Choosing a sound card for PC

[vauba]

So I'm attempting to build a PC and looking at sound cards and I can't find much good information about what I would need in a sound card for my current setup. I am connecting my PC to a surround receiver which at least for the time being has 5.0 speakers connected but I would hopefully future proom myself for 7.1 sound. I plan to connect to my reciever via the HDMI output on my graphics card, (I plan to buy GTX 670). For DVDs and Blu-rays my understanding is that I can bitstream to my reciever which means I wouldn't need a souncard to process anything here. What I would want is for various digital music files and games to sound good. In my searching I am finding recommendations for cards such as ASUS Xonar Essence STX, but the details seem to suggest they are geared toward headphone use and I'm having trouble finding out what is best for actual surround sound.

[Favelle]

HDMI passes ALL sound. Not just bitstreamed sources. You don't need a soundcard, your GTX 670 will pass ALL the sound your PC can possibly make over the HDMI cable. Games, music, MP3's, movies, beeps, bops, everything.

[vauba]

HDMI passes ALL sound. Not just bitstreamed sources. You don't need a soundcard, your GTX 670 will pass ALL the sound your PC can possibly make over the HDMI cable. Games, music, MP3's, movies, beeps, bops, everything.

But don't receivers lack the ability to decode audio files such as MP3s and game audio systems such as EAX? doesn't a sound card do some processing of these before the signal is sent to the receiver?

[Favelle]

But don't receivers lack the ability to decode audio files such as MP3s and game audio systems such as EAX? doesn't a sound card do some processing of these before the signal is sent to the receiver?

No they don't. And even if they did, the decoding is ALL done on the PC end anyways and sent to the receiver as PCM or LPCM (even better).

[vauba]

No they don't. And even if they did, the decoding is ALL done on the PC end anyways and sent to the receiver as PCM or LPCM (even better).

Yes, that's what I thought. But isn't the quality of the decoding done on the PC end affected by a sound card or onboard sound processing?

[Favelle]

Yes, that's what I thought. But isn't the quality of the decoding done on the PC end affected by a sound card or onboard sound processing?

Unless you are running $100,000 speakers and amps, its doubtful that any Windows processing will be noticed.

[vauba]

Unless you are running $100,000 speakers and amps, its doubtful that any Windows processing will be noticed.

So the supposed great improvements to sound quality by a sound card happen primarily with analog output right? What about gaming audio systems such as EAX and OpenAL? I thought they were designed to be processed by sound cards, or at least are processed much better than onboard sound solutions.

[Favelle]

So the supposed great improvements to sound quality by a sound card happen primarily with analog output right? What about gaming audio systems such as EAX and OpenAL? I thought they were designed to be processed by sound cards, or at least are processed much better than onboard sound solutions.

Almost every PC game does the sound on software now....no need for a dedicated soundcard to add further post-processing. Its been that way since about 2007, 2008. Even with analog output, Windows API can mess with your sound.