Analog vs. Digital Speakers [SPLIT]

This forum is for help with and discussion about your video hardware.

Postby anime-dragon » Wed Oct 15, 2003 4:13 pm

since this about assembling computers, im looking for a good speakers, can anyone tell me the differece between analog and digital speaker? which one is betteR? and why?
"When I look into your eyes
There's nothing there to see
Nothing but my own mistakes
Staring back at me." - Linkin Park
User avatar
anime-dragon
 
Joined: 22 Jul 2003

Postby anime-dragon » Wed Oct 15, 2003 4:20 pm

WHERE IS the EDIT BUTTON :shock:

sorry to double post, but im currently considering this speakers
-->http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10017282&catid=11553&logon=&langid=EN&dept=18&WLBS=fsweb5

tell me if the features are good so that i can use it with my audigy 2 sound card
"When I look into your eyes
There's nothing there to see
Nothing but my own mistakes
Staring back at me." - Linkin Park
User avatar
anime-dragon
 
Joined: 22 Jul 2003

Postby narcted » Sat Oct 18, 2003 4:40 am

anime-dragon wrote:since this about assembling computers, im looking for a good speakers, can anyone tell me the differece between analog and digital speaker? which one is betteR? and why?


To me, speakers are speakers. So just get a set that are decent. Only thing I really care about is the wattage and try to get as wide a frequency range as possible.

Aren't all speakers analog? Sound waves are analog. Essentially your sound card is converting analog input to digital for use by the computer. It then takes digital data and converts it to analog signals that are outputted through speakers. How Stuff Works
narcted
 
Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Postby anime-dragon » Wed Oct 22, 2003 6:13 pm

hey thanks for the link, i thought there are analog and digital speakers. :?: anyways, i will check that site out. thanks again
"When I look into your eyes
There's nothing there to see
Nothing but my own mistakes
Staring back at me." - Linkin Park
User avatar
anime-dragon
 
Joined: 22 Jul 2003

Postby jonmartensen » Wed Oct 22, 2003 6:59 pm

Yes, there are analog and digital speakers.
Image
User avatar
jonmartensen
 
Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Location: Gimmickville USA

Postby SS5_Majin_Bebi » Thu Oct 23, 2003 11:12 pm

narcted wrote:
anime-dragon wrote:since this about assembling computers, im looking for a good speakers, can anyone tell me the differece between analog and digital speaker? which one is betteR? and why?


To me, speakers are speakers. So just get a set that are decent. Only thing I really care about is the wattage and try to get as wide a frequency range as possible.

Aren't all speakers analog? Sound waves are analog. Essentially your sound card is converting analog input to digital for use by the computer. It then takes digital data and converts it to analog signals that are outputted through speakers. How Stuff Works


Sound itself isn't analogue. Its transport mechanism on the other hand, can be either digital or analogue. To my understanding (this is grossly simplified, BTW, I might be wrong), analogue sound is shunted to the speakers as a waveform, the same way a coaxial cable transports television signals from the aerial to your TV. This method degrades the quality a fair bit. Digital on the other hand is transmitted as a series of 0s and 1s, which results in better speaker response and clearer, sharper sound.

Am I right? Like I said, its only to my understanding so I could be wrong.
User avatar
SS5_Majin_Bebi
 
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Location: Why? So you can pretend you care? (Brisbane, Australia)

Postby narcted » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:47 am

Sound is always analog. It has to be a wave. True, how the the information is transmitted can be digital, but at some point the information must be converted to analog so the speakers can make the sound. That's why to me there doesn't seem to be any difference if your speakers would recieve the signal as digital or analogue. In either case the signal will become analog for you to hear it.

The analog signal will travel through three feet of wire, which could degrade the signal, but not by anything noticeable. Plus the source recording (the file) is digital. Also each speaker would have to have it's own Analog/Digital Converter. Consider that a sound card costs at least $20 and that's unneccesary expense incurred onto each speaker, IMO.

Can anyone point me an example of a digital speaker? I've never seen them. And if there are holes in my thinking, please feel free to correct.
narcted
 
Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Postby SS5_Majin_Bebi » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:52 am

Well sound ITSELF can't be classified as either analogue or digital, technically. But other than that, you're right. In analogue speakers, its an electrical/magnetic waveform, and in digital, its a series of 0s and 1s.
User avatar
SS5_Majin_Bebi
 
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Location: Why? So you can pretend you care? (Brisbane, Australia)

Postby narcted » Mon Oct 27, 2003 5:01 am

Yes, sound is always analog. The sound you hear is analog. Any and all sound that travels through air is analog. It is a wave. A wave is defined by a series of constantly changing physical qualities. That is analog. Digital is information defined as data in the form of numerical digits.

When people refer to digital sound v. analog sound they are usually referring to the source recording. A tape, for example, records the waves made when a microphone diaphram vibrates. This is analog. A CD is a series of 1's and 0's that represent values of the amplitude made by the sound waves when they were recorded. This is digital.

For graphic example see here.
narcted
 
Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Postby SS5_Majin_Bebi » Mon Oct 27, 2003 5:08 am

narcted wrote:Yes, sound is always analog. The sound you hear is analog. Any and all sound that travels through air is analog. It is a wave. A wave is defined by a series of constantly changing physical qualities. That is analog. Digital is information defined as data in the form of numerical digits.


Sorry, not to be rude or anything (just a little stubborn) but I'm going to withhold agreement on this till you show me exactly how the human perception of sound fits into the category of "analogue". To apply the workings of an electronic device to the human body, while it may work in a crude fashion, will still only be a very gross simplification. Remember that as soon as the compression in the air is picked up by your timpanic membranes and passed through to the auditory centres in your brain it is converted to electricity and a form of "data", one that is "decoded" by your brain. Using this example, it seems that the human sense of hearing combines elements of both analogue and digital AND mechanical (the little bones in your ear move).... So which is it?
User avatar
SS5_Majin_Bebi
 
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Location: Why? So you can pretend you care? (Brisbane, Australia)

Postby narcted » Mon Oct 27, 2003 5:53 am

Okay, I think that is overanalysis above and beyond the subject of the thread. (People like you and me are the baine of the teaching proffesion.) I know that the human ear converts the sound to essentially a digital signal which you brain interprets as sound. I did originally write that in my reply, but I thought it was over the top.

The bottom line in relation to speakers is that it is currently technologically impossible to transmit sound data digitally straight to our brain from a computer. All speakers are analog. Whether they recieve the data digitally doesn't change the fact that they must create and amplify an analog signal for us to hear it.

Will somebody please show me an example of a digital speaker, if they exist? Do they connect to a USB port or something, rather than the sound card?

I really do not want to keep arguing whether sound is analog or digital unless it pertains to whether anime-dragon should get analog or digital speakers. If anyone has opinions on that, I will probably not post counter replies since I've said my peace about typical (analog) speakers and have never heard of digital speakers. I just think the idea is redundant and would be uneccesarily expensive if you already have a sound card.
narcted
 
Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Postby SS5_Majin_Bebi » Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:42 pm

I like how people backpedal when they realise they may have put their fut in their mouth, with all the "Buts..." and the "Ifs..." and the "Oh, I originally intended to say that..."

The way the speaker transmits sound is neither analogue nor digital. It creates a compression wave in the air molecules at a specific frquency and amplitude, which our brains then decode and percieve as sound. And its hardwired. The way the speakers recieve sound is either analogue or digital, however. Analogue is less complicated but at the same time less accurate, and more prone to noise, interference and other errors of a magnetic or electrical nature. Digital is far more accurate, probably faster as well, and allows for much more precise reproduction of sound.

Digital speakers require a digital sound card, like the Creative Sound Blaster Live! series, or some of the much more modern ones like the Extigy (I'm pretty sure its digital). You can connect a set of analogue speakers to a digital soundcard, but you lose the advantage of digital that way. But you cannot (and I know this from personal experience) connect a set of digital speakers to an analogue sound card.

Image
Digital Speakers

Image
A Digital Soundcard.

Any more questions, narcted? I think not.


anime-dragon, if you can afford it, go digital. But remember, you can't put digital speakers in an ordinary soundcard. You have to buy a digital card, and they are several hundred dollars.
User avatar
SS5_Majin_Bebi
 
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Location: Why? So you can pretend you care? (Brisbane, Australia)

Postby jonmartensen » Mon Oct 27, 2003 10:33 pm

dig·i·tal ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dj-tl)
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or resembling a digit, especially a finger.
2. Operated or done with the fingers: a digital switch.
3. Having digits.
4. Expressed in numerical form, especially for use by a computer.
5. Computer Science. Of or relating to a device that can read, write, or store information that is represented in numerical form.
Image
User avatar
jonmartensen
 
Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Location: Gimmickville USA

Postby anime-dragon » Tue Oct 28, 2003 8:48 am

SS5_Majin_Bebi wrote:anime-dragon, if you can afford it, go digital. But remember, you can't put digital speakers in an ordinary soundcard. You have to buy a digital card, and they are several hundred dollars.


im going with the digital speakers and sound card would be Soundblaster Audigy 2
"When I look into your eyes
There's nothing there to see
Nothing but my own mistakes
Staring back at me." - Linkin Park
User avatar
anime-dragon
 
Joined: 22 Jul 2003

Postby SS5_Majin_Bebi » Tue Oct 28, 2003 10:17 pm

anime-dragon wrote:
SS5_Majin_Bebi wrote:anime-dragon, if you can afford it, go digital. But remember, you can't put digital speakers in an ordinary soundcard. You have to buy a digital card, and they are several hundred dollars.


im going with the digital speakers and sound card would be Soundblaster Audigy 2


Ah... I'll find out if thats digital or not for you (if you don't already know)

*checks...*

Yes it is, that combination would work very very well.
User avatar
SS5_Majin_Bebi
 
Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Location: Why? So you can pretend you care? (Brisbane, Australia)

Next

Return to Video Hardware Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest