4.1 digital input

[Rev. Night]

i have a question about digital inputs. I have a creative sb live! 5.1sound card, my speaker setup is a Logitech 4.1 z-560s. The speakers are incredible, its just that when i turn the bass way up on the control panel, and then additionally way up in windows, i can really hear crappy bass sound distortion. Is this becuase of the card or the speakers? And no, its not the mp3. this happens to many of them. Also, i see an input on my subwoofer for a Digital Input cord. How much are these? will my 5.1 Live! support it? How much better are these then the standard green and black inputs i am using?

What exactly are they?

 

[Ignad]

Most likely, you're causing clipping to occur. Either at the pre-amp level, or in the amps of the logitech.

(sorry if I am being too basic here)
Sounds are in a wave... When you push the level too high, you start to cut the peaks off of the top and the bottoms of the soundwaves, 'clipping' them and making it sound like crap.


If you turn the sound down on the computer, and up on the speakers and it sounds better, then you were clipping inside the computer... if not, then you are pushing the amps in the speakers too hard. Oh, and remember the lower the bass frequency, the more power needed to play the sound cleanly. If the power amp is clipping, this can cause some harm to speakers.

Oh, and you may be physically clipping the sound if you are causing the woofer to hit its end stops, to 'bottom out'. Clipping of the physical kind is the worst kind. You will quickly detroy the driver.

Sometimes folks use filters to cut out sounds below a chosen frequency to protect thier woofers....

 

[Rev. Night]

so...would a better soundcard fix that? What about a digital input thingy -- which i still don;'t fully understand what they are -- ?


I am using a 450 watt psu. is this too little power?



(btw, i know that sounds are waves, but that is about all i know as per computer audio)