|
I'm planning on using my computer to listen to music (mostly post-rock and other bass heavy types of music) and this is what I was looking at getting - Creative SoundBlaster X-FI XtremeMusic soundcard, Penguinamp Caffeine Ultra and a set of Beyerdynamic DT770 (80 ohm) headphones. Would this sort of setup be ok for under about £200 or is there anything better in this sort of price range?
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2008 15:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 11:32 |
|
|
Dracon Wolf posted:Would adding that speaker totally throw off the whole dynamics of my system? Yep. The center is really the least important speaker anyway, but replacing it and none of your others would sound pretty bad. Ideally you want the front 3 speakers to match so that there's no issues with timbre during pans.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2008 17:36
|
|
|
.Nathan. posted:Yep. The center is really the least important speaker anyway, but replacing it and none of your others would sound pretty bad. Ideally you want the front 3 speakers to match so that there's no issues with timbre during pans. Awesome, thanks. This was the sort of answer I was looking for. I'm glad I didn't end up buying it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2008 17:42
|
|
|
I'm looking to replace my generic JVC ministereo with something a bit better. I've been looking at the Logitech Z-5500's, but I've been seeing very mixed reviews. Some say it's fantastic audio especially at that price point, yet others say that it's horrible for music as the sub is boomy and laggy, and it's horrible for movies since the voice/center is weak and you have to crank it up too much to hear anything people say. Are they just being whiny/have a crappy setup/spoiled by much more expensive, or is it really a poor choice? I'm looking at stuff in that ballpark, I could go up in price a little if it'll give a large improvement. It'll mainly be used for music (mostly rock and electronic, so I want a good sub), but I want surround for movies. My room is quite small so it doesn't have to be too powerful. As I said right now I have some ministereo I got for christmas 5 years back, so anything will probably be an improvement (and for headphones I mainly use a pair of bluetooth earbuds...). kalleboo fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Feb 3, 2008 |
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2008 18:33
|
|
|
kalleboo posted:I've been looking at the Logitech Z-5500's, but I've been seeing very mixed reviews. Why are you looking at a 5.1 set-up if this is going to be for music? For $400, you could put together a much nicer sounding system, especially if you look at used stuff. I'd budget $300 or so for speakers and the rest on a receiver or integrated-amp. I'd forgo a sub, at least for now because you won't find anything good within your budget.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2008 23:38
|
|
|
There's some really nasty noise coming through the headphone port of my macbook pro. When I open a program, not only do I hear the hard drive spin up from inside the computer, I hear it on my speakers through the amp. And not just then, there's a lot of "ambient" noise as well as strange buzzes and clicks that correspond to basically every moving part in the computer. This is really annoying when I'm trying to listen to something that's soft and has a lot of silence in it. Is there anything I can do about it?
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2008 05:08
|
|
|
butterthatbacon posted:Is there anything I can do about it? Get an external soundcard.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2008 06:46
|
|
|
Pibborando San posted:Get an external soundcard. Any recommendations?
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2008 07:06
|
|
|
butterthatbacon posted:There's some really nasty noise coming through the headphone port of my macbook pro. When I open a program, not only do I hear the hard drive spin up from inside the computer, I hear it on my speakers through the amp. And not just then, there's a lot of "ambient" noise as well as strange buzzes and clicks that correspond to basically every moving part in the computer. This is really annoying when I'm trying to listen to something that's soft and has a lot of silence in it. Is there anything I can do about it? Try momentarily muting your microphone input or turning off whatever option loops it back and out your speakers. If that works, you can try turning down level on your mic. I've found that skype (under linux at least) will unmute the input momentarily, so I can leave it off because I only use it with that application. edit: Maybe line in and others like it as well, although the mic input will be the worst quality and have the highest gain.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2008 07:24
|
|
|
This seems like it should be really simple to answer, but I have a question about getting surround sound from my computer to my receiver. Shouldn't just a 3.5 to L/R audio cord be able to carry surround audio and then the receiver can decode it into Dolby or whatever, or do I need to have a cable for each of the channels the receiver is outputting to? I ask this because every time I tell my computer I have a 5.1 setup it only carries the audio to the front two speakers and none of the others.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 03:21
|
|
|
butterthatbacon posted:Any recommendations? The Beresford TC-7510 has a good reputation. The Emu 0404 is good as well.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 04:09
|
|
|
OK, so i just got some Senn HD595s, and need to upgrade my sound card. The old sound blaster just isn't up to the task. I had my eyes set on a Chaintech AV-710 as i don't have the money to buy a really high end card. However i cannot find one, as they seem to have stopped production of them. I have found an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 locally for a good price, and have read some encouraging reviews. Does anyone know how well this card really is for audio playback? (I am using the aforementioned HD595's and a PIMETA amp) Anyone have any recommendations for a cheap good sounding card? I can spend around $100us max, but would prefer around the $70-80 range.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 05:43
|
|
|
Pibborando San posted:The Beresford TC-7510 has a good reputation. The Emu 0404 is good as well. The Beresford is a fantastic product - but keep in mind it doesn't take USB, you need to feed it an optical or digital signal. You're perfectly fine of your onboard sound can output digital, otherwise you can pick up a cheap USB soundcard like this one ($30). I decided to go the nerdy route and threw a HagUSB half-kit in there. Fits perfectly fine, and with a nice USB chassis-part in place of one of the coaxial inputs it looks like it was designed that way  .
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 09:55
|
|
|
volodkovich posted:OK, so i just got some Senn HD595s, and need to upgrade my sound card. The old sound blaster just isn't up to the task. M-audio makes a nice product, although some people seem to have problems with the drivers. If you're going to use it for music listening, I wouldn't go with a surround card (all the money spent on decoders and DACs can be used for better components instead). The M-audio Audiophile 2496 is good quality for the money (~$95).
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 10:00
|
|
|
I just ordered these speakers. I ordered them because I'm about to get my first receiver, and I'd like to use them as a 2.1 set-up to start off with for movies and to run my music through as well. Did I do good? 
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 22:46
|
|
|
LittleBob posted:Did I do good? I've never heard of that brand but they look decent on paper and in the pictures. I'd like to know how they sound. edit: The reviewer liked them much better than the KEF iQ5 which is promising. Pibborando San fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Feb 5, 2008 |
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2008 23:42
|
|
|
Didn't want to make a new thread for this. My old man is having his downstairs remodeled and after telling me how much he likes Bose and they sounded so great in Best Buy I asked him if I could help. This is what I came up with with the help of a friend who may or may not know things about A/V. Email from friend posted:The setup will consist of: The room this will be used in is around 12x16'. The TV will be around 52" of the LCD variety. He is going to use a PS3 for his blueray needs and will probably be getting a Wii for my little sister. He has HD Dish network with the hard drive (don't know alot about this, sorry). That will be it as far as connections go. The entertianment center will position the front channels at the same hieght as the TV, the front channel will be right under the TV. He primary use is sports and action movies. Can I do better for the money? His budget is around $2-2,500.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2008 20:53
|
|
|
Mcqueen posted:Didn't want to make a new thread for this.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2008 23:00
|
|
|
Mcqueen posted:Can I do better for the money? His budget is around $2-2,500. Looks good. Since this will be for home theater though, I'd replace the x-sub order with an MFW-15. It's $400 more than the x-sub but it'll be so SO much better. And it looks like you have the budget for it anyway. Don't skimp on the sub for HT.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2008 23:34
|
|
|
I know next to nothing about home audio. I want to add a pair of towers (Infinity Beta 50s) and a good size sub to my starter 5.1 Onkyo set. I know I am going to need a new receiver and I would like to salvage my satellites and essentially use the towers to go 7.1. My question is do I need anything to help power the Beta's to get the most out of them. I know I will need an amp for the sub (if someone would suggestion a nice one I appreciate it).
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2008 05:52
|
|
|
Cosmonauticus posted:My question is do I need anything to help power the Beta's to get the most out of them. I know I will need an amp for the sub (if someone would suggestion a nice one I appreciate it). A decent receiver pushing at least 50wpc should be fine. Most subs (unless stated specifically) have amps built in.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2008 06:54
|
|
|
Hey all, I've recently set myself up with an Onkyo SR605 and some Klipsch speakers (RF62 & co.), and was hoping for some help on settings. I've stuck in Casino Royal, set the ps3 to LPCM over HDMI, and am now wondering what exactly the onkyo should be doing. It says PCM in the display, but what listening mode should i actually have available to me & use? Right now that is Direct, Stereo, Multichannel, The Dolby PLII things, the Neo:6 things and other stereo selections. Selecting Direct results in no audio from the surrounds (shouldn't LPCM & Direct give me 5.1?), but it seems to sound better. Right now I am setting it on PLII movies, but I wanted to get some advice on what settings I should be using and what's coming out of the ps3 & the onkyo. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2008 17:53
|
|
|
My old reciever (JVC R-S7) is dying on me and I'm going to get a new one. Would I be making a mistake if I went with the Yamaha RX-V461? ( http://www.yamaha-hifi.com/index.php?lang=e&country=IS&idcat1=1&idcat2=2 ) I would use my (really) old speakers until I could buy new ones, beginning with stereo or 2.1 and later getting 5.1. I don't need ground-shattering volume as I will be living in pretty small apartments for the next few years but I would like to have some kick in the bass for movies, games and music. Is it powerful enough for that (assuming I get decent speakers)? Giving you my price range would not help very much as I live in Iceland and this seems to be the only decent 5.1 reciever I can get here at my price. I would just like to know if there are any glaring problems and if I should save up for a pricier reciever.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2008 18:29
|
|
|
pim01 posted:M-audio makes a nice product, although some people seem to have problems with the drivers. It depends on what you do. M-Audio Delta drivers are very solid in Windows XP and their ASIO driver is brilliant. It works with everything and works with every producer's rig I've ever had to install it in. Never had any technical problems with it and it has worked with every game I've ever played without hitch. Vista is another story but then alot of soundcards have sketchy drivers in Vista.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2008 00:10
|
|
|
Quick question, crossposted from the iPod (non-touch) thread (not sure which was appropriate, but here goes). I've been buying music through iTunes and converting them to regular mp3 format using some suspicious program I paid $20 for called "Protected Music Converter". It works great, but I'm starting to learn about what DRM does, and while I'm not 100% sure what it does yet, I do know that it scares me. Anyway, I'm building a new computer soon, and of course I want to transfer all my music over...am I going to be able to play it? I was able to transfer it onto an external HDD, but as I said, I'm still not sure how it all works...is there a program that will scan my music and tell me which files have/don't have DRM?
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2008 08:30
|
|
|
butterthatbacon posted:There's some really nasty noise coming through the headphone port of my macbook pro. When I open a program, not only do I hear the hard drive spin up from inside the computer, I hear it on my speakers through the amp. ... Is there anything I can do about it? A good option would be to call Apple, since that shouldn't be happening. If you absolutely can't part with it, is there some reason you can't use optical instead? Gorilla Salsa posted:Anyway, I'm building a new computer soon, and of course I want to transfer all my music over...am I going to be able to play it? I was able to transfer it onto an external HDD, but as I said, I'm still not sure how it all works...is there a program that will scan my music and tell me which files have/don't have DRM? If they're converted to MP3s, then they're DRM-free and will play fine anywhere (other than the quality hit from the conversion). But even if they were still Protected AAC, you can have up to 5 computers authorized through iTunes, and you can deauthorize machines at any time. It'll just pop up and ask you to sign in and authorize the computer the first time you try to play a protected file.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2008 18:40
|
|
|
I'm looking for a cheap stand alone stereo system for my apartment. Something for little get-togethers. I can't bring my computer into the living room so computer speakers won't work. Ideally it would be something that I could plug my ipod into. The sound doesn't have to be incredible or anything but good enough for drunk girls to dance around to. My maximum price is like $100, but cheaper would be even better. It really doesn't have to be anything special. Anyone have any advice?
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2008 21:42
|
|
|
I'm looking at upgrading my Onkyo 5.1 receiver to a 7.1 system. I'm looking for something that will accept HDMI video and audio so I'm looking at the Harman/Kardon AVR 247 and the Onkyo TXSR605. I'm leaning more towards the 247 because of it's cheaper price. I watch all my movies through my PS3 which can decode audio to linear PCM which means that the DD and DTS HD decoding on the Onkyo isn't that big of a deal. I currently use an Onkyo 7.1 speaker set, while it's not very high end, it works pretty well. What do you think is the better choice? Also, have any of you had any problems with HDCP and the onboard HDMI switch?
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2008 21:54
|
|
|
I'm looking into step up to an HDTV setup with a home theater system and all that jazz. The system I'm looking into is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DAV-HDX500-BRAVIA-Theater-System/dp/B000SC48MQ/ref=/ref=cm_cd_f_pb_i . It has great reviews and seems to be what I'm looking for. The question I have for you all is if anyone is familiar with the system and knows of any rear speaker stands that might work for it. Examples of stands I'm looking at are these: http://www.amazon.com/SANUS-SYSTEMS...8KXC5HNPJXD39B8 and these: http://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-7730...ARAHXM3N28PX0J7 revengeanceful fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Feb 11, 2008 |
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2008 19:39
|
|
|
pompy posted:I'm looking for a cheap stand alone stereo system for my apartment. Something for little get-togethers. I can't bring my computer into the living room so computer speakers won't work. Ideally it would be something that I could plug my ipod into. The sound doesn't have to be incredible or anything but good enough for drunk girls to dance around to. My maximum price is like $100, but cheaper would be even better. It really doesn't have to be anything special. Anyone have any advice? Everything you'll be able to get new for under $100 will suck - I'd get this refurb TEAC. Looks fantastic (well, I think so anyway), and is probably the best sound you'll get for the price in a small package. Use the aux-in to play from your ipod.
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2008 19:57
|
|
|
Last night my primary speakers used for listening to my turntable and iPod died. They were Creative iTrigue L3500s. I am looking for a replacement set. I only have about $150 though. An IRC friend recommended the mAudio StudioPro 3's. I prefer a sound as close to as the artist intended me to hear it (I loathe EQ/bass boost, etc). Would this be sufficient or should I go another route? Of imnportant note is that I will be using these for my iPod and turntable only (turntable has optical and RCA out), not my PC. They will be in an approximately 20'x 20' room surrounding a bed.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2008 21:40
|
|
|
I'm looking for a docking station compatible with the Ipod Classic with good quality. I almost picked up the Bose one at Best Buy today, but I had a nagging feeling that their advertising might be too good to be true, which I have discovered is the case after browsing through this thread. I'm not too specific about anything else about it. Remote would be nice but not totally necessary. I just don't want to get a piece of junk.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2008 21:54
|
|
|
Just FIY. I'm selling my B&W CM1 speakers (ebay/audiogon), stands (ebay/audiogon) and M&K MX-70 subwoofer (ebay/audiogon) if anyone's interested.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2008 22:03
|
|
|
My current devices are: MacBook (Digital/Optical Out?) Xbox 360 (Digital/Optical Out?) Wii (RCA Out?) I would like to get these devices hooked up to some speakers in order to get the audio quality out of my songs/games/movies that the devices I have purchased are capable of. Ideally I wouldn't have a huge audio receiver sitting under my screen, but realize that I may have no choice in order to have two optical inputs since I don't think many integrated speaker sets (Logitech?) offer this. What device (and if possible speakers as well) can I get to handle these three device/interface requirements, and maybe my a Cable-Box/HD-DVD Add-On/PS3 in the future?
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2008 00:27
|
|
|
What does everybody like for low to mid level wireless speakers? I'm trying to stream Last.FM out of my PC around my house. Max distance 50 ft, 1 floor.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2008 19:49
|
|
|
I'm looking for something which will allow me to simultaneously listen to two computers and one mp3 player using a pair of headphones. i need to be able to adjust the volume level for each input independently. The inputs for the computers can be mono, but the input for the mp3 player should be stereo. The Behringer MX400 4-Channel Line Mixer looks promising, but I don't think that it has a stereo input. Any other suggestions?
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2008 18:36
|
|
|
Caffeinated Sloth posted:I'm looking for something which will allow me to simultaneously listen to two computers and one mp3 player using a pair of headphones. i need to be able to adjust the volume level for each input independently. The inputs for the computers can be mono, but the input for the mp3 player should be stereo. The Behringer MX400 4-Channel Line Mixer looks promising, but I don't think that it has a stereo input. Any other suggestions? The Behringer UB502 has two stereo channels and one mono channel (and stereo output ). $30.
pim01 fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Feb 18, 2008 |
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2008 18:55
|
|
|
Pibborando San posted:Just FIY. Speakers and stands sold but sub is still available. Don't tell, but I would take $260 for it...
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2008 18:22
|
|
|
So I just got a Klipsch KSW-10 Sub for my new home theater running off of a Pioneer VSX-1016. Beyond setting the Auto MCACC, is there any specific settings I should adjust? The room size is some 20x14.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2008 19:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 11:32 |
|
|
I have an Audigy 2 and a Kenwood VR-615 5.1 receiver. Up until recently, I was using 3 phono -> stereo RCA cables to do 6 channel output to my receiver. No Problem. Recently, however, Monoprice finally had a 3.5mm Stereo Plug to RCA Mono Jack so I could use SPDIF output. I got it and a High-Quality Digital Coaxial Audio RCA Cable. I finally got everything and tried hooking it up, only to find that I am completely hosed. The Audigy software says I am outputting 5.1 channels of audio, but my receiver only reads 2. No matter what I do, no matter what settings I change anywhere, I can only get two channels of audio. I've tried to play DVDs and AC3 audio in SPDIF passthrough, but I can't get any software to enable SPDIF passthrough. My sound card apparently doesn't support it? This has all turned into a huge headache. I just want to use one cable to transmit what should be a higher quality digital signal. Am I asking too much? As a side note, I ordered an M-Audio Revolution 5.1 Sound Card from Newegg recently, we'll see how well it works whenever it gets here.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2008 05:09
|
|
