Is digital speakers better than analog?

Well this pretty much the question.

Z_unit,
It's a matter of opinion really. If you are working with Creative Sound cards it is usually better to leave the digital processing on the card and use analog speakers. This gives the ability to use the full features of our top of the line cards.
The best solution I find is to get a set of speakers or combination that will do both. For example the T7700 speakers mixed with the DDTS-100 will allow you connect both analog and digital sources to the speakers.
Jeremy

Similar Messages

  • Is Digital Output worse than analog output in 5.1 set

    Hi, I've read in this forum (I don't remember where) that Digital Output doesn't sends 00% of sound, instead it reduces its quality by something (encode / decode) so I would like to know your opinions and if this is true or false?
    I have plans for using 5. sound.

    The sound card, as I said before, will send out DolbyDigital or DTS recorded on a DVD-Video. This is because the encoding process happend in the studio, at the making of the disc.
    Any other surround sound, created in your computer (like the games) will not be encoded surround on the digital out. That goes for X-Fi also.
    And Yes, the DD and DTS are compressed formats, but are waaay batter that any other compressed format. DTS in my opinion is the best, but occupies more space on disc (higher bitrate).
    The only uncompressed surround is the one on the SACD discs or the one on DVD-Audio (actually this is compressed but without loosing information, kinda like the zip files).
    There are sound chipsets capable of Dolby Digital encoding: one is the nVidia's nForce2 motherboards with SoundStorm (not in production anymore). This is the same chip used in XBOX (that has DD out).
    The others are some chips made by C-Media: CMI8768+ (only the PLUS variant) and CMI8788 (this has DTS encodin also). But the encoding is done software, and occupies some 0% of the processor time. Not really good...
    Message Edited by SoNic2367 on 04-2-2006 08:2 PM

  • Analog Audio Output Jack for Digital Speakers with same jack configuration

    I just purchased my first Mac, a Mac Pro. I can't get sound to my speakers using the analog out jack. With my old PC, there was a setting for "digital output" even though the digital speakers were attached via to the same style jack as the Mac's analog out jack. I've tried going to preferences but don't see a like setting for digital output. Is there a setting to do so and if not, is there an adapter to convert the Mac's digital audio out to the analog jack style?

    Do you want digital or analog? Your question seems to imply that you have speakers that accept a digital signal but you also say you want analog...??
    Anyway, my Mac Pro (2006 model) has separate analog and optical digital outputs on the back. The pictures on the apple website still show the same thing on the Mac Pro so I'm guessing it's the same. I think only the Mac laptops have the analog/optical digital combo jacks...
    The optical digital outputs are the little white squarish ports beneath the rear firewire ports.
    The MacPro does not have a SPDIF RCA style output. Maybe that is what you are thinking of from the windoze pc...
    You should be able to enable the rear analog line output or the digital outputs from the System Preferences > Sound > Output screen. The front headphone outputs kind of act weird in that they disable the rear line output (if I remember correctly, I never use the front port...).

  • Solution for 5.1 digital speakers(like inspire5500/5700..)and creative soundcards! IT WOR

    I have inspire 5500D that have the same problems than yours ...
    the problem is that the digital outputs does not support more than a 2. or coded signals like ac3 (for DD) and theres no way to make it work .... is just imposible ...
    now ure question is and what should i do ?
    well first of all u should be like me ... really ungry with creative ! HOW CAN THEY SELL SOUNDCARDS INCOMPATBLE WITH THEIR OWN SPEAKERS IS INCREDIBLE ! (example Inspire 5500D/5700D ... incompatible with sbli've 5.D (and all the rest of creative soundcards...) is a joke ?) ....
    theres only one solution to youre problem ... and is a pain ! i have done it and now it works perfectly ! here it goes :
    Forget u have an external decode .... u must plug the 3 cables (front/rear/center) that now goes to youre decoder, directly to youre soundcard ! (and keeps the external decoder on since is the only way to mantain electricity in youre speakers...) then u will have analogic speakers ! all works great ! but im really ungry that my external decoder that cost much more than a simple analogic speakers is just totally unusefull ...
    Now listen youre system now will work really better ! with cmss-3d and THX config u will not remember youre external decoder ! loud rear speakers ? not more .... no 5. in games ? no more ....
    Creative digital speakers for PC is just a waste of money ! (good work creative ...)
    This repair ALL so u must have REAL 5. in DVD (using soundcard decoder), games, and all kind of applications! (if the sound is in 5. of course ! if not u will still hear envolvent sound thanks tu cmss-3d) so If any needs help about this just ask in this post ....
    Message Edited by Istarth on <SPAN class=date_text>0-24-2006 <SPAN class=time_text>07:3 PM
    Message Edited by Istarth on 0-24-2006 07:4 PM

    Where is the soundblaster forum? I cannot find it's I have a Playworks DTT3500 Digital 5.1 speaker system & am confused as to which sound card to put in my PC to upgrade it-creative or otherwise.Please help,Simon.

  • Help connecting Audigy 2 to digital speakers

    Hi!
    I have an SB Audigy 2 card (SB0240) and want to connect it to my Logitech Z-5500 Digital speakers. (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...CONTENTID=9486)
    This digital 5. speakers support a number of <SPAN>simultaneous connections like optical digital, coaxial digital, 6 channel direct (the one I'm using now) analog, and a couple other analog and stereo ones.
    Now, I'm kinda hating the fact that I paid that much to get digital speakers so I can connect by analog to them!!!
    I went out to try and buy a coaxial digital cable to hook it up to the digital out of the Audigy 2 to the digital in of my speakers. Went to Radioshack first but they didn't really know how to handle it. Checked out CompUSA with the same luck. I stoped by BestBuy which had a huge collection of audio cables but none that matched my needs. Or so I think. I wasn't very happy getting home empty-handed.:angry:
    According to the Knoledge Base (<A href="]http://ask.americas.creative.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=850,E=0000000000036399263,K=764,Sxi=0,Question 3969=obj(3969)bj(397[/url])) that I just checked out, I need a /8" mini plug to RCA converter cable. And that a mono or stereo one could be used.
    Is this correct? And WHERE DO I GET THAT CABLE?
    Please someone help me as soon as you can!
    Thanks in advance!

    Actually I bought an adapter and a cable. To my knowledge, Radio Shack doesn't have a cable with a mono /8" miniplug on one end and an RCA jack on the other (at least I didn't see one).
    So I bought the adapter which is a male /8" mono miniplug on one end and the female RCA on the other. Then just get a digital coax cable with RCA jacks on both ends.
    Just remember to also set the DVD software right to use digital. On mine I had spdif as an option along with all the other speaker options (2 spk, 4 spk, 6 spk, etc). Selecting this automatically disabled all the other software decoding options that were there. Dunno how it is with your DVD software.
    Then also remember to select whatever sound options the DVD movie itself has. If you don't have the DVD in yet and hit the coax button on the Z-5500, it will still read "no digital data". When the movie is then inserted and sound starts to play, the Z-5500 will switch to digital - stereo. Then when selecting the sound options on the DVD, and starting the movie, the Z-5500 will again switch to whatever was chosen (or whatever the movie plays in if there were no audio options) by itself (ie: Dolby Digital or DTS). Yes, I have played some movies with DTS. All of them don't have that. Most all have Dolby Digital. I haven't played enough movies yet to determine which is better, though I hear most like DTS better. All I know at this point is they both sound great!
    Believe it or not, I had never watched a movie with 5. sound before (other than theaters) because I never had the setup. A whole new experience.
    Also you can get the sound in DVD movies through all the speakers in analog too using the Pro Logic option but it's not quite the same, and you don't get the Dolby or DTS.
    For mp3s I still use analog with the "PL II Music" effect (to get use of the center channel) and it sounds great.
    For games I also use analog, just selecting 6 ch direct if the game has 5.. Also sounds great. You can also use the "Pro Logic II" setting if the game does not have 5. to get the sound mixed through all the speakers. Makes me want to play all my games again. EAX also only works in analog.
    As far as your software. Creative has an auto update now just like Windows Update. You can go on and it will scan your system and tell you what drivers you need and then give you the option to download what you want. It downloads and installs it just like the Windows Update does. I like it a lot.
    http://us.creative.com/support/downl...dDspLangID=033
    Finding that option to disable the Audigy 2 decoder, just go to "Audio HQ". In that box is "Device Controls". Hit the "Decoder" tab and you will see the "spdif passthrough" box to check. As I said before, no need to check the box for "digital out only" in the "Creative Speaker Settings". You can switch back and forth just using the Z-5500 Control Center.
    All I can say is I LOVE THESE SPEAKERS! ! ! Especially now that I've gotten everything working right. I had been contemplating getting these speakers since they came out. I had previously the Logitech Z560s. I thought those sounded great too (4.). I got a Christmas bonus at work and said, "what the hell, I'm going to buy myself a Christmas present". Gawd dam, I'm sure glad I did! My wife doesn't like it too much, with her "turn that crap down" comments. Heh heh. At least I have an office in my garage so I have some sound buffer room to play. I heard a funny review of these speakers once with comments like, "the whole neighborhood is going to hate your guts but you will love them".
    Message Edited by Mike89 on 2-2-2004 0:4 AM

  • Do you find CMSS-3D better than Dolby Prologic

    Hi! as you all know both CMSS-3D and Dolby Prologic 2 upmixes stereo and mono to 5. surround sound from Mp3 and movies as well. However, I find some interesting findings lately; I know that many of you might argue with this but I believe CMSS-3D outdoes Dolby prologic II in terms of upmixing stereo and mono to 5. surround sound.
    My friends and I conducted some tests in our (LOGITECH Z-680 / Z5500) speakers for both video and audio and we've noticed that the sound is louder and fuller and the separation of voices is more precise when played in CMSS-3D mode. On the otherhand, When played in Dolby prologic II even if it's in SPDIF connection sound is slightly softer and lacks some detail on it. Of course this test is ran individually meaning if Dolby Prologic is on, CMSS-3D is in off mode.
    Finally, We would like to hear your opinions too because there are still a lot of factors to be added for the findings to be accurate like use of different speakers, amplifiers, maybe acoustically treated room etc.. etc..

    Now, the Dolby Prologic II has on my receiver (Harman Kardon) 3 modes:
    . Music - for decoding surround sound music that was PREVIOUSLY analog encoded in the stereo program.
    2. Movie - for decoding surround sound movies that where PREVIOUSLY analog encoded in the stereo program.
    3. Emulation - for upmixing the stereo programs form NORMAL stereo sources in 5..
    The first two applied to a normal stereo program are not spectacular. There is some fake surround, but bass is weaker that original, surround channels are weak. The movie setting fav the voice in the center speaker.
    The emulation mode is better than CMSS 3D in my opinion and is the proper one for upmixing. Right bass, good surround, better instruments separation.
    Using first two as upmixing is not the intended scope of PL2. Now, the el cheapo receivers have only one of the first modes, so results may be different.

  • Why does a DVI or VGA look better than HDMI for 2nd Monitor

    Why does a DVI or VGA connection for a program monitor look better than HDMI. I've tested this on several systems with CS5x and CS6. The full screen output from premiere definitely looks worse with HDMI.
    I can often see visual differences with the Windows GUI as well, over sharpening of text and lines, harsh rendering of gradients. It looks like a VGA signal displayed on a television.
    I've looked at the NVidia stetting and it appears to be set to 1920x1080 at 60hz either way, DVI or HDMI. On one Acer 20 inch monitor the was VGA, HDMI, Composite, Component, and Digital Tuner, but no DVI. The program monitor has always looked blah from the HDMI. So I recently switched the connection to a DVI to VGA adaptor, and now the video looks so much better.
    Any thoughts or explanations?

    Just because the monitors accept a 1080P signal doesn't mean their native resolution is 1920x1080. At 20 inch they very likely can scale that signal down to the native resolution of the panel which may be 1600 x 900 or another resolution that is 16 x 9 resolution. That scaling can be done by the GPU or firmware on the Monitor depending on the video driver options and the firmware options. That scaling is also the most common cause to text and icon blurriness you are talking about. As an example there are Pro monitors that accept a 4K signal but scale it down to 2.5K or 2K on the actual panel. You might try going into your video card settings such as Nvidia control panel and look for the scaling options. Select GPU scaling and see if the preview is better. If that doesn't work select no scaling and see if it's better if the monitor firmware handles the scaling.
    Eric
    ADK

  • Final thought on Creative Digital Speakers & no XFi 5.1 digital out

    Hold on to any Audigy &2 or SB Li've 5. cards if you own Creative Digital speakers!! My Inspire 5700 speakers are no use for analogue connections. They were made to connect to Creative Digital output sound cards ONLY. The PR at the time said something along the lines of
    "It (the SB Li've 5.) comes with digital I/O with S/PDIF digital input/output, MIDI input/output and a Mini-DIN digital out for connecting to Cambridge SoundWorks digital speakers."
    So without a compatible card the Creative speakers are useless. I remember being furious when I first realised the inspire decoder would not easily connect to my DVD player or any other type of sound card!
    Creative must have known dropping this DIN output in the XFi range would anger their customers and that without the matter being explicitly pointed out, everyone with digital speakers would assume continued support from the new flagship range of soundcards. To try and pretend that any use of Inspire Digital speakers with the XFi range is anything but crippled is outrageous! It is obvious why there is no mention of the 5. DIN output being dropped just as it is obvious the contempt with which Creative hold their customers. It is not just this issue that has formed my low opinion of Creative.(e.g. EAX and VOIP in games were touted in the early SB Li've days and are only now working at all acceptably, many generations of sound card later!).
    It is a sad fact that companies who enjoy market domination feel they have the right to behave in this way.Message Edited by hetzer on 02-09-2006 04:52 PM

    Another suggestion:It is better if you have a 64 bit hardware supported by 64 bit Win XP or Vista. In my computer the hardware is of 2003 and is of 32 bit.However I can get results only with XP service pack 2 (32 bit)or Vista 32 bit.Normal XP may not work.However I can only get 48 Khz sampling rate and not the advertised 96 Khz sampling rate. Is it due due 32 bit hardware/software?The manufacturer recommends a 64 bit version for best results.
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    kolkata
    India

  • Digital Speakers for my Imac 20"

    Hi,
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    ya digital speakers are cool! i have some boston acoustics 2.1 speakers that sound sweet. if you dont plug them into a digital 1/4" mini jack no sound comes out. lol gotta luv digital speakers eh? good point man!
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  • Connecting digital speakers

    I was recently given a Boston Audio Digital BA735 speaker system. Although my G5 system profiler says the machine has a built-in digital audio card, I can't get it to work. I have tried changing the sound command in system proferences to digital, but to no avail.

    The speakers connect with a phone jack rather than toslink connectors. Could this be the problem?
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