OP wont just use the mobo , has he not got one???

 

[gamerk316]

If you use a Digital output, there will be close to no difference in audio quality between an onboard chipset and soundcard, so if your mobo has a digital output port, just use that.

If not, then all you really need is a cheap soundcard [preferably with DDL/DTS-C support, in case you want 5.1 for more then just movies], such as the ASUS Xonar DS, ASUS Xonar D1/DX, or HT Omega Striker.

 

[Charlezman]

Yes I am using digital out. Could it be the software? I am watch movies with wmp or vlc

 

[MEgamer]

what do you mean by could it be the software?

 

[Charlezman]

I play movies using wmp or vlc those are software no, maybe there are other software that can produce better sound than these two

 

[astrallite]

A sound card is not required if you use a HDMI cable to connect your PC to your receiver.

Onboard HDMI ports don't support MCPCM or HD compression formats, just 2 channel PCM.

The only sound card that does MCPCM and HD compressed is the Asus HDAV 1.3.

 

[WR2]

The only sound card that does MCPCM and HD compressed is the Asus HDAV 1.3.

Since the OP doesn't have his speakers connected to the computer the uncompressed MC PCM isn't important to him, correct?
The HD 5450 and it's HDMI ver 1.3 support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) would have been an easy, inexpensive way to get the compressed audio bit-stream to the OP's receiver for unpacking.

 

[MEgamer]

why not use optical on his mobo? or does he not have one?

 

[ricky_critic]

Asus Xonar DS is the best sound card.

 

[astrallite]

Since the OP doesn't have his speakers connected to the computer the uncompressed MC PCM isn't important to him, correct?
The HD 5450 and it's HDMI ver 1.3 support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) would have been an easy, inexpensive way to get the compressed audio bit-stream to the OP's receiver for unpacking.

???

If his speakers aren't connected to the computer, how the hell is he gonna get Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD? Magic?

 

[MEgamer]

lmao!!!! this just aint working...