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Audio Improvements in Windows Vista | |
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| Time: 03:46 EST/08:46 GMT | News Source: Windows Vista Blog | Posted By: Kenneth van Surksum | ||
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Another one from Jim Allchin: A few weeks ago I wrote about the new sounds of Windows Vista and I made the point that sound is an important component of your experience using a Windows PC. As important as the new sounds are as an interface to the Windows UI, of equal importance is the system infrastructure that enables you to control and enjoy those sounds. I personally use a Windows PC in three ways: 1) at work or at home for productivity, 2) at home (and when I travel) to enjoy media including music, videos and photos, and 3) at home in my recording studio (long story, but the short version is that my mom was glad when I got a real job with this computer science stuff). In all of these situations, having great control over the sounds on a Windows PC is important and prior to Windows Vista it was harder to do. | ||
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| #1 By 8556 (12.207.97.148) at 12/7/2006 9:13:24 AM |
| Windows, and Mac, sounds from other PCs are quite annoying in an office where one may be trying to work, or having a phone conversation. Use headphones if you need to hear sounds or music from your PC. |
| #2 By 37 (76.210.78.134) at 12/7/2006 1:07:47 PM |
| Everyone in our office use sounds, including Office sounds. Doesn't bother us in the least. I pretty much have phased everyone's PC out by my own (which has sounds). |
| #3 By 2201 (82.27.236.8) at 12/7/2006 3:52:51 PM |
| Exactly #2. If you don't like it #1, get earplugs. |
| #4 By 20505 (216.102.144.11) at 12/7/2006 5:49:12 PM |
|
i used vista rc-whatever for a while in my home pc and was quite impressed that the music coming from my music system sounded better than xp using wmp.
even so, i would note that when i was masochistic enough to use suse-linux it too sounded much better than xp. anyone know why? |
| #5 By 8556 (12.210.39.82) at 12/7/2006 11:58:55 PM |
| 2 and 3, on this issue I, by genetic disposition, must be a curmudgeon. I enjoy high quality music with a wonderful soundstage. I reviewed high end stereo gear for six years for two publications. I have heard hundreds of high end systems at CES, when CES still pulled in 50,000+ visitors. PC audio, even with costly sound cards, is just horrendous. MP3 and WMA produce musical veneers that sometimes make my ears hurt from the lack of realism and depth. I pefer silence to bad sound, especially when it is in the form of audio bites that by themselves have no particular reason to exist, other than to annoy me. Curmudgeon, that's me. |
| #6 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 12/8/2006 1:47:49 AM |
| #5, crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas - you kids better git off my land... <Bob fetches some rock salt and curmudgeonly racks another shell> |
| #7 By 7754 (75.72.148.247) at 12/8/2006 1:56:46 AM |
| #5--that's sort of the double-edged sword of upgrading audio... you start to notice what previously never bothered you. I'm sure I haven't had the chance to listen to the level of gear you've experienced, but have you found any audio solutions for the PC that make your cut? I also hesitate to buy compressed files (especially at a low bit rate... how can anyone stand 128 kbps?). But the PC also offers the flexibility of supporting much higher bit rates, provided hardware can handle it and do it justice. |
| #8 By 61 (72.64.142.151) at 12/8/2006 9:42:53 AM |
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#7, 128kbps is the same quality as standard CD audio, that is how people can handle it.
I call BS on the both of you, actually. |
| #9 By 32158 (130.13.156.6) at 12/8/2006 9:50:11 AM |
|
#8, no compression at all is the same as CD audio. 128k MP3 is an incredibly lossy format and it's not hard to distinguish between it and a good audio source. My entire digital music library is at the very least 192k and even that trims off the higher frequencies.
Your call of BS has been denied. |
| #10 By 7754 (75.72.148.247) at 12/8/2006 11:11:00 PM |
| #8: CD audio is 1411.2 kpbs. |
| #11 By 7754 (75.72.148.247) at 12/8/2006 11:11:10 PM |
| #8: CD audio is 1411.2 kpbs. |
| #12 By 68373 (24.158.238.96) at 12/9/2006 3:01:16 AM |
| 1 |
| #13 By 135 (75.73.90.215) at 12/10/2006 12:27:12 AM |
|
"PC audio, even with costly sound cards, is just horrendous. MP3 and WMA produce musical veneers that sometimes make my ears hurt from the lack of realism and depth."
It's not the sound card, it's the speakers. I'm amazed at people continuing to buy those little toy speaker systems. Hell Creative and others have gotten into a game of selling really expensive toy speaker systems. I dumped the altec lansings years ago and went with an integrated amp and bookshelf speakers. There are good deals out there. A used NAD or Rotel integrated amp works phenomenaly. A nice set of bookshelf speakers like say the PSB Alpha's and you are set. At work I have either a pair of Sony MDR-V6 over the ear headphones, or Sennheiser noise canceling. Either way, I can most certainly hear the difference between an MP3 at 128 or 192, or even WMA and a CD. It's really not that hard, if you know the musical piece well enough to know what's missing. It is admittedly much easier with headphones. I'm presently going through and ripping my CDs in Windows Media Lossless under WMP11. I decided I've got the drive space, as it's going to take around 100 Gigs to rip the 150+ cds I have I want to listen to. |
| #14 By 135 (75.73.90.215) at 12/10/2006 12:29:28 AM |
|
BTW, what's a soundcard that will work out of the box with default vista drivers?
Is Audigy SE going to work? I looked into the X-fi base card, but it's not supported at all yet. I want to put Vista on my desktop, but my SB16 isn't supported. |
| #15 By 135 (75.73.90.215) at 12/10/2006 10:23:13 AM |
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#15 - Good to know. The sigmatel in my laptop was supported right away, and the Audigy 2 cards use the sigmatel.
The SB16 wasn't recognized by the Vista readiness utility. But I've been having a hard time identifying which cards are supported. There is no HCL for Vista, just that utility. |
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