Looking for 5.1 speaker advice

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Monkeypillow

Gawd
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Aug 30, 2006
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My primary uses will be computer games and music. I'll need some form of amp and some form of DAC. I may want a soundcard as well, because many games do not allow you to select headphones for your output. The only games that I have noticed that do this are Valve releases. It would be nice to be able to take multiple inputs from various sources as well, so a nice surround sound processor or receiver would work well. The downside to this is that a lot of unit's headphone jacks are an afterthought, and as a result, underpowered. The nicer units, I believe, would have a nice analog preout for a second zone that I could connect a headphone amp to.

Woot has a deal on some Energy C-100 bookshelf speakers. I was thinking something like that would make a nice 5.1 setup for games. Paired with a decent receiver or SSP, I think I'd be happy. Anyone have any experience with them? I've seen used Outlaw pre/pros on audiogon before, and the price seems good. Can anyone attest to the headphone jack quality?
 
Haven't given the budget much thought. I'll probably buy it in pieces though, so it's not a big issue. Overall, I'm probably looking at somewhere between $500 and $1000.

I do have a question though. For games, how would you go about setting up the sound engine to render for headphones (binaural)? I know Valve releases let you choose, but a lot of games I've been playing recently won't let you choose. Do I need a new soundcard (currently using the onboard of a P35-DS3L)?
 
Monkeypillow said:
Haven't given the budget much thought. I'll probably buy it in pieces though, so it's not a big issue. Overall, I'm probably looking at somewhere between $500 and $1000.

I do have a question though. For games, how would you go about setting up the sound engine to render for headphones (binaural)? I know Valve releases let you choose, but a lot of games I've been playing recently won't let you choose. Do I need a new soundcard (currently using the onboard of a P35-DS3L)?
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if you want to use 5.1 in games + you want good sound quality, you'll need a better sound card, either something that has DDL or something that has good DACs. with DDL / DTSI you can send a 5.1 dolby digital or dts signal to ur receiver and have it decode it using the receivers dacs, or you can use a good sound card with good dacs already and run analog cables to your receiver(that's what I ended up doing with a prelude xf-i)
 
No budget?

Ok, well, grab two pairs of ELT525M Mini Monitors and a ELT525C Center and grab a BIC 100 subwoofer. Then I recommend either HT OMEGA Claro+ or Claro Halo for soundcard or Panasonic XR57.

More like $1500 there.

Want less expensive or....?
 
If you buy something from av123 like the ELT525s make sure you ask them whether or not they're in stock or whether you're going to have to wait for them to be shipped from SA/China/wherever, they've had problems delivering on commit dates. That and CS/quality control issues has turned me off of av123, I'll probably look elsewhere for my next speaker purchase.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
if you want to use 5.1 in games + you want good sound quality, you'll need a better sound card, either something that has DDL or something that has good DACs. with DDL / DTSI you can send a 5.1 dolby digital or dts signal to ur receiver and have it decode it using the receivers dacs, or you can use a good sound card with good dacs already and run analog cables to your receiver(that's what I ended up doing with a prelude xf-i)
Click to expand...

Alright thanks. I know that optical doesn't have enough bandwidth for multichannel PCM, and that HDMI does. Are any soundcard manufacturers considering adding HDMI for MPCM output? I'd rather not do the digital to analog conversion within the computer if I can avoid it.

Alai said:
No budget?

Ok, well, grab two pairs of ELT525M Mini Monitors and a ELT525C Center and grab a BIC 100 subwoofer. Then I recommend either HT OMEGA Claro+ or Claro Halo for soundcard or Panasonic XR57.

More like $1500 there.

Want less expensive or....?
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good choice, and I've considered the ELT525Ms before, but I don't know where I would put the center channel. I am open to suggestions, however. $1500 is a good bit of money, but I knew that coming in. If you have suggestions at lower price points, I'd love to hear them as well.

Any thoughts, Spaceman?
 
Well... You can replace the ELT525M with Swan D1080MKII. That would bring your budget closer to $1k. Also, the Swan Diva C2 are on sale at Audioinsider for $180. That should probably bring you even closer.

I think you should just take the hit on the sub and DAC/amp.
 
Monkeypillow said:
Haven't given the budget much thought. I'll probably buy it in pieces though, so it's not a big issue. Overall, I'm probably looking at somewhere between $500 and $1000.

I do have a question though. For games, how would you go about setting up the sound engine to render for headphones (binaural)? I know Valve releases let you choose, but a lot of games I've been playing recently won't let you choose. Do I need a new soundcard (currently using the onboard of a P35-DS3L)?
Click to expand...
The source must be biaural. No games have been recorded in biaural. If games were recorded for headphones, many would be ditching their 5.1 speaker system.. As biaural is a real as sound gets.. Tricking your mind.. I heard one biaural recording.. Hair dryer blowing in one of my ears.. My ear actually got hot for a couple of seconds.. Add head tracking, and no speaker system could imerse you more.. It's great how headphones sound so good, considering movies, games, and music was made for speakers.
 
kool bubba ice said:
The source must be biaural. No games have been recorded in biaural. If games were recorded for headphones, many would be ditching their 5.1 speaker system.. As biaural is a real as sound gets.. Tricking your mind.. I heard one biaural recording.. Hair dryer blowing in one of my ears.. My ear actually got hot for a couple of seconds.. Add head tracking, and no speaker system could imerse you more.. It's great how headphones sound so good, considering movies, games, and music was made for speakers.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to call BS on this one. Game audio is not "recorded", it is generated by an engine. I believe that the source engine supports binaural processing when headphone output is selected.
 
spaceman said:
http://www.theaudioinsider.com/prod...iva/p/swan-diva-c2/cPath/21_30/products_id/51

That would sound FAT as all get out. Center channel is not a cheap speaker btw. It needs to do a LOT of the work.

I would start with a pair of 1080s and the C2 center. Rears are not very important and you can always pick another pair up down the road.
Click to expand...

You say the center channel isn't cheap, but that swan seems to be one hell of a deal. Would I be wasting its potential on a computer desk setup?

edit: The 1080s you mention appear to be active monitors. Although they look nice, that's not really what I'm looking for. The center does look very good. Do you know if Swan offers a bookshelf speaker to complement that center?
 
No. Computers rock. Speakers rock. Computers + Speakers = THE ROCK = AWESOME

Yes, Swans occassionally come out with insanely awesome deals. I missed out on the last ones... D1080MKII for $130... :(:(:(

Just buy it... DO IT RIGHT NOW!!!
 
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