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Damian1999 · #1 1 Week Ago

I am building a new PC with the main purpose of playing MP3 music. My plan is to use a sound card with an optical output and connect that to a 5.1 dolby surround reciever. Is this the best possible setup I can do for sound quaility?

Also, since the audio data will be outputed from the sound card by an optical cable to the dobly surround reciever, the audio data should remain digital. I am thinking the sound quaility is going to be determined by the dolby reciever, and since all digital signal is the same unlike analog, would be make a difference if I bought a cheaper sound card rather than a high end more expensive one since either way, the signal will leave the card on an optical cable? I am asking because I seen optical output sound cards for under $50

DarkLord7854 · #2 1 Week Ago

Originally Posted by Damian1999

I am building a new PC with the main purpose of playing MP3 music. My plan is to use a sound card with an optical output and connect that to a 5.1 dolby surround reciever. Is this the best possible setup I can do for sound quaility?

Also, since the audio data will be outputed from the sound card by an optical cable to the dobly surround reciever, the audio data should remain digital. I am thinking the sound quaility is going to be determined by the dolby reciever, and since all digital signal is the same unlike analog, would be make a difference if I bought a cheaper sound card rather than a high end more expensive one since either way, the signal will leave the card on an optical cable? I am asking because I seen optical output sound cards for under $50

The price you pay is the quality you get.

I personally wouldn't bother with an optical sound card if all you're doing is MP3s. If it was audio editing, sure. But if you were doing serious audio editing you'd be buying a high-end card that off-loads the audio processing from the CPU.

Put it this way.. I edit/produce movies/short films as a hobby, and I run off an X-Fi card through simple 2.1 speakers, and it sounds absolutely amazing. The sound card cost me 80$ (X-Fi rocks.) and the speakers cost me 20$.

If I were you, I'd just get a Soundblaster, or X-Fi xtremegamer card, and just use the sound jacks on the card. I wouldn't bother with optical.

Just if you're wondering, I used to run an optical link to a big 2000W amp (amp was 3,000$, speakers and subwoofers total'ed another 4,000$ FYI, very good quality pieces)connected to a 7.2 setup and with Dolby Surround, the quality was the same, it just drew a buttload of power to run the whole setup when my little 2.1 set gave me same quality

Zachary · #3 1 Week Ago

I've got these speakers:
Altec Lansing AVS300 w/ Subwoofer - SALE PRICE: $19.89
and these in the rear: Altec Lansing ACS21W Computer Speaker Systems - PcPartsCollection.com
with this card: CT4870 / CT4780 Product Information
As you can see, all cheap (in fact I got it all free...), but it sounds great
I've gotta agree with Darklord, for MP3 playing, less is more

Damian1999 · #4 1 Week Ago

ok so the sound quaility will pretty much be the same since its mp3s. The reason I said I was going to use a dolby amp is this PC is not just gonna sit on a desk, its going to be used as my "music center". Its going to be in my fairly large game room. which is why I bought a 5.1 system. It is mainly going to be used for partys, which is why I wanted to use a 1000w amp. I figured I would need that for it to be loud enough at parties. and I was going to use an optical cable since its the best cable that I can connect between my PC and amp. Is all of my thinking correct? I never did something like this before. I built many PCs but have little experence with surround amps.. just want to make sure I do things right the first time I set them up

DarkLord7854 · #5 6 Days Ago

Originally Posted by Damian1999

ok so the sound quaility will pretty much be the same since its mp3s. The reason I said I was going to use a dolby amp is this PC is not just gonna sit on a desk, its going to be used as my "music center". Its going to be in my fairly large game room. which is why I bought a 5.1 system. It is mainly going to be used for partys, which is why I wanted to use a 1000w amp. I figured I would need that for it to be loud enough at parties. and I was going to use an optical cable since its the best cable that I can connect between my PC and amp. Is all of my thinking correct? I never did something like this before. I built many PCs but have little experence with surround amps.. just want to make sure I do things right the first time I set them up

Your thinking is incorrect. If I crank cheapo 20$ speakers up to max, you can hear em from down the block. An amp is necessary when you have BIG speakers that output more then 75-100W a piece and have like 500W+ subwoofers.

Get a regular set of PC speakers, they'll be more then loud enough, and the quality will be dependent on the MP3 quality. Just because you play through optical doesn't mean the quality will be amazing, it's entirely dependent on the actual quality of the sound file.

You're thinking too much about "maximum quality possible" An MP3 is hardly the best quality, and I highly doubt you'll find Dolby support for most of your games, videos, and MP3s, so the point is rather moot.

Just go with standard speakers connected via standard audio jacks, get a nice 5.1/7.1 soundcard like a Creative X-Fi or a good Creative Soundblaster, and you're set

Damian1999 · #6 6 Days Ago

Originally Posted by DarkLord7854

Get a regular set of PC speakers, they'll be more then loud enough, and the quality will be dependent on the MP3 quality. Just because you play through optical doesn't mean the quality will be amazing, it's entirely dependent on the actual quality of the sound file.

You're thinking too much about "maximum quality possible" An MP3 is hardly the best quality, and I highly doubt you'll find Dolby support for most of your games, videos, and MP3s, so the point is rather moot.

I am sorry, I should have explained more in the begining. This PC is going to be part of a entertainment center on my shelves. There will also be CD chargers, sat radio, etc. Its basically going to be part of my stero system. Its not going to be used for gaming, videos, or any other PC things.

I have over 10,000 songs on MP3 file and I just thought it would make sense to include those in the stero system I am putting together. This system will have big speakers through out my game room that will be connected to the amp. I was just going to hook up the PC to the amp as well to play the MP3s and wanted to know the best way to do it.

DarkLord7854 · #7 6 Days Ago

Originally Posted by Damian1999

I am sorry, I should have explained more in the begining. This PC is going to be part of a entertainment center on my shelves. There will also be CD chargers, sat radio, etc. Its basically going to be part of my stero system. Its not going to be used for gaming, videos, or any other PC things.

I have over 10,000 songs on MP3 file and I just thought it would make sense to include those in the stero system I am putting together. This system will have big speakers through out my game room that will be connected to the amp. I was just going to hook up the PC to the amp as well to play the MP3s and wanted to know the best way to do it.

Oooh, hehe my bad..

So you're saying, you want like, a central switch device mainly, so you can flip between whatever input source to output through the speakers?
Yea, an amp would be a good way to do it, or you can get a simple switch box, depends how much cash you want to spend, but optical links are unnecessary

Standard cabling would do ya fine