24-bit sound card...do I need one?

[frame2000]

First off, apologies if this is a silly question, but I am not familiar enough with computer architecture and hardware-software interface to know the answer.

Simply stated, under which circumstances is a high quality sound card beneficial? For example, when I rip an audio CD to my hard drive, I would expect that the conversion would be digital info into the dBpowerAMP music converter for software conversion, with the sound card playing no role in the conversion. Is that correct? Likewise, when I am converting a flac for playback, I would expect that the conversion would be a software conversion by the dBpowerAMP audio player, rather than the 24-bit decoding available on my sound card. Do I have it wrong? Finally, I would expect that a direct CD drive to sound card digital connection would not be necessary unless I wanted to play audio CDs directly through the sound card, without using dBpowerAMP. Does this all make sense to you folks?

I ask because in my version of the house of the future I have my flac files loaded onto an external HD connected to an otherwise unused networked computer that functions as a server for my home network. Three of our computers have Audigy 2 cards, including the laptop (no fan) that feeds into my main entertainment center. My newest computer has only a stock sound card, and I thought I should take a quick reality check before I upgrade it, given that I never play back music on this particular computer, but often use it to convert audio CDs to flac files.

I hope these questions make sense, and any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

[Grunfeld]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

Hi frame,

I wouldn't have thought you'd have needed a 24 bit sound card unless you're a musician recording your own music (when 24 bit has big advantages). And a serious musician is unlikely to use something like an Audigy anyway.

All CDs are only 16 bit so whether your listening to a CD directly or a flac copy, you will not be utilising 24 processing as far as I know.

Grun

[frame2000]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

Thanks, Grun, from one new guy to another. I believe 24-bit does have advantages as it upsamples 16-bit and fills in the missing information--although some dispute that this is an advantage, given that the gaps are filled in with codes based upon a model that attempts to predict what would be appropriate to add.

In any event, I wonder whether, under the circumstances I mentioned in my original post, the sound card encoding/decoding operates at all. I have a suspicion that software that is independent of the Audigy software would not take advantage of the 24-bit encoding/decoding the sound card can provide, but I'm certainly no expert on hardware to software interface!

[LtData]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

When ripping a CD, the soundcard plays no part as the data is transferred via the IDE cable to the computer for processing.

[Spoon]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

A 24 bit sound card should playback a 16 bit file with more quality (read less noise) than a 16 bit sound card, all things being equal.

[neilthecellist]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

Hm...somewhat related question, which would be considered better, an AC97 card or an Audigy2? (for high level music listening, like classical music)

[LtData]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

An Audigy2 would be better than any integrated card (read: AC97) for listening. At least, that's how I believe it is.

[Deano]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

An AC97 integrated card, while not particularly bad, is not going to be as good as an expansion card based solution (such as the Audigy 2). Integrated sound has a high chance of interference, and of course they generally use much more processing power because they don't have dedicated hardware.

Integrated sound solutions are much better than they used to be, but I still don't think you can beat an actual sound card.

[ChristinaS]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

An AC97 integrated card, while not particularly bad, is not going to be as good as an expansion card based solution (such as the Audigy 2). Integrated sound has a high chance of interference, and of course they generally use much more processing power because they don't have dedicated hardware.

Integrated sound solutions are much better than they used to be, but I still don't think you can beat an actual sound card.

You would think so until you try to install a soundcard and it just won't get installed. Not sure if the mother board dictates what goes and how, but I have had several soundcards that have been impossibel to install on my motherboard, thus having to continue using the onboard one. Quite a letdown.

I have found by trial and error that the Audigy series are OK for the breed of motherboards I seem to end up with, and all that I have managed to install of late have been some flavor of Audigy. I only wished my latest one had more features. For instance it doesn't have both speaker and headphone jacks. One set only. That's a messy thing, as my new speakers don't have a headphone jack anywhere either. No midi port either. Plus we've never managed to connect the soundcard to the case's front speaker jack (which I specifically wanted to achieve). Apparently some kind of incompatibility. What do I know! it just won't won't fit and/or won't work! :o

I am pining for my old Hercules Gametheater soundcard with its internal and external modules with tons of jacks for every conceivable input/output need. That was great, until it conked out. An Audigy Platinum comes second best in features - though probably already obsolete now. Better in audio to be sure than Hercules (that one was only 16-bit). It's not on my pc however, it's on my daughter's pc as she does recording.

[Deano]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

I can't deny that Creative cards to have a few issues with connectivity in certain Motherboards, I had my own personal problems with an original Audigy 2, but I would have hoped Creative had started to get rid of some of these issues now in their latest cards.

My statement is true if you can get the soundcard working though. If you have problems, you can always try a USB based soundcard. I had the Audigy 2 NX running rather well with my laptop, all things considered. Not particularly good for the framerate of games, but then my laptop isn't much of a gaming platform anyway.

But, alas, I am rambling...

[frame2000]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate your help.

Lt. Data, that makes sense to me, and is what I expected would happen on the conversion of a CD.

I am still not clear what happens on the conversion from flac files to analogue. For flac to analog conversion, would the conversion be performed by the dBpowerAMP or by the 24-bit sound card?

Someone on this forum must know the answer! I would be grateful for any information you can provide.

[LtData]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

I assume that when you mean FLAC to Analog you are referring to decoding the file and playing it through your speakers or headphones. Well, the decoding of the file itself is done by the CPU. Processing the data from the file and turning it into sound is the responsibility of the DACs or Digital-Analog-Converters on the soundcard. The better the DACs, the better the sound. Also, if the soundcard doesn't have a controller chip on it (a la SoundBlaster series), then the processing is done again by the CPU.

[frame2000]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

Many thanks for that, Lt Data.

I think I understand now. So long as I have a soundcard with a controller chip, I should get the benefit of the hardware digital to analog conversion, rather than CPU conversion.

I am thinking of adding an M-Audio 192 soundcard to connect the s/pdif out to an external DAC. That should allow the digital stream to pass through the sound card to the DAC, but if I have it wrong, please let me know!

Thanks again for all of your help.

[LtData]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

It doesn't look like that card has a controller chip.

Also, to clear up what could be confusion:
The Soundblaster cards have controller chips. Most other soundcards, including the entire VIA Envy line, do not have controller chips.

[Spoon]

Re: 24-bit sound card...do I need one?

All decoding is always done on the CPU, the decoded data is passed to the sound card, and the less they mess with the data the better (they should just pass it out-as-is if there is a digital / optical connector on the card).