Computer Audio FAQ

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insanarchist

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 3, 2004
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I can't believe there isn't one of these yet, but my searches turned up nothing, so I'll do my best to start one off right! Feel free to add your input to the thread!


Computer Audio FAQ
Q: How do I hook my computer up to my home stereo?

A: There are several ways to do so. Going the analog route, you have: this cable. One end plugs into the line-out on your soundcard, the other end plugs into the AUX in (or whichever input you like) on your home stereo.

If you have a digital output on your soundcard, and a digital in on your home stereo, you can get the appropriate cables for that as well (either a standard RCA cable for non-optical digital, or a TOSLINK cable if you have optical digital ins/outs.)


Q: Is it worth upgrading to a separate soundcard if I have onboard sound?

A: It depends on what motherboard/chipset you have. Some onboard audio rivals some of the better separate soundcards, whereas other onboard audio (especially on older and/or cheaper motherboards) sounds pretty bad. A good way to tell if you need a separate soundcard is to listen to a CD on a nice CD player through your headphones, then listen to the same CD on your computer through the same headphones. If there's an audible difference, you should probably get a soundcard. If you hear buzzing, pops, or clicks when you move the mouse or the hard drive spins/seeks, you should really upgrade your soundcard.


Other Q's I've seen and am either not qualified or am just too lazy to answer:

- Which 5.1 headphones/are they worth it?

- Can I hook up two 2.1/3.1 computer speakers to get 4.1/6.1 surround sound?

- What is the best soundcard for recording / will my soundblaster be ok?

- Where did this rash come from / should I be worried?



Keep the thread going! :)
 
insanarchist said:
I can't believe there isn't one of these yet, but my searches turned up nothing, so I'll do my best to start one off right! Feel free to add your input to the thread![
Click to expand...

Its because there is never a right answer when it comes to audio it comes down to budgets, application, and mostly taste.

insanarchist said:
Q: Is it worth upgrading to a separate soundcard if I have onboard sound?

A: It depends on what motherboard/chipset you have. Some onboard audio rivals some of the better separate soundcards, whereas other onboard audio (especially on older and/or cheaper motherboards) sounds pretty bad. A good way to tell if you need a separate soundcard is to listen to a CD on a nice CD player through your headphones, then listen to the same CD on your computer through the same headphones. If there's an audible difference, you should probably get a soundcard. If you hear buzzing, pops, or clicks when you move the mouse or the hard drive spins/seeks, you should really upgrade your soundcard.
Click to expand...

This is my point...You mention nothing about application if the user intends to mostly game on thier system then your answer is way off base. Where this is a good answer for one single situation once a different situation is introduced your answer wont even make sense. Im all for keeping people informed and educated but this type of FAQ will breed many more questions.

Now maybe a different type of faq simply listing different audio equipment, what it does and links to reviews would help people make more educated choices. I would take questions like your first one and expand on that but leave the preference questions out of a FAQ.

I am not trying to rag on you its just that i can see where this would go the second someone says product A is better than B it would go from a helpfull informative post into an all out flamefest.
 
Should keep such thread alive and should also add this info:

DD/DTS encoding is the only way to get a surround sound through a digital output of a sound card, a surround sound from a DVD movie is however can be passed through any sound card with digital output because the sound is already pre-encoded in DD/DTS format.
 
Haha, dammit. I guess on the plus side, with an FAQ as comprehensive as that, there really wouldn't be much going on in this forum if people read it :p
 
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