Speakers - digital / analogue?

[BattleFieldRelics]

Its time to replace my surround speakers. I have an Audigy2.

Can anyone recommend some good speakers?

I've looked around a bit and the 'better' speaker systems seem to have an analogue input as opposed to digital. Surely digital is better?

[Gazaridis]

I would have thought analogue would be better - sound is a continuous analogue stream, so sending it digitally would involve turning it into a discrete digital stream, losing data in the process and hence lower sound quality.

[Zeph]

I'd go with Gazaridis' theory to be honest, converting Digital->Analogue seems a lot less work probably meaning a higher sound quality than Digital->Analogue->Digital->Analogue.

[BattleFieldRelics]

so the cambridge megaworks 550 (analogue) 5.1 looks good then?

[GreenGrass]

well if u see at the problems with digital sound then way back when B&O started the converting they had problems with the DIN norms... but now any good car amp for example is digital as a digital amplifier is more controlable. u can control the effective amplified ranged better and u can remove any sounds u dont want easier and last the surround engine is easier build in!!

and the convertion from analouge to digital... wtf are u on about a audigy2 have a digital output so no need for any important convertions!!

[Zeph]

Yeah but sound is Analogue anyway so a digital conversion has no merits surely!

[GreenGrass]

in the convertion some might be lost, but the loss there is smaller than the loss in an mosfet amplifier, with mosfets much is lost due to heat and other problems and this is solved in digital... thats why some are stable down to ½ ohm output impedans where an analouge is hard to get lower than 2 ohms... this makes the entire cirquit more stable and more usefull ... the lower output impedans u have the more stable ur amp is at a higher impedans, I recon these speakers will be 4 ohms so an analouge might be good enough but here u will have a major digital analouge convertion with the surround signal wich u wont have in the digital set... so I would recommend the digital if the speakers are ok!!

tho i dont use my surround set as I have PA speakers for music....

[Poopie]

2.1 speakers is good enuff.... 2 speakers to blast ur music, and a pair of headphones for gaming....

[GreenGrass]

lol how about 2 PA speakers n a 15 inch bass with a 600 watts amp for music and the plantronic audio 90 for gaming

[Shrike69er]

playing a mp3 file(digital) which used to be analogue.. but was made into digital...
so digital from comp to output should not change the mp3 anymore till you finaly hear it as analogue sound

[BattleFieldRelics]

cambridge megaworks 550 (analogue) 5.1 THX certified BOUGHT

Bloody excellent!

[Kermit The Fr@g]

Grassy is right up to the point where a conversion will take place. At the end of the day it all depends on the quality of the AD/DA converters. True GG, the op-amps maybe more controllable digitally, but at some point a conversion will have to take place and thats where things go wrong most of the time. I think that the term digital speakers is somewhat confusing to this respect, cause sound is analogue by nature. It means, as GG says, that the driving of the electronics is done through digital means. Again, there will be a DA conversion at some point...
Digital drivers will be more accurate on speakers, however, due to the constraints of the digital domain, they will sound more sterile and less warm. It is all a matter of taste in the end..., in music especially it is the clutter and the unintended harmonics and/or dissonants which makes it breathe atmosphere. To date theres has been no digital recording mechanism that can match the analogue gear in terms of timbre and warmth. However, things are getting pretty close with todays samplerates...
But true, with an Audigy 2 Platinum Pro and a set of Cambridges Half Life 2 sounds absofekking brilliant (damn those beachinsects and i drove that fekker buggy into the sea now i cant get it out no more and I'm stuck where the bridge is broken and I can't get through the water cause of those stingy piranha's and gotta walk thos beaches with no ammo and HELP!!!!!!...) .
However, for listening to music I prefer my trusty Tannoy nearfields, since they have a marvellous flat frequency response and, being a soundengineer, this is the way I like to listen. Uncoloured and as is. If I listen to music on the cambridges then it really hurts my ears...
I must admit though that the quality of the Audigy 2 is brilliant, but theres a niggle. When I play a movie in 5.1 the environmentals are brilliant but the music quality is absolutely crap. It's completely distorted. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Didn't get around to update
drivers as yet, seems it has a problem decoding, so an update could well solve it.

Lol GG and his PA. Bet your parents gave you an airguitar for XMas....