I'm about to upgrade my PC. I gave my old Altec Lansing ACS33s speakers to my mum when I moved away from home which left me with not much in the way of audio hardware, not that those altecs were much anyway. I'm thinking I could just go for the standard Logitech Z680s and a Creative Audigy ZS setup and it would probably do just fine, but could I do a lot better for a little extra money?

My priorities are music listening, amateur music production for me and my bro, games, in that order.

Should I look at getting an amplifier, top quality speakers and a semi-pro soundcard like the M-audio Audiophile? I would like someway to connect my iRiver iHP 140's optical out into the speakers I get, perhaps through an amp, then I wouldn't have to buy a stereo - this is why the z680s seem so appealing because they have an optical in.

Willing to do research on this, just point me in the right direction. Particularly know nothing about amplifiers and what they do?? If you think you have tight setup I would love to hear about it.

As I said, I'm starting from scratch here and I want to get this right.

Can you specify your budget?

As far as production is concerned, PC speakers and an Audigy just aren't going to cut it. Look into buying and Audiophile and some cheap monitors like the Edirol MA-10 or MA-10D if you like digital. The MA-10Ds have two optical ins, 1 coax, 1 analog headphone thingo, and the usual rca type connection.

My budget is about AUS$1000 (US$700) for all the parts.

Thanks for the suggestion echo but I think those edirols won't be able to produce the quality I'm after. They have all the right plugs but their bass range is not quite up to scratch I think.

Just out of curiosity, what's the best set-up money can buy if you're just interested in listening to your music? Even if I can't afford it I'd love to compare it to what I can afford.

Btw, if anyone knows a good audio information source post a link.

Cheers

hey, i just bought myself an audiophile soundcard and a Logitech Z-680 5.1 THX surround system. its only about 300 US dollar but the sound is great. got high scores on all reviews i read too.

total power output is 505 watts. (188 watts for the subwoofer(great))

check it out

Yeah, I know all about the z680s. I will be buying that set just out of sheer convenience if I can find nothing better.

I found a thread over at the Hydrogenaudio forums discussing pretty much exactly what I want to know. It's a start anyway.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums...showtopic=24331

Seems to be a lot of other info on that forum also for those wanting to delve deeper into how audio works.

quote:

Originally posted by b1_ My budget is about AUS$1000 (US$700) for all the parts. Thanks for the suggestion echo but I think those edirols won't be able to produce the quality I'm after. They have all the right plugs but their bass range is not quite up to scratch I think. Just out of curiosity, what's the best set-up money can buy if you're just interested in listening to your music? Even if I can't afford it I'd love to compare it to what I can afford. Btw, if anyone knows a good audio information source post a link. Cheers

you could get emu0404 ( www.emu.com ) for a 100 usd or an emu1212m for 150 usd, and spend another 250 usd for fostex pm1 active monitors ( http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--FOSPM1 ) or alesis proactive 2.0 bi-amped monitors (200 usd) which will be better than any audigy+pc speakers combo. the rest you can spend on a better cpu, monitor, keyboard, bigger table, etc.
the best possible solution? possibly emu 1820 or rme hammerfall with genelec monitors (www.genelec.com). but a pair of genelec 1036a main control active monitors (a monster with 2x18" basses, 3100 w amplifiers built in, capable of delivering staggering 136 dB) costs 41000 USD (yes, there are three zeros)
for prices of monitor enter "studio monitors" in google and surf away.

quote:

Originally posted by danielrong hey, i just bought myself an audiophile soundcard and a Logitech Z-680 5.1 THX surround system. its only about 300 US dollar but the sound is great. got high scores on all reviews i read too. total power output is 505 watts. (188 watts for the subwoofer(great))

yeah, sure. maybe 505 w pmpo.