How to get a better sound?

[jvs]

Most of the music i have is downloaded in the form of flac,i listen to all kinds of music and also use my stereo to provide sound for movies i watch.

The soundcard in my pc is Creative SB X Fi Xtreme,i think the problem starts here.I am not happy with the sound when playing music.

Can any one tell me how to create a better sound?I have bought another system already but it has to come from Europe and that may be awhile.

I have an Onkyo A 8170 amp and Yamaha ns 777 speakers at the moment and music from the pc does not sound as good as music from a cd player.

Can some one give me advise please?

I sure wish i would have kept my old stereo system but i should be able to find something to sound just as good.

[IMHO]

If the same amplifier and speakers sound better on the same tune played back from CD vs your computer, then yes, it would appear to be a problem at the PC.

First thing to check is that you don't have any equalization or other "sound enhancers" activated in your soundcard or the software you're using to play the FLAC files - also make sure you set up the soundard for 2.0 stereo output - if selecting a surround sound output mode (e.g. 5.x, 7.x) that can sometimes auto-trigger faux surround sound processing (which sounds terrible), and if selecting a mode the supports a subwoofer (2.1, 5.1, 7.1) that sometimes activates a highpass crossover on the main outputs, robbing them of bass.

If all of that that doesn't help, your next culprit is going to be the wire between the soundcard and the amplifier.

Lastly, check gain levels - playback a CD first, then the same tune on your PC, and adjust your PC volume level so it achieves the same output level as CD playback via the amp... then don't touch the volume control on your PC anymore...

Edited April 26, 2014 by IMHO

[jvs]

I have been experimenting with all kinds of settings and already have a thick cable pc2amp.

I will work on checking the gain levels today.

Thank you for your help.

[isawasnake]

Your CD player outputs what is called "line out audio". What that means is the audio is pretty much totally untouched by anything, it is just the pure audio signals that were read from the CD. In short, line out is good. You want pure audio signals to be amplified by your onkyo device. The audio from your pc is probably processed assuming it will be listened to on headphones or unamplified speakers. What you are (probably) doing now is amplifying signals that were meant for headphones or crappy little speakers.

Here is the thing, to do get a new sound card will be complicated, and probably cost enough to instead just run your music from an ipod, ipad or iphone (from the dock output). That may not be idea for you for whatever reason. I hope I, or others, can help you as I hate to hear crappy sound too. I use the forum hydrogenaudio, and they have some experts over there no doubt. You can try to post your question there.

[brianP]

The whole point of the new high definition audio is that the speakers have to be full range beyond human hearing frequencies and the AD/DA converters have to be powerful and transparent, some vacuum tubes in the amp or pre amp circuit to add warmth and a listening room that optimizes no frequencies. And you need great music, that is full dynamic range and with depth and feeling and nuances. Not audio garbage and mechanical looped sounds over processed. These will sound very bad naked.

The motive is to hear the same final master recording the artists heard as they recorded and finished. Us older rockers will have ripe pickings of many old material, and will have to start over and rebuild our library's.

[samjaidee]

Download a program called DFX audio enhancer. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes.

[kaveh]

are you concerned about sound quality or just loudness?

acoustic is an art I think so and the most important things to consider about your sound system is compatibility between all the factors (sound material (format), amp., wiring and speakers) and there's no best amp. or sound card because of this compatibility issues.

[seb2015]

Ok that might not be the cheapest option and everyone has a different ear , but to me, it seems you need a digital to audio converter.

There's a wide range of sound cards available and quality comes at a certain price.

The Motu MK2 FireWire made the trick for me, using monitor speakers in paralell of that, but I could also recommend Apogee Duet. This gear is quite flexible with any output setup you'd have, and the transcription of your sound will be VERY loyal then.

If you have a mate in EU, I find the best prices to be available in Thomann.com with free delivery on the continent.

Anyway, if you have any link to listen to your prods , I'd be curious

Cheers

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Rorri]

brianP, on 28 Apr 2014 - 09:04, said:

The whole point of the new high definition audio is that the speakers have to be full range beyond human hearing frequencies and the AD/DA converters have to be powerful and transparent, some vacuum tubes in the amp or pre amp circuit to add warmth and a listening room that optimizes no frequencies. And you need great music, that is full dynamic range and with depth and feeling and nuances. Not audio garbage and mechanical looped sounds over processed. These will sound very bad naked.

The motive is to hear the same final master recording the artists heard as they recorded and finished. Us older rockers will have ripe pickings of many old material, and will have to start over and rebuild our library's.

A little wrong... full range is the "Full Range" of human hearing, approx. 50Hz - 20KHz (different manufactures vary slightly), NOT those beyond.

[PattayaPete]

I use my video card to bitstream the audio to my amp via HDMI. You need an amp than can accept bitstreams and a video card that can send them. Doing it this way means the audio signal is sent directly as the digital bits that were recorded and your amplifier does all the work of turning that bitstream into sound.

Computers are not designed with the same precision as high end audio products so the sound if you allow the computer to do any processing of the the audio will always be inferior.

[IMHO]

brianP, on 28 Apr 2014 - 09:04, said:

The whole point of the new high definition audio is that the speakers have to be full range beyond human hearing frequencies and the AD/DA converters have to be powerful and transparent, some vacuum tubes in the amp or pre amp circuit to add warmth and a listening room that optimizes no frequencies. And you need great music, that is full dynamic range and with depth and feeling and nuances. Not audio garbage and mechanical looped sounds over processed. These will sound very bad naked.

The motive is to hear the same final master recording the artists heard as they recorded and finished. Us older rockers will have ripe pickings of many old material, and will have to start over and rebuild our library's.

A little wrong... full range is the "Full Range" of human hearing, approx. 50Hz - 20KHz (different manufactures vary slightly), NOT those beyond.

I can hear much lower than 50Hz, but I sure can't hear 20kHz anymore. Just sayin

[Rorri]

IMHO, on 28 Apr 2014 - 13:37, said:

Rorri, on 28 Apr 2014 - 11:01, said:

brianP, on 28 Apr 2014 - 09:04, said:brianP, on 28 Apr 2014 - 09:04, said:

The whole point of the new high definition audio is that the speakers have to be full range beyond human hearing frequencies and the AD/DA converters have to be powerful and transparent, some vacuum tubes in the amp or pre amp circuit to add warmth and a listening room that optimizes no frequencies. And you need great music, that is full dynamic range and with depth and feeling and nuances. Not audio garbage and mechanical looped sounds over processed. These will sound very bad naked.

The motive is to hear the same final master recording the artists heard as they recorded and finished. Us older rockers will have ripe pickings of many old material, and will have to start over and rebuild our library's.

A little wrong... full range is the "Full Range" of human hearing, approx. 50Hz - 20KHz (different manufactures vary slightly), NOT those beyond.

I can hear much lower than 50Hz, but I sure can't hear 20kHz anymore. Just sayin

Normal hearing is generally taken as 20Hz - 20kHz, but speakers are hard to manufacture lower than 50Hz. As we age we tend to lose hearing at the higher frequencies, there is a trend for hearing loss at a younger age due to excessive sound levels being used when listening to music/songs via ear phones.

[nahkit]

^{Have you looked at the products from Cambridge Audio? I bought their DacMagic XS USB amp and was really pleased with the difference it made to sound from my Sony laptop.}

^{Not sure if I'm allowed to post a link to them, apologies in advance if not allowed. http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/dacmagic-xs-usb-dac-headphone-amp}

[IMHO]

IMHO, on 28 Apr 2014 - 13:37, said:

Rorri, on 28 Apr 2014 - 11:01, said:

brianP, on 28 Apr 2014 - 09:04, said:brianP, on 28 Apr 2014 - 09:04, said:

The whole point of the new high definition audio is that the speakers have to be full range beyond human hearing frequencies and the AD/DA converters have to be powerful and transparent, some vacuum tubes in the amp or pre amp circuit to add warmth and a listening room that optimizes no frequencies. And you need great music, that is full dynamic range and with depth and feeling and nuances. Not audio garbage and mechanical looped sounds over processed. These will sound very bad naked.

The motive is to hear the same final master recording the artists heard as they recorded and finished. Us older rockers will have ripe pickings of many old material, and will have to start over and rebuild our library's.

A little wrong... full range is the "Full Range" of human hearing, approx. 50Hz - 20KHz (different manufactures vary slightly), NOT those beyond.

I can hear much lower than 50Hz, but I sure can't hear 20kHz anymore. Just sayin

Normal hearing is generally taken as 20Hz - 20kHz, but speakers are hard to manufacture lower than 50Hz. As we age we tend to lose hearing at the higher frequencies, there is a trend for hearing loss at a younger age due to excessive sound levels being used when listening to music/songs via ear phones.

I think you'll find it's not much of a challenge to make speakers that play lower than 50Hz anymore.. even small towers with 6" woofers can get down into the 30's before they start rolling off, and every decent sub will do at least low 20's - if not sub-20's.

Even my little 5" speakers I use for my PC get down to low 40's (but with a little EQ and a highpass filter for protection, well into the 30's)

Edited April 28, 2014 by IMHO

[astral]

I tend to agree with Nahkit

PC's are notoriously noise machines, I mean electrical noise

Put you music files on an external disc and invest in a USB DAC feeding your amp

[jvs]

I was not here for two days but i am back,op here.

Thank you for all your suggestions and i have not made up my mind yet what to do but will probably go for a usb dac device.

When my new(old) system gets here it will probably sound a lot different anyway,Adcom GFA555 (2) and Adcom preamp de speakers are JBL 5000 TI.

[jvs]

I have done some more research and i have found a device which looks promising,City Pulse DA7

Does anyone have one of these and can you buy them in Thailand?

[seb2015]

Never used or saw someone using it so I can't tell.

But a quick look on G and you can find it here

http://www.thaisecondhand.com/product/10289704/ขายCitypulseDA72xเครื่องแปลงสัญญาณดิจิตอลDACDigitaltoAnalogC/[email protected]

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[IMHO]

Never used or saw someone using it so I can't tell.

But a quick look on G and you can find it here

http://www.thaisecondhand.com/product/10289704/ขายCitypulseDA72xเครื่องแปลงสัญญาณดิจิตอลDACDigitaltoAnalogC/[email protected]

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

That's a USB DAC (AKA: "USB Sound card", or in the pro audio world, "USB Audio Interface") and it will circumvent the sound card in your PC - which will generally gives a very noticeable improvement to sound quality - think of it as a high-end sound card that hooks up using USB.

However, If the playback software you use has filters, EQ, or effects enabled, a USB DAC can't overcome that.

I have no experience with the particular one your looking at in that link, but here's some more to take a look at if you're going down this path:

http://www.fiio.in.th/category/4/fiio-dac-usb-dac-soundcard

http://www.kimlengstudio.com/vmchk/USB/View-all-products.html

Edited May 9, 2014 by IMHO

[Som wat]

Download a program called DFX audio enhancer. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes.

i just did that thanks.

The free version is somewhat limited though.

So watched this video and now it is, to sound like an American teenager in the 90's, totally awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaKgCE4DAp4

Thanks Samjaidee and youtube guy.

[nahkit]

The video has been removed by Youtube