Best audio combination

wildest_jjk · 26 Jan 2015 at 00:02

Hey guys,

I need some advice on getting the most out of my audio equipment. Currently I own the Astro A40 audio system mainly due to console gaming (I know it's not the best headset). Recently I have been playing a lot more on the PC and am getting annoyed with stereo audio.

To get the virtual 7.1 surround sound that the Astro mixamp can provide I need a soundcard which will support Dolby Digital Live. My choice is probably going to be this:

Asus Xonar DX

Is this the best choice for my needs? My other concerns are regarding the use of the mixamp on the PC. If I get this soundcard will I get better audio quality by plugging the headphones straight into the card or using the mixamp?

Thanks

Marsman · 26 Jan 2015 at 00:35

DX is a good choice of card. It has DDL (Dolby Digital Live), which you would need to feed the Mixamp using digital input; however, I believe it uses Dolby Headphone, which is what the DX uses. So really, you could just plug the headset into the DX and use Dolby Headphone from that.

The question then becomes: Which will do the better job providing surround sound, Mixamp or DX? That's something I don't know really.

What I do know is that if you were to connect the headset to the sound card and use Dolby Headphone, then the DGX will do the same job for less money and has a headphone amp. However, because the DGX doesn't have DDL, then you would have to stick with connecting the headset directly to the sound card.

wildest_jjk · 26 Jan 2015 at 01:13

Marsman said:
DX is a good choice of card. It has DDL (Dolby Digital Live), which you would need to feed the Mixamp using digital input; however, I believe it uses Dolby Headphone, which is what the DX uses. So really, you could just plug the headset into the DX and use Dolby Headphone from that.

The question then becomes: Which will do the better job providing surround sound, Mixamp or DX? That's something I don't know really.

What I do know is that if you were to connect the headset to the sound card and use Dolby Headphone, then the DGX will do the same job for less money and has a headphone amp. However, because the DGX doesn't have DDL, then you would have to stick with connecting the headset directly to the sound card.

Thanks for the really helpful response

So DDL is the same as Dolby headphone?

Does that mean that DDL is used to feed Dolby to receivers whereas Dolby headphone is essentially using the sound card as the receiver?

Marsman · 26 Jan 2015 at 01:24

So DDL is the same as Dolby headphone?

No. Dolby Digital Live is what is used to encode 5.1 audio stream so that it can be sent via SPDIF (optical and coaxial). You get Dolby Digital from a console, but as PC games do not use DD, the audio needs to be encoded.

Dolby Headphone is an algorithm. It takes 5.1, whether it be decoded Dolby Digital or direct 5.1 and using audio cues creates an effect of surround sound using stereo headphones or headset.

wildest_jjk · 26 Jan 2015 at 01:28

Marsman said:
No. Dolby Digital Live is what is used to encode 5.1 audio stream so that it can be sent via SPDIF (optical and coaxial). You get Dolby Digital from a console, but as PC games do not use DD, the audio needs to be encoded.

Dolby Headphone is an algorithm. It takes 5.1, whether it be decoded Dolby Digital or direct 5.1 and using audio cues creates an effect of surround sound using stereo headphones or headset.

Right I think I'm starting to get it.

Does this mean if a PC game for example only supports stereo audio I would need DDL for virtual 5.1/7.1 surround sound?

Dolby headphone needs a 5.1 source of some kind?

In fact that might be all wrong again...

Thanks

Marsman · 26 Jan 2015 at 01:49

Dolby Headphone does need 5.1, but if a native 5.1 source is not available it can work in conjunction with Dolby Pro Logic II, which is used to upmix stereo to 5.1.

Dolby Digital Live is only needed if you need to output Dolby Digital from SPDIF (optical or coaxial). This is primarily for gaming though, as a DVD contains Dolby Digital track, which is then passed on to the external decoder. Game audio needs to be encoded first, then decoded on the other side.

If you're playing a game with only stereo audio output and have a sound card with Dolby Headphone, it will also have Pro Logic II as well. PLII upmixes the stereo to 5.1, then DH converts that to audio cues for headphones.

If you're outputting Dolby Digital to a receiver to be decoded, then similar applies, except once PLII has upmixed the stereo to 5.1, DDL is used instead to encode that 5.1 to Dolby Digital, which is then passed to the receiver decoded and then Dolby Headphone applied.

wildest_jjk · 26 Jan 2015 at 12:59

Thanks again for all the help.

So just to make sure there would be absolutely no difference in quality using the Dolby Headphone from the mixamp or the sound card?

Marsman · 26 Jan 2015 at 14:48

They both use Dolby so there shouldn't be much difference, but as the hardware is different, it's unlikely they would sound exactly the same. Hard to say without hearing both.

wildest_jjk · 28 Jan 2015 at 17:16

Ok so I now own an Asus Xonar DX and I have no idea what to do lol.

Basically I have downloaded the 7.12.8.1794 drivers from their website as they seemed to be the highest number? There is a newer driver but it was only 7.0.8.1821 so I didn't bother with that.

I have connected a molex to the card as well as the single HD audio front panel connector. Now the problems:

1. The Xonar DX audio centre isn't being displayed on my monitor properly. As soon as I click on menu I can only see a corner of the actual display?

2. I am not getting any sort of sound out of my front panel connector. I have connected both the speakers and microphone using a Y-splitter that came with my headset and no sound is coming through. If I try my desk speakers in the back of the card I am getting some sound.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I feel I might have done some things wrong.

Thanks

rids57 · 28 Jan 2015 at 18:29

the HD audio front panel lead usually has two connectors - try the other one, they are wired differently.

I can't visualise what's happening with the audio centre, a screen grab would be helpful.