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upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
http://x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5139		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  soddit112 [ Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:37 pm ]
Post subject:  upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
hi guys

So, i recently decided its time to upgrade some of my gear to get better sound from my PC. as it stands, i have a Creative X-FI Extreme Gamer sound card going to a Logitech G51 5.1 surround speaker set. after reading up a little bit im unsure which is the main weak point as far as audio fidelity goes. As for what id upgrade to, im not after serious high-end stuff (my hearing/budget arent that good) so i was thinking along the lines of an Asus Xonar D2X, and M-Audio Studiophile AV30. which of these would result in the greatest gain in audio quality?

second question: if i got the AV30s, id probably keep the G51s plugged in, for movies and occasional gaming (not enough to have me worried about EAX etc, i dislike Creative as it is) would it be ok to run the sound to them through the inbuilt amp in the G51 subwoofer? or would this degrade sound quality/make something blow up?

thanks for any advice. similarly-priced alternatives welcome :)

*EDIT* may also be worth mentioning im currently playing audio encoded in FLAC through winamp, using a nifty OpenAL plugin onto my X-Fi, as its my understanding that Xonars have no hardware acceleration features whatsoever. is this true? and if so, would i be better off looking out for a WASAPI plugin?
Author:  saspro [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
The AV30's are amplified so they need to be run straight from the soundcard (unless you like the smell of burning electronics).

Personally I'd upgrade the speakers first then the soundcard. The X-Fi isn't a bad sounding card with good speakers (I use mine with some Aego M's and it sounds great).
Author:  soddit112 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
saspro wrote:
The AV30's are amplified so they need to be run straight from the soundcard (unless you like the smell of burning electronics).

Personally I'd upgrade the speakers first then the soundcard. The X-Fi isn't a bad sounding card with good speakers (I use mine with some Aego M's and it sounds great).


thanks saspro, i guess thatd fit into the 'blowing something up' category :D

ive found a better way of running both sets at the same time anyway, if i just unplug the green cable and remove the front speakers, i can plug the AV30s straight into the card and plonk them where the old ones were. dont know why i didnt think of it sooner tbh

what model X-Fi do you have? i hear the quality differs quite a lot between models.

thanks again :)
Author:  dogbert10 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
Are you listening to music in 5.1?
Author:  soddit112 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
dogbert10 wrote:
Are you listening to music in 5.1?


the winamp plugin i mentioned in OP has a 4.0 upscaling mode, it plays whatever is coming over the front channels through the rear channels too, i quite like it (makes everything louder). why do you ask?
Author:  dogbert10 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 1:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
Just that if music quality is important, "multi-channel from stereo" will always put you at the mercy of the software used to create it - it becomes too "artificial". After all, the music studios go through a lot of trouble to make the final stereo recording as good as possible. But, as will all things, it's down to personal preference (in my case that's a decent pair of speakers and a separate external integrated amplifier).
Author:  soddit112 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
dogbert10 wrote:
Just that if music quality is important, "multi-channel from stereo" will always put you at the mercy of the software used to create it - it becomes too "artificial". After all, the music studios go through a lot of trouble to make the final stereo recording as good as possible. But, as will all things, it's down to personal preference (in my case that's a decent pair of speakers and a separate external integrated amplifier).


i helped beta test the plugin almost since it was first released, it is literally an exact copy of the front two channels onto the back two. it isnt like CMSS, which fiddles with the audio to achieve its surround effect. either way, id have this option disabled once i get the AV30s :)

*EDIT* the loudness i mentioned is due to the rear speakers being closer to my head, the plugin doesnt mess with the volume
Author:  dogbert10 [ Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
In that case, I'd go with either an amp/speaker combo or a pair of good active speakers - there are plenty to choose from here. I don't think the soundcard is the problem - my X-Fi certainly sounds good when fed through my X-A2/Tannoy 605 setup.
Author:  soddit112 [ Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
dogbert10 wrote:
In that case, I'd go with either an amp/speaker combo or a pair of good active speakers - there are plenty to choose from here. I don't think the soundcard is the problem - my X-Fi certainly sounds good when fed through my X-A2/Tannoy 605 setup.


thanks for the advice, and that link: i never been more bewildered in my life :o the only brand i really recognise is Behringer, because they make bass amps :lol:

a lot of those speakers are well out of my price range, ideally im trying to stay below £100 or so, are there any on that site you could recommend/any features i should look out for? im still fairly attached to the AV30s, since they are available from amazon :)
Author:  dogbert10 [ Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
In that case, I'd probably stick with the AV30s, although I would try and listen to them first (or at least be able to send them back if you don't like them).
Author:  saspro [ Tue Dec 29, 2009 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
I've got the X-Fi Fatal1ty although I might change to a Xonar soon as I mainly just use it for music.

Slightly over budget but this is what I use. Haven't heard anything better for the money (& sound quality is very important to me being a sound engineer)
Author:  dogbert10 [ Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
saspro wrote:
I've got the X-Fi Fatal1ty although I might change to a Xonar soon as I mainly just use it for music.

Slightly over budget but this is what I use. Haven't heard anything better for the money (& sound quality is very important to me being a sound engineer)


Doesn't the subwoofer make the sound artificially "bassy"? Whenever I've done any mixing, I've always tried to get speakers with as flat a frequency response as possible.
Author:  saspro [ Tue Dec 29, 2009 4:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
dogbert10 wrote:
saspro wrote:
I've got the X-Fi Fatal1ty although I might change to a Xonar soon as I mainly just use it for music.

Slightly over budget but this is what I use. Haven't heard anything better for the money (& sound quality is very important to me being a sound engineer)


Doesn't the subwoofer make the sound artificially "bassy"? Whenever I've done any mixing, I've always tried to get speakers with as flat a frequency response as possible.


I've got 3 different sets of speakers I mix with (+ headphones). I usually find mixing on consumer speakers gives a better result to the end user (most people don't have good enough kit at home to get a proper balance from a mix done on studio monitors).

Although my mackies do give a great sound they're a bit over budget here.
Author:  soddit112 [ Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: upgrading my audio setup - advice needed
saspro wrote:
Although my mackies do give a great sound they're a bit over budget here.


itd also be a little inconvenient and odd-looking to have two subwoofers sat next to my PC. i plan to keep the satellites from the G51 plugged in for games and movies, and since the amp for these speakers is in the sub i dont really have a choice, without doing some heavy modding, but thanks for the suggestion :)

my phone recently started playing up (i think the screens connector has come loose), if i cant repair it i may have to put back buying new speakers :evil:

*EDIT* yup, phone is fried, think the problems go deeper than just the screen being iffy. model im looking at is 140 quid, which is just about all i have in the bank right now. new speakers are taking a back seat :cry:

ARSES
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