X-Fi Platinum connection question with Logitech

I have the X-Fi Titanium, and Z-5500. The Titanium probably has the same DACs as your card, or maybe slightly inferior ones, but I can't be sure.

Using the Z-5500s I can't tell a difference between optical and analog. No difference at all in audio quality. As was pointed out to me recently in another thread, your choice is either doing the Digital-to-Analog Conversion on the sound card's 'DACs' or the Z-5500's 'DACs.' There is some debate as to whether the sound card is the better option, but the majority opinion seemed to go with the sound card.

But it was also noted that unless you have pretty high-end speakers you won't notice a difference. I don't, so I'm just using analog now. I still like the Titanium for its PCI-Express implementation, because I was getting a lot of snap-crackle-popping using a PCI X-Fi card w/ 4GB of RAM & SLI video cards. That problem was solved by moving the audio load onto the PCI-E bus.
 
They make a Digital I/O module that connects via flexi-jack.

http://us.creative.com/products/pro...ter Digital I/O Module&dcs.acsF_X=Product Img

I use that adapter to connect to my receiver. I do not like the idea of having to connect my optical thru that front jack only because of it would be in the way of closing my door. I haven't tried the optical thru the front bay either tho. I bought the Xtreme music then bought the IO module then the bay separately . It was $19.99 for tax and shipping it came little under $25 for me.
 
yes
u dont even need that- the flexijack provides a digital output. an rca cable with an adapter will do it. i have the same setup almost!
 
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1023063
this is the adapter plug you need, which the above poster stated.

use analog or digital is up to you really, do you think your sound card has better a DAC or does your z5500. Just because it's digital out doesn't mean much, it has to be converted to analog at some point, which one does the better conversion is the one to use. That's why people buy expensive DAC. It's "digital out" from your motherboard to the sound card too, just you don't really see it. you want the soundcard to pass that digital straight through to z5500 and let it convert to analog then to speakers or do you want to convert it into analog and straight to the speakers? Whatever sounds the best to you.
 
spooksmcgee said:
I had never considered that. I always thought just because it's "digital" it's better....

Is there a good web site that explains a dummies guide to audio connections and things like 5.1, THX, DTS, and DD? I really appreciate all the help!
Click to expand...

I used to think that, too. Like I said, I couldn't tell a difference between analog from my X-Fi Titanium to Z-5500 vs. Dolby Digital encoded over optical when listening to mp3s. There might be a more noticeable difference for more audio-oriented people, or from listening to different sources, but I didn't test extensively. It seems that, in general, most people think the x-fi sound card has better digital-to-analog converters than the Z-5500, and yours is Creative's top-of-the-line model, so it should have the best DACs of the X-Fi line.

This thread is pretty informative:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1307834
 
Icould be wrong here, but you may not even WANT an optical / digital connection if you do any gaming. From what I understand EAX / surround sound in games won't work with the digital connection, only the analogue connection. If you are using the digital or optical digital connection the only surround effects you'll get is in movies that have a digital surround audio track.

Supposedly Creative is going to release drivers that enable realtime DDL (Dolby Digital Live) encoding over the digital connection, and if/when that happens then you should be able to get surround audio in games over the digital / optical connection.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please. :)
 
This new X-Fi Titanium has the capability of Dolby Digital Live encoding for all audio. I think it is the only X-Fi Creative card to do so (the Auzentech Prelude X-Fi has this capability now, also.)

It encodes (compresses) the audio stream so you can get 5.1 channels for everything, including game audio.

That being said, I tried it for a few days, and it works fine, but it isn't any better than analog out, at least when using games / mp3 music and Z-5500s. Using different source material and/or higher-quality speakers might result in a more noticeable difference.

Plus, when you use Dolby Digital encoding on your sound card, you lose the ability to use the windows volume controls - which means if you are used to using your keyboard volume/mute keys like I am, you'll be disappointed. Using dolby digital encoding on the sound card means adjusting the audio level either at the speaker-level or inside an application (like the volume controls within windows media player.)

This article explains it:

"Another direct consequence of transmitting a compressed audio signal instead of an uncompressed audio signal (more commonly known as PCM) is that the volume of that signal cannot be modified once it has been encoded. Because the bits in an encoded signal no longer directly correspond to the volume of that signal, it is impossible to increase the volume until it is decoded. This explains why your PC cannot control the volume of your sound when you are using Dolby Digital or DTS as the output. The connected device will be the only place where the volume can be changed."

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/w.../using-s-pdif-to-send-audio-from-your-pc.aspx
 
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