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Digital or Analog??

H

hoobie7

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
Messages
233
Okay so heres my quandary:

I have an Audigy 2 soundcard.
I'm getting a new mobo with built in optical out audio.
I'm also getting the Logitech Z-5500's.
Do I go with the mobo optical or the Audigy 2 analog outputs?
And why?

Thanks!
Hoobie :confused:
 
well the audigy2zs also has the coaxial digital out, so why not just stick w/ ur a2zs?

oh yeah coaxial and optical shouldn't be that much of a difference since they are both digital
 
Yeah, the only real advantage to optical vs. digital coax is optical doesn't lose any info over long distances (read: 10's-100's of feet). Realistically, digital coax is better, as the information doesn't have to be converted to light and back. Overall, anything but onboard sound will be better :)
 
No, my Audigy 2 doesnt have digital out at all.
It only has the analog stereo mini plugs for the 5.1 channel.
The mobo is the Asus A8N-SLI with built-in digital, optical out.
So the question is, which is better?
:confused:
 
Ok, here's what I got: LINK
And you guys are rigth it does say it has SPDIF, but I'm confused as to which of the ports is the digital out port. I thought all stereo mini plug jacks were analog. Wrong? :confused:
 
Ok, after lookin at some pictures I see what you guys are talkin about. But since the Z-5500's don't have SPDIF do I go with the the three plug analog from the sound card or digital optical from the mobo?
 
what the z5500 doesn't have coaxial input?

i just checked their site and this is what is says

# Source Inputs

* Digital optical for DVD or CD players, PlayStation®2, Xbox®**
* Digital coaxial for DVD or CD players or PC sound cards (requires coaxial cable, sold separately)
* 6 channel direct (3 stereo-mini connectors) for 2, 4, or 6 channel PC sound cards OR
* 6 channel direct (3 stereo-mini connectors) for 3 stereo analog mini audio sources, like CD and DVD players, Playstation 2, Xbox, or 2 channel PC sound cards (some devices may require stereo mini to dual RCA adapter, sold separately)
* Analog stereo-mini (on side panel of control center) for portable CD, MP3,or MiniDisc® players
 
hoobie7 said:
Ok, after lookin at some pictures I see what you guys are talkin about. But since the Z-5500's don't have SPDIF do I go with the the three plug analog from the sound card or digital optical from the mobo?
Click to expand...
If you play games, use analog cables.

BTW, Z-5500 does have S/PDIF. Both optical and coaxial are S/PDIF.
 
Supasso said:
If you play games, use analog cables.

BTW, Z-5500 does have S/PDIF. Both optical and coaxial are S/PDIF.
Click to expand...

If you play games, you want the support that the Audigy provides- in order to get more than 2 channels, you must use the analog outs, as the Audigy will not encode surroundsound from games into a digital format (only 2.0).
 
the z5500 does have coax digital it also has the fiber optic input...i just got my audigy 2zs yesterday...went from fiber optic from the mother board to the analog from sound card(dont have the cable yet to do coax digital..will soon though)....havn't had time to play w/ it yet to notice any sound improvements...but i'm sure i wont regret buying the card!!
 
kidderf said:
the z5500 does have coax digital it also has the fiber optic input...i just got my audigy 2zs yesterday...went from fiber optic from the mother board to the analog from sound card(dont have the cable yet to do coax digital..will soon though)....havn't had time to play w/ it yet to notice any sound improvements...but i'm sure i wont regret buying the card!!
Click to expand...

If you're running analog from your 2zs now to 5.1 speakers you wouldn't want to use a digital coax... you'd only get 2 channel sound....
 
MonsterZero said:
If you're running analog from your 2zs now to 5.1 speakers you wouldn't want to use a digital coax... you'd only get 2 channel sound....
Click to expand...

Well not my thread but thanks for saying this, I was looking into getting digtal speakers but did not know that. What about the new X-Fi card coming out, will it do digital surround sound with 5.1 speakers?
 
spectra260 said:
Well not my thread but thanks for saying this, I was looking into getting digtal speakers but did not know that. What about the new X-Fi card coming out, will it do digital surround sound with 5.1 speakers?
Click to expand...
Not to our knowledge, you will have to either have to get the HDA Mystique or Turtle something (can't remember what it is exactly called) for DDL (a 5.1 Digital source).
 
I use the digital i/o daughter card with my Audigy. It gives you standard optical and coax input and output. It is really hard to find. They have the Digital I/O card II and for some reason they only list Sound Blaster Live! as being compatible. It hooks up using the same connection as the front pannel add on. The card you linked to has the proper connector on it and should work if you can find one.

I was able to find a picture of it from a ebay auction. It is the small card and the green dongle with the card.

link
 
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Supasso said:
Actually, the Audigy 2 ZS can output uncompressed digital surround, but it needs a propritary connection and a speaker system that supports it. The propritary connection is actually a 3 pairs of S/PDIF, and it's far superior to DDL. Too bad I only know a couple of speaker systems that actually support this.

This is one of them.

http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=25&product=240
Click to expand...
What? From the site you posted (under specifications),

http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=25&product=240&nav=2 said:
Connectors - [font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Analog (Front-In, Rear-In, Center/Subwoofer-In)[/font]
Click to expand...
Eh since when does Analog > Digital?
 
Moofasa~ said:
What? From the site you posted (under specifications),


Eh since when does Analog > Digital?
Click to expand...
When the Digital->Analog conversion is done better on the soundcard side versus PC multimedia speakers, or when the digital audio source is highly compressed like DDL, or when protected media like DVD-A can only be outputted over analog outputs.
 
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