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Audio noob, need help.

D

DF-1

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 17, 2011
Messages
2,892
Hello, I currently have a xonar DG soundcard and an ath-ad700 headphone.

I was looking to get some speakers, I thought to spend ~ $100 total.

I just ordered these for $60 (found on slickdeals)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ffiliateID=lw9MynSeamY-MwIx5UYjAFZ8Tr228CBs3A

It seems as if I'll need a subwoofer.

I'm totally a noob when it comes to audio,

Can anyone recommend me a good, cheap subwoofer? The cheaper the better, perhaps something around $65?

Thanks for the help!
 
Look on craigslist for an old receiver. I have an old kenwood I would sell cheap if you were local for instance. Take your time and build a good 5.1. the sub will probably cost you around $100 new for a decent one but an old receiver can be had for $50.
 
DF-1 said:
Hello, I currently have a xonar DG soundcard and an ath-ad700 headphone.

I was looking to get some speakers, I thought to spend ~ $100 total.

I just ordered these for $60 (found on slickdeals)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ffiliateID=lw9MynSeamY-MwIx5UYjAFZ8Tr228CBs3A

It seems as if I'll need a subwoofer.

I'm totally a noob when it comes to audio,

Can anyone recommend me a good, cheap subwoofer? The cheaper the better, perhaps something around $65?

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

I would cancel that order, I know your budget is pretty tight, but you have pretty good headphones and a decent soundcard. It's only my opinion but I think you would be pretty disappointed in the quality of the low budget speakers after listening to stuff on your headphones and you would probably end up listening to your heapdhones more and not using the speakers at all!!

Personally, I think you should build up your 5.1 system slowly. You will need a receiver/amp as the guys have already stated in the thread. I would look for a decent set of stereo speakers with the view to getting the sub, center and rear speakers later.
 
I see you all mentioned a receiver, I found one laying in my attic, it seems to be working, the model # is VSX-74TXVI

any idea if its good?

reaper12 said:
I would cancel that order... I think you would be pretty disappointed in the quality of the low budget speakers
Click to expand...

I do hope they sound good. im no audiophile but I bought a logitech z506 from bestbuy last year and returned them because they were god awful.
 
as odd as that sounds, yes I did :p

Procyon12 said:
yes. its very good. you found a $1500 receiver in your attic?
Click to expand...




I tried ordering that 8" 60watt monoprice sub. the shipping is $20 which makes it $80 and sort of kills it.

I can get free shipping with amazon/newegg, and bestbuy usually has free-ship as-well.

I have a $15 coupon for bestbuy that I have nothing to use it on.

Is there any other sub you guys would recommend? I think I can raise my budget a little, to around $100 instead of $65.


I just received them ~20 minutes ago, it came with a manual, the speakers and 5 bolts. it seems like i'll also need some wires to hook it up, which ones should I buy?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help.
 
OK. if you are on a strict $100 budget, this subwoofer ships free on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009WBYK

cables you will need:

speaker wire:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029HO66G

from the Xonar DG to the receiver:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Z5CP/
you need 3 of these: they go from the Green, Black and Orange ports of the DG to the receivers Multichannel input of the Pioneer. leave the Surround Rears unplugged as the Xonar DG does not support 7.1 just 5.1

finally, a subwoofer cable:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002GUBGA/

you can adjust the lengths if needed.
 
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DF-1 said:
as odd as that sounds, yes I did :p






I tried ordering that 8" 60watt monoprice sub. the shipping is $20 which makes it $80 and sort of kills it.

I can get free shipping with amazon/newegg, and bestbuy usually has free-ship as-well.

I have a $15 coupon for bestbuy that I have nothing to use it on.

Is there any other sub you guys would recommend? I think I can raise my budget a little, to around $100 instead of $65.


I just received them ~20 minutes ago, it came with a manual, the speakers and 5 bolts. it seems like i'll also need some wires to hook it up, which ones should I buy?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help.
Click to expand...



now someone will doubtless come along and tell you how bad my sub sucks....it doesn't (depending on what you want from it) but i have this PSW10 i have had for about 4years now

...it isn't super powerful it won't shake the block but i find it well suited for my needs here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290034

$99 w/ $20 promo code /free shipping


as far as hooking the speakers up you just need some speaker wire...if you can wait it out order some from monoprice cheap and good

I am using this..

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10239&cs_id=1023903&p_id=2793&seq=1&format=2

and i am totally satisfied ... if you are impatient (want to hook it up tonight) go to radioshack get some speaker wire there... i have some of their stuff too..it is fine.. i prefer the monoprice wire..but meh... )
 
Ok, I got all the wires sorted out.

The last thing I just want to make sure is the sub.

I see you guys have linked me two different ones.

i'm trying to figure out which ones the best

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16882117402
http://www.amazon.com/BIC-AMERICA-V-80-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B00009WBYK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite
or something else?

I'm thinking to go with the last one since its 10"?

This set-up is going to sound great I just know it!

Thanks for all the help, I would've been so lost without it.
 
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edit..never mind for dude found a $1500 pioneer elite in his attic.... some damned nice attic find... i wish my attic had anything besides old tax records and excess holiday decorations in it.
 
atarione said:
pioneer doesn't have speaker level out

only speaker level in..so it will be a pain in the ass with a amp without LFE / sub out.
Click to expand...

no it wont. all that means is that he cannot use a low cut on the speakers. also he's using a Pioneer VSX-74TXVI
 
Those Energy RC Micros are actually quite good. Energy MSRP'd it at $999 with the sub I believe. Of course it's not worth $1k at all, but they do sound really nice, especially for the size. I bought my girlfriend those Micros so I do have some experience with them. Sure, audio quality wise, the headphones will give you more detail and fuller sound, but the 5.1 can give you nice surround while gaming and or movies. Plus, nothing beats actually feeling the bass and sound vs headphones.

I have a pair of Energy RC-10s and V-Minis for the center/rears, and these mini speakers will not disappoint on the detail. It just has no low end at all.

I think you should dig around your attic some more. I mean you found a $1500 receiver and generally, that's the least you should spend on a home theater. That means you must have some $5k speakers in there somewhere!
 
if that guy pulls a bunch of Klipsch Reference series speakers out of his attic i'm going to be pissed :D
 
atarione said:
if that guy pulls a bunch of Klipsch Reference series speakers out of his attic i'm going to be pissed :D
Click to expand...

I found something else... in the basement this time, I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I think it has something to do with audio.

IMG_20121230_181640_zpsa9278913.jpg

IMG_20121230_181748_zps840d0418.jpg

IMG_20121230_181814_zps29debf9c.jpg


I think thats all im going to find :D
 
DF-1 said:
I found something else... in the basement this time, I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I think it has something to do with audio.

IMG_20121230_181640_zpsa9278913.jpg

IMG_20121230_181748_zps840d0418.jpg

IMG_20121230_181814_zps29debf9c.jpg


I think thats all im going to find :D
Click to expand...

lol... so you got your self a little MCS (jc penny's house brand) rack system there (tuner , integrated amp , eq and dual cassette) probably early/mid 80s looks like

i'm not super excited about that find but it is still better than the bat dropping i'd likely find in my attic :D
 
lol I remember those integrated units. I mowed a lot of yards to buy my first Sony stereo like that. Thought it was the cat's ass at the time.
 
You guys won't believe this...

I just received all the wires from amazon, so I went to the attic to get the receiver.

By it, I notice a subwoofer just sitting there that I hadn't noticed before. It doesn't say a model number on it, but it looks exactly like the one pictured here

http://www.amazon.com/Mirage-13867-Nano-Sub-Subwoofer/dp/B0009IK1AW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top


(this is how the back of it looks)
312005183710.jpg


The subwoofer that I ordered is set to arrive tomorrow, I'm thinking maybe I should just refuse delivery?

I plugged this one in, and it seems like its working/powering on. Does it look decent to you guys?


I'm also having a hard time setting everything up, I'm not sure how all the wires are supposed to connect. The receiver has about 50 different connections.

Thanks for all the continued help, I really appreciate it!

I really can't believe I found another thing...:
 
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My God, who finds a receiver in the attic like that?

It would be a crime to hook up those God awful speakers you linked to earlier to that receiver. That receiver is a beast.

My advice is to get yourself some really good stereo speakers if you are on a budget then add to it down the line... With 140 watts per channel you don't need surround, just turn up the volume.

Did you just move in?

Stop ordering things and keep digging through that attic, maybe you will find one of Saddam's golden AK47s
 
I solved my problems, you can ignore the entirety of this post. Thanks!


EDIT/update: after hours of trying, I figured out that putting FlexBass on in my Xonar DG audio setting program and putting the two front speakers as "small" brought it to life! What setting should I leave it at (LFE Crossover Frequency)? the default ON is 120HZ. There are so many options in this thing, and also windows options. Is there anything I should tweak for better sound?

Thanks so much for all your help!

update2: the Hi-Fi option disables FlexBass (LFE cross freq). Also it 5.1 doesn't work in some games where it should (World of Warcraft) update3: WoW only uses all the speakers when i change it from whatever # audio channels to 2, but the directional sound is way off. Same thing happens with Windows Media player. I thought setting it to 6 would be appropriate since its 5.1? Im really lost...

tl;dr it seems like I can only hear from 2 audio channels if I want to hear all of my speakers. If I switch to either 4/6/8 in my xonar DG I only hear the front 2+sub.


I googled it and it seems as if windows media player is supposed to be able to play 5.1, but it isn't working for me. When I ran the same exact files with VLC i could hear them throughout all the speakers even with the "8 audio channels" setting on.

I also solved the World Of Warcraft problem. I had to erase all the WTF/INTERFACE/Cache folders.

I don't know why developers make it so hard to get 5.1. They should really make it work on default without having to mess with it for hours on end, looking for fixes on the dark places in the internet.

Now I know that my set-up is fine, if I have any problem with software XYZ I know that it'll be the softwares fault.

I see myself getting more into audio in the future.

Thank you for all your help, and sorry for driving you crazy!


ORIGINAL:
The speakers work wonderfully, but I have a little problem.

The subwoofer when plugged into the pre-amp works on the test in Windows 7, but it doesn't work on anything else, at all.

When I plug it into the pre-right it does work.(pre-left doesn't make it work) I'm not sure what to do.

Any help would be much appreciated!
 
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Developers don't invest much time to 3D or 5.1 because such a small percentage of consumers have them. It's a law of diminishing returns.
 
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