Digital out - Does Sound card matter?

[supaflyz]

Hello,

I'm not much of an audiophile and I'm sure some of you guys here really know your stuff. My question is: Does it really matter if I use the on-board coax digital output from the dfi ultra-d (ALC850) vs the SB Live 5.1 digital out? Will I notice a difference in the quality of the output? I will be hooking the sound card up to z-680 speakers.

Thanks in advance!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If both are outputting digital correctly, it should give you the same results.

 

[shortylickens]

It depends on who you ask.
I seem to get a lot of crackling in older games with onboard sound.
Doesnt matter if its digital or analog.

I may get flamed for this but:
I also think its a waste of a good 5.1 speaker system if you cant use the higher levels of EAX, which is only available on an Audigy card.
But I'm probably alone in that feeling.

 

[supaflyz]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
If both are outputting digital correctly, it should give you the same results.

what does "correctly" imply? i guess my question is, how can it not output correctly?

I also think its a waste of a good 5.1 speaker system if you cant use the higher levels of EAX, which is only available on an Audigy card.
But I'm probably alone in that feeling.

Yeah, I would like to , but if the digital output is similar/satisfactory, I do not see the value added in an Audigy card. Maybe somewhere down the road, if it really made a difference.

more opinions?

:beer:

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I mean to say that if that any digital soundcard is doing what it should (sending the full digital signal to your decoder) then the output should be the same.

Unless there are quality issues like crackling that shorty mentioned, the signal from either solution should be the same.

The main difference in features between getting a card like an audigy vs a digital connection is that in games you're going to get true surround sound. In movies, you'll get the right surround info from a digital connection, but for gaming unless you have soundstorm or a card that can encode DD in real time (like the recently indtroduced to the US X-Mysitque) then you're only going to get prologic to give you output from all your speakers.

If you want more detailed info on this, the guys over at AVSforum really know their stuff. Their HTPC area would be a good place to look I'd think.

 

[imported_thomase]

If you will be playing games, don't use the digital input on your z-680 speakers (ie. the DD or DTS decoder) unless you have a Soundstorm... period. If you don't have Soundstorm, use your analog outputs from your onboard or add-in soundcard.