Muddy sound from using remoted speakers

[walt]

Newbie here.

I'm getting poor quality muddy sound when attempting to connect my sound card output jack through my stereo receiver - the speakers of which are remoted about 60' in another room. The receiver is situated beside the computer. I'm using good quality speaker wire.

Am I trying to do something which is not possible due to general poor quality of computer sound systems? Or, should I upgrade my sound card (Soundblaster 16 bit system if I recall correctly).

Perhaps I'm doing something fundamentally wrong as a person lacking sufficent technical knowledge.

Would appreciate any advice that you expert folks may have.

[Sheepeh]

I'm not the expert in this subject by any means, and a lot of the guys here are far more qualified in this stuff that me, but I've got my sound system pumped through my old Pioneer amp/stereo and it sounds *fantastic*.

It could be that your sound card is a bit old to support it (if it's actually an SB16 it's donkeys years old, correct?)

I've used a SoundBlaster Live! with no problems, but since moved to the onboard SoundStorm or my nForce2, which also "just worked".

[jkrzok]

It's probably the soundcard. Sound isn't a high priority for most computer manufacturers.

I assume other things playing through your stereo/remoted speakers sound fine.

I would consider the wire from your sound card to your stereo. Those can be of low quality at times. How long is that wire? Sometimes weird things can interfere with it if it's terribly long or looped or running near some other source of interference. Have you tried playing a CD on your computer through your stereo and how does that sound? Perhaps you're just noticing that mp3s will sound worse than a CD. Is there a digital out of your soundcard and a digital in on your stereo? I had a similar setup and going digital was just what I needed.

[Todd The Kiwi]

60' in another room
just to clarify,this is sixty feet right?
which,to me,would be twenty metres.
these are some serious speaker wires you have mate
i'd be using cable as thick as my wrist for this distance
and something m-audio too

[rorythedog]

60 feet! Man, that's a long way. Do you have anything else connected up this way, and if so, what does that sound like? What kind of "receiver" are you using? What input do you use on the receiver? There's many variables here. Post back with specs if possible. We'll be glad to help.

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

20 metres of wire, thats no good. You'll have a major voltage drop across them, unless you have a megacool-super-powered-10000Volt-amplifier system :cool:

[Hanzo]

Probably the sound card + the cable long run. Try setting your amp using a short cable next to the system and using a short cable for the speakers as well and if there is any difference, there you go, else you might start wondering about cable interference, long cable run and some other annoyances ...

[Toe]

My first thought is "Lose the SB16." That card's about a decade old. Just about any modern soundcard would be an improvement. May I suggest an AV-710 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=29-120-103&depa=1)? I posted some info about this card here (http://www.quinnware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=18325&postcount=13). And as jkrzok said above, going with a digital connection is not a bad idea.

How long is the cable run from your comp to the receiver? I assume you've verified that the sound is not 'muddy' using the receiver as the source? (This would pretty much rule out the 60' speaker cable as the cause)

[walt]

Thanks to you all for your expert advice. The distance from computer to receiver is only a couple of feet. To confirm, the speaker wire run is 60 feet.

Playing receiver FM through the setup works OK; but I'll try a CD as well to see how that sounds.

One thing I didn't notice before is that the computer music is only going to one of my speakers for some reason - perhaps this will signal the problem for you experts. However, when playing FM I get reasonably good sound (not great though) through both speakers.

I've tried two receivers: an old JVC and a relatively new inexpensive Technics - same problem. No "digital" input on either receiver - I have to use other input connections (phono, CD, AUX).

From what you say, I definitely should upgrade my SB audio card - you are right it is old - the only part of my system I haven't upgraded. Will also consider higher grade speaker wire if nothing else works.

[jkrzok]

Does Radio Shack or anybody make an inline amplifier for a 60' run of speaker wire? Perhaps wireless speakers? I just went to the Radio Shack web site. Indoor/Outdoor wireless speakers with a 300' range will run about US$130.00. http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=40-1464

For the truly geeky, get a low power FM transmitter hooked up to you 'puter. You could just put a radio where those speakers are. With my lucky house situation I can reach everywhere I go when I walk the dog. I'm even legal and so far the FCC hasn't knocked on my door. http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=amfm

[walt]

Further to my last note, finally tracked down the problem - it was a media player glitch not hardware. Changed my player and all is working OK now. Thanks again to all of you for your help - I learned a lot from your replies.

From your comments will definitely upgrade my audio card in any event.

[Hanzo]

Further to my last note, finally tracked down the problem - it was a media player glitch not hardware. Changed my player and all is working OK now. Thanks again to all of you for your help - I learned a lot from your replies.

From your comments will definitely upgrade my audio card in any event.
What was it?

[walt]

What was it?

Media Player was the problem. Don't know why as yet - but will do some work to try and track it down...could be an audio media conflict issue or some other like problem. I simply changed to RealPlayer which worked great. Getting good quality sound now from both speakers.

[hedge]

Media Player was the problem. Don't know why as yet - but will do some work to try and track it down...could be an audio media conflict issue or some other like problem. I simply changed to RealPlayer which worked great. Getting good quality sound now from both speakers.
Umm you could always use QCD.... now who would expect that comment on the QCD forums... lol

[Todd The Kiwi]

Umm you could always use QCD.... now who would expect that comment on the QCD forums... lol
oh my god!
i've been posting in the wrong forum all this time?! :nervous:

WALT - 'beef up' your speaker wire anyway man
i have the gold plated plugs from hell on my cables of doom
mutated into my m-audio audiophile 2496 they are each 1 metre long and $50 a piece
my speaker wires are 3 metres long each and cost almost $20 per metre
(i'm quoting New Zealand dollars)

just noticed it's friday the thirteenth here sweet :skull: :grimreape

[walt]

Umm you could always use QCD.... now who would expect that comment on the QCD forums... lol
OK, point take. I've download QCD willl give it a try.

[walt]

oh my god!
i've been posting in the wrong forum all this time?! :nervous:

WALT - 'beef up' your speaker wire anyway man
i have the gold plated plugs from hell on my cables of doom
mutated into my m-audio audiophile 2496 they are each 1 metre long and $50 a piece
my speaker wires are 3 metres long each and cost almost $20 per metre
(i'm quoting New Zealand dollars)

just noticed it's friday the thirteenth here sweet :skull: :grimreape

Hmmm...at those prices Todd, even when coverted to Canuck dollars, makes me think twice about upgrading...

[Todd The Kiwi]

Hmmm...at those prices Todd, even when coverted to Canuck dollars, makes me think twice about upgrading...
two dollar head two dollar helmet...
you're right man good gear is expensive
NZ is quite cheap as far as electronic stuff goes
what do you make of the Q beast so far? :skull:

[dellsix]

Go to your volume control then look for stereo wide click advance and uncheck digiatal....this helped me i have mine hooked up to my upscale stereo system and listen to yahoo launchcast and i think too much digital broadcast is too much...anyway what ever the reason this helped me... :cross-eye

I'm getting poor quality muddy sound when attempting to connect my sound card output jack through my stereo receiver - the speakers of which are remoted about 60' in another room. The receiver is situated beside the computer. I'm using good quality speaker wire.

Am I trying to do something which is not possible due to general poor quality of computer sound systems? Or, should I upgrade my sound card (Soundblaster 16 bit system if I recall correctly).

Perhaps I'm doing something fundamentally wrong as a person lacking sufficent technical knowledge.

Would appreciate any advice that you expert folks may have.[/QUOTE]