96KHz vs 48KHz

[hat]

My sound card (Audigy 2 ZS) has an option for 96KHz and 48Khz. I realize that 96KHz is supposed to be superior in quality over 48KHz, but I can't notice a difference.

Which is more suitable for me to use in this case? 48KHz, right?

 

[erocker]

Yes.

 

[saikou]

What sound system do u have. if ur running pure digital (SP Dif) then 96 is better. if not just use 48

 

[hat]

What sound system do u have.

generic headset

 

[saikou]

id stick with 48 if u cant hear a difference. that way ur cpu will do less work processing sound

 

[hat]

That's what I thought, thanks. Although would it really make a difference on a 5200+?

 

[saikou]

no not really but it might with some really itensive games and apps in the future

 

[a111087]

I didn't notice any difference either
played with these settings on my card and I used to get blue screen if I will set settings on high, but after driver update I get restart if I set setting too low

 

[imperialreign]

To the best of my knowledge, the audio processor on the audigy does all the upsampling from 48kHz to 96kHz, as with the X-Fi's. This eliminates the need for the CPU to process the audio samples. Still, though, if you're gaming and the game is trying to run a ton of audio samples, that could potentially slow down the APU (the more samples to upsource, the longer it takes), and this could lead to audio lagging, or possibly slower gaming performance if your hardware notices the audio adapter is lagging behind the rest of the system.

Honestly, you won't hear a difference running 96kHz, unless you have a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup, and utilizing some form of playback that has already been recorded at very high rates (i.e. DVD audio, or DVD video, source WAV or WMA recorded at 96kHz, etc.). Below 5.1 and 7.1, you'd have to have extremelly high quality and sensitive speakers or a headset to be able to hear the difference.

You should be more than alright at 48kHz.

 

[AddSub]

Very few people can hear the difference, really. And many of the ones that say they can hear the difference are probably BS-ing you and themselves. The only reason I ever thought of getting an additional sound card (to replace my already adequate onboard ALC850 in my primary machine) is the thought of several extra points in various benchmarks, since an additional SPU will free up some CPU cycles. Although, if you are into professional sound mastering/recoding then there is no difference between a 5$ onboard solution and a $70-$100 Creative one.

Many people buy additional sound cards to eliminate crackling and interference associated with onboard SPUs, only to find the issues are still there. Although, few manufactures have started putting on EMI shielding. So, if your Audigy 2 ZS does not have any EMI shielding, you can probably make your own and get more visible(hearable) benefits.

 

[Tatty_Two]

id stick with 48 if u cant hear a difference. that way ur cpu will do less work processing sound

CPU should not really be doing any work processing sound on an Audigy board, it has it's own built in sound processing hardware and does not load the CPU at all.

 

[Tatty_Two]

To the best of my knowledge, the audio processor on the audigy does all the upsampling from 48kHz to 96kHz, as with the X-Fi's. This eliminates the need for the CPU to process the audio samples. Still, though, if you're gaming and the game is trying to run a ton of audio samples, that could potentially slow down the APU (the more samples to upsource, the longer it takes), and this could lead to audio lagging, or possibly slower gaming performance if your hardware notices the audio adapter is lagging behind the rest of the system.

Honestly, you won't hear a difference running 96kHz, unless you have a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup, and utilizing some form of playback that has already been recorded at very high rates (i.e. DVD audio, or DVD video, source WAV or WMA recorded at 96kHz, etc.). Below 5.1 and 7.1, you'd have to have extremelly high quality and sensitive speakers or a headset to be able to hear the difference.

You should be more than alright at 48kHz.

Agreed, the only noticeable audible difference is when using a high quality set of speakers or perhaps more importantly if you are passing the output thru a digital amp or quality external source and then onto speakers, in that scenario there is a very audible difference, its more or less like the difference between pro logic 5.1 cinema sound and Dolby Digiital/DTS......well actually that is the difference.....48Khz (prologic) and 96KHZ (full digital).
I always have mine set on 96 but am just about to run the card through a Sony 7.1 digital cinema AV amp, and as I said, thats when I will notice the difference more. Getting fed up of 250W on my 5.1 desktop speakers, I want the 800W from my KEF's thru the amp!