# Can anyone answer: Optical vs Analog, How to get the best 5.1 PC Audio?



## The_Nephilim

Well just how are you going to get an analog signal?? (EDIT) I see it has the Red and white RCA plugs out of the Sound card..What plugs are coming out of the sound card?? DAC are just a digital to analog converter..

it is probally best to let the receiver do that conversion. but the Sound card probally has the better DAC's do you know which ones it uses??

But the Optical connection if that can be utilized is the best connection above that is HDMI with the BLU ray HD formats as long as you use the lossless codecs..

Analog and digital whilst hard to really tell apart. and is Highly debatable which is better but I prefer all Digital..

But right now the best sound available is On Blu ray with the HD Formats (DTS HD... DD HD)).. the DDL and DTS are Lossy Formats and whilst are ok the best quality is to be had with the Blu ray HD formats with HDMI and the proper HD Codecs....

I would just keep the Optical hooked up and enjoy a digital experience.. currently slightly better then your Analog connection..


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## Robertdt

Thanks.

Right now I have the Sound Blaster ZXR sound card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102050

And my speakers are the Logitech Z-680 5.1:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121105

At the moment I am connecting the ZXR (through its daughter board which is supposed to be for digital audio and recording) via the Optical connection to the Z-680s.

As part of this you get options for Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect (with NeoPC and DTS Interactive) encoding. Here is an image of these options:

http://www.custompcreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/software-4-creative-sound-blaster-zxr-pcie-sound-card-custom-pc-review.jpg

Once I switched from analog to digital with an optical connection, I noticed substantially better (clearer, fuller, more detailed) audio on movies and games.

What I'm basically wondering is: why does optical sound better than analog for games and movies?
(Many people say that analog should be better because the ZXR will have no limited bitrate as optical does and will have better DACs)


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## The_Nephilim

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Robertdt*
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Right now I have the Sound Blaster ZXR sound card:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102050
> 
> And my speakers are the Logitech Z-680 5.1:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121105
> 
> At the moment I am connecting the ZXR (through its daughter board which is supposed to be for digital audio and recording) via the Optical connection to the Z-680s.
> 
> As part of this you get options for Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect (with NeoPC and DTS Interactive) encoding. Here is an image of these options:
> 
> http://www.custompcreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/software-4-creative-sound-blaster-zxr-pcie-sound-card-custom-pc-review.jpg
> 
> Once I switched from analog to digital with an optical connection, I noticed substantially better (clearer, fuller, more detailed) audio on movies and games.
> 
> What I'm basically wondering is: why does optical sound better than analog for games and movies?
> (Many people say that analog should be better because the ZXR will have no limited bitrate as optical does and will have better DACs)


Well Digital is far superior plain and simple.. Digital is just better as there is NO loss with interference like with analog...

I am unsure but bitrate is not a concern I think they might mean bandwidth as the Optical is limited but will pass a DDL or DTS Signal over 5.1 no trouble. there is plenty of bandwidth for that.. Bitrate is probally not too high either way in the lossy formats..

Now with Blu Ray HD Formats you need to use HDMI as the Codecs and bitrate are HIGH as it is a lossless format, more info per MB Basically.. When you listen to Lossy formats it is compressed and some info mostly the higher frequencies are removed for the sake of space and bandwidth restrictions of the Optical cable..

I still would prefer the Optical over the analog.. Well the DDL and DTS where made for movies and exactly like you used to hear in the Theaters back in the day.. mostly now done digitally..Analog was good in its day but digital is just superior,, but that can be debated highly.. But you like the optical over the analog so that should settle it, seems like you too notice the difference and see why Digital is better


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## Robertdt

Well I agree and maybe that does get at the answer to my question ... that Digital sounds better in part because it doesn't experience the interference and possible loss of data (?) that occurs with an analog connection.

But yeah as far as movies and games so far are concerned the digital is far superior. The analog does sound better with music for reasons I'm not clear on but the DDL and DTS is great with movies.

I just don't get why when you look up analog vs. optical you get many people saying analog gives better sound because optical is bit-rate limited and the sound card will have better DACs than your speakers do.

And if you have DTS encoding selected on your sound card and sent via optical to your speakers (which show DTS in the control panel then as well), which is actually responsible for the sound quality in that case? The sound card, the speakers, or both? (Because again many say to go analog because the sound card has better DACs, but if the sound card is involved in the digital signal as well with encoding ...)


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## The_Nephilim

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Robertdt*
> 
> Well I agree and maybe that does get at the answer to my question ... that Digital sounds better in part because it doesn't experience the interference and possible loss of data (?) that occurs with an analog connection.
> 
> But yeah as far as movies and games so far are concerned the digital is far superior. The analog does sound better with music for reasons I'm not clear on but the DDL and DTS is great with movies.
> 
> I just don't get why when you look up analog vs. optical you get many people saying analog gives better sound because optical is bit-rate limited and the sound card will have better DACs than your speakers do.
> 
> And if you have DTS encoding selected on your sound card and sent via optical to your speakers (which show DTS in the control panel then as well), which is actually responsible for the sound quality in that case? The sound card, the speakers, or both? (Because again many say to go analog because the sound card has better DACs, but if the sound card is involved in the digital signal as well with encoding ...)


Well there is still a loss of Data as the DDL and DTS are what is called Lossy formats. they are compressed and bandwidth limited with an optical connection. that is why they compressed it in the first place.. The analog might sound better with music but I still prefer digital.. If you use DDL with music what it is trying to do is make the 2.0 music into a 5.1 music where you have sound coming out of the rears..

What it is really doing is breaking down the stereo separation and putting the music that was recorded on the left channel to the left rear.. more complicated then that but it is just simulating a 5.1 channel sound from a Stereo output..

IT sounds better with movies as that is how it is played in the theaters with DD and DTS.. They used to put the logos up before the movie started and stated what the thearer uses either DD or DTS.. but most movies where and still are encodd with DTS and DD just now they use the Lossless Formats.. Mostly with Blu ray now they are called the High Defenition formats and are lossless the entire range of hz is there in the recording and nothing was removed to save space hence why Blu ray uses a hight gb disk then DVD.. the Formats and video quality take a lot of space up..

There was a few years ago and still is there but more of a nich market for Hi Resolution Multichannel music.. DVD-Audio and SACD, these are lossless formats and where supposed to replace the CD format but never really took off kinda like what happened to Quadraphonic in the 70's..

There are the purists who insist a Analog signal is superior there are some who say digital is suprerior no sence getting in that debate with anybody as it is all subjective.. I prefer the sound of a DVD-Audio disk or SACD multichannel disk over a CD any day but I had it hooked up using analog outputs for some number of years and still do.. it is really hard to tell the difference between my Analog SACD/DVD-A then it is of my Digital Blu ray HD formats..

Heck Blu ray even makes music disks that are in the Losless formats and multichannel but again it is not doing very good for some reason well the reason MP3's are smaller and more convenient and nobody wants to "Listen" to music these days it is more for backround noise..

Like people who swear on a Analog Album still has better sound then a CD well whilst they maybe the same as for sound output it will take a VERY Expensive Record Player to match a cheap CD's sound.. The thing with Albums is they aquire dust and after so long they pop and crackle, with CD's or DVD-A/SACD you don't hear that Noise.. and the warm sound every body raves about is actually distortion from the analog needle..

Funny still clinging to the old analog in some sence it is just as good but digital makes it all easier today the HDMI cable carries BOTH sound and Video.. Heck sort of like HDTV vs REgular TV some people may still think the old format was better but to thos who seen HDTV just no it isn't true especially on a sports broadcast like Football or baseball, you just cant compare the old resolutions to the new resolutions.. but there maybe some who still cling to their DVD's..

Sorry for rambling on if I did not answer your question just let me know but these sort of things are an individual preference whethere it sounds good or not is up to the individual..

I would especially with what is on the web about Audio/Video takin with a grain of salt it is all subjective and really and end users descision on what sounds looks good but here is some food for thought, Most people are in the camp or more expensive equipment is better whilst true to a point but the money one would need to spend to get the extra small percentage of refinement is astronomical for little return.,. In most BLIND tests they end usesr Always pick the cheaper setup..

I have heard very expensive equipment and to me it all sounds basically the same, it is just that digital is simpler to hookup and it is hard to degrade the 1's and 0's in the signal vs a analog signal ..

As for which one to use I would say they are probally the same it is just a different device doing the encoding..


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## Robertdt

Yeah ... I definitely think going from analog to optical with DTS and DDL was a substantial upgrade in movie as well as game audio quality.

What I wonder with the DTS and DDL enabled is basically which "DACs" (sound card or speakers) are utilized as everyone says this is crucial in terms of sound quality.

If the sound is ENCODED with DTS by selecting DTS encoding in the ZXR software, and then sent to my Z-680s (where it shows in the Z-680's control panel that I have switched to Digital DTS when I select the DTS option in the ZXR software) ... which DACs are doing the work? Not sure anyone who doesnt' work for Creative / Logitech or is an expert is going to know this but still curious.


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## The_Nephilim

WEll you will select which Encoder to use according to which one was used on the game/movie.. Some movies for example are encoded with DTS and DD you would need to manually select the DTS track in the movies menu then select the encoder in the software for your soundcard.. You are not able to use DTS for a DD Soundtrack if the movie was not encoded with DTS it will default to the DD track.. Most Games use a DD format..

These formats are still Lossy formats and the Lossless HD formats of blu ray are better..

Oh the DACS are not the DTS , DD these are Codecs.... here is what the DACS are they are separate from what DD , DTS is they are codecs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital-to-analog_converter

here is some DTS info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS_(sound_system)

DD info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Digital

DACS that are out there one is Burr Brown DACS usually found in higher end equipment..


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## Electrocutor

I can probably help make a few things a bit simpler for you.

The ZxR does have a better DACs than the Z-680:
PCM1794 (http://www.ti.com/product/pcm1794)
vs
CS4360 (http://www.cirrus.com/en/products/cs4360.html)

The Logitech Z-680 are good generic multimedia speakers, but they are not nearly good enough to tell much difference between the quality of two different DACs. If you were running higher end speakers, then the DAC quality becomes more audible.

With the Z-680 speakers, Logitech focused on digital processing, not on keeping an already processed analog signal clean, so part of your "better sounding" is probably due to that. Another part of your analog sounding worse may have to do with the ZxR or Windows not being set quite right.

DTS is a higher quality signal than DD

The best digital solution would be to run multi-channel PCM over HDMI, but as your speakers do not have an HDMI input, encoding the signal with DTS and passing it over optical is your best option given the equipment you have.


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## Robertdt

Thank you. That is the same observation I have made (DTS over optical sounds best in digital movies and games).

I am thinking of upgrading my speakers ... I appreciate your insight if you have any thoughts about a good approach:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1416085/home-theater-in-a-box-as-an-upgrade-to-pc-speakers-logitech-z-680s


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