Ornlu Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Ok, I'm at an indecision here. I might be building a home theater PC... or I might be getting a Zen touch. Confused yet? Well, here's teh deal. Next year I'll be living in a suite (dorm). So my big stereo setup will be in the common room. (1400 watt sub and tower speakers are too big for the little dorm rooms). Anyway, I'll want to be playing my music. But I don't have any method as of now. Here are my options- A) Run RCA from my room to the receiver. I'm not sure what the degration is like over 20-30 feet of cable, but this is an option. (might be the cheapest too.) $40 for decent cabels... I'd have to control it from my room, but maybe I could do that with IR. B) Buy a Zen touch - has 'good' sound quality. Might be enough, might not. I could also use it for running / the gym. ($180 at the cheapest) C) Make one of the unused pc's in my basement into a HTPC by adding a M-Audio sound card and a hard drive.. Allready have a video card / wireless / etc. ($150) Could also be used for videos / folding / network rendering etc.. This would have the best sound quality. D) Get one of those media players that has network support. Haven't looked into this yet but it's probably around $150-200 too... Any ideas? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hienrich Jager Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 I would go for the HTPC option. Folding, music, easily upgradeable for extra storage room. I think that is the best option. Hienrich P.S. When my friend went to college, over the first semester he "got" over 50GB in music from friends!!! Needed storage galore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ornlu Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Yeah, I have 25 gigs of mp3's right now. Most I ripped on my own, other's I "got". This will be my junior year at college, but the first year in a suite. I thought the htpc was the best option as well. It's just one more thing to put out in the common room, that's all. Maybe I can find a small case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markiemrboo Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 C) Make one of the unused pc's in my basement into a HTPC by adding a M-Audio sound card and a hard drive.. Allready have a video card / wireless / etc. ($150) Could also be used for videos / folding / network rendering etc.. This would have the best sound quality. Personally I would do that. Audiotrak have a card specially for HTPC's (I actually have it). Comes with a normal size backplate and a very mini size back plate and the sound quality is apparently better than the M-Audio ...... Revo 7.1 http://audiotrak.net/prodigy7.1LT.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ornlu Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Personally I would do that. Audiotrak have a card specially for HTPC's (I actually have it). Comes with a normal size backplate and a very mini size back plate and the sound quality is apparently better than the M-Audio ...... Revo 7.1 http://audiotrak.net/prodigy7.1LT.htm 485016[/snapback] I wouldn't be going with a revo 7.1 though. I'd be getting their Audiophile card .whatever it is. The one with 2x RCA out. I only need 2.2 audio. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll look into it. One of these things http://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/Aud...e2496-main.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markiemrboo Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 If it's just stereo you need, I hear the "E-MU 0404" card is one of the best for that. http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...product_id/3844 Short review of that: http://www.kordak.net/0404/review.htm Also I read about a "Lynx Two" a while a go too. Suppose to be really good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hienrich Jager Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 If you go the HTPC optioin just make sure that you protect the bejezus out of it, b/c my same friend came home this summer with over 10000 pieces of spyware on his pc. Other users and all, everyone will want to use it!! Hienrich Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ornlu Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 If you go the HTPC optioin just make sure that you protect the bejezus out of it, b/c my same friend came home this summer with over 10000 pieces of spyware on his pc. Other users and all, everyone will want to use it!! Hienrich 485026[/snapback] I know it's not a big deal. but that only has 1/4" outputs, the M-audio has almost identical specs, great reviews as far as music goes, and RCA out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markiemrboo Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 I know it's not a big deal. but that only has 1/4" outputs, the M-audio has almost identical specs, great reviews as far as music goes, and RCA out. 485029[/snapback] Depends what card you're talking about there? The Audiotrak? Cause I know for certain that's not only 1/4" output... that's got 1xoptical and 1xrca out which can apparently been used simultaneously. I'm no expert on this sort of stuff as you might have guessed. I'm just throwing cards at you that I have read good things about Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 you'd much sooner hear the difference between compressed audio (ie mp3, no matter what the bitrate/encoder) and cd/vinyl than the difference between 3.5mm (1/8") and phono (RCA) outputs... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ornlu Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Well.. A) It's difficult to hear the difference between a 256k mp3 and a CD. Yes there are differences, but for general use it's no big deal. And B) you can probably tell the difference between a 128k mp3 and a cd more easily than using onboard vs this sound card. But, the 128 will still sound better on a better soundcard. Just because two unrelated things can be compared doesn't mean that it applies. The M-Audio has identical specs, better connections and is 2/3 the price... That was more my argument. And from what I could tell, it has two 1/4, two optical, two spdif, and two.. ugh, the microphone one, Xwhatever. No Stereo RCA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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