[amazon_link id=”B0044DEDCA” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]In a clear case of the shoemaker’s children, I’ve been living with a pretty crude connection between my media PC and my sound system. The PC itself is an old HP Pavilion that died and got resurrected with a new copy of Windows 7 Home Pro and a new power supply. As far as serving up media and surfing the web, its 4 GB ram and 2.4GHz processor keep up with most anything I ask of it. The audio outputs on the back however, don’t do justice to the sound from either videos or mp3s, and since I’ve ripped every CD we own onto it, I really should have done something about that a while ago.

Up till now I’ve been using a long mini-plug to RCA jack connection to hook the two together. Due to impedance mismatching, I have to crank the sound system’s amplifier up considerably, and from time to time it goes into overload and has to be reset. And that’s not even mentioning the hum the unshielded cable picks up.

All alone for an evening of bachelorhood I decided to sit back and watch the sort of movie my wife would never go for. Cranking up the Japanese Sci-Fi Ghost in the Shell was fun, until the receiver did its overload thing. Looking at my watch I decided I just had time to hit Staples and pick up an new audio card for the HP, and a new power supply while I was at it, since the fan on this one was starting to complain (loudly). Yes, I should be embarrassed. Did I mention the shoemaker’s children?

Although I did pop a new power supply in, I didn’t actually add in a sound board. Instead I picked up SoundBlaster’s X-fi external unit, which connects with a USB mini cable (included) and has RCA and mini audio jacks as well as an optical digital output and Surround 5.1 sound. Even before I installed the software that comes bundled with it, the difference in sound quality was obvious. I’d forgotten that my sound system was actually pretty decent, but the sound that came out whether I was listening to Pandora, Netflix online, or 198 KBPS MP3s was all it took to remind me. Warm clear tones that I’d forgotten my system had in it.

OK, now I’m embarrassed.

And that was just with a simple RCA to RCA audio cable. In order to get the sound loud enough for my movie I needed about 20% less power, and I’m looking forward to cranking it up to see if the receiver does better with the cleaner input.

Tomorrow I’ll dig up an optical cable and go digital.