Audio Hardware Suggestions

[gracyon]

Hey all,

I'm new to HTPCs and after seeing my friend's, I decided to jump in myself. I used to have several Tivos, both stand alone and DirecTivos, and thought the new Tivo PC would be perfect. After Amazon delayed my shipment for the 3rd time, I was motivated to instead get GBPVR installed (which my friend uses) and spent a few hours getting it to work. Once I did, I canceled my Amazon order.

I'm now to the point where I'm comfortable with the software, and I know which hardware pieces I need to upgrade. I have a huge drive on the way, along with a new video card.

My question is about Audio. I'm currently using the built in sound card, and simply sending it directly into our HDTV. The speakers aren't terrible, but they aren't great.

I'm interested in upgrading the audio both in the machine, and the speakers. I have an old SB-Live card sitting around. Would you guys suggest I do something better than that?

What do you guys use for speakers? Do you use PC speaker systems? Or do you pipe the audio into a normal home theater reciever?

I'm just at a loss for which direction to head.

Thanks so much to the community for such great content, and to the developer (Sub?) for a truly spectacular PVR.

Gracyon

[JonnyCam]

Unless you have a Dolby Digital / DTS decoder in your TV - you are much betteroff using SPDIF to a receiver.
Better quality, and allows for straight pass through of AC3 / 5.1 streams.

A amp is a dedicated solution for playing audio, it will always be better than the TV speakers etc, andyou'll probably be able to leave it using the on-board sound.
You could of course use a creative type solution for the 5.1, but I prefer the nice speakers connected to my amp for movie & music playback.

If you don't have a SPDIF optical or coax socket, you will probably have a header pin on the MB which can be made into a coax socket really easily (conect 2 wires to an RCA socket on the MB, and you are done)

[Elmo Putney]

I'll second all of the above, except I would recommend sticking to an optical connection if its available. this stops all the high frequency noise associated with digital circuits in your pc coming through the shielding on electrical connections and into your amp.

I have optical to a DAC which feeds a pre and pair of power amps, I've never really bought into home cinema sound though.

[reboot]

I've got onboard 5.1 piped directly into the AMP's 5.1 inputs with shielded cables.
Good for a short distance run, and I can easily break windows.

[cosmocat]

I use an MVP extender in the lounge and mod'ed it to bring out a co-ax SPDIF output. I connect that to a 5.1 AV receiver and some kick@$$ KEF speakers.
Sounds awesome ;-)

[toboR]

BTW gracyon, Welcome!

[gEd]

welcome!

I use an M-audio audiophile 24/96 PCI sound card feeding an Audio Analgoue stereo amp, feeding some old Mission 731SE speakers. I think it sounds superb.

I also tried the built in 7.1 HD 24/96 sound chip on my new motherboard and it sounded totally lifeless compared to the m-audio.

Priot to bringing the amp and speakers out of retirement, I used a pair of creative 2.1 computer speakers. They sounded pretty good given their size and price.

Which direction you should go in depends on what you want and how much money you want to spend. Do you want 5/7.1 surround and a sub-woofer from hell or a standard stereo pair? Do you want big speakers on tiny speakers? etc

[Pob]

For me it's all about neatness, and using the PC as a true all-in-one entertainment system. I have the (pretty standard now) Azalea HD Audio on the motherboard, so I use the built-in speakers on my TV plus a subwoofer at the front, and two good speakers at the rear.
I use Nvidia purevideo to decode the Dolby prologic from standard TV shows, and the AC3 from HD-TV and video sources.
I use ffdshow to decode the prologic surround on videos using MP3 audio (DivX, XviD).
Regardless what you use, it largely comes down to the speaker quality. I did have an external amp hooked up before, but it sounds just as good now and I have a lot less clutter!

[Elmo Putney]

ohhh I can feel a geeky "photo of my system" thread approaching...

[86atc250r]

I use an M-audio audiophile 24/96 PCI sound card feeding an Audio Analgoue stereo amp, feeding some old Mission 731SE speakers. I think it sounds superb.

I also tried the built in 7.1 HD 24/96 sound chip on my new motherboard and it sounded totally lifeless compared to the m-audio.

If a person's not going to go the digital route, I'll 2nd this suggestion - I also use an M-Audio 24/96 card. There is no comparison to the more traditional or "built in" sound cards. My wife even noticed the difference when we switched (the only change was to the 24/96 card) , and that's saying something.