Lets talk PC Audio

[Frick]

So I got this sound bar thing from a friend. Aura ... something something. The bass box is wireless, and the upgrade from the Logitechs is massive. I'm ruined for life now.

EDIT: I think it's this one.

EDIT: Gaaawwwwddddddddd Tom Waits - Oily Nights.

EDIT: I miss a volume knob. The steps between the volumes is way to big. I need to turn down the volume on the computer way down, otherwise one step is to low and the next is to loud.

 

[HarvesterOfSorrow]

Hey, I was curious if TPUs audio experts could tell me which is better: SoundBlaster G6 or Asus Z97 Pro Gamer onboard SupremeFX?

 

[freeagent]

I use my GPU for sound on my AVR these days.. it sounds pretty good. I let the AVR do the decoding though. I use the onboard to drive my desk speakers and headphones.. its not bad..

 

[TheLostSwede]

Necro thread!

 

[AsRock]

Necro thread!

.....

Anyways same here, been using AVR's though video cards for many years now, never had that crackle sound what some complain about or any other audio issue really.

Last time i used SupremeFX was back in x38 days and it was not all that bad.

 

[freeagent]

Whoops..

I only have myself to blame.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I use a dedicated DAC, preamp, and 3 amps.

 

[Rockfella.killswitch]

Just a simple Xonar DX optical out to FiiO K5 pro RCA to KaliAudio LP6.

 

[The red spirit]

Topping D10 DAC + AIWA NSX-V70 Hi-Fi system. Not monitors or anything fancy, but I got speakers for free and DAC was at reasonable cost.

 

[SchumannFrequency]

FreeBSD + bit-perfect mode + vchans disabled gives the best sound of all DAC/software setups I've heard.
It gives bit-perfect sound in all audio apps, including Firefox, DeaDBeeF, YouTube and mpv video player (for movies/series).

Windows and FreeBSD produce a different sound in bit-perfect mode. You'd expect them to produce exactly the same sound, but apparently there are implementation differences, or maybe FreeBSD's monolithic kernel is simply faster than windows' hybrid kernel, maybe windows doesn't have a kernel implementation, maybe windows doesn't have programmers who understand audio. They don't sound the same on the same hardware and speakers, which is strange. FreeBSD in standard mode still sounds better than windows + bit-perfect Foobar2000.

Also the audio from iPad or a MacBook Pro is less good than the sound from FreeBSD. FreeBSD has an independent implementation of OSS4 which can be seen as the best sound architecture currently in existence.

 

[Octopuss]

How did you measure it?

 

[Octopuss]

Yep, you were talking out of your arse, I knew it.

 

[SchumannFrequency]

How did you measure it?

I'm only seeing your message now. You can verify this yourself, install FreeBSD on decent hardware, and enable bit-perfect mode, also disable vchans. (I can give you more exact instructions if you wish). You will hear that your audio hardware suddenly has a purer and more open sound than anything you have ever heard before on this hardware. You can measure the differences yourself, but personally I hear this directly and according to the doctor of my work I have exceptionally good hearing.

Many people have had similar experiences:

1. https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/is-it-me-or-is-sound-really-great-on-freebsd.63393/
2. https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=95824.0
3. https://linuxreviews.org/OSS
4. https://lobste.rs/s/moflv5/freebsd_audio_from_perspective_happy
5. https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/amsvh/_/c0idtp7
6. https://www.boucek.me/blog/from-mac-to-freebsd/
7. https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/t6j21h
8. https://www.quora.com/Why-does-it-s...-poor-audio-quality-from-their-headphone-jack
9. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253607372
10. Etc.

 

[MarsM4N]

Wouldn't surprise me at all. Microsoft gave a crap about audio quality after they chopped DirectSound on WinVista and later editions.

On Windows your only chance for better sound quality is a compatible ASIO driver from the manufacturer of your DAC/soundcard (if provided).
Or you could try out the universal Asio4All driver (or some other universal ASIO driver) & see if it does anything.

 

[SchumannFrequency]

Yep, you were talking out of your arse, I knew it.

Wouldn't surprise me at all. Microsoft gave a crap about audio quality after they chopped DirectSound on WinVista and later editions.

Here you can find my sound demo of the Infinity Alpha5 HCS II in combination with FreeBSD

Infinity Alpha5 HCS II and FreeBSD sound demo.mp4

drive.google.com

It is recorded with my realme smartphone, so not the best recording quality. But although I think this realme smartphone was the cheapest thing in the store, it has often surprised me with features that many high-end smartphones lack, such as analog audio connection, twice as large a battery as many high-end smartphones, good camera, and also better sound recording quality than some flagship smartphones.

 

[SchumannFrequency]

What I noticed after my recordings with the realme smartphone was that the device does not have good recording quality. I made a new recording with the iPhone 13:

Infinity Alpha 5 HSV II and FreeBSD sound demo.mov

drive.google.com

The iPhone 13 is not a perfect recording device either, but it is a lot better. I also don't think the best recording devices are going to be able to reproduce the sound perfectly. I think you would be surprised if you hear this system in reality. I am always amazed by this system, and I have listened to many B&W, Klipsch and Bang & Olufsen setups from acquaintances that all sounded much less flawless.

 

[jallenlabs]

So what would be most important in order to have great sound? The receiver, the speakers or the sound card? I have crap PC speakers and a old receiver so don't know where I should start. Or is it a combination of all three.

Good speakers make the most difference for the money. Start there.

 

[claes]

I'm only seeing your message now. You can verify this yourself, install FreeBSD on decent hardware, and enable bit-perfect mode, also disable vchans. (I can give you more exact instructions if you wish). You will hear that your audio hardware suddenly has a purer and more open sound than anything you have ever heard before on this hardware. You can measure the differences yourself, but personally I hear this directly and according to the doctor of my work I have exceptionally good hearing.

Many people have had similar experiences:

1. https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/is-it-me-or-is-sound-really-great-on-freebsd.63393/
2. https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=95824.0
3. https://linuxreviews.org/OSS
4. https://lobste.rs/s/moflv5/freebsd_audio_from_perspective_happy
5. https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/amsvh/_/c0idtp7
6. https://www.boucek.me/blog/from-mac-to-freebsd/
7. https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/t6j21h
8. https://www.quora.com/Why-does-it-s...-poor-audio-quality-from-their-headphone-jack
9. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253607372
10. Etc.

You’ve got to stop doing this… Posting random internet thoughts from random people doesn’t demonstrate anything other than your ability to search the internet. It is not a reasoned argument or scientific in anyway.

Here you can find my sound demo of the Infinity Alpha5 HCS II in combination with FreeBSD

Infinity Alpha5 HCS II and FreeBSD sound demo.mp4

drive.google.com

It is recorded with my realme smartphone, so not the best recording quality. But although I think this realme smartphone was the cheapest thing in the store, it has often surprised me with features that many high-end smartphones lack, such as analog audio connection, twice as large a battery as many high-end smartphones, good camera, and also better sound recording quality than some flagship smartphones.

What I noticed after my recordings with the realme smartphone was that the device does not have good recording quality. I made a new recording with the iPhone 13:

Infinity Alpha 5 HSV II and FreeBSD sound demo.mov

drive.google.com

The iPhone 13 is not a perfect recording device either, but it is a lot better. I also don't think the best recording devices are going to be able to reproduce the sound perfectly. I think you would be surprised if you hear this system in reality. I am always amazed by this system, and I have listened to many B&W, Klipsch and Bang & Olufsen setups from acquaintances that all sounded much less flawless.

This, too. Unless you have a high-end microphone in a studio these recordings are meaningless. Even then, they’ll be colored by the listener’s own setup.

 

[Mussels]

The iPhone 13 is not a perfect recording device either, but it is a lot better.

It's limited - they know the hardware so they basically force and equaliser to control the audio and avoid frequencies they can't send properly
It's been apples go-to for a long long time

 

[Space Lynx]

Imagine playing PC in this room. holy fuck. i thought i knew technical details about stuff, then i watched this video and realized i am dumb as bricks, lmao

note before watching this video, you will need to understand a lot of technical words about sound rooms.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Imagine playing PC in this room. holy fuck. i thought i knew technical details about stuff, then i watched this video and realized i am dumb as bricks, lmao

note before watching this video, you will need to understand a lot of technical words about sound rooms.

Interesting that the company that built it is named Viking, because it appears so well built, you probably couldn't even hear Thor knocking on the door with Mjolnir! LOL

 

[nomdeplume]

Just finished watching this. Will be interesting how the next few videos shape up. Getting the Silent PC guy on board as consultant is in need of some development. PC are breathing even more fire these days but his involvement went much deeper than passive cooling at the consumer level.

 

[bobbybluz]

My current main audio production workstation gear: Soundcraft Signature 16 mixer, 2 JBL 308P powered monitors, 1 JBL LSR310S subwoofer, Asus Xonar Essence STX II (latest Uni drivers), Win 10 LTSC 2019, Asus X99 Deluxe, Xeon E5 2683 V4, 64GB G.Skill Ripjaws 2400, Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB, several internal & external hard drives.

The PC may be old but it's been bulletproof and runs extremely cool with the 16 core Xeon. The nearfield audio is stunning to say the least. I use Sound Forge Pro 10, 14 & 15 for stereo recording, cleanup and mastering.

 

[Mussels]

Imagine playing PC in this room. holy fuck. i thought i knew technical details about stuff, then i watched this video and realized i am dumb as bricks, lmao

note before watching this video, you will need to understand a lot of technical words about sound rooms.

Interesting that the company that built it is named Viking, because it appears so well built, you probably couldn't even hear Thor knocking on the door with Mjolnir! LOL

Just finished watching this. Will be interesting how the next few videos shape up. Getting the Silent PC guy on board as consultant is in need of some development. PC are breathing even more fire these days but his involvement went much deeper than passive cooling at the consumer level.

I know it's tough to get the technical details guys - but this is called a "rectangle"

It's for the vikings to throw hammers at you if you're too loud.



There is so much science behind sound absorption, seeing how people do it on social media and for gaming setups is honestly usually really bad. Sound echoes and reflects very similar to light, so you need something on opposite sides of walls - and people tend to stick things just on one wall only and often facing the same way instead of opposites


this is super lightweight crap off amazon that wont deaden a light fart, but at least the stock image has them alternating so you would stop sound being guided into narrow channels, and would catch it from multiple angles

stuff like this is just saddening to see used wrong, it's only to help add weight to something and cut down on vibrations - it wont block most noise as people think of it.
Like if you covered a dunny door with it, the added mass might reduce the door vibrating from a good rumble down under

Or on a ceiling for similar reasons, to stop sound turning into vibrations on loose materials - but ugh. It's something i want to do right, and just cant in a rental.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

I know it's tough to get the technical details guys - but this is called a "rectangle"
View attachment 307117
It's for the vikings to throw hammers at you if you're too loud.

Ah, I see, so Viking's way of deadening noise is to render those making it dead! LOL