What is the Best Speaker Setup for a Small Space?

[FishmanGeertz]

With a sound card, what does a "sample rate" mean? How do you benefit from having a higher sample rate?

What is the difference between 96KHz and 192KHz? Does increasing the sample rate put more stress on your APU?

 

[rcgldr]

The goal is to reproduce sounds with frequencies up to about 20khz. A higher sampling rate provides more sample points per unit time, allowing a more precise approximation of the original analog waveform. 192khz is almost 10x the max frequency rate, versus 96khz being only 5x the frequency rate, allowing for a simpler digital to analog conversion. Note that cd-rom's get by with a 44.1 khz sample rate, barely more than double the max frequency rate, requiring a complex digital to analog "filter" to produce accurate sound.

 

[FishmanGeertz]

The goal is to reproduce sounds with frequencies up to about 20khz. A higher sampling rate provides more sample points per unit time, allowing a more precise approximation of the original analog waveform. 192khz is almost 10x the max frequency rate, versus 96khz being only 5x the frequency rate, allowing for a simpler digital to analog conversion. Note that cd-rom's get by with a 44.1 khz sample rate, barely more than double the max frequency rate, requiring a complex digital to analog "filter" to produce accurate sound.

How does the sound in PC games benefit from high sample rates?

 

[jtbell]

I seriously doubt you'd hear a difference between 44.1 or 48 kHz on one hand and 96 kHz or 192 kHz on the other, unless you have audiophile-grade speakers (say $500K upwards for a pair), driven by a receiver capable of handling those sample rates.

 

[AlephZero]

The effect on the sound of games will be negligible. What you hear will depend mostly on the quality of your speakers or headphones. The audio in most computer games is processed so it "sounds loud" when played through poor quality speakers, not so it is an accurate reproduction of anything.

The main benefit of high sample rates like 192kHz is if want to use your computer to record high quality sounds. The electrical noise energy generated by the microphones, amplifiers, etc will be spread over the whole frequency range up to 192KHz when the analog signal is converted to digital. All the noise energy between 20KHz and 192 Khz can then be filtered out digitally, which reduces the audible noise level by a factor of about 10 times.

The amount of computing power to process audio is very small compared with video, so I wouldn't worry about high sample rates affecting the overall performance of your PC for gaming.

 

[FishmanGeertz]

The effect on the sound of games will be negligible. What you hear will depend mostly on the quality of your speakers or headphones. The audio in most computer games is processed so it "sounds loud" when played through poor quality speakers, not so it is an accurate reproduction of anything.

The main benefit of high sample rates like 192kHz is if want to use your computer to record high quality sounds. The electrical noise energy generated by the microphones, amplifiers, etc will be spread over the whole frequency range up to 192KHz when the analog signal is converted to digital. All the noise energy between 20KHz and 192 Khz can then be filtered out digitally, which reduces the audible noise level by a factor of about 10 times.

The amount of computing power to process audio is very small compared with video, so I wouldn't worry about high sample rates affecting the overall performance of your PC for gaming.

So you're saying that the only things which benefits most from a 192KHz sample rate is output (microphone and recording) and extremely high-grade speakers? Otherwise the difference is not noticeable.

 

[rcgldr]

How does the sound in PC games benefit from high sample rates?

The sounds from most games are use a fixed sample rate or some sort of algorithm to generate sounds, so the sound cards maximum sound rate would not be utilized by a game.

As mentioned above, the main benefit of a higher sample rate is for recording, filtering, and later play back of sound, assuming you have good enough equipment for any of this to make a difference. A higher sample rate allows a fairly crude digital to analog output filter to be used, but since sound cards also work with low sample rates, they already have the more sophisticated output filters, so no benefit there.

 

[FishmanGeertz]

I have a creative x-fi fatality titanium pro PCI express sound card. I upgraded from my onboard audio just yesterday.

I've noticed a HUGE improvement in the overall audio quality in all of my games. The best "sounding" game I own is Battlefield Bad Company 2. Now it sounds like I'm actually in the game!

I've been told that if I'm going to have a good sound card, I should use a good audio system as well.

I have a flimsy $45 2.1 logitech speaker setup, so I may not be using my sound card to it's fullest potential. If I bought a high-end speaker system with surround sound and THX certification, would I really notice any huge difference in sound quality?

The only problem is that these sound systems can cost upwards of $400. I don't have that kind of money right now. Wireless 5.1 and 7.1 speaker systems can cost upwards of $1,000.

 

[Chronos]

Audio cards have abysmal output power. I run my card through a stereo tuner with a couple cheap 3 way 15-40 watt speakers. It adds a whole new dimension of sound to gaming [and music].

 

[AlephZero]

I have a creative x-fi fatality titanium pro PCI express sound card. I upgraded from my onboard audio just yesterday.

The Creative cards are certainly excelllent for gaming, because they are stuffed with sound processing gizmos that the game producers know how to access. That's why you now feel you are "inside the game".

For "pro" audio work they are just about useless, because the basics (like the D-A and A-D converters) are poor quality. In fact the current Creative cards are more limited in some ways than the cards they made 10 years ago.

On the other hand, "serious" audio cards don't usually have features like THX and surround sound built into the card at all. Compare the Creative range with say http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496.html (that is the entry level M-Audio card, links to the rest of the range are on the page) if you want to see the difference in specifications and features between a gaming card and a "pro" audio card.

 

[FishmanGeertz]

I have a cheap 2.1 logitech speaker system. I was told that having a high quality speaker setup, especially one with surround sound and THX certification, will offer you night vs day sound quality compared to a flimsy audio system.

The only problem is that these systems can cost upwards of $400. The wireless 5.1 and 7.1 surround/THX systems can cost more than $1,000. No way I'm going to spend that kind of money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=7.1_speaker_system-_-82-120-168-_-Product

I do have a 5.1 system I bought in circa 2004. They're old, so I'm not sure if they will work on my brand new PC.

Also, I don't have enough room on my computer desk for Five speakers.