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Upgrading audio for 2 PCs, need advice

E

Exception

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
88
I'm an audio newb and I need advice =) I have 2 PCs side by side. One for gaming and the other for teamspeak/MP3 etc.

I have onboard sound and an old SB soundcard on the 2 PCs, I connect line-out of my 2nd PC to line-in on the main PC (analog). I connect line-out of my main PC to a stereo receiver (also analog) where I have 2 floor speakers connected. This way the sound from both of my PCs go thru my receiver at the same time.

I do a lot of gaming and watch movies on my main PC and I'm looking to upgrade to complete digital. I'm thinking of getting a Audigy2 ZS(?) for digital-out and a 5.1/7.1 reciever for digital-in. This way I can still use my old floor speakers, I can work on getting center/surround speaker/sub-woofer later.

My questions are:
- Do I better off getting like Logitech Z-680 for all the speakers I need for a cheaper price than upgrading my receiver?
- How do I connect digitally from my 2nd PC to my main PC? I don't mind getting another soundcard for my 2nd PC, I'm wondering if Audigy2 is able to take line-in digitally.
- I want to listen both PCs at the sametime, is there another way other than outputting 1 PC to another?

Budget wise, I don't plan on spending more than $500-$600.

Thanks in advance.
 
About getting new computer speakers vs. a receiver setup, it really comes down to the quality on the receiver/speakers side. The Logitech speakers are very good, but in the end they are still computer speakers. Despite the best efforts of Bose’s marketing department, the inherent limitations in the Satellite/subwoofer speaker combination will limit you as to the quality of the sound. If you’re satisfied with that, then it is a great simple solution. The Logitech speakers, however, pail in comparison to even a moderate Home Theater setup (Moderate meaning NOT a “home theater in a box” or anything else you can get for $200 at wal-mart).

The thing about a Home Theater style setup is that you really need to take your time and do it right. If you plan on using your existing speakers as mains and then getting a center and surrounds later, you will need to be careful to get speakers that acoustically match your main speakers as well as have similar sensitivity, ohm ratings, etc. That isn’t always easy to do.

As for trying to go digital, well, connecting your main computer to your stereo via digital should be relatively easy, however having the 2nd computer pass it’s signal digitally could be a chore. You might just be better off keeping the computer to computer connection analog, as it really shouldn’t matter much in that case anyway. Also keep in mind that much of the money spent on your $$$ Audigy2 is going to be wasted in a Digital setup. When using headphones or regular computer speakers hooked up via analog to your audigy, you are using the DAC’s (Digital to Analog converters) in your audigy. THIS is what most people are referring to when they associate the audigy2 with sound quality. When you use the digital output, you are bypassing the DAC’s in your audigy and using the DAC’s in the receiver. That is not a bad thing, but you are essentially reducing your Audigy to performing the same duty any cheapo soundcard with digital output can.

Other than that, the other benefit of using an Audigy would be its EAX support; however this too is lost in a digital setup. Multi-channel A3D/EAX is downconverted into two channel PCM (Standard two channel Digital audio, same as CD) when it is sent over digital. This is because when you input the sound into your receiver digitally, you have to do it in a format that the receiver can recognize. If you want more than two channels, you need to be inputting either DTS or Dolby Digital into your receiver. If you want to have the benefits of EAX while using your receiver, you have two options: You can find a soundcard that can convert multichannel audio on your PC into Dolby Digital or DTS (The only time a PC is normally transmitting DTS or Dolby Digital to your PC is when it is blindly passing it on from a source such as a DVD, most soundcards can NOT encode in Dolby Digital). The only soundcard I know of that is capable of this is the integrated soundstorm soundcard on NForce motherboards. Your other option would be to get a series of min-jack to RCA jack cables and use the analog outputs on your audigy to connect to your receiver. Most new receivers have 7.1 Analog inputs due to devices such as SACD players. Using a hybrid Digital / 7.1 Analog connection to your receiver might be the best way to go. You can use digital for most tasks, and then switch to the analog connections when you want it to pass multichannel EAX.

I hope this has helped a little.
 
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