Speaker choice - Analog or Digital - Ti-Burr Brown DAC on soundcard and receiver (1 Viewer)

Hello to everyone,

Iam new to this forum and this is my first post.

Iam really interested in setting up a good speakers for my PC which i mostly use for watching movies and gaming.

Currenltly I have bought ASUS XONAR D2X soundcard and have connected it to my 7.1 T7900 Creative speakers which is a low end model.

Iam planning to buy Onkyo HTS-3500 which I heard one of the best home theater for beginners.
http://www.onkyoindia.com/ht_hs-hts3500.html

i live in India and this will set me back by 28k Indian currency (~441 US$)

My question is whether to connect Onkyo via optical output or analog from D2X

Both HTS3500 and D2X have Ti-Burr Brown DAC 192kHz/24bit all channels. So I think there is going to be no big difference in quality.

Connecting to Xonar D2X via optical gives me DTS interactive or Dolby Digital Live compressed stream passed onto the receiver , is it going to make much difference on the sound quality detected by human ears ?

Iam really interested to know how multichannel DTS or DDLive will sound via optical to receiver rather performing the same on sound card with Dolby prologic2x or DTS:Neo.

(most of my movie collection are in stereo and some are in DTS/Dolby. So i need something that can transform everything i play on my PC to 5.1 channel surround.)

I cannot afford BluRay right now and Iam already aware that with HDMI i can pass uncompressed stream.DTSHD or Dolby TrueHD.

If the connection via optical is not going to be a good surround stream and if you actually suggest for connecting to analog output then it would be better for me to save moeny and choose the following speakers rather than investing in a HT receiver package.

- Logitech z903 (THX Certified)
http://www.logitech.com/en-in/product/speaker-system-z906?crid=47

- Edifier S550
http://www.edifier-international.com/products/edifier-multimedia/s550

These are the only high end speakers avaiable within my budget.

So the question is simple :

XONAR D2X -> optical (DTS/Dolby) -> Onkyo HTS3500

or

XONAR D2X -> Analog (Prologic/DTS:Neo) -> Onkyo HTS3500

or save money and buy the above mentioned analog speakers.

Hope i have explained everything clearly ,

Awating your replies and suggestion.

Thanks,
Jonathan

The 8 channel analog is useless with the Onkyo, so you have to use the SPDIF.

If you want 5.1 anyway, you have no other option.

Got it.

So D2X optical to HTS3500 will do any good or any other analog speakers ?

And also i want to know what is the difference between DTS interactive/DolbyDigital Live vs Prologic/DTS:Neo.

So apart from DAC convertion , the digital connection gives more surround depth or vice versa ?

The 3500 is a real AVR and speakers. It is better than every computer speaker you can buy.DTS and DD are 5.1. DPL and DTS:Neo are used on 2.0 to create faux surround.The digital connection gives you 5.1. Period. There is no other connection you can use, at all, period.Sent from my LG-P769 using HTF mobile app

Thanks ,

Also now got choice for Pioneer RS32.

Went for demo yesterday , looks cool and also it sounds superawesome.

http://pioneer-india.in/shop/htp-rs32/

Is this high end system than Onkyo and is Pioneer good at making AVR/Speakers ?

What about Logitech THX Certified speakers , are they not worthy enough compared to these non THX speakers ?

I would take that Pioneer. It looks likes the subwoofer is self-powered. And that "self-powered sub" is the only reason you need. Onkyo's 5500(if you can find it?) also has a self-powered subwoofer.

And no, again.

The 3500 and this Pioneer are real AVR and speakers. Real AVR and speakers is better than a set of computer speakers.

Thanks much , right now im going for different showrooms for the demo.

Also have choice for Yamaha YHT-298

http://in.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/hometheater-systems/home-theater-package/yht-298_black_l/?mode=model

It sounded fantastic whereas RS32 looks monstrous.

Will decide based on sound quality and keep posted here.