Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom

[malware]

Black Panther can you tell us what's the M/N written on the sub of yours?

I have new information which might be useful for the Club - specs of the speakers. They're made by a company called Tangband Speakers.

satellite tweeter: http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1208_03/w3-871sc.htm (F Series W3-871SC)
SUB driver: http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1208_03/wt-644f.htm (PA Series WT-644F)

 

[Black Panther]

Black Panther can you tell us what's the M/N written on the sub of yours?

S-0115B

(What is M/N? Manufacturer Number?)

 

[malware]

S-0115B

(What is M/N? Manufacturer Number?)

Or Model Number.
I found a thread at the Logitech forums, and there a member who seems to be familiar with the case says:

The RCA ones were the first ones that came out. No Doubt. They went back to bare wire later because the RCA lengths were too limited, and its far easier to get variable length bare wire.

He's probably right, and the RCA model is now discontinued ... glad it's not some of the Logitech's region tricks.

 

[Black Panther]

Have you tried putting the Effect on 6 channel direct when attempting Boost 22?

 

[asb2106]

Have you tried putting the Effect on 6 channel direct when attempting Boost 22?

You have to have the analog inputs populated for that right?? I dont use all the inputs, just one of them

 

[allen337]

Hi im allen had my z5500s 4 months now and no +22 yet I try all the time. ALLEN

 

[Black Panther]

You have to have the analog inputs populated for that right?? I dont use all the inputs, just one of them

Yes I'm using the analog inputs. I mean the black, green and orange connectors.

I wanted to put up more photos of my setup but my camera is working intermittently, and only 2 photos came out, sorry for the quality lol but I couldn't choose the best ones!

I had moved my rig to the bedroom:

Another strange issue with my setup, I didn't suspect it was strange until I read about someone who had the same 'issue' on the logitech forums. I wouldn't call it a problem because it doesn't create problems, but is more of a curiousity. It's about my controller displaying the option 96-24 on the display when using the 6 channel direct effect. The OP on the logitech forums was insisting that bitrate shouldn't be displayed when in analogue mode. Some of the savvy people there told him that bitrate isn't limited only to digital, and the thread there was like a war between one of the gurus of the forum and the OP. That was until the OP posted a reply he got from the official Logitech Support, which I quote here:

Thank you for contacting Logitech's Electronic Technical Support.

I am sorry for the delay in replying to your email. You should not be getting the option 96-24 on the display when using the 6 channel direct effect.

This could be some kind of problem with the control pod.

As luck has it, this was the last post in that thread...

Link

As I said not that I'm worrying my head off, as long as my sound functions correctly I don't mind whether I have 96-24 on the display or not.

 

[malware]

Wow, my controller is also displaying the "96-24" always? I'm using analog connection, 6 channel direct.

 

[twicksisted]

From what I understand, its showing up as 24/96 because the DAC / ADC convertors in the head unit is working in that resolution whether or not the analogue / digital signal is 24/96...
The signal its getting may be analogue from your soundcard, but internally the headunits DAC / ADC (digital is using 24/96 to process the analogue signal... giving you high resolution amplification and output (even though its still analogue as the wires to the speakers are).

DAC= Digital to Analogue convertor
ADC= Analogue to Digital convertor

 

[Black Panther]

Hmmm I'm ready to bet that either Logitech support got it wrong... or more likely that guy invented everything?

 

[xvi]

Some have been able to achieve boost 22 by holding the mute button once at boost 11 and keep turning, but I can't seem to do it on my speakers (System Firmware v2.1.0). Here is a YouTube video showing Boost 22.

It looks like he's using the analogue boost with the volume boost to achieve "Boost 22". The analogue boost is apparently not available on Optical (hence "analogue"). It looks to me like "Analogue Boost +11" and "Boost 11" is the same as "Boost 22".

I can't seem to get it to work. I watched a few videos and didn't get anywhere.

I'll snap a pic of my horribly messy setup and join.


[*]xvi (Kyle)
Devices: Turtle Beach Montego DDL (CMI8768 chipset) Optical, PS2
Firmware: Firmware v2.0.4
M/N: X-####X
Speaker Connection: SPEAKER WIRE
96-24 Analog Bug: YES
Boost 22 Capable: NO
Date Purchased: Unknown
Favorite Media: Gran Turismo 4

 

[twicksisted]

It looks to me like "Analogue Boost +11" and "Boost 11" is the same as "Boost 22".

Well first thing i noticed when I went digital was double the sound output, so yeah, it would make sense that Boost 22 analog is the same as Boost 11 Digital

 

[asb2106]

Well first thing i noticed when I went digital was double the sound output, so yeah, it would make sense that Boost 22 analog is the same as Boost 11 Digital

this is very true I did notice this myself

 

[Black Panther]

Well first thing i noticed when I went digital was double the sound output, so yeah, it would make sense that Boost 22 analog is the same as Boost 11 Digital

That means what you previously got with the sound bar half full now you get the same volume with the sound bar 1/4 full? Wow...

Apart from that, did you notice any audible improvement in the sound quality?

I remember I did notice a very good improvement in the sound quality between onboard soundmax and the xtreme music. Previously I couldn't get the volume on the satellites high enough, no matter how high I put them and how low I put the subwoofer I couldn't get a good balance. The sound card made a great difference (apart from the other functions of the x-fi like EAX, crystallizer etc).

 

[DanishDevil]

Ok, I've updated quite a bit, but not everything before this post. Keep replying with what's missing from the information under your names.

As far as I can tell now, there's no clear-cut revision that is plagued by the analog 96-24 bug or the boost 22 incapability.

I need to take a couple days off from the forum, since I've got finals tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll see you guys in a few days

 

[asb2106]

Ok, I've updated quite a bit, but not everything before this post. Keep replying with what's missing from the information under your names.

As far as I can tell now, there's no clear-cut revision that is plagued by the analog 96-24 bug or the boost 22 incapability.

I need to take a couple days off from the forum, since I've got finals tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll see you guys in a few days

Good Luck!

 

[Black Panther]

Good luck in your finals DanishDevil!
And thanks for creating this club. I learnt lots of stuff on my Z-5500 from here.

 

[allen337]

Mine says 96-24 in direct also just thought it was a fluke. Im also using onboard sound and guess what DTS works in 6 chanel direct also. ALLEN

 

[asb2106]

ahh heres one for yah guys,

my z5500 never had the 96-24 on it, I switched to skin 2 and now its on there all the time!!

 

[Black Panther]

Here are some links to reviews of the Z-5500:

By Willz

Tweaknews

Audioholics

 

[Jasper005]

Best audio cable to use?

Hi,

I've got the Logitech Z-5500 and a creative x-fi fatality. I mostly listen to music and play games with 5.1 sound on them. Its very rare that I will watch a DVD copy of a movie with them, as most of the videos I watch are in Divx format

I was just after some advice on the best way to connect them up to each other. At the moment I just use an analog cable, and it sounds great. Is it worth splashing the cash on an optical cable or another type? What are the benefits and disadvantages of doing this?

Thanks for any help and sorry if its a dumb question!

 

[twicksisted]

Hi Jasper,

If you get yourself a good soundcard with dolby digital & DTS, you can hook up with analogue, optical, coaxial...

you say that you mostly watch stereo movies...dolby digital / prologic allows you to use a normal stereo signal but have it panned out over 5.1 speakers... the effect sounds fantastic on my soundcard and makes DivX stereo movies sound great... though watching an actual DVD sounds best I definately want blue ray as the resolution on my 24" screen is a bit blurry on DVD hehe).

optical is good because the optical connection to the headunit tells it what program to put itself into (stereo, quad, 5.1 etc...) so you dont have to change it yourself. It also sounds louder, but i think that could just be the fact that its not going through an ADC convertor.

I wouldnt say that its neccessary though to use optical if you have these speakers, but as the cable was included with my soundcard, I thought why the hell not

 

[Jasper005]

h

Thanks Twicksisted

If you get yourself a good soundcard with dolby digital & DTS, you can hook up with analogue, optical, coaxial...

I think my soundcard does DTS and dolby as well as THQ (no idea)

"Enjoy truly cinematic movie sound
The Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card delivers THX® certified surround sound and includes DTS™ and Dolby Digital®-EX decoding for an unbeatable DVD movie watching experience."

 

[twicksisted]

yeah it will do
if you get an optical cable, then you can use DTS which is like prologic 5.1 but with less compression so better quality sound. you can get them pretty cheap, but still its not really neccessary as analogue / prologic will sound similar on your stereo movies.

Theres DTS interactive mode i think, that splits the stereo signal up into 5.1 and simulates that movie sound on your normal stereo movies... it actually works quite well on mivies where theres definate pan in the stereo signal.

 

[DanishDevil]

It definitely does. I use them hooked up to analog.

DD and DTS are great with movies, but I'd rather use my X-Fi to decode everything on my computer.

BTW - Done with finals!