Personal Computer Audio Setup (guidance needed)

M. Rizzi · December 10, 2019

Recently I posted that I was looking for a good internal sound card. After reading the feedback, I concluded that internal sound cards are old-tech and external is the way to go. So, I have reached a new dilemma. I was looking at upgrading from my current computer speakers (Creative Labs - Inspire 7.1 Surround Sound Speaker System (8-Piece)) to more of a home theater experience. Right now I have my eye on the Klipsch 600m bookshelf speaker pair. They have a 100W RMS, 400W peak. The creative labs external X7 DAC (Limited Edition) I was looking at only outputs about 50W per channel, so that's out. What I have found is that a lot of people hookup A/V receivers to their computers. If this is the next best method, I do not plan on using the A/V receiver for anything else besides audio. Yes, I plan on stocking up on more Klipsch speakers but I would start here. The A/V receiver I am looking at is...

- Onkyo TX-RZ820 THX-Certified 7.2-Channel 4K Network A/V Receiver

So, my first question is, does this method work? My initial thoughts are once I rebuild my PC, I was going to use the S/PDIF out and into the receiver for audio signal. I am looking to buy the GIGABYTE AORUS Extreme (https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145158) when I do my rebuild (expected CPU: Ryzen 9 3950X, for those who are interested). Should I use the S/PDIF coming off that motherboard or should I invest in an EVGA Nu Pro and use that for signal? Also, how would tuning work? Would the software for the EVGA interfere with the manual tuning built into the receiver itself? Will it be a mixture of the two?

Intentions:

- I am trying to build a killer 7.1-11.2 channel surround sound system for my PC because I listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of movies and use multiple streaming platforms (mainly Prime and Netflix). However, as a hobby I am a podcaster and content creator so I want quality audio when working on this as well. Does anyone have any other suggestions or methods for an amazing, albeit overkill, audio experience. Computer speaker kits in stores and online are junky cheap rip offs. I'm trying to go hard and go home, lol.

Derkoli · December 11, 2019

14 hours ago, M. Rizzi said:

Recently I posted that I was looking for a good internal sound card. After reading the feedback, I concluded that internal sound cards are old-tech and external is the way to go. So, I have reached a new dilemma. I was looking at upgrading from my current computer speakers (Creative Labs - Inspire 7.1 Surround Sound Speaker System (8-Piece)) to more of a home theater experience. Right now I have my eye on the Klipsch 600m bookshelf speaker pair. They have a 100W RMS, 400W peak. The creative labs external X7 DAC (Limited Edition) I was looking at only outputs about 50W per channel, so that's out. What I have found is that a lot of people hookup A/V receivers to their computers. If this is the next best method, I do not plan on using the A/V receiver for anything else besides audio. Yes, I plan on stocking up on more Klipsch speakers but I would start here. The A/V receiver I am looking at is...

- Onkyo TX-RZ820 THX-Certified 7.2-Channel 4K Network A/V Receiver

So, my first question is, does this method work? My initial thoughts are once I rebuild my PC, I was going to use the S/PDIF out and into the receiver for audio signal. I am looking to buy the GIGABYTE AORUS Extreme (https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145158) when I do my rebuild (expected CPU: Ryzen 9 3950X, for those who are interested). Should I use the S/PDIF coming off that motherboard or should I invest in an EVGA Nu Pro and use that for signal? Also, how would tuning work? Would the software for the EVGA interfere with the manual tuning built into the receiver itself? Will it be a mixture of the two?

Intentions:

- I am trying to build a killer 7.1-11.2 channel surround sound system for my PC because I listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of movies and use multiple streaming platforms (mainly Prime and Netflix). However, as a hobby I am a podcaster and content creator so I want quality audio when working on this as well. Does anyone have any other suggestions or methods for an amazing, albeit overkill, audio experience. Computer speaker kits in stores and online are junky cheap rip offs. I'm trying to go hard and go home, lol.

Yeah you'll need an AV receiver.

Instead of using SPDIF input, use HDMI from your GPU, Optical SPDIF only supports 2 channels uncompressed, and 5.1/6 channels when compressed, New HDMI standards support 32 channels uncompressed, Plus its a whole lot easier to setup.

That onkyo unit is a decent unit, and Onkyo is a decent company overall.

The RP-600M's are really nice speakers, So if you want big, loud and nicely detailed, go for them. The onkyo has plenty of power for them, But you most likely will use around 20 watts to power them, as they are very efficient (Give them 1 watt and they'll get to 96dB, which is 30dBa louder than human speech)

After you save up enough money for more channels, I would grab the rear channels, and set the receiver to use a "phantom center" (all information for the centre channel is sent to the front L/R) then after, if you want more bass grab a subwoofer. Then a center channel if you find that you need one.