Which Audio Software and Drivers ?

[Super-Spy]

Hi all,

I have a pair of Adam ARTist 3 speakers which I hook up to my Alienware 17x laptop that has a built-in Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di soundcard.

The main purpose is to play music in stereo and I was wondering what the best audio software and drivers would be to get the best sound out of the hardware.

The music will be a combination of high bit rate MP3, streaming from Deezer and lossless FLAC files.

The speakers are studio monitors so have their own built-in amplification with a choice of input options ranging from the standard 3.5mm audio jack, RCA, XLR and also a USB input that feeds through a built-in DAC.

I am assuming that the best option would be connecting via USB and using the speaker's built-in DAC with the right software on the laptop.

I am sure the DAC is not as good as more expensive external DAC options but would prefer to use the built-in DAC and not spend more money.

Any advice ?

 

[Super-Spy]

Thanks for the JRiver recommendation, I will google it.

Any particular drivers ?

I don't know much about it but have seen various mentions of ASIO drivers ?
Are these relevant ?

 

[Super-Spy]

OK, just googled JRiver and it appears to be media centre software.

Isn't this a little heavy ?
I was thinking of software for high quality audio along the lines of Winamp or such like ?

 

[Super-Spy]

Thanks guys. What is WASAPI ?

Any specialist drivers recommended or just the standard Sound Blaster ones ?

 

[Super-Spy]

Thanks for the explanation Marsman