Dolby Digital Live Encoding - Why do you want it?

Well, I'm kind of new to this field. I want a nice 5.1 surround sound setup, but have no idea where to start. I was thinking of just doing it the cheap way (actually pretty expensive) and buy the z5500's, but then I thought, what the hell, spend just as much for better quality.

Any guides or suggestions to pick out a system speaker by speaker and buy it? thanks
 
whiteboy said:
Well, I'm kind of new to this field. I want a nice 5.1 surround sound setup, but have no idea where to start. I was thinking of just doing it the cheap way (actually pretty expensive) and buy the z5500's, but then I thought, what the hell, spend just as much for better quality.

Any guides or suggestions to pick out a system speaker by speaker and buy it? thanks
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well if you want to buy a receiver with a decent pair of spekaers, you might have to drop about $500 on that. More if you want 5.1. :)
 
whiteboy said:
Do I need a receiver or can I just plug it into my computer?
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well i guess your 3 options are as follows:

1) computer speakers
2) active montiors
3) home theater receiver + speakers

Maybe some other people can give some insight into this :)
 
MonsterZero said:
Since you addressed me specifically I should point out that this thread isn't about the Mystique... in fact I only used it as an example. I also didn't speak about any "features" of the Mystique card because this thread is about DDL encoding and what it does and offers to people who buy cards/boards that support it.

I use an Audigy because of it's support for gaming.. gaming only.. I do not play music off my computer and I do not play movies off my computer.

Take it easy.

Also, about the signal not even hitting the DAC because it goes straight to the encoder I agree that would make the most sense, I was just pointing out what was said in the review and raising concern. I don't know if we'll ever be able to find out for sure.
Edit: I will also say I don't totally trust companies to make the most appropriate decision in these cases but to more likely go with whatever is easiest and cost effective.
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If you talk about Dolby Digital encoding then you are either talking about Nforce2 Soundstrom or Mystique as those are the only sound "cards" that encode Dolby Digital output. Other sound sources merely pass it through.
 
thomase said:
When connecting analog outputs directly to a receiver, how does one manage the volume settings on the windows/soundcard control panel and the receiver itself? I'd imagine that the wrong combination can result in poor quality.
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Thats just something you have to experiment with. I myself keep the system volume settings on the lower side and use the receiver to up the volume. But you have to find that sweet spot in the system level where its not too loud for the receiver and not so low that the receive does nothing more than amplify the hiss.
 
Ok here are my thoughts about DDL:

1 Connection ... nice if you pack up your entire system and go places often and don't like figuring out which cable goes where. Same scenario as banana plugs for speakers.

Live encoding ... I have noticed that the live encoding on the XBOX sounds really bad in the rear channel speakers. I don't know if it's actual Dolby Digital doing that or the Live part but I'm convinced that there's gotta be a higher quality way.

Wait you have to go out and buy a new sound card to get DDL if it doesn't benefit very much!?!? Yes

So this is what I would do and I have done:

Got an Audigy 2 ZS for 80 bucks
Already had a really nice audio setup with 600 watt surround sound and Boston Acoustics speakers. Can be your home theater setup or whatever, not just computer speakers.
Get 3 Monster Cable iPod interlink cables to connect up the 5.1, or get something comparable for 6.1 or 7.1 setups. These Monster Cables are noise blocking and have all kind of features to block out unwanted stuff just like their Monster XP speaker wire. Or if you don't like Monster Cable stuff, go to the 2nd best stuff, AudioQuest.

The guy at my local computer shop claimed that this Realtek onboard audio I have in my new motherboard (ASUS K8N-E Deluxe) blows away any sound card out there except the Audigy 4.... Yes I'm thinking the same thing you are... BS! I have had no problems with my Audigy 2 ZS!

There's my opinion. State your opinion about my opinion!
 
I want Dolby Digital Live b/c it's the only way to digitally pass through uncompressed digital streams (i.e. game audio, most of which don't have digital processing modes) to an outboard receiver / processor. Any time u pass-thru game audio with s-pdif, it only sends a 2.0 stream to the receiver, as previously confirmed on these forums.
 
MadSkills said:
I want Dolby Digital Live b/c it's the only way to digitally pass through uncompressed digital streams (i.e. game audio, most of which don't have digital processing modes) to an outboard receiver / processor. Any time u pass-thru game audio with s-pdif, it only sends a 2.0 stream to the receiver, as previously confirmed on these forums.
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Perhaps you intended to mean something else... but just to be clear.. DDL encoding is a compressed format.

www.tweaktown.com said:
Getting back to highlighting a couple of things previously untouched, first and foremost, when SoundStorm converts the digital stereo signal of your source into Dolby Digital 5.1 it is in effect not only re-producing the content to be outputted on all five speakers, but also compressing the signal at the same time, as that’s what Dolby Digital and DTS are - compressed raw audio signals with DTS to a lesser extent (hence it's slightly richer and clearer sound). Taking this on the fly compression into account, the sounds being reproduced at the other end (your speakers) are actually of a lossy format over simply outputting directly from your PC without the influences of encoding beforehand, although the quality of your soundcard's DACs also play a role here. Technically, this would attribute to a slight loss of sound quality (a small amount of content will be lost) at the end of the line but as to how noticeable is purely subjective. At the end of the day, digital signal or not, the sound has to be converted back to analogue somewhere along the line as that’s what your actual speakers are outputting.
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From:
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=article&dId=699
 
BoogerBomb said:
If you talk about Dolby Digital encoding then you are either talking about Nforce2 Soundstrom or Mystique as those are the only sound "cards" that encode Dolby Digital output. Other sound sources merely pass it through.
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Not true. I recently purchased the Turtle Beach Montego DDL which does Dolby Digital Live through SPDIF. It's an awesome sounding card, is half the size of the Mystique, and costs twenty dollars less. I think it's brand new because I haven't seen any reviews of it yet. Also, it has a very simple control panel which I like. I get sick of Creative's ridiculously bloated drivers.
 
Big Fat Duck said:
do i need DDL if i dont have a reciever and have plain analog headphones
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nope.


DDL only works if you have an external decoder, such as a receiver.
 
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