Question About On-Board Audio and Surround Sound

[mapen]

I'm shopping for a new motherboard and am somewhat confused about on-board audio.

I'm upgrading from an Asus A7V266-C with a Sound Blaster Live! and Cambridge Soundworks Surround Sound Speakers (4 speakers + bass). My old SB Live! has a RCA SPDIF output which is what my speakers are currently connected to.

I want to dump my old Sound Blaster Live! and am looking for a motherboard with an audio solution.

I've been looking at the Asus A7N8X-X. The specs say that this motherboard has 6 channel audio. But I notice that the specs also mention an Audio Out port. but doesn't explicitly state that it is an SPDIF port. Will my speakers be able to plug into this and have Surround sound output?

 

[Boonesmi]

spdif is listed as "optional" so it would depend on if your particular board had it or not

 

[mapen]

Originally posted by: Boonesmi
spdif is listed as "optional" so it would depend on if your particular board had it or not

I was going to buy the Asus A7N8X-X from ZipZoomFly. So you're saying that some AVN8X-X will have SPDIF, and some won't? Hmm.

 

[Boonesmi]

yup, apperently some do and some dont.

its a header on the motherboard that you need a bracket for (its a bracket that goes in one of your pci slots on your case) so if zipzoomfly has a pic of the accessories included you should be able to see if it has that bracket.

 

[mapen]

Well, after reading the online manual, it looks like the motherboard will at least come with a S/PDIF header. But it doesn't appear that the bracket comes with the motherboard.

So where the heck do I buy the S/PDIF connector bracket? I looked on ZipZoomFly's web site, I looked on ASUS's web site, and I even searched eBay, and I can't find it. :disgust:

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If that board uses the 6 pin interface this is the one you want but the price sux. I would spend the extra money and get a nF2 with soundstorm. The Abit NF7-s is just over $80 shipped vs near that for the other board+SPDIF bracket. Also, because it's soundstorm certified it has SPDIF on-board, plus SS will give you dolby digital 5.1 encoding, lower CPU usage, and the nF2 is a higher performing chipset than the KT400.

 

[mapen]

Thanks for the advice. I agree, after adding the price of the bracket I might as well get a different motherboard. I've read also that the Realtek audio solution on this board is very low grade.

But I really don't want to spend more (I'm not a hard-core gamer that needs the latest greatest) since my needs are only for a basic motherboard. My habit is to buy a motherboard for about $60 (and a new CPU/Memory), and then sell it a couple years later on eBay for about $30. And repeat whenever I want to upgrade.

So I've decided that instead of getting the Asus AVN8X-X NForce2 board, I will be getting Asus's offering of the Via KT600, the A7V600-X. For the same price (actually $4 less), I get what seems like might be a better quality audio solution (ADI AD1888) that comes with SPDIF on-board, and I also get SATA RAID (not that I'll use it, but it'll add value when I sell it on eBay in a couple years).

For those extras, I'll put up with VIA's slightly slower chipset.

Can someone comment on if ADI AD1888 is better or worse than RealTek audio? (For playing the occasional game of Unreal, Quake, etc., listening to MP3s, and the rare DVD movie.) Thanks.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Why not put up VIA's faster chipset?

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-131-501&depa=1

 

[mapen]

Thank you, CDGNR, for pointing out that board! The amount of information I've absorbed in the last day or so has been overwhelming, and in the confusion of it all I overlooked the KT880 chipset.

I've got more reading and research to do now!

 

[Boonesmi]

if you do go with a via kt880 (which is actually a chipset that i really like ) make sure you get a board that uses the via vt1616 or vt1617 audio codec. it will give you the best sound that you can get on a motherboard (even better then nf2)

here is a board that would give you some great performance, tons and tons of features, and great audio sound. all while keeping the price low

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-130-474&depa=0

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Boonesmi
if you do go with a via kt880 (which is actually a chipset that i really like ) make sure you get a board that uses the via vt1616 or vt1617 audio codec. it will give you the best sound that you can get on a motherboard (even better then nf2)

here is a board that would give you some great performance, tons and tons of features, and great audio sound. all while keeping the price low

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-130-474&depa=0

I agree for music or analog output the vt1616 or vt1617 audio codec is better if the board has good DACs, but for games and movies APU output directly to SPDIF DD 5.1 encoding without the crappy realtek DACs involved is the better choice for those IMO. It is good to see you take up for VIA though not many VIA fans outside of the mini-ITX crowd left around here anymore.

 

[mapen]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I was ready to buy my motherboard but now I discover a whole new problem. My speakers don't come with a standard SPDIF jack!

The motherboards all come with a RCA/Coax SPDIF 1/4" jack, but my damn speakers have a 1/8" headphone style SPDIF jack! (Speakers are Cambridge/Creative FPS 2000.)

If I want to use SPDIF, I'm going to have to buy an Audigy card since that seems to be the only product with a 1/8" SPDIF output jack.

Damn it.

 

[Boonesmi]

they make cables that go from your motherboard to your mini spdif port

**edited to add**
by the way the last toslink cable i bought actually came with a couple mini adapters (my motherboard and reciever both have toslink ports) so if you need a toslink to mini adapter let me know, ill let you have one dirt cheap

 

[mapen]

Thanks for the offer boonesmi, but I'm not sure the toslink to mini adapter that you have is the same type of mini connector I need. It sounds like the mini adapter you have is for a optical connection (I googled it and saw some pictures of what it sounds like you have), but the mini 1/8" spdif connector my speakers have is not optical -- it is a regular wire type connector like that on a walkman headphone jack.

I'd be glad to be wrong and would buy the adapter if it would work.

 

[Nessism]

Why all the brain effort just to drop the Live card? The sound quality of the Live is better than most on board chips plus, it's already paid for!

 

[Boonesmi]

Originally posted by: Nessism
Why all the brain effort just to drop the Live card? The sound quality of the Live is better than most on board chips plus, it's already paid for!

the sound quality of the live card doesnt compare to the sound on the boards mentioned above

 

[Boonesmi]

Originally posted by: mapen
Thanks for the offer boonesmi, but I'm not sure the toslink to mini adapter that you have is the same type of mini connector I need. It sounds like the mini adapter you have is for a optical connection (I googled it and saw some pictures of what it sounds like you have), but the mini 1/8" spdif connector my speakers have is not optical -- it is a regular wire type connector like that on a walkman headphone jack.

I'd be glad to be wrong and would buy the adapter if it would work.

your right about the adapter, i was thinking you needed an optical one.

but you can buy adapters for your coax and/or cables with rca type on one end and a 3.5mm on the other (3.5mm is the same as the 1/8th jack you mentioned)

 

[boyRacer]

I just tried this today on my A7N8X-X... i had an audigy on there... pulled it out and see how the onboard would do. virtually no performance difference but sound quality was a different story... the Realtek ALC650 had no range at all and sounded flat... along with hissing and pops here and there.

so back i go to the audigy.

but since you're not getting that board i guess it doesn't matter.