Reading Hardware

The green jack is a balanced line out just like the black, which whould be the rear 2 speakers (since its the same lineoutish symbole only with a number two).

The balanced line out is the signal after the preprocessors and amplification if the card actually does that.

Pistol Grip Pump In My Lap At All Times

Is the small headphone jack a problem? Are there cards with RCA jacks?

They shouldn't be, the power coming out of your soundcard should be nowhere near enought to be choked by the resistance of the headphone jacks. And it's not the style of jack, professional audio equipment uses 1/4" stereo jacks and rca inputs for tape deck only.

As far as your problems, it sounds really wierd why the older equipment would sound better. It's been my experience that older speakers can be (and in my case of ESS Trans-Linear II's ARE) better than newer equipment, however recievers and cdplayers and such almost always improve in quality with age.

I havn't read all the replies but I'm betting the solutions that so far have been presented are sufficient. If the problem doesn't go away, or the solutions are not help, email me and I'll get in touch with a sound-engineer friend who's mixed concerts for the likes of Rob Zombie, Oasis, Prince, etc.

Pistol Grip Pump In My Lap At All Times

And it's not the style of jack, professional audio equipment uses 1/4" stereo jacks and rca inputs for tape deck only.

That is good to know.

If the problem doesn't go away, or the solutions are not help, email me and I'll get in touch with a sound-engineer friend who's mixed concerts for the likes of Rob Zombie, Oasis, Prince, etc.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to solve the problem. So if you happen to talk to your friend some day, maybe they could give me a hint where I should look. The three possible causes left are, I think, bad cables, bad sound card, or shitty software amplification screwing with the signal in the first place. It would help me to know which cause would be the most likely. It's not urgent or anything. As I said, we're talking about small but noticable differences in the quality of the sound.

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

I sent him an email, so we'll see what he comes up with.

Pistol Grip Pump In My Lap At All Times

I sent him an email, so we'll see what he comes up with.

Thanks!

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

First off, the SB Live definitely isn't making your audio suck. It's a great peice of hardware, it's definitely a miscommunication between the amp and the sound card (well, maybe it is your sound card, prolly cuz it's being used out of context). If you really wanan resolve this situation simply and cleanly you can buy an Audigy type card... but those are expensive. As for the other stuff, dunno.

I don't have my sound going into an external amp so I wouldn't know. I'll watch this thread though, maybe I'll learn something.

I should be ashamed of myself.

I'm confused.

Some details about my setup: CD player and amp are connected with vanilla RCA plugs.

I understand that the CD component out patches to amp, but which input? Does it have a CD in?

PC and amp also has RCA jacks on the amp side,

huh? say that again in a different way

but my soundcard only has a small headphone jack so I'm using an adapter cable.

Likewise, which input does the PC connect to?
Not

Is the small headphone jack a problem? Are there cards with RCA jacks

No, most sound cards don't have RCA jacks, entirely for size constraints. (Unless, of course, it's an Audigy type).

Something to consider is that not all output stages are the same. The output stage of a phonograph, for example, is measured in tens of milliamps, as opposed to a tape player stage measured in hundreds of miliamps.
Some outputs run hotter than others. Even on the same receiver, two separate inputs can different levels. At some point, the headphone jack will have a volume control on it, have you tried using that control?

I can listen to my computer through a set of Altec Lansing computer speakers, or through the "VCR2" .

I have an old, shitty ALS sound card--it has one line in, one line-out, and one mic. port. AT any kind of decent volume, when I'm playing a game, it sounds distorted, and crackly. But listening to music through, say Real Player, it sounds fine.

Also, to make an accurate comparison, both your sound sources (i.e. media) needs to be the same.
I'm also assuming that you're listening through the same speakers.

The sound coming from the rear of two separate machines will not be identical. There might be no perceptable difference, but even between machines by the same manufacturer, there are measurable differences. There's many factors that could effect the outputs of the two machines.

Once Fred Neitszche declared God is Dead, f*ck became the most important word in the English languag

I understand that the CD component out patches to amp, but which input? Does it have a CD in?

The CD player is jacked int the amp's "AUX" port. It's an old Technics amp, so it doesn't have an in labelled "CD". Both sides of that connection have RCA plugs.

Likewise, which input does the PC connect to?

Currently one labelled "Tuner", but I can swap inputs with the CD player without an audible change.

I have an old, shitty ALS sound card--it has one line in, one line-out, and one mic. port. AT any kind of decent volume, when I'm playing a game, it sounds distorted, and crackly. But listening to music through, say Real Player, it sounds fine.

The output from the PC doesn't sound crackly or distorted in any way, and doesn't bother me very much. But at the same time it is also perceivably inferior to what I get from the CD player, so I'm wandering why that is.

Also, to make an accurate comparison, both your sound sources (i.e. media) needs to be the same.
I'm also assuming that you're listening through the same speakers.

Yes, same media, same speakers.

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion