HDMI output is only beneficial if you have a receiver/amplifier that will convert the output to analog audio for you. All sound needs to be converted to analog for you to hear it. So your main questions are, 1) Is the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) currently in your computer good enough, and 2) If not, what is the best/efficient way to get a better DAC between your computer and your speakers? I have read that the DAC on the cheap NT$1000 Asus Xonar DG sound card is quite good so that may be all you need.
And also. My other complaint. Is that I am still not convinced that the MP3, WAV, WMA, etc formats are really high fidelity. I have some pretty crappy files that have low data rate and small sample size, so it sounds sibilant. But if I convert a song straight from DVD to MP3 at high quality, will it be just as good?
In theory, the only way to get as good as CD is to have the files uncompressed, identical to the CD/DVD. All mp3 and wma files (including FLAC) are compressed. wav files can be uncompressed so should be just as good. Although presumably the conversion process could have an effect, too.
FLAC is lossless compression, so it is equivalent to the original uncompressed file with no loss in quality. APE is another lossless compression format; Apple has one too. MP3 and other compression formats are lossy, so there is a difference between your CD/DVD audio and an MP3 file. But whether you can hear the difference is another issue. Many people swear they can tell the difference between a high quality MP3 and the original file, and many studies suggest that they are all wrong. Go with whatever sounds right to you. If you think there is a difference, then just save everything in FLAC or another lossless format. Generally what you’re listening to and how it was originally recorded/mastered probably matters more than what compression you use.
There is no such thing as lossless compression!
One can certainly tell the difference between a a FLAC and a wav file.
In reality, however, I use FLAC where I can get it, or mp3 at 320.
There are many examples of lossless compression. ZIP and RAR and similar files that you use every day are lossless compression. You can take a file, compress it into a ZIP, extract it, compress it again, etc. without changing the original file. FLAC is the same thing, just specifically designed for audio. You can convert a WAV into FLAC and back to WAV again with no change in the data. If your WAV and FLAC files sound different then that is because they are from different sources, not because of compression.
i stand corrected!
However, I still think that the FLAC are not as lossless as the name suggests because of the decompression method. With ZIP (etc), it takes time to decompress the files, but FLAC is supposed to happen as they are played. I’m not convinced this leads to as good results as uncompressed audio files.
Kind of wow’ed at how big the mark-up is on imported speakers here. Pairs that are £300 in the Uk go for 50% and more here.
Looks like buying the Usher S-520 would be the wisest move. Taiwan brand, and they’re relatively cheap here but get marked up when they get to the States.
Sensitivity is low though at 86db–you’ll have to pair them with enough amp power. I wound up paying a bit more for Klipsch bookshelves for this reason.
I think I’ll be Ok with the amp I’ve got in mind.
I do like the Dali Zensor 7 but they’re a set-price here at 23,900 (that’s $820, compared to $550 or so back in the US). Can’t really stretch to that.