AV receiver vs PC based audio decoding

superczar

superczar

Juggernaut
Continuing off from here:

http://www.techenclave.com/consumer-electronics/how-setup-5-1-while-retaining-105443.html

SO I have decided on the Sub... A polk Audio DSW Pro 600 (Polk Audio DSW PRO™ 600 Powered subwoofer at Crutchfield.com)

So to summarize, post this sub,, my setup consists of a stereo integrated Amp, a floorstander pair and now this sub

This leaves me with 3 things:

- A pair of satellites (low importance)
- A center (high importance)
- A receiver ( or a device that can process the input and drve the speakers)

Thee sats are not very important in the large scheme of things though the centers are very important (i'll perhaps pick a wharfedale diamond 8, or a Polk Csi)

Which brings us to the primary reason behind the thread...

I need a decent device to handle the audio decoding (for movies) but getting a good AV receiver to drive only the center channel feels a little weird to me

Since the audio source is going to the PC all through, Is there any good audio card that can handle audio decoding as well as a decent AV receiver?

I'd rather save up money on the AV receiver and get a better center speaker and Amp assuming I can get a sound card that can handle audio decoding as well as a mid-range av receiver
 
Decoding can be done thru s/w. You'll need a card with decent analog outs - check out the Auzentech cards. You'll still need an amp for the center, though.
 
. You'll still need an amp for the center, though.
Click to expand...

yup...of course :P

so let me pose the qstn differently...

if I take the optical out of my existing USB sound card (M-Audio audiophile) and feed that to a decent AV receiver

vs

I get a Auzentech or similar 5.1 card

Would there be any difference in the SQ ceteris paribus...
 
Depends if you're using the amp of the receiver for the front speakers as well. If not, there should not be too much difference per se, as the decoders on both the receiver and the card will be similar, or at least, uniform.

However your center is different from the front. And the amps are also different from each other. It will add up, or it may compensate. The balance is tricky to achieve, but I have no expertise in it so cannot advise further.

I'm not really sure you need a center. It only helps for dialogue location when you have multiple listeners spread across the width of the speakers. Not for one or two listeners pretty close to the center of the screen ;) And speakers with good imaging will reproduce voice well enough for it not to matter. The music DVDs I have work just fine in stereo mode.
 
^^ The center channel will be meant purely for movies

despite decent staging by my fronts, the voices in movies sometimes tends to drown out a bit (esp. in scenes with action/loud ambient sounds)

one option (and free at that) is to wire up the center o/p directly to the TV line in ...maybe I'll try that out before investing in an amp and center
 
Yes, that would definitely work fine. TV speakers make excellent centers as they are voiced for the midrange. The timber will still not match the fronts, but it's free, so what the heck.
 
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