If downloading and listening to digitised MP3 songs is your pastime, you have to ask yourself if you’re really enjoying what you’re listening to. I mean, discerning listeners or audio enthusiasts would not be satisfied with 16-bit, 2-channel stereo sound. They’d want to hear something closer to studio recordings and theatre sound.

However, the cost of high-end audio equipment is beyond most budgets. But if you already own a PC, you can listen to sound that’s on par with studio or theatre systems, right in your home. You just need to add a multi-channel sound card, install certain software and plug in the surround sound speakers. The best part is you can have all this at a price that fits your budget.

The market for PC sound products is witnessing the entry of many players, particularly for speakers. Unheard of brands are making (sound) waves because of their top performance. Even traditional audio specialists (Bose, JBL, Polk Audio, Altec Lansing) are now making PC speakers. These top brands come with the MNC-branded PCs.

Creative Technology is a front-runner in PC sound and has been the first to bring hot technologies like THX, EAX, ASIO, Dolby Digital EX, 24-bit sound, DVD-Audio, etc to the PC. Here are some reasons for using products that support these technologies.

• Movies: Home movies have come a long way since the days when VHS invaded our living rooms. Now advanced sound processing technologies like Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, and THX bring theatre-like sound into the home. Dolby sound processing has become the norm for today’s movies, and theatres have upgraded their sound systems for this format. As multi-channel speaker systems became available to consumers, Dolby soon found its way into home systems. Now sound tracks in games and DVD movies are Dolby encoded. Dolby Digital is for 5.1 surround sound while Dolby Digital EX is for 6.1 sound systems. The THX format was created by George Lucas for his Star Wars movie sound tracks. Later this format was extended to encompass home theatre systems and was recently adapted to the specialised needs of multi-channel surround sound reproduction from movies and games played on PC multimedia systems. You can experience this through THX certified products like the Creative Audigy 2 sound card.
• Games: Technologies (such as Creative’s Environmental Audio eXtensions) that simulate environmental effects, add realism to PC games. The sound of a soldier slamming his booted foot, the staccato burst of a sub-machine gun or the gentle sounds of a jungle, sound realistic when heard from a set of surround sound speakers (5.1 or 6.1).n DVD-Audio: This is the latest standard in digital music that takes audio fidelity to new heights. The sound quality from DVD-A disks far surpasses that of conventional CDs. The sampling rate for DVD-A is 24-bit/192 KHz (2 channels) or 24-bit/96 KHz (multi-channel surround sound). In comparison, sound from conventional audio CDs is 16-bit/44.1 KHz. What’s more, DVD-A supports discrete channels and you can enjoy music with a true surround effect from your 5.1 or 6.1 multi-channel speaker system. DVD-A disks are playable on DVD players, DVD-ROM drives and the new Sony Playstation. Various recording companies released more than 500 DVD-A titles during the recent Christmas season, abroad. It’s just a matter of a few months before this format hits the Indian market.
• Music: While you’re waiting for DVD-A titles to arrive, you can still enjoy listening to MP3 music through 24-bit sound cards. And if you want to go a step further, why not give a new lease of life to your old cassettes? Budding musicians can even cut their own demo disks at home with their PCs and DVD/CD-writers. With 24-bit sound cards, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is enhanced within the PC environment. The sound quality matches that of studio equipment and obviously surpasses that of many home stereo systems. A better SNR means less noise at higher levels. This enables you to hear more details, and the sound reproduction is closer to the original. The Creative Audigy 2 sound card, for instance, offers an SNR of 106 db; the older 16-bit sound cards have an SNR of 75-88 db. Since 24-bit sound cards incorporate technology to enhance 16-bit tracks, all your MP3 songs and CDs will sound amazingly different. Some sound cards are also bundled with specialised software that can give your old tapes a new lease of life. For instance Creative MediaSource software incorporates a technology called EAX Advanced HD, which removes pops and clicks in a digital audio file. Plug in your tape deck to the sound card and record the songs on to the hard disk (in wave format). Then use MediaSource to remove unwanted background noises. Finally, convert the songs to MP3 and burn them on to a CD—and you can enjoy your old favourites once again! Since current sound cards accept input from multiple sources (mic, keyboard, guitar, drum machine etc), you can mix tracks on the PC and cut your own demo disks.
• Products: The older 16-bit sound cards cost between Rs 1,000-2,300, the 24-bit cards cost between Rs 12,000-16,000. While the market for multi-channel sound cards is dominated by Creative, there’s much choice in speakers. You can get a 4.1 speaker system for Rs 3,500-4,900. The 5.1 and 6.1 speaker systems cost approximately Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. The high-end THX certified speakers cost around Rs 28,000.