Digital Audio Myths - Listening on a PC

cobb wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: If I look at my current system (Computer (Audigy 2) - Harman Kardon Amp - Elac speakers), I think that I might buy an X-Fi sound card for €110 and maybe upgrade my amp to a Musical Fidelity Avalon ... And then you will never have to leave your house

Hey, I'm already addicted to music. And I will even have to leave my house more often - to work and earn the additional money I need for my expensive hobby.

cobb wrote: You don't need specs to tell you the pc can do as good a job as a player, Mike, your ears are already telling you that it can. Ignore oliver- audiophiles are always like this. I don't need fancy graphing images to tell me how good the sound is. My ears do a pretty good job all on their own.

Agreed. I like how my system sounds, and no comment here can make me throw it away and buy a new one. But I'm always interested in improving the system.

Although I'm largely opposed to audiophile systems, I really try to understand them. Here's a summary of what I found out so far:

• Upsampling really improves the sound, if done properly. I now know how it works and what it does, and technically it makes sense (it is not esoteric).
• The single most important factor for the sound is the amp. Of course for perfect sound every link in the chain has to be good, I know that. But if you have a fairly good - but not HiFi/audiophile - system, upgrading the amp is what will have the most noticeable effect on the sound. Next is the source (good CD player/vinyl), then the speakers, and then the cables.
• People like Oliver are right in that until just recently, PC sound cards did not do upsampling properly. Cards like the X-Fi are beginning to do so, and their specifications really do compare to good audiophile CD players (jitter, symmetric outputs, etc.), especially if they are connected to the amp digitally.

If I look at my current system (Computer (Audigy 2) - Harman Kardon Amp - Elac speakers), I think that I might buy an X-Fi sound card for €110 and maybe upgrade my amp to a Musical Fidelity Avalon ...

You don't need specs to tell you the pc can do as good a job as a player, Mike, your ears are already telling you that it can. Ignore oliver- audiophiles are always like this. I don't need fancy graphing images to tell me how good the sound is. My ears do a pretty good job all on their own. 

Edited by cobb

Snow Dog wrote: This is a fascinating thread

I really enjoy not talking about how Gildenlow sucks or Neo-Prog rules for a change ...

Hooray ... I found what I was looking for:

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/x-fi/technology/

At last, Creative is introducing a new family of sound cards which use the same upsampling filters as the musical CD players. So I will get the best of both worlds:

Computer with X-Fi sound card playing audio files in lossless formats -> connected to a Class A amp with good speakers.

"I believe that CD's combined with a good amp and speakers are sufficient ..."

I think so.

I think you would be happy with a musical player like a Nad, Rotel, Rega, Naim, Arcam or even Musical fidelity if you want.

A musical integrated amp like Nad or Rotel and a pair of cheap Loudspeakears like Mission.

Without forgetting good cables (QED).

I advice you to turn on these cheap musical english brands. English are the kings of cheap and musical products.
To conclude, you don't need to invest much, but you need to have only musical elements. That's all.

Sell what you have (very easy) and follow my advices. For a very small amount of money, you'll have musical pleasure for years.

You're always messing up the [/QUOTE] - tags, oliver!

I think it's insane to say that music only makes sense when listened to on excedingly expensive equipment. I already agreed on the superiority of Class A / Tube / etc. amps in comparison to cheap transistor amps. By the way - My Musical Fidelity amp indeed gave up the ghost ... and after that I bought the HK, because I was short on money and  not much into music at the time (that was a short phase in my life).

Maybe I'll buy an used Musical Fidelity X - amp sometime ... but right now I have other priorities. I know the difference which a good amp can make. The vinyl/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio discussion is also futile - I WILL stick with CD's, I made that decision long ago when my vinyl collection was destroyed by a water pipe leakage. I believe that CD's combined with a good amp and speakers are sufficient ...

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Snow Dog wrote: ^ ah....you did answer my question. I'm really sorry, I didn't see it! many appologies Mike! No need to apologize - the post was easy to miss next to these magnificent images of unaffordable mysterious devices. BTW: I'm listening to Porcupine Tree - In Absentia in WMA Lossless right now, and - wow! What a difference to ANY mp3 format.

Yes I tried it out earlier today on a Zappa track, before I read this, and the difference was noticable. Hardly worth the effort for me though as I have a pretty basic PC set up!

Snow Dog wrote: ^ ah....you did answer my question. I'm really sorry, I didn't see it! many appologies Mike!

No need to apologize - the post was easy to miss next to these magnificent images of unaffordable mysterious devices.

BTW: I'm listening to Porcupine Tree - In Absentia in WMA Lossless right now, and - wow! What a difference to ANY mp3 format.