[sagrr]

Hello all. I'm a audio-idiot. I'm looking for a decent set of surround sound, or an great pair of desktop speaks for my computer. Also, i wanna sound card for for a price altogether of approx. <$130.

I'm sure what other info i can give, so feel free to ask me any questions. Thanks for your help!!!

 

[ampgalore]

Klipsh promedia 2.1

 

[ooheadsoo]

Wow, is the klipsch that cheap these days? The only soundcard that you can get that will fit in your budget is the chaintech av-710.

 

[sagrr]

What about speakers?

Also, i sould mention my computer came with a sound card. Its probably crappy, but it might be okay. How do i get the stats on it?

 

[Anomaly]

Go into Control Panel -> System -> Hardware Tab -> Device Manager -> Sound, video, and game controllers. Then you can see what kind of sound card you have. Search google for the name and you'll get that product's specs(stats)

Its most likely a Audigy soundcard and from what I read in Head-Fi Audigy's are extremely bad for music.

Hope that helps you.

 

[sagrr]

Thanks. I have a creative SB Live! (exclamation is part of the name). Is that any good?

 

[Multi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagrr Thanks. I have a creative SB Live! (exclamation is part of the name). Is that any good?

I can't speak for everyone but my SB Live was horrible. Tons of hissing, poor sound quality overall. But that was many years ago.

 

[Alereon]

Pick up the Chaintech AV-710, as ooheadsoo recommended. It's only $23.50 at newegg. If you want to stick with what you have, download the kX Drivers, switch to using the rear out port, and get 48khz resampled ASIO output working in whatever media player you use. We can provide detailed instructions for tweaks if you let us know what player you prefer.

Given your price range, I would strongly recommend headphones over speakers. You can get much more quality out of headphones than speakers on a budget. Though generally reviled here, I found the Sennheiser HD-570s to be decent headphones for someone on a budget like yours. I'm sure the rest of the head-fi community will be along shortly to provide other recommendations

 

[Adol]

The Sound Blaster Live! isn't a very good board. :\

I don't hate it as much as a lot of the people here seem to, but it's far from optimal in regards to sound quality. My board had a nasty, distorted-sounding hump in the midbass, almost like it had a lousy XBass/Bass Boost thing on all the time. The hiss on my board wasn't too awful with the various inputs muted, but, still. Not very good.

I'd second the recommendation of the Chaintech AV-710. $23.50, with free shipping, for a huge upgrade in sound quality. Good deal.

If you want to stick with your SB Live, I'd suggest using the kX drivers, as linked to in this thread...but I managed to kill a computer that was using them by my own incompetence, so I'll refrain from "helping" you with them, for obvious reasons.

As for speakers...multimedia speakers in general are pretty lousy. If you insist on using them, the Logitech systems are OK. Not hi-fi by any means, but pretty decent for gaming usage and system bleeping+blooping. If you're into music, [size=xx-small]and I'd guess that you are if you're here[/size], go for headphones. The Sennheiser HD497's seem to be pretty popular in your price range, and, even combined with the Chaintech sound card, you'd still be well under your budget. I'm sure some of the more experienced members here can help you spend your money better (and quite possibly more of it) though.

[size=xx-small]and headphones are often better than surround speakers when it comes to gaming, anyways.[/size]

 

[sagrr]

Thanks. I'll get the chaintech's.

However, i need speakers. I already have the px100's, but i only use them only when i go out (I thought that was the point

). Now i need a good set of speakers. Mostly, i'll be using them for music. I'm not an audiophile, but i love my music. I never play games (exept for mindsweeper when i'm really really bored) and I might watch a movie or two every month.

I live in a small room that i think is perfect for surround sound, but a pair of kiss-ass desktop speakers would be okay too.

 

[sagrr]

How is this system? The Logitech z640's for $50.00 at CompUsa Here

 

[deviant03]

If I were you, at that price range I would go for the ALTEC LANSING MX5021 for $143.49 shipped:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...113-139&depa=0

I have seen alot of great reviews online, especially at 3dss.com. I assume it would sound better than sets like the Megaworks or Promedia because along with a seperate tweeter, there are two seperate midrange drivers which is uncommon on multimedia sets... well at least the satellites should sound better. I cant give you a recommendation on the Chaintech soundcard as the others have because personally I am having problems with it.

 

[Rempert]

I have the Logitech Z640s. They are OK for a cheap surround sound solution. I think it is a good solution for movies (and games, if you don't like headphones) at that price range. But if you don't game and rarely watch movies as you say, then I would reccomend looking for a good 2.1 system. At this price range, the quality of surround satellites is really hampered by the need to make them cheaply (think about it, if the system was broken apart and sold separately it would be a $25 sub and some $5 sats). You can get better quality at a similar price with stereo satellites, and then you can also use the high res stereo setup on the Chaintech card.

 

[WillD]

Planar Media 14s, hands down.

Only problem is they are hard to find.

I got mine off of ebay.

 

[sagrr]

Umm...I sorta got robbed, so i lowered my pricerange by $100... Thats why i asked about a $50 product. What type of 2.1 sytem can i find with that pricerange.

Also, how are the z640's for music?