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Audioengine A5's for gaming

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drleospaceman

Gawd
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
518
Are the A5's good for gaming, mostly in terms of bass? I've been searching around but haven't found a gamer's opinion. They'll be used with a xonar sound card.
 
I have a pair coming in the mail today which will be driven by my Xtremegamer card until I buy a DAC. I'll post an opinion as soon as possible.

[edit]Having read about these extensively prior to purchase, I can comment now that the general consensus seems to be the bass is perfectly acceptable for many although if you're the sort who thinks bass needs to be felt rather than just heard, you're going to need a sub.

It also just occurred to me that I should "burn-in" these speakers for a couple dozen hours before making any conclusions about them.
[/edit]
 
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Pretty much as good as you're going to get without either much larger speakers, a subwoofer, or headphones.
 
I was just noticing, do they not have a headphone out jack? Can the line in be used for headphones if you use an adapter?
 
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I actually just got a pair. Haven't put them through the paces yet, but they've a much fuller low end compared to say, my Swan Mk200s. I'm using them as DJ monitors.

Honestly, in that price range, they're just about top of class in terms of bass quality (and overall sound) unless you start going into separate passive + amp setups. You can make a case for a couple of other studio monitors, but eh...
 
if you're a bass head, you will need a sub regardless, But they have the best bass for consumer level bookshelves. You'd have to step up to ADAMs or more to get better bass at which point it'd be better to just get a sub.
 
Mine are driven by a Focusrite Saffire. It's an external recording interface with built-in DSP. I think my A5s sound awesome. The mids are ridiculous. I play TF2 and other games all the time.

I'm quite the bass lover. I have mine resting on Auralex pads on my desk next to my displays. They're only a few inches from the wall though. Ideally they should be at least six inches from the wall on monitor stands for optimum bass. Still, the bass is pretty good. I do miss having a sub with my Klipsch 2.1 set, but a sub can be detrimental within a recording environment.

I can't say how well they sound driven by onboard audio or a soundcard.
 
Mr. B said:
I have a pair coming in the mail today which will be driven by my Xtremegamer card until I buy a DAC. I'll post an opinion as soon as possible.

[edit]Having read about these extensively prior to purchase, I can comment now that the general consensus seems to be the bass is perfectly acceptable for many although if you're the sort who thinks bass needs to be felt rather than just heard, you're going to need a sub.

It also just occurred to me that I should "burn-in" these speakers for a couple dozen hours before making any conclusions about them.
[/edit]
Click to expand...

You FEEL a handgreande just as much as you hear it, thus I wan't to FEEL handgrenades in games...so don't per auto assume that physically being able to feel the bass is a bad thing.
 
I just tried a couple games (Fallout 3 and UT3) with my new Audioengines (with X-Fi Xtremegamer) and I think I can make some educated impressions. The overall sound of these speakers is incredible. The clarity and soundstage of this set is on a higher plane of existence than my Logitech 5.1 set. For music, they blow them out of the water.

However, the bass is not quite adequate for gaming. The sound is there and spectacular, but you aren't going to feel anything. In UT3, weapon fire generally sounds flat as basically every weapon's effect is bass intensive. In Fallout 3, which features more conventional firearms, the sounds are more tolerable as most ballistic weapon effects are not as demanding as a fictional flak cannon. However, grenades and other explosive weapons lack punch. I would agree that for games, you should feel the sounds and that just doesn't happen here.

I still love these speakers and augmented with a subwoofer, I think the Audioengine 5 set could be great for gaming. However, if a majority of your usage is gaming rather than music and you are unwilling to spend more money on a sub, I couldn't in good conscience recommend these speakers for gaming.

Having only had these for a day, it's going to take some time for me to adjust my hearing and expectations away from the Z5300's which shake the earth for anything under 100hz. I should soon grow quite content with these but I will likely add a sub eventually for the occasional explosion.

EDITED TO ADD: It just occurred to me that it might help to turn on bass boost and some of the other software voodoo I never use. It did help make things more tolerable but not enough to change my ultimate recommendation.
 
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Mr. B, it sounds like we need to help you find a real subwoofer so you can have a similar experience regarding the "subwoofer" in the Z5300s. :D
 
I started to research the topic early this afternoon but I decided I should try to go a while without any significant computer related purchases.
 
That's good too...if you wait a month or three, you'll have time to get used to the new equipment and develop a better idea of what you want to do.
 
The ASW-8 is the exact sub I added. I got it a bit cheaper though, it was on sale for $80 and there was a stacking 10% coupon that brought it down to $72.
 
ashmedai said:
This is generally a very bad way to connect your headphones. Which is probably why the A5s, being rather classy units, don't provide one.
Click to expand...

Depends, the M-Audio AV 40s have it setup so the on-board amp also acts as a headphone amp. Really nice to have a quality headphone amp and speaker set in the same package :)

I can't comment on the A5s for anything, although thanks to how much love they receive here in the forums, I've been curious to hear them.
 
ashmedai said:
Mr. B, it sounds like we need to help you find a real subwoofer so you can have a similar experience regarding the "subwoofer" in the Z5300s. :D
Click to expand...

if you just want thump instead of a sub that hits the actual note...then those are fine lol..but play music with notes from 25Hz to 70Hz and you'll note that a real sub will give you different tones, whereas the logitech just gives you the same exact thump for all notes.:p
 
The ASW-8 is a rebadged version of the ESW-8 with some cosmetic changes. The sub is good, might be a lil overpriced for the $130 u got it at. You can get the ASW-8 linked above for $99 shipped.
 
Wow I was way off in my bass apprehension. Not only is the bass more powerful and deep than the logitech x-540 subwoofer, it's far more precise! I have them about a foot away from the wall, and they vibrate my whole table. Should I put them on some rubber pads or something?
 
drleospaceman said:
Should I put them on some rubber pads or something?
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Yeah, and it'll also help the sound if you get them properly isolated. Bloody sympathetic vibrations can be a nuisance.

Did they come with little stick-on feet or anything?
 
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ashmedai said:
Yeah, and it'll also help the sound if you get them properly isolated. Bloody sympathetic vibrations can be a nuisance.

Did they come with little stick-on feet or anything?
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No they have a thin padding for the whole speaker bottom. I'll check out those amazon pads, thanks.
 
drleospaceman said:
Wow I was way off in my bass apprehension. Not only is the bass more powerful and deep than the logitech x-540 subwoofer, it's far more precise! I have them about a foot away from the wall, and they vibrate my whole table. Should I put them on some rubber pads or something?
Click to expand...
Ideally, the tweeters should be positioned at eye level.
 
Might have to exchange them.. there's some kind of discoloration/stain on one of the speaker's tweeter that has been catching my eye right out of the box (other side's tweeter looks perfect):

tweeter33.jpg

tweeter22.jpg


Yeah I know it looks trivial but I would expect just a little quality control from a company that prides itself with looks!
 
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