Pro Surround 5.1 vs HD

Hello,
I've checked the product descriptions for these two Sound Blasters:
Pro: [url=http://se.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=873&pro duct=20055">http://se.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=873&pro duct=20055[/url]
HD: [url=http://se.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=875&pro duct=19829&nav=0">http://se.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=875&pro duct=19829&nav=0[/url]
And as one can cleary see both of the cards have 24 bit - 96kHz written as their maximun quality.
I only intend to listen to these sound cards with a pair of $300+ headphones. In other words, no recording or using speakers of any sort.
Now what I am wondering is if it's any point in buying the roughly 30% more expensive HD sound blaster? According to the tech specs, they both have the same outgoing audio quality. The only difference that applies to me is that the HD Blaster has specs about a low "signal-to-noise ratio". Will this be noticable and is it worth paying 30% more?
Thanks everyone!
Fredrik.

Hi,
In my opinion, these is really not much of a difference in audio quality. Is there a showroom or an electronic store near you? You might want to listen to it to see for yourself. Either of these USB sound cards should easily fulfil your needs if you are just using it for music.

Similar Messages

How to get Logic Pro Surround into FCP?

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Thanks, Rob.

how to I get it ALL into FCP so I can
render to a Movie and then use that in DVD Studio
Pro?
Is there someway to convert the DV Audio to 96kHz and
retain a synch'd link with the DV video?
Rob,
What sample rate do you ultimately want on the DVD? Do you want Dolby 5.1?
Try burning your sequence to a single DV file. import the file into Logic Pro, bounce to a new 96k file. Check this new file against your video while still in Logic. Back in FCP, make a new sequence, set it to 96k, import the new audio, then import your 96k surround stems.
Although I'm still not sure what you're trying to accomplish with a 96k surround mix.

Shocked by lack of interest in buying my Power PC or Mac Pro

This isn't really meant to be a question, but rather a statement . . . of astonishment.
I guess I'm like, waaaaaay out of touch, but has it reached the point where desktop computers are pretty much obsolete? I guess I'm not talking about iMacs so much, but the towers -- The G5 and the Mac Pro.
I have a fantastic PPC G5 tower with googolbytes of HD space and RAM, with a fantastic graphics card yada yada but I just can't even seem to GIVE it away.
How can it have come to this?
I mean, I love my MacBook Pro and my MacBook Air and my iPad. But they are completely different animals to my PPC and my MacPro (I have both -- the MacPro is running an Intel chip and the PPC is running, well, a PPC chip.
But I can't seem to drum up even a yawn when I post either of them for sale on my local classifieds site. I mean, we're talking boxes that have at least $3-4,000 invested in them, being completely ignored at $300!
I mean, I love my MacBook Pro, but I can't imagine power-editing videos with FCP and dealing with multi-gigabyte files on it. Not even mentioning the lack of screen space . . . but what is the "new" setup for the pros these days? Is it multi machines -- one MacBook Pro surrounded by two vast monitors, or one iMac flanked by 30" screens . . . what is it nowadays?
I hear not a peep from any media whatsoever about Mac Pros and the next generation of monster tower computers . . . is Apple phasing these things out?
It sure would appear so. It would also appear that I am now the proud owner of two huge paperweights.
What's up?

Steve Jobs foresaw the end of the desktop era a few years ago, though he said desktops will still remain viable and available for specific purposes, much as trucks are designed for different purposes than cars. Desktop PCs have generally been on the decline for at least the past couple of years. By and large people don't want them any more. The market has expressed a clear preference for small, portable, reliable devices to tweet, text, and otherwise waste time.
No one is going to pay much for any PowerPC Mac. Unless they are already using one to perform actual work and has an unexpected failure, they are going to upgrade.
If you want to get the maximum resale value for your G5, clean it up, repackage it in its original box, install its original OS, include the discs and original documentation, write a good description and include clear pictures. What you get for it, you get.
The market is the ultimate judge of a thing's worth. People are not going to pay much for a platform that has been obsolete for seven years. Eight years is just about the limit of economic life for any Mac. It has been that way since about 1984.
For those of us who need to use more capable machines to perform actual work, any Intel Mac will far exceed the capability of any PowerPC Mac. If an iMac's limitations are insufficient for your needs Tim Cook alluded to new Mac Pro models being introduced sometime this year.

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"The built-in optical hardware output included with some Macs cannot be used for monitoring surround with Logic Pro and Soundtrack Pro, because it requires a surround encoded audio stream, such as that output by a DVD. Neither Logic Pro nor Soundtrack Pro can playback surround encoded audio; they output discrete audio streams that can be encoded later in the authoring process by an application such as Compressor."
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Hi.
This is often been discussed. It is like Apple says.
For mixing Surround you need 6 discreet and uncompressed channels! The benefit is you hear the audio like it is in your timeline (uncompressed) and can make changes. The second problem with this is, there are no real time encoders for surround formats. So no audio application out there can create an dolby digital stream from your timeline in realtime. This must be done after the mixing process, at the time when your mix is finished and sounds right.
So if you want to mix in surround with totaly discreet channels then you need an audio interface with so many outputs as the format you mix for will have, for example 6 channels if it is dolby digital 5.1.
Alexander

Logic Pro 5.1 ch plugin subwoofer channel bug report

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Please confirm and fix it.

The crashed thread (7) mentions logic's preferences file. (com.apple.logic.pro). Drag it to the desktop (so you can reclaim you key commands if it works) and restart logic. Logic will create a new preferences file. Worth a try..

Surround sound playback

I'm doing some mixing in Logic Pro surround sound on both an Imac and a macbook. the mixing isn't the problem
but
how can I listen to the whole piece without burning to a disk. i.e. is there hardware, a cord, or a pref. setting that will let me play directly from the computer to the surround system (preferably in the 7.1 option but at least in 5.1)
thanks

jhill wrote:
I'm doing some mixing in Logic Pro surround sound on both an Imac and a macbook. the mixing isn't the problem
but
how can I listen to the whole piece without burning to a disk. i.e. is there hardware, a cord, or a pref. setting that will let me play directly from the computer to the surround system (preferably in the 7.1 option but at least in 5.1)
thanks
You need to buy and use a multi channel audio interface.
You also need a set of matched surround speakers for playback.
I'm laughing right now, because you are mixing on Stereo speakers, and telling us that the mix is ok.
Trust me your mix can't be ok, if you are only listening to 20% of it. No way.
Cheers

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the latter setup allows 2.1 virtual surround (SBX Pro Surround) utilizing all 6 sources from games / movies.
when you disable SBX Pro Surround - rear & center sources play on fronts as is - without the virtual surround filters applied to it (basically the card downmixing instead of the game).
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Tactic3D Sigma + X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty ?

Hello friends,
I have a PCI-E X-Fi Titanium Fatalty sound card and I'm thinking in get a good headphone to play during midnight.
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Thanks.

The following is the responses I have received from Creative customer support regarding the THX controller software NOT working (the controller software just hangs) with my X-fi Platinum. I am very confused by the contradicting responses help please!
Detailed Problem Description:
Ok I have installed the Alpha/Sigma software and the cotrol panel just hangs when it opens. I uninstalled, reinstalled in safe mode, restarted, ran update with the same results . . . WTF these are sold as high-eng! I have been in tech support, I am a Intel Product Dealer, and a MS System builder for years. Windows 7 prem 64, Creative SB X-FI Titanium . . . seems like the head set should work with this. Please help...
Thank you for contacting Creative Technical Support.
Are you connecting the headset thru the 3.5mm plug or USB connection?
If using the USB headset connection, please note that you won't be able to use it with the X-fi Titanium soundcard.
Please follow the steps carefully below when installing Sound Blaster Tactic3D Sigma in your Windows 7 computer.
http://support.creative.com/kb/showa....aspx?sid=8537
Solution ID: 8537
How to Install Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Sigma in Windows
The driver for the headset is Sound Blaster Tactic3D Sigma Pack for Windows .0.000.
Download link: http://support.creative.com/Downloads/searchdownloads.aspx?strString=SBTS_PCDRV_LD__0_00 0.exe&Sho...
Requirements:
* Microsoft® Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit, Windows Vista® 32-bit or 64-bit with Service Pack or higher, Windows XP Professional x64
Edition or Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher
* Sound Blaster Tactic3D Sigma
Notes:
* To install this pack
. Download the file onto your local hard disk.
2. Double-click the downloaded file.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.
Hope this helps.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for your patience and understanding on this matter.
Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this email.
Best Regards,
**bleep**
Worldwide Customer Response
Creative
Thank you for answering,
I can use the mini jacks but not the features I bought the headset for? The mini jack functioning of this headset seem no better than any $25 headset . . . and I have spent years plugged in in recording studios.
So the features of this headset are not available if I am using your High-end soundcard?!?!?!?!? How is this possible?!?!?!? And why does the box not say this?? Now that I have spent hundreds of dollars on your soundcard and nearly another $00 on your headphones I am just out of luck!!!??
I think this needs a website of its own. What am I to do with this useless waste of money at this point?
So, please, tell me what I am to do?
And please send me contact information for the marketing product leads for both of these products!
Awaiting a reasonable answer,
Thank you for writing to Creative Technical Support.
Please note that when in USB connection, USB devices such as your SB Tactic3D Sigma Headset will create its own USB Audio Device and it will bypass the onboard sound card and the X-fi Titanium card.
Make sure that the headset is properly detected in Device Manager and selected as the default playback and recording device.
When using the mini-jack, please ensure that the X-fi Titanium card is selected as the default playback and recording device.
Thank you for your patience and understanding on this matter.
Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this email.
Best Regards,
**bleep**
Worldwide Customer Response
Creative
PLEASE READ YOUR OWN PRIOR RESPONSES YOU ALREADY SAID IT WON"T WORK!!!!!!
[SIZE=]Mod notes: Advisor name removed.[/SIZE]

Is it even possible to edit surround sound on a Mac Pro?!?!?!

Hello,
I've just been reading this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2924869?
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Secondly, and perhaps more confusingly, if I load an actual 5.1 file from the STP content, it still doesn't play in proper surround - the centre speaker kind of works and I think something's rumbling through the subwoofer, but both of the left speakers and right speakers are 'compressed' into the front one alone - nothing comes out of the rear speakers (they are perfectly connected I assure you!). In other words, f I move the puck in the surround panner so it's solely on the front right, and then over to the rear right, it's exactly the same (coming out the front).
I'm sure there must be a solution. Why would Apple advertise the ease with which one can now mix surround if the Mac Pro (I'm not exactly talking about a mac mini here) cannot export live 5.1?
Something which I'm sure is related, but which I can't solve, is that if I go into Audio MIDI setup in Utilities, and try and 'Configure Speakers', only two channels are recognised, and it won't let me select any of the multichannel options (such as 5.1, which is greyed out.)
Anyone know what I'm going on about? I'm totally lost - not really an audio person in general, but hoping to enrich my short films with some surround magic.
Any help greatly appreciated!
Steve
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Typically 5.1 is mixed, and monitored on a 5.1 monitoring system, which means you need an audio interface and setup capable of outputting six channels of audio.
So of course the Mac Pro is capable, but not without additional multi-channel playback and monitoring hardware.
Encoded surround sound, which you hear on playback from things like a DVD, is entirely different story and the encoding is done at the end of the mixing/mastering process. Sometimes you will encode a mix in a variety of formats, Dolby Pro Logic, DTS etc.

Connecting my MacBook Pro to my DVD Surround Sound Speakers?

I'm a student filmmaker in the UK and pretty much do all my video editing from my bedroom using Final Cut Studio. I am using a MacBook Pro3,1 (bought in 2007) and have recently decided that I want to start working in 5.1 surround sound.
As I have no surround sound speakers with my MacBook Pro, I was wondering if it would be possible to connect it up to my DVD surround sound system? This would ultimately save me having to buy a compatible set and having two lots of surround sound speakers around my room...
My DVD player is a Panasonic SC-PT150. The 6 surround sound speakers each connect to it through the standard +/- "clip-in" wire set up (which, obviously isn't compatible with my MacBook Pro). There are also two AUX sockets (one for Left and one for Right) on the back of the DVD player. So far, I have tried connecting my MacBook Pro to these sockets using a Mini plug to RCA cable, however, all I get is an incredibly loud humming noise.
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Thanks both of you for your help.
It doesn't mention either of those connections in the manual, however, yes you are right, it takes digital input. I'll have to call and check if the toslink cable is compatible.
I tried connecting the mini-stereo-to-RCA cable to my Nokia phone (which is actually where the cable came from) and that plays through the DVD speakers just fine, when i select AUX mode. Although, as you said, it only plays stereo.
Say the mini-toslink cable is compatible, would I need to get a 5.1 surround sound card for my MBP?
Thanks again.

5.1 Surround Sound Macbook Pro via Toslink to AV Receiver not working

I cannot seem to get anything other than stereo out of my MacBook Pro, running Snow Leopard, via toslink to my AV receiver using VLC to play MKV's ect.
I have opened Audio MIDI Setup, selected 'Built-In Output', 'Digital Out', '48000.0Hz', 'Encoded Digital Audio' and then 'Configure Speakers'. On the 'multichannel tab', I then clicked 'stereo' and am now unable to select '5.1 Surround' (desired option) or any other surround option (all options are greyed out). It's as if only my two fronts can be detected, but not the others in my 5.1
I have seen similar problems posted elsewhere, but none with 'not being able to switch from stereo to surround within Audio MIDI Setup'.
If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.
All the best,
Sam

You ever get this figured out Sam? I'm running into the exact same issue.
Will

Audigy 4 (Non Pro) and center channel surround sound - from 2 channel aud

Hi all,?Is there a way to have voice coming from the center speaker during TV programs like you could using an external receiver with Pro Logic? I can't for the life of me, get my Audigy 4 to do this. I run MCE 2005 on a couple of machines in the house. On my other machine, with built in audio, I let the Purevideo decoder handle this and I get? a nice surround, complete with center channel voice on it while watching TV. On the machine with the Audigy 4, not only will it not give me the center channel while watching TV, but I can't get it to stop processing the sound so that I can simply use the decoding of the Purevideo Decoder... Stumped!?Thanks,?Stu

Hi all,?Is there a way to have voice coming from the center speaker during TV programs like you could using an external receiver with Pro Logic? I can't for the life of me, get my Audigy 4 to do this. I run MCE 2005 on a couple of machines in the house. On my other machine, with built in audio, I let the Purevideo decoder handle this and I get? a nice surround, complete with center channel voice on it while watching TV. On the machine with the Audigy 4, not only will it not give me the center channel while watching TV, but I can't get it to stop processing the sound so that I can simply use the decoding of the Purevideo Decoder... Stumped!?Thanks,?Stu

Optical audio and surround sound speakers for my Mac Pro

In the back of my Mac Pro there's an in and out for Optical Audio. What is this and are there any surround sound speaker systems out there that will plug into it? Most surround sound speakers seem to require a PC-style triple-input, with three jacks (Green to front, Orange to centre and Black to rear channels). Very few surround sound systems have the additional option for a single headphone socket-style jack, and I'm not sure if they will work terribly well with this single connection.
Can anyone recommend some speaker choices, particularly in the UK, that will give me good surround sound from the optical audio or single headphone jacks? Many thanks.

You might want to look at a device called the Griffin FireWave: [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/firewave]
It connects to your MacPro via firewire, and has the green/orange/black jacks out to a standard 5.1 speaker system.
It comes with a software application that lets you customize the sound, and also synthesize surround from mono, stereo, etc., sources.
It would definitely open up your choices for speaker systems. I'm using one with a Klipsch 5.1 Promedia set of speakers. Works and sounds great.

Creative inspire t6300 5.1 surround on mac pro 1.1, optical out to 5.1 audio gear (digital sound decoder).

Hi there,
Been searching and trying a lot but no luck so far. I have a surroundset Creative Inspire t6300
to be able to add some more fun to movies and a few games on my mac.
I own an upgraded Mac Pro 1.1 under Snow leopard, 2.33 gHz, dual processor, 8 core, 8 gb memory.
Even though it`s a piece for the museum, it works very well for designwork I do for work. No real need
to update for me, so....
As I understand, the optical out is standard 5.1. (By the way, the only other ports are the basic sound ports out
and in on the Mac). So after some research I found and got the 5.1 audio gear decoder. I connected this with
an opticle cable and used the 3,5 jackets from the surroundset to connect to (from left to right) cen/sw, (yellow
jacket) fl/fr (green jacket), sl/sr (black jacket) on the decoder. All perfectly understandable and it seemed to work well.
But when I tested with some of the testfile you find when googling on that, I think there is something wrong,
the typical surround effect is not there, it rather sounds more like stereo or even 5 mono`s.
I`ve tried Soundflower and JackPilot, but couldn`t get it right. With Soundflower I was able to choose 5.1 setting
(was not possible before) but testing it didn`t work.
There is an extensive test of the decoder on the net by someone who really is deep into the technics of it all but
no luck there either.
Back to basics: is it right that the optical out is truely 5.1 on the mac? With several tests the unit SFE does not react.
But when I play some music with iTunes, it works (loud and clearly :-)). Maybe I need a visit to the audiologist ;-) ?
Anyone?
tested with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL9-sIZRDHg&channel=alexnosenko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMh_zvCw6us
https://www2.iis.fraunhofer.de/AAC/multichannel.html

Hello John, I figured it was a signal issue. All the speakers fire and the sound is great. I was running the speakers thru a Dell PC with a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, THX Certified, 7.1 soundcard using a fiber optic from the Mac Pro to the Z906's, it worked great until the Dell died!!! When I bought the soundcard from Creative I also bought the GigaWorks S750, THX Certified, 700 watt, 7.1 speaker system, used the speakers for 11 years and then the woofer/amp said "I QUIT" Creative quit making the speaker system and the sound card. The satellite speakers from the Creative GigaWorks speaker system still sound great (rated at 78 watt each) and are a little better speaker than the one's that came with the Z906 and the wattage from the 906 is sufficient to drive the satellites without any distortion. Thank you for addressing my issue, you confirmed what I suspected all along, just needed to hear it from someone with the same setup.
One last question, I purchased a Diamond Multimedia USB Soundcard, can't use the fiber optic(not supported by Mac) but the green, tan and black RCA's plug in and produces adequetly. When you plug your 906's into the Mac Pro using the fiber optic how do you set your speaker configuration? When I plug into the mac pro with fiber optic the 'Audio Midi Setup' does not seem to see the 5.1 configuration. Any thoughts there?
Carl

Is there any Sound card 5.1 include stereo mix that working with MacBook Air such as Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro Entertainment System ? and if there any another sound card can you tell me what is it please ? Thank you.

Is there any Sound card 5.1 include stereo mix that working with MacBook Air such as Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro Entertainment System ? and if there any another sound card can you tell me what is it please ? Thank you.

Okay, I did my best searching and I couldn't find anything that matched all your descriptors. I did do a search on both decoder numbers. SB0256 returned very little results, but with SB0466, I was able to find this ebay listing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...6_fvi%3D&_rdc=
This card isn't a Champion like you suggested. And with my complete lack of knowledge, I don't know what I/O dri've bay means. But since it is PCI and the decoder matches the number you gave me, this card should be adequete, right?
Whether it works or not, my search indicated it might be very hard for me to find that card (or any PCI card for that matter). Everything I saw was out of stock. I know this is a forum for Creative, but are there any other manufacturers that will allow me to accomplish my goal, either with current cards, or discontinued cards? Thanks again
Oh, and I will vote on that thread. I probably won't wait for them to release the decoder since I need it now, but I still believe Creative should be giving the customer what they want

Pro Surround 5.1 vs HD

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