Another prelude thread

[elec999]

I have a Pioneer 1016 receiver, I have good speakers and woofer. I want to use optical digital. Is the prelude actually worth the money when you use optical digital for sending music to the receiver. I mostly listen to music. Does the xfi actually make mp3s sounds better.
Thanks

[Robscix]

With the Prelude you would be better using Analog output as the quality of the DAC's in the card are much higher then the quality of DAC's in most entry-mid level receivers. Unless you have a extremely high end receiver or one with high quality DAC's you better of using Analog. The Prelude will make your music sound better then ever. You have the high quality of the card and features that further improve the sound like 24 bit crystallizer etc. I listen to music all the time on the PC and I use the Prelude. Of course you can always use digital if you want, I am just saying the quality of the card makes analog quality sound much better. If you have any further questions let us know..

[elec999]

Originally Posted by Robscix

With the Prelude you would be better using Analog output as the quality of the DAC's in the card are much higher then the quality of DAC's in most entry-mid level receivers. Unless you have a extremely high end receiver or one with high quality DAC's you better of using Analog. The Prelude will make your music sound better then ever. You have the high quality of the card and features that further improve the sound like 24 bit crystallizer etc. I listen to music all the time on the PC and I use the Prelude. Of course you can always use digital if you want, I am just saying the quality of the card makes analog quality sound much better. If you have any further questions let us know..

I find using a optical cable alot easier for me. I have a Pioneer 1016.
Thanks

[Robscix]

Sure, Just mentioning it to you.

[b1lk1]

I sure wish the descriptions the sound card companies used for these high end sound cards would emphasize the fact that all the fancy DAC's and S-N-R ratios are for the analog outputs and not the digital connections. I have to agree with Rob here. Most of the time, using the analog outputs will give better sound. I found that the case with the X-FI Prelude I had. It was great card. My current ASUS Xonar has better sound (in my humble opinion) over the optical S/PDIF. I am still not quite sure why, since I did do some extensive testing with both analog and digital. Either way, unless your amplifier has Dolby DDL/DTS decoding built in, analog is the way to go.

[elec999]

Originally Posted by b1lk1

I sure wish the descriptions the sound card companies used for these high end sound cards would emphasize the fact that all the fancy DAC's and S-N-R ratios are for the analog outputs and not the digital connections. I have to agree with Rob here. Most of the time, using the analog outputs will give better sound. I found that the case with the X-FI Prelude I had. It was great card. My current ASUS Xonar has better sound (in my humble opinion) over the optical S/PDIF. I am still not quite sure why, since I did do some extensive testing with both analog and digital. Either way, unless your amplifier has Dolby DDL/DTS decoding built in, analog is the way to go.

From what I understand this card is no good with optical, only analog. This mean I need to buy quality analog cables too. My receiver says its got
Built In Decoder: Dolby Pro Logic IIx, THX Select 2, THX Surround EX decoder, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS Neo:6, DTS-ES Matrix 6.1, DTS-ES Discrete 6.1, DTS 96/24, DTS decoder
I still didnt order anything. I taught the Asus Xonar was just a card with good opamps, but the Prelude is got a much better processor+plus excellent Opamps.
Thanks

[Robscix]

ok, Digital audio from your card is sent to your recevier or speaker where the DAC does the work so the quality of the DAC determines the sound quality. WIth older cards that have Cheaper quality DAC's -digital is a good way to go BUT with the newer cards with the high end DAC's they are usually much better then the Dac's in the receiver. Use whatever works for you...

[elec999]

Originally Posted by Robscix

ok, Digital audio from your card is sent to your recevier or speaker where the DAC does the work so the quality of the DAC determines the sound quality. WIth older cards that have Cheaper quality DAC's -digital is a good way to go BUT with the newer cards with the high end DAC's they are usually much better then the Dac's in the receiver. Use whatever works for you...

So I guess if I want to use the high quality dacs inside the prelude I will have to use analog cables. Does the quality of the cables matter.
Thanks

[Robscix]

Originally Posted by elec999

So I guess if I want to use the high quality dacs inside the prelude I will have to use analog cables. Does the quality of the cables matter.
Thanks

Yes, if you want to use the DAC's in the PRelude you need to go with analog connections. The quality of the cables matters to the extent that you should use good quality cables. Not that high expensive stuff.....Just don't use garbage, cheap cables though. UNless they are noticably a cheap cable..I wouldn't worry too much about it.

If you are still not convinced, you can try out both analog and digital and see which sounds better to your ears.

[elec999]

Originally Posted by Robscix

Yes, if you want to use the DAC's in the PRelude you need to go with analog connections. The quality of the cables matters to the extent that you should use good quality cables. Not that high expensive stuff.....Just don't use garbage, cheap cables though. UNless they are noticably a cheap cable..I wouldn't worry too much about it.

If you are still not convinced, you can try out both analog and digital and see which sounds better to your ears.

I will try it to see. The only problem its hard to find quality rca to 3.5mm jack adapters.
Thanks