This is my 3000'th post , so wanted it to be a bit special 
Started writing this a while ago, but never got around to finish it. So I'm posting what i have now. It's a work in progress. Some more stuff to be added. Of course , I'll need some of your opinions too- will declare when I'm done
[BREAK=A brief warning about surround]
The biggest con in surround sound is that most of the current "surround speakers" will never be used as surround speakers are used to. to get the correct positioning for 2 speakers is hard enough- to get 6 speakers positioned correctly is way out of the range of normal folks. You'll either end up hanging them from where there is space, or just somewhere in front along with the other speakers.
Even if you do listen to surround material a lot/ game in surround, you dont do it all the time, and even when you do, you certainly dont need the same quality as you will need when you're listening to music. And I'm sure most of you use the front two speakers the most.
In most custom HT setups , you'll see that most importance is given to the front two speakers.
THX , and dolby labs recommend using the same speakers for all channels- While there is validity to these recommendations, these are more often than not , intended for those who want the ultimate theatre experience.Especially in the low end speaker segment , they're just helping the mfrs sell more speakers
In practice, the surrounds never really have to play a leading role- echoes, reverberations, background noise etc. If you have a surround sound source, try plugging in only your surround channels only when listening to a 5.1 movie. You'll understand what I'm trying to put across. When most of us think of surround , you think of bullet whizzing around your head , and cars rotating about you. such surround effects are there only in demo recordings - very few movies have this kind of surround -It's called ping pong surround. It sounds impressive to noobs , but thats about it.
center speakers- if you do watch movies , and in large groups ,with the speakers spaced far apart- THEN you need one. If you're a gamer, you dont need one. You certainly dont need a speakers to tell you whats in front of you. if you watch movies with speakers on either side of your monitor, you already have a strong center image.since the two front speakers are placed close together anyway.
[BREAK=When do you need a soundcard ?]
when you need hardware acellerated SURROUND sound. a soundcard doesnt make much of a difference if you're using stereo, maybe a few FPS.
You need SPDIF/Optical output to connect to a home theatre. Even for that , if you're going to get a PC , you can get a motherboard which has SPDIF/Optical out
Youy have digital speakers and need to get surround sound when gaming - this needs a soundcard with DD/DTS live encoding. If you're going to buy speakers , get analog ones instead , and get a normal soundcard with good hardware acelleration since speakers with HW acellerated sound AND DD/DTS live encoding are rare.
If you have vista, dont expect much by way of hardware acelleration. Your choices are the Xonar series , and its capablities are currently disputed by creative, and creative itself, has crippled its own cards :bleh:, and even with alchemy, still nowhere near what they can do in XP
Then the best case, - you have really kickass speakers, and by kickass , i mean MX 5021's and above:cool2:. you can feel the onboard sound really sucks. If you have an AC '97 onboard, or if the onboard has small issues which are insignificant for RMA. Always try kernel streaming and SSRC before condemning an onboard as worthless
[BREAK=How much to spend on a soundcard]
Ideally, i would ask one to limit the spending on a soundcard to 30% of your budget for sound. Less if you can. you wont be able to hear the limitations on sub 3k speakers. A plain vanilla soundblaster ( <2k) should hold good for stereo/2.1 speakers till 7k, or surround speakers in the 12k range. The only difference is if you are a gamer , and need proper positional surround- in which case , you'll need to splurge on a card which can do proper 3D Audio. There will be no increase in quality over a 2k soundblaster. the 5K+ audiophile soundcards are for systems which cost proportionally more. This is just a rule of thumb, not a hard and fast rule.
The only excepion would be the for the Xtreme gamer who needs surround sound more than sound quality. in that case , a 50-50ish split would be appropriate.
My personal experience- My folks at first wouldnt let me buy large speakers. I thought I'd get a creative 7.1 and a top of the line audigy , and hoped that the card's dsp would compensate for the crappy speakers. I eventually got a custom made 5.1 , with a 12 inch sub. the card cost 13k, and the speakers cost 10k. and it sounded HORRIBLE. movies were superb. the dialogues were crisp, the bangs were real meaty, but the moment you put on music, you knew there was something missing. male voices sounded like a squeaks , with some rumble here and there. women sounded like they had mettalic reeds in their throats. :S
The problem? sibilance- makes movies sound crisp, and music to some extent. It provides the illusion of clarity, but its really not. I tweaked the card's EQ, THX control panel, speaker settings, distances and angles, still no luck
All this changed when i got a pair of proper floorstanders, and an amp for them- the music was alive again and the fronts made sure music sounded correctly. Point? Speakers >>> electronics
hyeah:
Started writing this a while ago, but never got around to finish it. So I'm posting what i have now. It's a work in progress. Some more stuff to be added. Of course , I'll need some of your opinions too- will declare when I'm done
[BREAK=A brief warning about surround]
The biggest con in surround sound is that most of the current "surround speakers" will never be used as surround speakers are used to. to get the correct positioning for 2 speakers is hard enough- to get 6 speakers positioned correctly is way out of the range of normal folks. You'll either end up hanging them from where there is space, or just somewhere in front along with the other speakers.
Even if you do listen to surround material a lot/ game in surround, you dont do it all the time, and even when you do, you certainly dont need the same quality as you will need when you're listening to music. And I'm sure most of you use the front two speakers the most.
In most custom HT setups , you'll see that most importance is given to the front two speakers.
THX , and dolby labs recommend using the same speakers for all channels- While there is validity to these recommendations, these are more often than not , intended for those who want the ultimate theatre experience.Especially in the low end speaker segment , they're just helping the mfrs sell more speakers
In practice, the surrounds never really have to play a leading role- echoes, reverberations, background noise etc. If you have a surround sound source, try plugging in only your surround channels only when listening to a 5.1 movie. You'll understand what I'm trying to put across. When most of us think of surround , you think of bullet whizzing around your head , and cars rotating about you. such surround effects are there only in demo recordings - very few movies have this kind of surround -It's called ping pong surround. It sounds impressive to noobs , but thats about it.center speakers- if you do watch movies , and in large groups ,with the speakers spaced far apart- THEN you need one. If you're a gamer, you dont need one. You certainly dont need a speakers to tell you whats in front of you. if you watch movies with speakers on either side of your monitor, you already have a strong center image.since the two front speakers are placed close together anyway.
[BREAK=When do you need a soundcard ?]
when you need hardware acellerated SURROUND sound. a soundcard doesnt make much of a difference if you're using stereo, maybe a few FPS.
You need SPDIF/Optical output to connect to a home theatre. Even for that , if you're going to get a PC , you can get a motherboard which has SPDIF/Optical out
Youy have digital speakers and need to get surround sound when gaming - this needs a soundcard with DD/DTS live encoding. If you're going to buy speakers , get analog ones instead , and get a normal soundcard with good hardware acelleration since speakers with HW acellerated sound AND DD/DTS live encoding are rare.
If you have vista, dont expect much by way of hardware acelleration. Your choices are the Xonar series , and its capablities are currently disputed by creative, and creative itself, has crippled its own cards :bleh:, and even with alchemy, still nowhere near what they can do in XP
Then the best case, - you have really kickass speakers, and by kickass , i mean MX 5021's and above:cool2:. you can feel the onboard sound really sucks. If you have an AC '97 onboard, or if the onboard has small issues which are insignificant for RMA. Always try kernel streaming and SSRC before condemning an onboard as worthless
[BREAK=How much to spend on a soundcard]
Ideally, i would ask one to limit the spending on a soundcard to 30% of your budget for sound. Less if you can. you wont be able to hear the limitations on sub 3k speakers. A plain vanilla soundblaster ( <2k) should hold good for stereo/2.1 speakers till 7k, or surround speakers in the 12k range. The only difference is if you are a gamer , and need proper positional surround- in which case , you'll need to splurge on a card which can do proper 3D Audio. There will be no increase in quality over a 2k soundblaster. the 5K+ audiophile soundcards are for systems which cost proportionally more. This is just a rule of thumb, not a hard and fast rule.
The only excepion would be the for the Xtreme gamer who needs surround sound more than sound quality. in that case , a 50-50ish split would be appropriate.
My personal experience- My folks at first wouldnt let me buy large speakers. I thought I'd get a creative 7.1 and a top of the line audigy , and hoped that the card's dsp would compensate for the crappy speakers. I eventually got a custom made 5.1 , with a 12 inch sub. the card cost 13k, and the speakers cost 10k. and it sounded HORRIBLE. movies were superb. the dialogues were crisp, the bangs were real meaty, but the moment you put on music, you knew there was something missing. male voices sounded like a squeaks , with some rumble here and there. women sounded like they had mettalic reeds in their throats. :S
The problem? sibilance- makes movies sound crisp, and music to some extent. It provides the illusion of clarity, but its really not. I tweaked the card's EQ, THX control panel, speaker settings, distances and angles, still no luck
All this changed when i got a pair of proper floorstanders, and an amp for them- the music was alive again and the fronts made sure music sounded correctly. Point? Speakers >>> electronics
hyeah:
