Good sounding Stuff!?

SiZcO · 07-16-2008, 07:18 PM

Well i have the OLD logitech z-560 speakers.. had them for SO long haha.. my sub has a loose goes in and out sometimes.. i need to UPGRADE! i was looking at the Logitech Z-5500.. they look very nice! what do you guys prefer for surround sound PC speakers with sub?

ricanflow · 07-16-2008, 07:44 PM

First of all, do you have onboard sound or dedicated sound??

Oreo · 07-16-2008, 08:08 PM

Theres only one good answer to that ^ ^

Do you have a lot of money ?, because then we can lean away from logitech

And last of all, do you really need surround sound...? because if you dont, you can get some pretty good speakers for the same price as some Z5500's

SiZcO · 07-16-2008, 08:41 PM

No, i have onboard sound.. ive heard my cousin good PC speakers which were mine.. he had a sound card.. then i did it on mine.. i couldnt tell a difference even in different settings and games etc... and also... i don't need surround sound but it would be nice to have it.. incase i wanted to hook it up to my plasma too.. sense thats the option... and i don't wanna speed no more then 300 max.. i saw the 5500 on ebay brand new for around 230...

ricanflow · 07-17-2008, 12:50 AM

HAHA..."Good" pc speakers aren't really good speakers at all, but i wont get into that argument here.

An X-FI Xtrememusic and a pair of HD280pro's will blow away onboard sound/pc speakers, and you will be able to tell the difference guaranteed. Speakers are much harder to tell the difference, but it is there.

Whatever you get, i advise that you invest in a decent card (something from the X-FI series, or even an Audigy line card).

Oreo · 07-17-2008, 08:44 PM

Or M-Audio.. no, wait. JUST M-Audio

Or EM-U but then that is basicly creative admitting there own line of cards is crap (X-Fi, Audigy) and making a good soundcard.

Why stop with HD280 pro's ? Comeon...don't go lower than the HD580's ! Or are them pro's monitoring headphones ?

ricanflow · 07-17-2008, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oreo

Or M-Audio.. no, wait. JUST M-Audio

Or EM-U but then that is basicly creative admitting there own line of cards is crap (X-Fi, Audigy) and making a good soundcard.

Why stop with HD280 pro's ? Comeon...don't go lower than the HD580's ! Or are them pro's monitoring headphones ?

Creative's X-FI chip is by no means crap.

Especially the Auzentech X-FI Prelude, thats an amazing card right there...id say the best X-FI equipped card out there.
Auzentech X-FI Prelude 7.1 Review - Hardware Canucks

The hd280 pros are the best $99 headphones ive ever heard, period, and yes they can be used for monitoring.
Sennheiser HD 280 PRO | Sweetwater.com

Oreo · 07-17-2008, 09:22 PM

They are pretty crap relative to proper recording sound cards..don't deny that

In my experience anyway. I herd my dads X-Fi extreme music, and then my M-Audio 192. :eek: It's WAY better.

I havn't herd the hd280's. I'll give em a try.. but i've gone through way to many headphones now :eek:

Here's the list.

Audio Technica ATH-D40fs, Sennheiser HD650, Sennheiser HD600, Audio Technica ATH-A900, Denon D5000, Grado SR125, Grado SR225, Audio Technica ATH-CK7, Shure SE530, Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 11's, Beyerdynamic DT880, AKG K701, Audio Technica W5000. And to go along with them i bought these headphone amps

Graham Slee Solo, Ray Samuals Audio Hornet, and finally. Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline XP-7

o.o .... Expensive

Consequently my opinion of sub £2000 speakers is crap.

ricanflow · 07-17-2008, 10:27 PM

The E-MU 1212M isnt a crap card, and uses the same sound processor as
the Audigy 2ZS.

Creatives cards aren't crap, seriously. And this is coming from me, an audio guy. At least not the high end ones.

I have an X-FI Xtrememusic myself (for when i go to lans and for headphone use, when i cant use my usb mixer, and i got it for only $42 shipped) and its great but creative chose to go cheap with the opamp's and some other components. Still sounds good, but it can sound better.

Auzentech didnt do this with their version, in fact they used some pretty high grade stuff and youll find audio experts saying its one of the best cards out there in the $200 price range for movies/gaming/music. Im sure it can handle recording very well too.

If it had more inputs/outputs, it would be extremely useful for recording. Even without them, i would still use it due to the high grade dacs, asio driver and 24bit/96khz processing (same as Xtrememusic).

to the op:

Not sure about surround speakers, but i heard these guys and if i had to for whatever reason get pc speakers i would go with them:
Newegg.com - Logitech Z-4 40 watts 2.1 Speaker - Speakers

Apokalipse · 07-18-2008, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oreo

They are pretty crap relative to proper recording sound cards..don't deny that

In terms of what?
the X-Fi audio processor itself is quite good.
Creative's X-Fi cards are let down by poor choices of components they use, such as the OpAmps, capacitors. the DAC's used are pretty good though (but not the best)
There are plenty of people who modify their X-Fi's with better components, such as using the LM4562's/LME49720's, and much better capacitors (such as those from Rubicon or Nichicon)...

Auzentech's X-Fi cards have much better components at stock than Creative's X-fi cards....

Though in general, they're not suited to recording. They're designed mainly for surround, and positional audio (and very suited for gaming), and when modified, can have good quality playback

Member Login