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Yea, I believe Creative rigged the 210D's and the 510D's to sound better with digital on the Audigy than analog on the audigy...
I *think* they tweaked the amp to get louder with digital, so people would think that digital is better. Whatever, I'd still prefer a Santa Cruz & analog to the 210D's if I were to get them...
But I wouldn't get the Santa Cruz and analog to the 210D's... I'd get the santa Cruz and analog to the M-200's, which is cheaper and better...
it just depends on what is more important to you. The M-200's may sound a bit better than the 210D's, but they, in no way, can match the bass extension of the 210D's.
And there is no way that the tweeterless 210D's will compare to the M-200's in the highs.
Your point?
Check out the ollllllld 'speaker comparison' thread at 3dss.com. Sanderle compared the 210D's and the M-200's, and the m-200's weren't just a *little bit* better... they were a LOT better...
I have the SoundWorks Digital 2.1 myself, good value. Paid $69.99 including S/H direct from HiFi.com for an open box version.
Actually, not a good value. You can get the 5.1 Inspire 5300 for $67 before shipping, and I would definitely take the 2.1 Monsoon MH-502's for $75 before shipping from www.pcstop.com over either the inspire or most any cheaper 2.1 system... however the 502 isn't strong with the bass, not by a long shot.
i didn't say a "little bit" better, i said a "bit" better. Also, as i stated, some people prefer sheer volume and loud bass capabilities to sonic quality. If I were in the market for a set of computer speakers, i would not buy either of these sets. I would save my money and get the Sirocco Pro's to get the best of both worlds.
Hey Triton! What have you decided on, or what are you thinking about getting?
What budget did you set for yourself? Why don't you wanna get 4.1 or 5.1 speakers if you have an Audigy and will be using your computer for gaming as well as music.
If you need style, and don't care much about the sound power, check those beauties out. You can impress any computer illetrate (or non-audiophile at that matter) with them! ;) :D
Not really? The 210D's are intended to be flat in response, not to have harsh, overwhelming highs.Quote:
Originally posted by Gluegun
And there is no way that the tweeterless 210D's will compare to the M-200's in the highs.
Your point?
Check out the ollllllld 'speaker comparison' thread at 3dss.com. Sanderle compared the 210D's and the M-200's, and the m-200's weren't just a *little bit* better... they were a LOT better...
That's the likely cause of it not having any tweeter.
(analog) TBSC + M-200's won't sound better than (digital) Audigy + 210D's.
Well, basically, Cambridge solved the problem of having harsh, beamy highs with multimedia systems by taking away the tweeter altogether, and Hi Vi solved the problem by using a tweeter that *didn't* suck...
Trust me, that silk dome tweeter is DEFINITELY a LOT better than what you see in multimedia...
Oh, and read Sanderle's thread... the M-200's get louder before distorting than the 210D's do...
And, YEA, Analog TBSC + M-200's *will* sound better than Digital Audigy + 210D's...
The Audigy is still upsampling the 16 bit signal to 24/96, and there isn't anything telling you that the 210D's DAC is quality...
READ Sanderle's thread, for the love of god!
http://www.3dsoundsurge.com/cgi-bin/...fpart=all&vc=1
So can you tell the difference between analog and digital mode with the 210D's or 510D's? And what exactly is "digital" about the digital mode? I don't quite understand that part of it.
in digital mode digital signals are sent to the speakers and the digital->analogue conversion takes place in the speakers whereas in "analogue" mode, the converstion takes place in the soundcard and analogue singlas are sent to the spakersQuote:
Originally posted by BuddMan
So can you tell the difference between analog and digital mode with the 210D's or 510D's? And what exactly is "digital" about the digital mode? I don't quite understand that part of it.
Do you read any 3dsoundsurge.com actual reviews? They posted a review stating that the 210/510D's had a faulty line of subs, where they would distort at low volume levels, but not blow. This has been corrected.Quote:
Originally posted by Gluegun
Well, basically, Cambridge solved the problem of having harsh, beamy highs with multimedia systems by taking away the tweeter altogether, and Hi Vi solved the problem by using a tweeter that *didn't* suck...
Trust me, that silk dome tweeter is DEFINITELY a LOT better than what you see in multimedia...
Oh, and read Sanderle's thread... the M-200's get louder before distorting than the 210D's do...
And, YEA, Analog TBSC + M-200's *will* sound better than Digital Audigy + 210D's...
The Audigy is still upsampling the 16 bit signal to 24/96, and there isn't anything telling you that the 210D's DAC is quality...
READ Sanderle's thread, for the love of god!
http://www.3dsoundsurge.com/cgi-bin/...fpart=all&vc=1
I'll post in a few moments citing where they stated it. ;)
Both the Audigy and the 210/510D's are designed to perform best using their DiNs, this is why the Audigy and 510D's are the ideal gaming setup. ;)Quote:
Originally posted by BuddMan
So can you tell the difference between analog and digital mode with the 210D's or 510D's? And what exactly is "digital" about the digital mode? I don't quite understand that part of it.
Quote:
For those that don’t demand both all-round excellent quality and loudness or are not prepared to pay several hundred dollars there are plenty of options, including several past and upcoming products from Cambridge SoundWorks. They all have to make some comprise, which is often significant. They also are rarely, if ever, able to offer both very good music and gaming not to mention DVD experiences.
For people that are not prepared to make these comprises or at least minimize them and are prepared to pay in most cases several hundred dollars the number of systems available in the multimedia speaker market is much more limited. It becomes further limited if you want proper 4-speaker gaming from any sound card or motherboard solution with the exception of the Nforce boards since the system must have direct four channel inputs. To date it really has come down to the VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire, Monsoon MM2000, Altec Lansing ADA890, Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 and just recently the Logitech Z-560 and Altec Lansing 641. Of course even in this grouping there are different prices and performance levels to consider but for a number of reasons they all stand out when considering our multichannel system evaluation criteria. The options are further limited for 6 direct 6 channel-input systems with a true center channel. Prior to the MegaWorks 510D there was only the Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 in this higher performance grouping.. There’s no question that the MegaWorks 510D joins this small group and become just the second 5.1 system to do so.
The high-end response will be the relative, and I do mean relative, weakness of the system where in particular some may prefer the more prominent treble of the ProMedia 4.1 and 5.1 or the slightly smoother and more detailed high frequency response of the Sirocco Crossfire.
Where the MegaWorks 510D will excel, even in comparison to this group, is a smooth and consistent midrange that is almost as good off axis as on axis. While the Crossfire and the Monsoon MM2000 comes close for on axis performance and in the case of the Crossfire not that far behind in off axis performance, neither one of them comes even close to matching the more full sound the MegaWorks satellites offer thanks to the much better bass extension. The ProMedia 4.1/5.1 satellites match or even slightly beat that satellite bass extension, but falls somewhat but noticeably behind the Crossfire and MM2000 when it comes to the smoothness of the midrange. The result is that the MegaWorks 510D will, in my opinion, offer clearly the best midrange performance even in this exclusive group.
Moving on to the bass response the MegaWorks 510D the quality is ahead of the Crossfire, which would also appear to place it ahead of the other systems in this group with the possible exception of the ProMedia 5.1 subwoofer. In addition, it appears that it will also match or beat them all when it comes to the depth and power of the bass response, again with the possible exception of the ProMedia 5.1 subwoofer.
In the end I find the fuller and better sound stage delivered by the satellites together with the excellent deep, detailed and powerful bass response more than makes up for the less detailed treble compared to the Sirocco Crossfire. That is the MegaWorks 510D has replaced the Sirocco Crossfire as my favorite multichannel multimedia system.
As I have shown throughout this review, while I can suggest that you may like one system more than another, it would be presumptuous for me to make an outright statement in this respect. This is of course due to the complex nature of factoring in personal tastes and system performance to lead to an actual product decision.
What I can say is definitely put the MegaWorks 510D on your short list of systems to consider, particularly if you want a real center channel and consider smooth detailed midrange and powerful deep bass response is more important than prominent and/or excellent treble. The MegaWorks is without a doubt the by far most impressive multimedia system Cambridge SoundWorks produced to date and earns our Gold Medal of Excellence to go along with our 3DsoundSurge Surge of Approval. .
cite
Here's what I was refering to above:
Quote:
MegaWorks 210D Review @ Sound Card Central Updated - Mikael @ 11:15 EST
Sound Card Central review of the MegaWorks 210D has been updated with a response from Cambridge Sound Works commenting on the complaints in the review. As you may recall the review was very positive saying it was easily better than Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 but had some issues with the volume control and thought the subwoofer may rip if you boost it too much. Cambridge SoundWorks states in a response that only some of the pilot units got this volume control issue and in case of the subwoofer it's not possible for it too rip even though it may distort quite a bit of you boost it at high volume levels.
cite (second from the top)
Does anyone care to read the thread that is relevant to what we are talking about, and not just generic?
In other words, the thread from Sanderle that compares the Swan M-200 to the Cambridge 210D to the Videologic Sirocco Spirits...
the M-200's came out on top..
"I finally have some time today to play with the speakers again. The burn in has helped the MegaWorks some. I still don't like the boomy nature of the bass. Especially on instrumental music. "
"Gluegun was interested in the distortion levels between the three speakers. This is totally subjective based on playing with the three speakers last weekend. I plan to redo the tests hopefully this weekend and take better notes.
If memory serves, the sound card was at max and the volume in MusicMatch Jukebox was at max. I increased the volume of each speaker until they began to distort. It goes without saying, that the volume achieved on all three systems was extreme and would not be a listening volume for very long. The MegaWorks distorted pretty easily when volume was pushed much beyond 12-1:00. The satellites gave way. I don't remember hearing the M200s distorting at max volume with treble/bass at 12:00. The only time I got distortion from them was with the treble or bass at max and the volume at max. I also don't remember getting distortion from the Spirits with volume at max and their attitude at neutral. They don't have a true treble/bass adjustment, but rather an attitude adjustment (see Mikael Hagén’s Spirit review for more). These were done with pop/rock tracks. This is also where I based saying that the M200s have the least amount of power/volume."
""Sanderle, what level was the volume control at when the M200's started distorting? Was it 1 or 2 o'clock or was it max volume?"
If memory serves, I had the bass at max and the volume at max. I wasn't trying to find out when it distorted, but rather, if it distorted. I was simply turning everything up on all of the speakers. I will try to do some better distortion tests this weekend."
"The winner is....... M200s. As I listen to a broad variety of music, they simple perform better for more types of music.
The only downside is their power under my setup. I don't doubt that they may perform better connected to other sources, but I bought them as PC speakers. Since that is how they are being marketed, they should probably have more power for that application.
I now will be able to gain back my desktop, as two sets of speaker will be returned! Thanks to all who have helped me in this process.
Steve, when will I see that check for picking your speakers?! :)"