48KHz or 96KHz?

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dansilva

New Member
I have a creative soundblaster audigy 2 (OEM). Under the "Creative Audio HQ" there is an option, "Sampling Rate" and under the "sampling rate" you will see a "Digital Output Sampling Rate" Now my question is...whether I should use 48KHz or 96KHz? Does this make any difference when it comes to audio playback? I am using an external decoder (SPDIF) to get the PCM.

Secondly if you go to Start>>Control Panel>>Sound & Audio devices>>Device Volume>>Advanced>>Play Control>>Advanced>>Other Control.... here you will "1 digital ouput only". What is this? What does it do (function)?

Thanks
 
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dansilva

New Member
To this very min (16:19, 30-07-2006) there are 21 views yet no answer from anyone :) I dont if i asked a stupied question or simply no one knows it (thats i highly doubt). If you can answer my questions i will be very greatful. Thanks.
 
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victorb17

New Member
The sampling rate is the amount of audio data processed per second. Where 128kbps is 128 kilo bytes per second. Which is or is near cd quality. The more data per second processed the better the quality of sound.

The option for digital only will turn off all analog outputs on the sound card. Try plugging in speakers to the analog jacks and then select the option. You will see that the sound stops. Plug a digital output into a decoding device such as a surround sound reciever and it will still be playing.
 
Beyond

Beyond

Active Member
To answer your question, it depends on what you'll be listening to. If the answer is music, then neither option is better. Even if you're using the sound card's optical out, the music will still be resampled to either 48000hz or 96000hz. This is bad for music because most CDs are natively at 44100hz.

So, it really just depends what you'll be listening to. Furthermore, you have to take into consideration that there's a good chance you probably won't be able to tell any difference between 44100, 48, and 96. It's just like what the guy above me said:

victorb17 said:
Where 128kbps is 128 kilo bytes per second. Which is or is near cd quality.
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That's far from true. However, to some people's ears, no difference can be detectecd between a 128kbps MP3 and a losslessly ripped track.
 
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dansilva

New Member
I mostly listen to music and watch few movies, also my sound card is connected to a receiver (via coaxial). Yeah you are right its very hard to tell the difference to between 44KHz 48KHz, well at least to my ears anyway. Thanks for all your help.

If the answer is music, then neither option is better. Even if you're using the sound card's optical out, the music will still be resampled to either 48000hz or 96000hz. This is bad for music because most CDs are natively at 44100hz
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so what would you suggest here as an alternative option? a better sound card?
 
spamdos

spamdos

New Member
youre not gonna get much better than 96 these days, however, if you like your music , and have the onboard audio, then you should consider getting a new sound card
 
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dansilva

New Member
spamdos said:
youre not gonna get much better than 96 these days, however, if you like your music , and have the onboard audio, then you should consider getting a new sound card
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I have a onborad audio but I am using Creative Audigy 2 (OEM) sound card which is connected to a reciever (Yamaha RX-V540RDS) via digital output (coaxial). Are you saying that I may need to upgrade my sound card?
 
Beyond

Beyond

Active Member
dansilva said:
I mostly listen to music and watch few movies, also my sound card is connected to a receiver (via coaxial). Yeah you are right its very hard to tell the difference to between 44KHz 48KHz, well at least to my ears anyway. Thanks for all your help.


so what would you suggest here as an alternative option? a better sound card?
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Yes. The EMU 0404 would be an excellent card for your needs.

However, it all depends on your ear. You may or may not tell any difference.
 
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dansilva

New Member
Beyond said:
Yes. The EMU 0404 would be an excellent card for your needs.

However, it all depends on your ear. You may or may not tell any difference.
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This does seems a very good sound card, specially at its price level. Thanks for the info :) I have never heard of EMU 0404 before, thats probably because I always have sticked to Creative.
 
Beyond

Beyond

Active Member
dansilva said:
I absolutely had no idea it was part of creative :) but a professional level sound card at a low level price? is there a catch here? :)
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You don't get the same effects in games that you get with the other cards.
 
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dansilva

New Member
You don't get the same effects in games that you get with the other cards.
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could you be more specific about this please. Is it worse or better? what sound cards are you comparing here?

Thanks
 
Beyond

Beyond

Active Member
dansilva said:
could you be more specific about this please. Is it worse or better? what sound cards are you comparing here?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Audigy/X-fi cards vs. EMU 0404. The 0404 is better suited for music, and the Audigy/X-fi cards are better for games. You could always use both! :p
 
Beyond

Beyond

Active Member
gmen5681 said:
now could you use that sound card with a normal sound card at the same time? because that one would be the outputs and then you could use a high end sound card for the quality.
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Yep, you could switch between the device manager when say.. you wanted to game.
 
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dansilva

New Member
I was always wanted to know this...does it really matter what sound card you use or does it make any difference to music u listen to and movies you watch if your sound card is connected to a reciever via optical/coaxial then to a 5.1 speaker set up. To my knowledge any sound card you use you are getting the same digital signal to your reciever. Then your sound is processed. Am I right here? If not please someone explain this in details. Thanks.
 
Beyond

Beyond

Active Member
dansilva said:
I was always wanted to know this...does it really matter what sound card you use or does it make any difference to music u listen to and movies you watch if your sound card is connected to a reciever via optical/coaxial then to a 5.1 speaker set up. To my knowledge any sound card you use you are getting the same digital signal to your reciever. Then your sound is processed. Am I right here? If not please someone explain this in details. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Even using the optical out, the Audidy still samples the music at 48000hz. Music is at 44100hz. So in short, yes, it matters.
 
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