Advice on Digital vs Analog on Low End Speakers. [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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verity
01-20-2008, 07:51 PM
I am looking to purchase these speakers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120
(any better recommendations for a similar price are welcome).

I am planning to use these for a surround sound system. I am planning on using a macbook or a macbook air to output sound to these speakers. I really want to get the macbook air as a secondary travel computer and 1080p file player but it only outputs stereo sound out of a regular headphone jack, whereas the macbook has digital out.

My question is, on a low end speaker system like this, am I really going to notice a regrettable difference in sound between digital and analog. I am by no means an audiophile or picky, but I can tell the difference between bang olufsen or bose compared to logitech for example.

I am not even sure if analog out does support 5.1 either.

markw
01-21-2008, 06:11 AM
Unless you've got a sound card that puts out six channels of analog, all you're gonna get is two channel stereo.

And yes, there is a considerable difference between (matrixed from analog stereo) DPL "5.1" and real digital 5.1.

either of which should sound decent for your purposes, though.