Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom

[mab1376]

I never had my fuse blow once. These speakers have been so loud and always been on a seperate APC from my pc. +1 check try and get a apc that cleans the dirty line.

lol nm, didnt read last post above

Any specific one you'd recommend, I have a little hiss in my speakers and I'd like to get a nice power cleaner + battery for them.

 

[DanishDevil]

Sorry to hear that man

I would wait until they go on sale somewhere. I remember CompUSA had them for $199 Shipped for a while

 

[eggyhustles]

Sup guys?

just built my friend a rig and now he want's an audio setup..he's been eyeing the z5500's and plans to buy them.. and want's a soundcard too..i don't know much about soundcards to be honest so i'm coming here..it's gonna be used for 50% movies, 40% music, and 10% gaming..we've got it down to these choices

ht omega claro
claro halo xt(since they have a headphone amp so he can use his denon iems late nite)
xfi elite pro
xonar d2
and auzentech prelude

out of these 5, which would you guys pick?

 

[Darren]

Sup guys?

just built my friend a rig and now he want's an audio setup..he's been eyeing the z5500's and plans to buy them.. and want's a soundcard too..i don't know much about soundcards to be honest so i'm coming here..it's gonna be used for 50% movies, 40% music, and 10% gaming..we've got it down to these choices

ht omega claro
claro halo xt(since they have a headphone amp so he can use his denon iems late nite)
xfi elite pro
xonar d2
and auzentech prelude

out of these 5, which would you guys pick?

50% movies...

You need a soundcard that has DTS and Dolby Digital encoding onboard, any of the cards you mentioned would do except the X-fi Elite Pro. The HT Omega Claro is the cheapest with DTS/DD so it gets my vote

Make sure your friend connects it up using SPDIF, either digital coaxial or a fibre optical cable.

 

[eggyhustles]

just noticed your reply nevermind lol

 

[DanishDevil]

Auzentech X-Fi Prelude!!! Hands down the best sound card I have ever owned (and I have owned quite a few).

The Auzen has DTS and Dolby Digital encoding, as well as a rare feature - DDL (Dolby Digital Live) encoding that I haven't found on other sound cards.

 

[C4nvas]

Auzentech X-Fi Prelude!!! Hands down the best sound card I have ever owned (and I have owned quite a few).

The Auzen has DTS and Dolby Digital encoding, as well as a rare feature - DDL (Dolby Digital Live) encoding that I haven't found on other sound cards.

well X-FI titanium has

 

[eggyhustles]

now you guys got me thinking about other cards now lol

would the prelude be better than the omega? how's the asus xonar d2?

 

[Cold Storm]

I'd suggest the Prelude myself also. I love my Azuen card now, and if I had the change I'd up it to that card..

From what I've seen on the Xonar D2, they should be pretty good. Just haven't seen much on the cards themselves...

 

[JrRacinFan]

4 words for you eggy: Prelude FTW!

 

[Darren]

The Auzen has DTS and Dolby Digital encoding, as well as a rare feature - DDL (Dolby Digital Live) encoding that I haven't found on other sound cards.

You must of been in a closet for the last 2 years, a few sounds cards have DDL and DTS encoding these days, its not as rare as it was. Prelude is overpriced because of that crusty EAX 5.0 gimmick.

now you guys got me thinking about other cards now lol

would the prelude be better than the omega? how's the asus xonar d2?

All three cards, the Azentech Prelude, Xonar D2 and HT Omega have DTS and DD encoding onboard.They all have similar features so its a personal choice which you like best.

In terms of price/performance, the prelude and Xonar are expensive and they don't offer much to justify their cost in comparison to the much cheaper HT Omega Striker and Bluegear's b-Enspirer.

HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 is $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Bluegears b-Enspirer 7.1 $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829127002


Edit:

hell, my antique X-mystique has dolby live.

Indeed. I believe that was Auzentech's first card with Dolby. The X-Plosion was their first card with both DD and DTS!


Edit 2:

so the striker would do everything the claro can do just as fine?

Yes!

 

[Mussels]

hell, my antique X-mystique has dolby live. and the onboard audio on my media PC has DTS interactive encoding.

 

[eggyhustles]

You must of been in a closet for the last 2 years, a few sounds cards have DDL and DTS encoding these days, its not as rare as it was. Prelude is overpriced because of that crusty EAX 5.0 gimmick.



All three cards, the Azentech Prelude, Xonar D2 and HT Omega have DTS and DD encoding onboard.They all have similar features so its a personal choice which you like best.

In terms of price/performance, the prelude and Xonar are expensive and they don't offer much to justify their cost in comparison to the much cheaper HT Omega Striker and Bluegear's b-Enspirer.

HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 is $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Bluegears b-Enspirer 7.1 $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829127002


Edit:



Indeed. I believe that was Auzentech's first card with Dolby. The X-Plosion was their first card with both DD and DTS!

so the striker would do everything the claro can do just as fine?

 

[DanishDevil]

You must of been in a closet for the last 2 years, a few sounds cards have DDL and DTS encoding these days, its not as rare as it was. Prelude is overpriced because of that crusty EAX 5.0 gimmick.

Well I've been in friggin Argentina for the past 4 months, so I guess that counts...:shadedshu

Back on topic...

The other good thing about getting the Auzentech over a stock Creative card is that Auzentech has their own drivers, and they are MUCH better than Creative's.

Overall, if it's not really all for gaming, and you're getting it with the Z-5500's, anything with an optical output is fine. Music and movies are going to sound just fine over Optical.

Us over here at TPU tend to throw out names of the best cards we've had, when 90% of users don't need/won't benefit from their features.

50% movies, 40% music, and 10% gaming combined with Z-5500's = onboard optical out. It really won't sound a whole lot different to justify the cost of a discrete graphics card IMO. If gaming was closer to 50%, I would suggest a discrete card, but let's look at it this way:

Movies = DVD/Blu-Ray/rips = 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround = Decoding over Coax/Optical on the Z-5500 control pod.
Music = stereo sound = Dolby ProLogic II Music upmixing on the Z-5500 control pod.
Gaming = multiple different things, but the best way to do it is with a Creative X-Fi based sound card and a Dolby Digital Live encoding discrete sound card.

If it's only 10% gaming, it's not worth it.

 

[eggyhustles]

excellent post

guess we're not getting a card, since the motherboard has optical out

edit..anyone know the cheapest place to get the z5500?

 

[Darren]

excellent post

guess we're not getting a card, since the motherboard has optical out

Bare in mind that with integrated audio on the motherboard you'll only be able to get DD/DTS in authentic store bought DVDs using SPDIF passthrough. You'll get stereo in music or downloaded videos by default, although Prologic can be applied to up mix it to 5.1, its not as immersive as DD/DTS.

edit..anyone know the cheapest place to get the z5500?

Depends where you live, US, UK?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120&Tpk=Z-5500 $302.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...s.asp?EdpNo=1068250&sku=L23-6334&srkey=z-5500 $259.99


Edit:

US

with shipping it comes out to 305 on tigerdirect

newegg is the cheapest i've found it bnib

Gd gd

 

[eggyhustles]

US

with shipping it comes out to 305 on tigerdirect

newegg is the cheapest i've found it bnib

 

[eggyhustles]

how would you set up the z5500's on this desk

 

[DanishDevil]

Just on the desk? I would put the center and left speakers where the stereo system speakers are, and the right one under the monitor area, and the surround ones behind you if you can. I guess that's the best way to do it. Pretty cramped space for a 5.1 system though.

Basically, you want the most stereo separation as possible (left and right speakers for front and rear as far apart as possible) and all speakers equidistant from you (except for the rear speakers, as they can be programmed with a delay if they're closer to you).

 

[DanishDevil]

Just saw this on [H].

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1387683

My condolences go out to the guy. And if anybody wants 'em there ya go hehe.

 

[eggyhustles]

that's not even a deal lol

with shipping that'll be like 340-350

might as well buy them on ebay for 302 shipped

 

[DanishDevil]

Not saying it's a deal. More linking to it because I can relate to having to sell precious pieces of hardware to pay for school.

 

[iStink]

has everyone posted their EQ settings? If you have an x-fi card, I'd like to see what settings you've got.

Right now, in game mode, I've got surround at 50%, so stereo comes out of 4 speakers (adds to the bass too.) The Crystalizer is at 50%, and instead of going with a preset, I setup my EQ custom. I'll post a SS when I get home, but its about as good as I think I can get it.

 

[twicksisted]

its a bit difficult to post settings as all our room arte different... i find with a 60/40 split to the rear i get good surround... but then again my end is big
(the room of course)

hehe...

anyways you need to set your room up as you like it... sound wise as different shaped rooms with different surfaces and furniture will sound different

 

[iStink]

its a bit difficult to post settings as all our room arte different... i find with a 60/40 split to the rear i get good surround... but then again my end is big
(the room of course)

hehe...

anyways you need to set your room up as you like it... sound wise as different shaped rooms with different surfaces and furniture will sound different

Well when it comes to surround sound, yes, I see your point. So lets talk about 2 channel stereo then. For a general "all round" eq setting, I use this:

To me it sounds perfect, but i bet people have different settings for this setup (xfi + z5500). Just seeing what people are using...