mattpwill

Does anyone have first hand experience of whether the nvidia Soundstorm digital out using encoding sounds better than modded Audigy 2 ZS?

Thanks
Matt

dj_stick

the digital out of soundstorm can be 6 channel AC-3 no matter the source
the a2zs only outputs 6 channel ac-3 IF the original source is AC-3 encoded

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mattpwill

I should have said that I apply PAL speed correction to DVDs (to eliminate 4% speedup), and if using Soundstorm I will use the Dolby Digital encoder, which would be lossy. Would an Audigy 2 ZS with these drivers sound better? I use high end equipment.

Thanks
Matt

dj_stick

using digital you will get only stereo, but the quality should not be too different

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e v o

best bet for you would be to try both and compare make a choice for yourself. Not trying to be rude, but i bet not that many have these new drivers an audigy2 zs AND soundstorm to compare. Since it sounds like you have all this, try it out?

Ben

mattpwill

It involves me buying the Audigy. Can anyone assure me that these drivers improve sound quality and music listening by a lot (The cards are bad IMO for music without the drivers).

I'm interested only in the Audigy 2 ZS because I can get it for around £40 delivered.

Thanks for your help,
Matt

e v o

Ok, sorry bout that, I figured you already had the audigy. I agree with DJ stick, there shouldnt be too much of a difference. I can assure you that the music sounds loads better with these drivers than the official creative ones. How do you like the SS music playback??

mattpwill

It's like comparing apples and oranges, because the Soundstorm outputs digital and doesnt convert to analog so it's much more amp dependent.

I don't like encoding to output Dolby Digital as it is quite lossy, cutting off 16kHz and over (I think) and using joint stereo for high frequencies.

If these drivers are as good as they seem, I'm in.

Can anyone else please verify that they sound much better than normal drivers for music, and please can you tell me what sound card and speakers you use?

Evolve, please could you tell me.. what sound card is this with and what speakers are you driving?

Thanks again,
Matt

e v o

it is with an audigy 2, obviously softmodded to the zs

and the z-5300s are the ones im driving :P

Ben

mattpwill

That's a pretty good setup. Do you know how these drivers improve sound quality?

If any others could add to the happy listeners list with these drivers, I'd be very interested.

Thanks
Matt

e v o

best to ask dj stick about the techniical aspectts

I'm using the matrix off on the speakers, with cmss3d "stereo" with 30 % to the front speakers

I have bass redirection on at 100 hz. That is the best sounding setup ive found for gaming and music. Avid listener/player of both

Ben

Zelig

mattpwill: I've got a day off tomorrow, so will try out the drivers like I've been meaning to, and let you know my thoughts on them.

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dj_stick

i use kX drivers on an Audigy 2 ZS with Edirol MA-10D micro monitors

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mattpwill

Why do you use kX and not these drivers out of interest?

Zelig, thanks I'd appreciate that. (lol love the smiley!)

Matt

e v o

dj stick, curious, have you tried these drivers? They're a little hard to install, and the support is a little off, since theres a language barrier, but they're damn good. I've used the Kx drivers as well. I like them too.

Ben

EDIT: mattpwill, check his shtees, of course he'd use the Kx drivers, he's part of the team that developed them

dj_stick

ok, basically i use kX because they make it easier to write msuic, and i liek the freedom of the DSP
i'm not actually on the dev team, i'm just a volunteer supporter

and no, i haven't tried any variant of the CL drivers

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mattpwill

What gives the best sound quality for music between the kX drivers and PAX drivers?

Thanks
Matt