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Last minute questions before I buy

G

Giturar

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 14, 2004
Messages
124
Alright, im getting a new sound card, and ive got it down to between the audigy2 zs and the m-audio revolution

first off, i have logitech z-680s, right now hooked up to a santa cruz via analog. on the back of the z-680 reciever, theres ports for digital optical and coax, is coax for spdif? and will spdif provide me with any sort of higher quality sound? better surround?

second, the revolution supports dts (i couldnt find anywhere were the audigy did), and so does the z-680s, should i even be considering dts? whats the difference between that and dolby, or thx?

third, the revolution has sensaura, is this the same as the audigys eax?

i think thats all for now, basically im looking for the best sound for under $100, i should also mention that i listen to music, watch movies, and play games, so something that would make the all around experience better, not just gaming for instance

thanks
 
First, I would ask what motherboard you have as the primary option would be a Nforce 2 board and use the soundstorm optical out directly to the speakers. If you were looking for a MB upgrade as well, this might be a good time as the cost of you upgrading to a new mb may be less than the cost of a soundcard.


Another thing I would mention is, I don't know if you knew but the TBSC had digital out (though not as good as the Audigy2). But then again I think the weakest link for either of those soundcards would be the Z-680s, so you might not hear much of a difference.
 
well, i have a p4 processor, so upgrading to the nfroce would mean i need to buy a new processor, which is a bit more expensive, i was considering this, but decided to wait until later this year to upgrade, when pci-e and 939 are in full force
 
Forget about digital. It's not necessary. What sort of games do you play? If they are resources hungry FPS, then you should get an Audigy.

Look at this review for some idea of how much a soundcard can slow down games.
 
Using the coaxial or optical ports (connected via S/PDIF) on your Z-680's will give you worse quality sound (as its converters are going to be worse than a good sound card's) and only surround sound using pre-encoded content such as DVD's. Use the analog.

THX is a special test that audio components can pass. It means nothing more than that the component passed the test.
DTS and Dolby Digital are two competing methods of compressing a multi-channel digital sound signal. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, although Dolby Digital is more common. Both the cards will be able to pass the two signals through to a receiver. The Audigy 2 ZS will be able to decode both types of compression as well, without the need for external software such as WinDVD or PowerDVD.

Sensaura is an implementation of the EAX 1 & 2 algorithms. The Audigy contains an implementation of the EAX 1, 2, 3, & 4 algorithms. The largest difference between the two is that the Audigy's version of EAX support EAX 3 and 4, although there may be slight differences in implementation and software as well.

Both cards will make things sound better. The Audigy has more features and gaming support. The Revolution isn't forced to resamble 44.1 khz streams.
 
alright, ill go with the audigy then, since like the better choice here, thanks :)
 
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