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Best sound card ~$100 to connect to home theatre receiver?

post #1 of 8
Thread Starter 
Sorry if this is a vague question, however I'm finding conflicting opinions.

I have a Sony home theatre receiver connected to a pair of KLH Rave 12 speakers, and since I'm not longer using my audigy I'm disappointed by how well my computer processes music via onboard audio. Lots of interference and I'm noticing some sounds that are no longer there in some songs.

Basically I want a sound card for music only, I rarely game. Some driver level equalizer adjustments would be nice, as without a sub the low frequencys are lacking with this setup.

Thanks for any opinions! Used cards are an option for me as well, so if you have one collecting dust feel free to pm me.
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The "Sleeper"
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post #2 of 8
If you use HDMI out to a receiver, you don't need a sound card. Your receiver will be decoding/processing everything.

Does your 4850 have HDMI? Just hook up a HDMI cable from it to your receiver's input.
Edited by BeerPowered - 11/4/12 at 9:26am
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post #3 of 8
Thread Starter 
I use a 3.5mm to rca adapter, I'm afraid my receiver doesn't have HDMI input. It does have optical input, but it doesn't sound any better.
The "Sleeper"
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The "Sleeper"
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Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 60gb Samsung 1tb hdd sd103j Garden Variety DVD-RW Corsair H60 
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Sony STR-DE685 5.1 Reciever 
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post #4 of 8
Which Sony Receiver do have?

How did you have it hooked up when you used your Audigy? What happened to your Audigy?
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post #5 of 8
Thread Starter 
Its the STR-DE685 http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DE685-Stereo-Theater-Receiver/dp/B000066OBT/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I traded the audigy away a while ago. It had to be 10 years old. I used the same 3.5mm to rca adapter.
The "Sleeper"
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TC Folding Rig
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel I7 2700k @ stock because of this dang H67... Asus P8H67-I Deluxe EVGA GTX 460 SE 904/1700/1552 8gb laptop ram :-\ 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 60gb Samsung 1tb hdd sd103j Garden Variety DVD-RW Corsair H60 
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Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Sony GDM-FW900  Sony GDM-FW900 Logitech MK320 Wireless keyboard set 
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Sony STR-DE685 5.1 Reciever 
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Intel Core 2 Duo E8500  Asus P5K Deluxe PNY GTX 260 216c 2x Corsair 2gb pc1066 @ pc951 
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The "Sleeper"
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TC Folding Rig
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel I7 2700k @ stock because of this dang H67... Asus P8H67-I Deluxe EVGA GTX 460 SE 904/1700/1552 8gb laptop ram :-\ 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 60gb Samsung 1tb hdd sd103j Garden Variety DVD-RW Corsair H60 
OSMonitorMonitorKeyboard
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Sony GDM-FW900  Sony GDM-FW900 Logitech MK320 Wireless keyboard set 
PowerCaseMouseAudio
OCZ 600w Lian Li PC-A05N Logitech MX1000 KLH Rave-12 Speakers 
Audio
Sony STR-DE685 5.1 Reciever 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500  Asus P5K Deluxe PNY GTX 260 216c 2x Corsair 2gb pc1066 @ pc951 
CoolingMonitorCase
Corsair H50 40" Sony Wega CRT Antec P160 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Athlon II X4 ASUS M5A78L-M Lx Plus Galaxy Nvidia GTX460 768mb 4GB PNY DDR3 1333 
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post #6 of 8
I would upgrade the Receiver and use Optical/HDMI out. The Receiver and Digital out will bypass the onboard audio. If you're saying that Optical doesn't sound any better that could be because your receiver's DAC is not any better than the onboard DAC. As for noise/interference that could be your analog cable/speaker wires.

Im not there otherwise I could figure it out and make a better recommendation.
Edited by BeerPowered - 11/4/12 at 3:26pm
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post #7 of 8
Thread Starter 
Well I certainly appreciate your suggestions. The speaker wires are some good shielded monster wires, and i've been using the same set of rca's since the beginning of time. Really the only change I've made is ditching the audigy. I suppose its possible the card was doing some enhancement of the sound behind the scenes?
The "Sleeper"
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TC Folding Rig
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel I7 2700k @ stock because of this dang H67... Asus P8H67-I Deluxe EVGA GTX 460 SE 904/1700/1552 8gb laptop ram :-\ 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 60gb Samsung 1tb hdd sd103j Garden Variety DVD-RW Corsair H60 
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Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Sony GDM-FW900  Sony GDM-FW900 Logitech MK320 Wireless keyboard set 
PowerCaseMouseAudio
OCZ 600w Lian Li PC-A05N Logitech MX1000 KLH Rave-12 Speakers 
Audio
Sony STR-DE685 5.1 Reciever 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500  Asus P5K Deluxe PNY GTX 260 216c 2x Corsair 2gb pc1066 @ pc951 
CoolingMonitorCase
Corsair H50 40" Sony Wega CRT Antec P160 
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The "Sleeper"
(18 items)
 
 
TC Folding Rig
(11 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel I7 2700k @ stock because of this dang H67... Asus P8H67-I Deluxe EVGA GTX 460 SE 904/1700/1552 8gb laptop ram :-\ 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 60gb Samsung 1tb hdd sd103j Garden Variety DVD-RW Corsair H60 
OSMonitorMonitorKeyboard
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Sony GDM-FW900  Sony GDM-FW900 Logitech MK320 Wireless keyboard set 
PowerCaseMouseAudio
OCZ 600w Lian Li PC-A05N Logitech MX1000 KLH Rave-12 Speakers 
Audio
Sony STR-DE685 5.1 Reciever 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500  Asus P5K Deluxe PNY GTX 260 216c 2x Corsair 2gb pc1066 @ pc951 
CoolingMonitorCase
Corsair H50 40" Sony Wega CRT Antec P160 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Athlon II X4 ASUS M5A78L-M Lx Plus Galaxy Nvidia GTX460 768mb 4GB PNY DDR3 1333 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Velociraptor 80gb Garden Variety DVD-RW Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro XP x64 
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post #8 of 8
Quote:
Originally Posted by notyettoday View Post

Well I certainly appreciate your suggestions. The speaker wires are some good shielded monster wires, and i've been using the same set of rca's since the beginning of time. Really the only change I've made is ditching the audigy. I suppose its possible the card was doing some enhancement of the sound behind the scenes?

If you were using Analog then yes. From what I know Analog out will use your computers audio and digital out will use your Receiver.
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Bruiser
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128GB C300, 120GB 840, 2TB F3 LG 10x Blu-Ray Burner HWlabs GT stealth 240 w/ EK HF Supreme CPU Block Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit 
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1x Dell U2711 Corsair K90, Logitech G13 Corsair AX1200 Corsair 600T 
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