Soundcard analogue outputs Vs spdif

Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea whether
there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker outputs
of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound processing
away from the cpu as possible.

Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a spdif
port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it would
seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario - correct?

Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output of the
audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?

TIA.

The spdif output is just a tap from the sound card before the signals
get to the DA converter surround splitter and amplifier and stuff.

None of the these (DA converter and amplifiers and stuff) are even
controlled by your CPU, so you'll see zero impact on cpu either way.

A sound card these days consists of what is needed to produce sound of
the right format (surround) without any intervention by system cpu.

---Asgeir---

Byron Forbes wrote:
> Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea whether
> there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
> speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker outputs
> of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
> outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound processing
> away from the cpu as possible.
>
> Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a spdif
> port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it would
> seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario - correct?
>
> Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output of the
> audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
>
> TIA.
>
>

I think it's running whether you use it or not, so I don't know that you
would see a difference.

It's just a blinking light

I use the SPDIF output (optical) on my Home-Built HTPC (aka FrankenMedia).
I have an OEM copy of MediaPC 2005 and it's better than I thought it would
be. I just bought a Silverstone HTPC case from NewEgg and tossed my old P4
2.53Ghz MB, etc... into it and walla! HTPC.

I bought the MediaPC Remote OEM from NewEgg for $37.

I have about $400 invested in the whole thing

When I built this new AMD-64/3500 system the old P4 was going to go to
Server duty, but this came up instead.

-Larry

"Byron Forbes" > wrote in message
...
> Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea
whether
> there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
> speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker
outputs
> of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
> outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound
processing
> away from the cpu as possible.
>
> Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a spdif
> port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it
would
> seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario - correct?
>
> Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output of
the
> audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
>
> TIA.
>
>

Well, some of them are

Most on-board sound systems are CPU/Software based and can be quite taxing
to FPS in games, though for music they are generally fine. That's what I'm
using in my home-built HTPC.

-Larry

"Asgeir Nesoen" > wrote in message
...
> The spdif output is just a tap from the sound card before the signals
> get to the DA converter surround splitter and amplifier and stuff.
>
> None of the these (DA converter and amplifiers and stuff) are even
> controlled by your CPU, so you'll see zero impact on cpu either way.
>
> A sound card these days consists of what is needed to produce sound of
> the right format (surround) without any intervention by system cpu.
>
> ---Asgeir---

Unless you have a soundcard/onboard sound that can do realtime Dolby Digital
Encoding you wont get surround sound from games out of the SPDIF port, all
you will get is Stereo PCM. nForce2 chipsets used to contain SoundStorm
onboard sound that would carry out Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding - it
would take the mutlichanel sound that the game was generating (either on the
processor - see Doom 3) or on the sound card, and encode it into the AC3
stream that a seperate dolby digital decoder (such as a home theatre
amplifier) could then read just from that 1 single cable.

If you do not have a card capable of Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding (and
at present there arent any creative cards that do it aimed at consumers -
the Intel 915 and 925 chipsets contain HDA which will do it, as will the
nForce2 Sound Storm) then you will only get 2 chanel stereo PCM out of the
SPDIF.

For multichanel to work correctly from non DDE cards you have to connect up
all 6 or 8 analogue RCA ports from your sound card to your amp.

pez


"Larry" > wrote in message news:gANsd.472$ln.39@lakeread06...
> I think it's running whether you use it or not, so I don't know that you
> would see a difference.
>
> It's just a blinking light
>
> I use the SPDIF output (optical) on my Home-Built HTPC (aka FrankenMedia).
> I have an OEM copy of MediaPC 2005 and it's better than I thought it would
> be. I just bought a Silverstone HTPC case from NewEgg and tossed my old
P4
> 2.53Ghz MB, etc... into it and walla! HTPC.
>
> I bought the MediaPC Remote OEM from NewEgg for $37.
>
> I have about $400 invested in the whole thing
>
> When I built this new AMD-64/3500 system the old P4 was going to go to
> Server duty, but this came up instead.
>
> -Larry
>
> "Byron Forbes" > wrote in message
>
...
> > Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea
> whether
> > there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
> > speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker
> outputs
> > of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
> > outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound
> processing
> > away from the cpu as possible.
> >
> > Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a
spdif
> > port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it
> would
> > seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario - correct?
> >
> > Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output of
> the
> > audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
> >
> > TIA.
> >
> >
>
>

Forgot to mention that for Films its a different kettle of fish. you do not
require Dolby Digital Encoding (aka Dolby Digital Live) to get a digital
multichanel signal (AC3) out of your SPDIF - the movie contains this data on
it, and just passes it out of the SPDIF if you select it.

pez

"Pez" > wrote in message
...
> Unless you have a soundcard/onboard sound that can do realtime Dolby
Digital
> Encoding you wont get surround sound from games out of the SPDIF port, all
> you will get is Stereo PCM. nForce2 chipsets used to contain SoundStorm
> onboard sound that would carry out Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding - it
> would take the mutlichanel sound that the game was generating (either on
the
> processor - see Doom 3) or on the sound card, and encode it into the AC3
> stream that a seperate dolby digital decoder (such as a home theatre
> amplifier) could then read just from that 1 single cable.
>
> If you do not have a card capable of Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding (and
> at present there arent any creative cards that do it aimed at consumers -
> the Intel 915 and 925 chipsets contain HDA which will do it, as will the
> nForce2 Sound Storm) then you will only get 2 chanel stereo PCM out of the
> SPDIF.
>
> For multichanel to work correctly from non DDE cards you have to connect
up
> all 6 or 8 analogue RCA ports from your sound card to your amp.
>
> pez
>
>
> "Larry" > wrote in message
news:gANsd.472$ln.39@lakeread06...
> > I think it's running whether you use it or not, so I don't know that you
> > would see a difference.
> >
> > It's just a blinking light
> >
> > I use the SPDIF output (optical) on my Home-Built HTPC (aka
FrankenMedia).
> > I have an OEM copy of MediaPC 2005 and it's better than I thought it
would
> > be. I just bought a Silverstone HTPC case from NewEgg and tossed my old
> P4
> > 2.53Ghz MB, etc... into it and walla! HTPC.
> >
> > I bought the MediaPC Remote OEM from NewEgg for $37.
> >
> > I have about $400 invested in the whole thing
> >
> > When I built this new AMD-64/3500 system the old P4 was going to go to
> > Server duty, but this came up instead.
> >
> > -Larry
> >
> > "Byron Forbes" > wrote in message
> >
>
...
> > > Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea
> > whether
> > > there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
> > > speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker
> > outputs
> > > of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
> > > outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound
> > processing
> > > away from the cpu as possible.
> > >
> > > Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a
> spdif
> > > port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it
> > would
> > > seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario -
correct?
> > >
> > > Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output
of
> > the
> > > audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
> > >
> > > TIA.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Thanks buddy. That's pretty much straightened me out on that one.


"Pez" > wrote in message
...
> Unless you have a soundcard/onboard sound that can do realtime Dolby
Digital
> Encoding you wont get surround sound from games out of the SPDIF port, all
> you will get is Stereo PCM. nForce2 chipsets used to contain SoundStorm
> onboard sound that would carry out Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding - it
> would take the mutlichanel sound that the game was generating (either on
the
> processor - see Doom 3) or on the sound card, and encode it into the AC3
> stream that a seperate dolby digital decoder (such as a home theatre
> amplifier) could then read just from that 1 single cable.
>
> If you do not have a card capable of Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding (and
> at present there arent any creative cards that do it aimed at consumers -
> the Intel 915 and 925 chipsets contain HDA which will do it, as will the
> nForce2 Sound Storm) then you will only get 2 chanel stereo PCM out of the
> SPDIF.
>
> For multichanel to work correctly from non DDE cards you have to connect
up
> all 6 or 8 analogue RCA ports from your sound card to your amp.
>
> pez
>
>
> "Larry" > wrote in message
news:gANsd.472$ln.39@lakeread06...
> > I think it's running whether you use it or not, so I don't know that you
> > would see a difference.
> >
> > It's just a blinking light
> >
> > I use the SPDIF output (optical) on my Home-Built HTPC (aka
FrankenMedia).
> > I have an OEM copy of MediaPC 2005 and it's better than I thought it
would
> > be. I just bought a Silverstone HTPC case from NewEgg and tossed my old
> P4
> > 2.53Ghz MB, etc... into it and walla! HTPC.
> >
> > I bought the MediaPC Remote OEM from NewEgg for $37.
> >
> > I have about $400 invested in the whole thing
> >
> > When I built this new AMD-64/3500 system the old P4 was going to go to
> > Server duty, but this came up instead.
> >
> > -Larry
> >
> > "Byron Forbes" > wrote in message
> >
>
...
> > > Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea
> > whether
> > > there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
> > > speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker
> > outputs
> > > of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
> > > outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound
> > processing
> > > away from the cpu as possible.
> > >
> > > Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a
> spdif
> > > port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it
> > would
> > > seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario -
correct?
> > >
> > > Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output
of
> > the
> > > audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
> > >
> > > TIA.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Q for Pez:

If the sound card (or, in my case, the onboard A7N8X Soundstorm) can handle
it, do you get Dolby/surround out of the TosLINK optical cable?

"Pez" > wrote in message
...
> Unless you have a soundcard/onboard sound that can do realtime Dolby
Digital
> Encoding you wont get surround sound from games out of the SPDIF port, all
> you will get is Stereo PCM. nForce2 chipsets used to contain SoundStorm
> onboard sound that would carry out Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding - it
> would take the mutlichanel sound that the game was generating (either on
the
> processor - see Doom 3) or on the sound card, and encode it into the AC3
> stream that a seperate dolby digital decoder (such as a home theatre
> amplifier) could then read just from that 1 single cable.
>
> If you do not have a card capable of Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding (and
> at present there arent any creative cards that do it aimed at consumers -
> the Intel 915 and 925 chipsets contain HDA which will do it, as will the
> nForce2 Sound Storm) then you will only get 2 chanel stereo PCM out of the
> SPDIF.
>
> For multichanel to work correctly from non DDE cards you have to connect
up
> all 6 or 8 analogue RCA ports from your sound card to your amp.
>
> pez
>
>
> "Larry" > wrote in message
news:gANsd.472$ln.39@lakeread06...
> > I think it's running whether you use it or not, so I don't know that you
> > would see a difference.
> >
> > It's just a blinking light
> >
> > I use the SPDIF output (optical) on my Home-Built HTPC (aka
FrankenMedia).
> > I have an OEM copy of MediaPC 2005 and it's better than I thought it
would
> > be. I just bought a Silverstone HTPC case from NewEgg and tossed my old
> P4
> > 2.53Ghz MB, etc... into it and walla! HTPC.
> >
> > I bought the MediaPC Remote OEM from NewEgg for $37.
> >
> > I have about $400 invested in the whole thing
> >
> > When I built this new AMD-64/3500 system the old P4 was going to go to
> > Server duty, but this came up instead.
> >
> > -Larry
> >
> > "Byron Forbes" > wrote in message
> >
>
...
> > > Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea
> > whether
> > > there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of digital
> > > speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker
> > outputs
> > > of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the speaker
> > > outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound
> > processing
> > > away from the cpu as possible.
> > >
> > > Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a
> spdif
> > > port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but it
> > would
> > > seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario -
correct?
> > >
> > > Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output
of
> > the
> > > audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
> > >
> > > TIA.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

"Steve Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Q for Pez:
>
> If the sound card (or, in my case, the onboard A7N8X Soundstorm) can
handle
> it, do you get Dolby/surround out of the TosLINK optical cable?
>

If I got the gist of his posts correctly, you only get surround sound
via s/pdif with a card that can take a surround source from a game, say, and
then convert it to a DD Surround signal ie no card owned by the typical
person. The s/pdif port simply passes a DD signal onto a receiver from, say,
a DVD movie.

So to answer your question, with DVDs you will, with games you wont.


> "Pez" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Unless you have a soundcard/onboard sound that can do realtime Dolby
> Digital
> > Encoding you wont get surround sound from games out of the SPDIF port,
all
> > you will get is Stereo PCM. nForce2 chipsets used to contain SoundStorm
> > onboard sound that would carry out Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding - it
> > would take the mutlichanel sound that the game was generating (either on
> the
> > processor - see Doom 3) or on the sound card, and encode it into the AC3
> > stream that a seperate dolby digital decoder (such as a home theatre
> > amplifier) could then read just from that 1 single cable.
> >
> > If you do not have a card capable of Real Time Dolby Digital Encoding
(and
> > at present there arent any creative cards that do it aimed at
consumers -
> > the Intel 915 and 925 chipsets contain HDA which will do it, as will the
> > nForce2 Sound Storm) then you will only get 2 chanel stereo PCM out of
the
> > SPDIF.
> >
> > For multichanel to work correctly from non DDE cards you have to connect
> up
> > all 6 or 8 analogue RCA ports from your sound card to your amp.
> >
> > pez
> >
> >
> > "Larry" > wrote in message
> news:gANsd.472$ln.39@lakeread06...
> > > I think it's running whether you use it or not, so I don't know that
you
> > > would see a difference.
> > >
> > > It's just a blinking light
> > >
> > > I use the SPDIF output (optical) on my Home-Built HTPC (aka
> FrankenMedia).
> > > I have an OEM copy of MediaPC 2005 and it's better than I thought it
> would
> > > be. I just bought a Silverstone HTPC case from NewEgg and tossed my
old
> > P4
> > > 2.53Ghz MB, etc... into it and walla! HTPC.
> > >
> > > I bought the MediaPC Remote OEM from NewEgg for $37.
> > >
> > > I have about $400 invested in the whole thing
> > >
> > > When I built this new AMD-64/3500 system the old P4 was going to go to
> > > Server duty, but this came up instead.
> > >
> > > -Larry
> > >
> > > "Byron Forbes" > wrote in message
> > >
> >
>
...
> > > > Will be upgrading soon and it occured to me that I have no idea
> > > whether
> > > > there would be any extra loading on the cpu if I used a set of
digital
> > > > speakers via an spdif output of a motherboard instead of the speaker
> > > outputs
> > > > of an Audigy with analogue speakers. Obviously running via the
speaker
> > > > outputs of an Audigy is getting the Audigy to take as much sound
> > > processing
> > > > away from the cpu as possible.
> > > >
> > > > Does anyone know what the situation is cpu use wise when using a
> > spdif
> > > > port. Obviously the 5.1 processing is done by the receiver/amp but
it
> > > would
> > > > seem to me that the cpu would be needed more in this scenario -
> correct?
> > > >
> > > > Also, is there any difference if one was to use the spdif output
> of
> > > the
> > > > audigy rather than the spdif of the MB?
> > > >
> > > > TIA.
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

> SFF is the way to go.

Absolutely, and Shuttle XPCs are the greatest all round PCs money can buy
IMO. The engineering in them is far ahead of anything else out there.

> Soundstorm is gone, just another Betamax on the trash heap of history....

Huh? Soundstorm lives on through nForce4. etc. Whilst I'm not a fan of
nVidia's current VGA cards, their AMD chipsets are excellent and have served
me very well over the last couple of years. Couldn't say the same for my
SBLive when I owned it....