On 5/19/07, Stephen Rowles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Can I ask, what do you do for surround sound. Checking out the boards in > the web I cannot find one with a coax output for audio, currently my Via > board outputs surround sound via spdif via coax cable to my surround > sound amp. And I definitely don't want to lose my audio quality!
I don't use surround sound. Actually, I'm currently struggling with audio quality. Fed up with the on-board sound card, I sat down with my wife in front of the stereo and we did a listening test between the on-board audio with losslessly ripped CDs and a Sony DVD player. There was no question about it, the DVD player far outshines the on-board audio. I purchased a stereo-link model 1200 USB DAC (http://stereo-link.com/) in an attempt to improve the situation, but I'm disappointed with it. It clearly outperforms the on-board audio, but after some critical listening it isn't as good as the DVD player. Since the DVD player cost $90, and the stereo-link was $200, I can't say I'm pleased with my purchase. I'm currently looking for a better solution, but so far have not had much luck. Benchmark media makes the DAC1 USB, which might work, but it costs $1300 which is out of my pricerange. Outlaw Audio has a stereo receiver with a USB DAC, but I have not heard much about it, and it costs almost $700. That cost could be offset by selling my current stereo receiver, and the Outlaw has bass management, which would be a nice feature to have, since my bookshelf speakers are currently running full range, and I have a very capable subwoofer. Still, its a lot of money, and the reason I run stereo instead of surround sound is that I'm trying to get good audio quality on the cheap (so to speak). Multi-channel looks like it should be easier. There are plenty of soundcards out there that offer digital output including several onboard and USB options. I'm assuming that my sound quality problems stem from the poor DACs that I'm using, I'm guessing those in multi-channel receivers are probably of higher quality. I'm curious to hear what folks who use Freevo as a media center (as I do) think of the music quality they get from their setup, especially when compared to playing CDs on a mid-range stereo. Josh ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by DB2 Express Download DB2 Express C - the FREE version of DB2 express and take control of your XML. No limits. Just data. Click to get it now. http://sourceforge.net/powerbar/db2/ _______________________________________________ Freevo-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freevo-users
