Hi guys;
First of all let me confirm that I have had a browse for info on this site, but you all know how fast the industry changes and new components/peripherals come out, so this is a fresh query hoping for up-to-date information.
My dilema is this, like a lot of people who build their own rigs and upgrade regularly, I have left the audio till last, reason being I'm not as 'au fait' in the audio area as say the gpu, cpu, motherboard area.
I have a decent desktop rig which I would roughly estimate is used for:
75% music (mainly FLAC)
25% gaming, movies
I only have 2 questions really:
1. Do I go with 2.1 or 5.1 speaker set-up (space is not an issue in the house or on the motherboard)
2. What soundcard would you guys recommend.
Am I correct in thinking that generally audio (lets just say music) wouldn't benefit to much from 5.1 anyway?
I'm not particularly bothered about having 5.1 though certainly not against it.
I wouldn't consider myself an 'audiophile', I've no interest in spending £1000's on the audio aspect of my system but I love my music, mainly guitar based stuff.
To give you an idea of budget, and possbily to highlight my ignorance in all things audio, I've been looking at these as possible purchases:
Speakers:
http/www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-003-CS&groupid=702&catid=22&subcat=1920
or
http/www.scan.co.uk/products/logitech-z2300-21-speakers-thx-certified
Soundcard:
http/www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-005-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
or
http/www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-072-CL&tool=3
I've looked at these products basically because I would like to come in £400 or under for both the card and speakers, but as I've stated I'm clueless when it comes to audio, maybe I don't need to spend as much, maybe these products are totally wrong for me, I certainly don't accept that I have to spend more just to have my music sound great, I'm happy to spend the £400 which is why I haven't just bought some £50 speakers and plugged them into my motherboard.
Sorry if this post is a bit long winded and bit of a ramble but I'm eager to spend the money and finish my rig and I'm trying to encourage as much feedback as possble, I suspect that there are many people in a similar situation, be safe guys,
BrenW
First of all let me confirm that I have had a browse for info on this site, but you all know how fast the industry changes and new components/peripherals come out, so this is a fresh query hoping for up-to-date information.
My dilema is this, like a lot of people who build their own rigs and upgrade regularly, I have left the audio till last, reason being I'm not as 'au fait' in the audio area as say the gpu, cpu, motherboard area.
I have a decent desktop rig which I would roughly estimate is used for:
75% music (mainly FLAC)
25% gaming, movies
I only have 2 questions really:
1. Do I go with 2.1 or 5.1 speaker set-up (space is not an issue in the house or on the motherboard)
2. What soundcard would you guys recommend.
Am I correct in thinking that generally audio (lets just say music) wouldn't benefit to much from 5.1 anyway?
I'm not particularly bothered about having 5.1 though certainly not against it.
I wouldn't consider myself an 'audiophile', I've no interest in spending £1000's on the audio aspect of my system but I love my music, mainly guitar based stuff.
To give you an idea of budget, and possbily to highlight my ignorance in all things audio, I've been looking at these as possible purchases:
Speakers:
http/www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-003-CS&groupid=702&catid=22&subcat=1920
or
http/www.scan.co.uk/products/logitech-z2300-21-speakers-thx-certified
Soundcard:
http/www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-005-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
or
http/www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-072-CL&tool=3
I've looked at these products basically because I would like to come in £400 or under for both the card and speakers, but as I've stated I'm clueless when it comes to audio, maybe I don't need to spend as much, maybe these products are totally wrong for me, I certainly don't accept that I have to spend more just to have my music sound great, I'm happy to spend the £400 which is why I haven't just bought some £50 speakers and plugged them into my motherboard.
Sorry if this post is a bit long winded and bit of a ramble but I'm eager to spend the money and finish my rig and I'm trying to encourage as much feedback as possble, I suspect that there are many people in a similar situation, be safe guys,
BrenW