Knowledge question from those who know

[humblebee]

Hello !

I was looking up some knowledge related articles on Hi-Fi. To put it in short, I saw that to judge the basic quality of speakers, 3 main things need to be checked - Noise, Frequency response & Distortion.
In real world these are supposedly depicted by SNR, Freq range & THD figures.

Of course, for those who are many years experienced, many more things might matter.
But if I confess that I have quite less knowledge of speakers & I am only looking to learn the basics, are these three criteria OK? Who knows if this post is read by many who are looking for knowledge, they may also learn.
And im also looking for a way to short list quality speakers out of so many choices.

OK so after that; its application...
If I say that im looking to buy a set of speakers and I have an ASUS XONAR DX card...then shouldnt the speakers' corresponding figures match the card's figures at least (or i wouldnt be able to take max benefit of card in that area).

For e.g. if we look at the following figures:

Area XONAR DX S-550
THD .0005% .5%
SNR 116dB 85dB
Fs 10Hz - 48KHz 20Hz - 20KHz

Looking at these figures, it gives me the impression that this is an over-specced card for these speakers

Rather, the XONAR DG is more evenly matched:
Area XONAR DG S-550
THD .0025% .5%
SNR 105dB 85dB
Fs 10Hz - 48KHz 20Hz - 20KHz


...and then there's the issue of 'trying' to figure out the sound quality improvement of 24/192 lossless audio files on this system. I guess 192 KHz is way over even the sound card's output freq response (even though this format is supported but then whats the use?)

Any knowledge sharing will be genuinely appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Manish

 

[haisaikat]

I may not fully be able to answer your question but I am also on the lookout for soundcard.

Regarding the figures of the SNR you have quoted, what is the AMP / AVR you have in your setup? Or is it purely for headphone listening? I have a Denon 1911 AVR whose built in DAC has a SNR of around 106 dB so by specs buying your 2nd choice would not matter much but will that guarantee that keeping the soundcard in the setup will not make a difference? Probably not unless you judge by your ears that is what the direction I am getting.

Ideally your source (before signal finally goes into your speakers) should be as refined (lesser noise / distortion) as possible so that you have future upgrade path clear. Again from this forum I have learnt something very important that sometime distortion is bliss as in case of tube amps which is more costly and many a time used as reference.

 

[humblebee]

Thanks haisaikat for ur reply.
No AVR. Comp with XONAR -> speakers
This is the combo I had thought of before I noticed the 'anomaly'.
Then I decided to get some basics right.

The wikipedia article on Hi-Fi says that there was actually an attempt to set criteria for labelling an equipment Hi-Fi but marketers made a joke out of it.
Guess that leaves the burden on us buyers to select the genuine Hi-Fi from many in the market. (Its pretty clear for costly equipment but what if I want to take on the challenge in VFM market ?)

Plz dont take my 'burden' comment -vely. Im a huge fan of learning by myself but just consider this:
In a proper scenario a man is supposed to 'know' matters only of his field of work. All other fields are handled by others. So if everyone labelled & priced their products honestly, there would be no confusions and ripoffs.

Its that simple actually.

Now ask me things abt comps and if i cant answer, well ill accede that im not competent. But speakers?
What abt the scenario when I just want to enjoy them after spending my money?
If I get into the details too much, I have this prob that im always looking out to 'optimise' my thing and looking at its performance critically instead of just enjoying it.

And no its not that easy for me to just 'let go'
I dont know how many others have this prob!

 

[Sumanta]

If you like the journey, read and doubt more, if you want to reach a destination, have as many auditions as you can, select one system, live happy thereafter.

If you want a mix of it....go for DIY.
Business people in audio hi-fi are there to make business. so, they will sell potatoes for the money of biriyani.

The more I go deep in technology (specifically electronics and digital), the more confused I am in the begining. Then found out that it already exists in analogue in a simpler way.

Simplest and costliest are two extremes of audio hi-fi in my opinion. Middle path is still a compromise with more confusion.

I chose to be simpler now. As I can not be confused for long and I am definitely not rich.

Have a way to control sound frequencies and their effect on the overall sound image, have a very good speaker and not so bad amplifier, I believe you can be happy.

 

[Nikhil]

humblebee what is your budget? It all starts from there because you really have different levels or categories of sound levels. As Sumanta has said you can eventually reach a balance of quality and price that fits you. To learn about quality of sound you must visit different audio outlets and shows (and browse here!!) to expand your knowledge. In my opinion it all starts with the source. Hifi starts with a good recording that then needs to be reproduced to your ears. Its a lot complicated after that but its a journey worth starting out on.

If you really want to know, one of the best suppliers of high quality digital audio is Linn Audio (Scotland). Linn DS Take a look at their website and you will learn a lot about what is high quality digital music. You will be surprised to learn some things.

 

[venkatcr]

Humblebee, you have this completely wrong.

A sound card is a source and is never connected to speakers directly. Thus their specifications have no relevance to speakers. What is important for speakers are three factors - sensitivity, impedance, and power handling capability.

Speakers have been discusssed in HFV ad nauseam. Browse through the following threads and come back with specific questions, if any.

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/3642-does-power-watts-affect-listening.html#post35780

http://www.hifivision.com/surround-...-denon-1610-vs-denon-1910-a-2.html#post127730

http://www.hifivision.com/what-shou...ired-receivers-speakers-setup.html#post182510

http://www.hifivision.com/amplifier...vr-vs-2-chn-amp-cdp-vd-dvdp-2.html#post158714

http://www.hifivision.com/surround-...44-underpowered-amps-vs-overpowered-amps.html

http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/22521-speaker-impedence-vs-amplifier-load.html

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/24640-whats-there-impedence-why-4-ohms-speakers-costly.html

Cheers

 

[dillihifi]

Well Venkat has got it right.

Lets see your question :

No.1 regarding the specs of the soundcard. The soundcard is the device which would convert the digital signal to the analog domain and therefore these specifications which relate to the low level signal in the analog domain (as the output is very low at this stage). The figures for Thd (low) and SNR (high) and the frequency range gives you the ranges of the card's capabilities. The better cards or preamps have the requisite values for faithful music reproduction. Also this has nothing to do with the decoding of 192kHz signals.

No.2 regarding the speakers. The speakers convert the electrical signals into sound energy. Here there remains other specs which are more important like sensitivity (choose with care) and impedance (this is the load presented by the speaker to the amp) and the power handling capabilities of the speakers which are kept in mind while choosing an amp.

Hope the above clarifies your doubts.

Do please go through the other threads for a better understanding.