Sound Card & Speakers

[Verneir]

Hey all - I just want to get down to the black and white, sorta, of the sound world. I have a Sound Blaster Live! value at the moment with Klipsch THX certified 4.1 speakers. Two front, two rear, and a subwoofer.

Thing is, whenever I play with the volume control on my speakers I get static, and not all speakers will produce sound, so I'll play with the volume controls a little more and then all the speakers come on. It's weird. All the connections are nice and snug but it acts up like that, which annoys me to no end.

So I took a quick look on the net for reviews, went straight to the conclusions as I'm not really into signal to noise ratios and all that garbage - I'm not a professional, and I don't use my computer to power a serious Home Theater setup, so why bother getting that nitty-gritty. I DO wonder about sound quality though. I do things like play Dark Age of Camelot (sometimes), Half Life: Counter Strike, Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat, and every once in a while play Wolfenstein/Enemy Territory. Of course when Doom3 comes out I'll probably get it, maybe buy Ravenshield (Rainboxsix 3) soon - stuff of that nature.

Every once in a while I'll watch a DVD but as I just bought a 19" NEC monitor it's not exactly cinema ... quality... I mean.. it's a monitor - media always looks a little different, because it's not designed for that.. it's like comparing a console game to a high end PC with high resolution.. they just don't look quite right.. so again I'm not worried about spending $1000 on audio trying to replicate a quality home theatre setup.

So, the "black and white" part - with the titles listed above, would I gain *anything* at all in sound quality? Is my positional sounds going to be more consistent? Will I hear water droplettes falling as if into my very ear lobe? I mean, yea great new ATI graphics card, can do this, can do that, blah blah blah.. it's all theory.. I don't see any difference between my ATI Radeon 9700 PRO and my Geforce2 - maybe because until my NEC monitor shows up all I've used is a generic POS display, but whatever.

If I buy an Audigy2 Platinum to replace my Sound Blaster Live! value card, am I going to appreciate it, or is it going to be like throwing out a perfectly good apple and picking up the next perfectly good apple (fruit, not the system)?

The next question is, I believe the Audigy2 supports 6.1 and not 7.1 - I've seen reviews of 4.1 and 5.1 speaker setups.. so.. for $400.00 or less, what is THE best 6.1 (if that's all the Audigy supports - if it supports 7.1, then the best 7.1 for that price range) speaker setup you all have ever heard of/seen/read about, etc?

Basically if only a sound fanatic with a pained expression on their face as a result of the absolute level of concentration they're currently holding trying to determine the differences in sound qualtiy, having a hard time detecting those differences, having to play it again, and again, and again.. still can't make up their mind.. Let's have another listen ! - then I'm saving my money, because quite frankly up to this point I'm sorely disappointed with my new graphics card as it is. I don't even run high res because I don't have a 30" monitor, or perfect vision, so quite frankly running anything higher than 1024x768 is just out of the question for me anyway..

Now, if most of you think I can really appreciate the difference in fidelity, then please, let me know what speakers you recommend, and I'll just buy an Audigy2 Platinum to match up with my new speakers.


Oh, and one thing that is deffinite - I don't own a home stereo, so my computer IS used to play CDs and/or MP3s (which I no longer have, thanks to a crashed HDD last year)

Thanks all..sorry for the long winded question, but I want to be sure I'm clear.. I used to be all into performance, and blah blah blah.. but since those days I've come to appreciate having extra dough in my pockets, so if all this stuff would do is make my computer "look cool", then.. psh.. forget it.. but if the moment I plug it in and I can actually hear the difference in say.. Pink Floyd.. then bring it on!

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by Verneir
Basically if only a sound fanatic with a pained expression on their face as a result of the absolute level of concentration they're currently holding trying to determine the differences in sound qualtiy, having a hard time detecting those differences, having to play it again, and again, and again.. still can't make up their mind..

Is that ONE sentence? j/k

Not sure what could be causing your crackling, but have updated your souncard drivers? It could be from software volume levels that are too high. Or it can be from the speakers themselves. If there's a crackling when you adjust the volume knob on the speaker, it could be potentiometer and I've heard to the speaker wires causing problems. Some have said that the monster cable upgrade on the Klipsh's solved their problems.

With an Audigy 2, I'd get the OEM version unless you NEED that front panel's connectivity in the Platinum. You'll notice better music reproduction (better highs) and better sound effect positioning with games that use EaxHD. There's not many 6.1 speaker sets out right now, but the best one is the Megaworks 650THX. I think 6.1 and 7.1 is NOT worth it, in my opinion. Hope this helps.

[Verneir]

Hmm.. okay. Speakers look nice. Interesting how I guess it's available from Creative and that's it, in terms of vendors. Well, at least I just read & then searched for that model on yahoo and the ONLY result was it's listing on creative labs website. lol.

I don't know, maybe they always sell certain product lines that way. In any case, I think I'll have to go ahead and upgrade sound setup.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Verneir]

Or, oops.. actually it's not creative.com (it's late), but there was just one result when I searched for the speakers via yahoo.com, http://www.computerhq.com/hardware/p...id-48826.html.

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by Verneir
Or, oops.. actually it's not creative.com (it's late), but there was just one result when I searched for the speakers via yahoo.com, http://www.computerhq.com/hardware/p...id-48826.html.

Glad to help!

That link doesn't work.

[Verneir]

Hehe.. lol, oops again.. The link is right, it's just the period at the end got included as part of the link.. if you wanted to follow it, just clic the link and delete the period from the address line.

[soupnazi]

I'd say keep your Promedia 4.1's if you can fix the crackling sound. Only get a 5.1 or 6.1 system if you watch movies and MUST have a center channel.

[Verneir]

Hey, another question.. if I were to buy the creative labs speakers, model 650, er.. the expensive 6.1 setup.. would I have to have the SB Audigy2 Platinum EX? Or can the regular Platinum provide 6.1? For that matter, can the standard Audigy2 provide 6.1?

I don't have a 5.25" bay available, so I need an external solution if it's anything more than just the PCI card. Seems like I'd have to get the Audigy2 Platinum EX, but if I can get away with saving some cash then I will.