Originally Posted by RTT That is all kinds of wrong.
Supreme example of going for quantinty over quality!
Not sure I agree with the comments about the "thumping bass", I played with these for around a week or so and while they sound great for £55, they still sound their size (imo). When I decided they wouldn't cut the mustard, went for some Tannoy Reveal active monitors (6D) which are simply phenomenal compared to these (not really fair to compare to these though, and thats not why im faulting the T20s, as they're not exactly in the same price bracket)
They are easily on par with my M-audio Studio pro 3's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by completemadness true - but when you go out and buy an x-fi for £150 or something, why do you go out and buy a £60 pair of speakers ... it baffles me
a good amp (2.0) is gonna set you back like £50 and a 5.1 about £140 (prices pulled off richer sounds) and then however many speakers
why cheap out on it ....
I wouldn't give that much credit to the x-fi. It's not that good of a card.
I've had my eyes set on a pair of T20 for quite some time now. I think I'm buying them next time I order some PC-parts.. I don't have the space required for a 2.1 (or more) setup, and, as somebody here also has mentioned, I use headphones so that my wife and kid won't be annoyed..
Originally Posted by wafflesomd I wouldn't give that much credit to the x-fi. It's not that good of a card.
if your gonna put rubbish speakers on the end, why not just go with on board (one of the decent on board solutions though, not the ones that pick up EMI and buzz or w/e)
Originally Posted by wafflesomd I wouldn't give that much credit to the x-fi. It's not that good of a card.
Agreed.
X-fi is all about high spec gaming riggin' for teenagers. Creative are yet to produce a credible Hi-Fi card.
Onboard audio isn't always that bad when all you want is desktop speakers attached.
When I want to really listen to music I play it on my Hi-fi using optical out from my media pc and let my amp do the D/A conversion as it does this real well.
If you only have one set of speakers in your home... don't go for T20 or onboard audio for that matter... Get a real pair of stereo speakers, a decent stereo amp w. optical in plus good D/A-conversion and an average sound card with optical out (perhaps even onboard).
The reason you don't need a $100+ sound card is the optical. Going optical from PC to Amp rids a great deal of electric interference and wins you a lot more than spending your money on the expensive sound card instead of the amp and speakers IMHO.
[RANT] And dont' get the X-fi unless you're going to primarily just toddle around with echo, distortion and other superfluous effects :-P [/RANT]
Originally Posted by Mister_Tad Creative produce some of the best hi-fi cards out there in their E-Mu range
X-Fi and audigy are primarily aimed at gaming
Creative only bought out E-mu. E-mu was putting out quality products long before creative bought them.
Anyone know if it would be possible to hook up 2 sets of these speakers for a 4.0 surround sound setup, ie. 1 set for the front left/right, the other set for the rear left/right?
Then you'd also only need a single cable connecting the rear set to your computer. Any reason why that wouldn't work?
I currently have a 5.1 setup (logitech X-530) for gaming and music listening, but i notice that the sound isn't the best when cranked up, particularly from the subwoofer which is so annoying i have it turned down to its minimum volume. Also the cabling is a pain, particularly for the 2 rear speakers which i have to put under a rug as the wiring isn't long enough and is non-replaceable.
Would I be really missing out with not having the centre and bass speakers? Or would it make more sense just getting a better 5.1 system?
but if not, then the creative 2.0 speakers are gonna be a good choice i don't think you would miss not having a center speaker, and the surround is a nice feature (especially in games) but its not the be all and end all
edit:
and a good 2.0 system is still miles better then a crappy 5.1 system, more speakers doesn't make up for crap speakers
Originally Posted by Monkey2 Would I be really missing out with not having the centre and bass speakers? Or would it make more sense just getting a better 5.1 system?
Usually when the speakers are hooked up to a PC the center speaker is useless as the front speakers are so close to each other. And also I'd say that if you don't care a **** about room acoustics and place the speakers "where they fit" it isn't worth it to ever even consider getting a surround set. The way the speakers are located makes all the difference even when not talking about hi-fi.
In the end choosing between surround/2.0/2.1 is all about opinions and if you watch movies/play or listen to music more. If you love music then 2.0 is an excellent choise. I'm just wondering if moving to these Gigaworks is so huge improvement after the X-530 set... You might want to try and listen to them in a store or somewhere before buying.
And about the subwoofer/bass. If the speakers are designed to be 2.0 then there SHOULD be enought bass in the speakers themselves not to miss the sub.
IMO the best choise for you would be to keep the X-530 set and buy headphones.. Then when you watch movies or play you could use the 5.1 speakers, but when listening to music or just wanting better sound quality you could switch to headphones.
Personally I have a decent 5.1 system with discrete parts, but I still listen my music 2.1.
Originally Posted by wafflesomd I wouldn't give that much credit to the x-fi. It's not that good of a card.
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Originally Posted by loratio X-fi is all about high spec gaming riggin' for teenagers. Creative are yet to produce a credible Hi-Fi card.
[RANT] And dont' get the X-fi unless you're going to primarily just toddle around with echo, distortion and other superfluous effects :-P [/RANT]
Elitist much? You clearly haven't looked into it too hard if you think the X-fi isn't any good. Creative may have made some rubbish cards in the past, but they have also made some very good ones, such as the AWE64 Gold back in the days, and the X-fi Elite Pro now. The X-fi uses the same DACs as are in the E-mu 1820m, and it has got some rave reviews from hi-fi and pro audio sites. Sure it isn't up there with the £1000+ pro level cards, but then it's not aimed at the same market as they are.
The X-Fi Elite Pro in my HTPC replaced a Marantz CD transport and a £500 Monarchy Audio DAC (too much gear in the lounge according to the missus), and the X-fi certainly matches the far more expensive hi-fi equipment it replaced in my opinion. Both are playing through a 650W Nikko amp from the 70s, mid-range Van Den Hul interconnects, and a pair of Ruark Crusader floorstanding speakers. So maybe not uber-high-end, but not cheap rubbish either.
But I will agree with you that the effects are superfluous and best avoided. Just don't throw the baby out with the bath water. The Xfi is a good card.
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Supreme example of going for quantinty over quality!
Not sure I agree with the comments about the "thumping bass", I played with these for around a week or so and while they sound great for £55, they still sound their size (imo). When I decided they wouldn't cut the mustard, went for some Tannoy Reveal active monitors (6D) which are simply phenomenal compared to these (not really fair to compare to these though, and thats not why im faulting the T20s, as they're not exactly in the same price bracket)
I wouldn't give that much credit to the x-fi. It's not that good of a card.
Burn!
:)
And I guess that after all they're just great value PC-speakers, no need to compare them to anything else.
And congrats Misted Tad, those are pretty damn nice speakers :)
Two of them, Doug. Clearly that makes it a 28" screen.
It's not even that, it's 4.1 with three speakers on each channel, so it's probably just very loud, and possible a little echoey. :)
Agreed.
X-fi is all about high spec gaming riggin' for teenagers. Creative are yet to produce a credible Hi-Fi card.
Onboard audio isn't always that bad when all you want is desktop speakers attached.
When I want to really listen to music I play it on my Hi-fi using optical out from my media pc and let my amp do the D/A conversion as it does this real well.
If you only have one set of speakers in your home... don't go for T20 or onboard audio for that matter... Get a real pair of stereo speakers, a decent stereo amp w. optical in plus good D/A-conversion and an average sound card with optical out (perhaps even onboard).
The reason you don't need a $100+ sound card is the optical. Going optical from PC to Amp rids a great deal of electric interference and wins you a lot more than spending your money on the expensive sound card instead of the amp and speakers IMHO.
[RANT] And dont' get the X-fi unless you're going to primarily just toddle around with echo, distortion and other superfluous effects :-P [/RANT]
Creative produce some of the best hi-fi cards out there in their E-Mu range
X-Fi and audigy are primarily aimed at gaming
Creative only bought out E-mu. E-mu was putting out quality products long before creative bought them.
This is true, never the less, e-mu is now part of creative, therefore creative produce some of the best hi-fi cards out there
Then you'd also only need a single cable connecting the rear set to your computer. Any reason why that wouldn't work?
Would I be really missing out with not having the centre and bass speakers? Or would it make more sense just getting a better 5.1 system?
but if not, then the creative 2.0 speakers are gonna be a good choice i don't think you would miss not having a center speaker, and the surround is a nice feature (especially in games) but its not the be all and end all
edit:
and a good 2.0 system is still miles better then a crappy 5.1 system, more speakers doesn't make up for crap speakers
Usually when the speakers are hooked up to a PC the center speaker is useless as the front speakers are so close to each other. And also I'd say that if you don't care a **** about room acoustics and place the speakers "where they fit" it isn't worth it to ever even consider getting a surround set. The way the speakers are located makes all the difference even when not talking about hi-fi.
In the end choosing between surround/2.0/2.1 is all about opinions and if you watch movies/play or listen to music more. If you love music then 2.0 is an excellent choise. I'm just wondering if moving to these Gigaworks is so huge improvement after the X-530 set... You might want to try and listen to them in a store or somewhere before buying.
And about the subwoofer/bass. If the speakers are designed to be 2.0 then there SHOULD be enought bass in the speakers themselves not to miss the sub.
IMO the best choise for you would be to keep the X-530 set and buy headphones.. Then when you watch movies or play you could use the 5.1 speakers, but when listening to music or just wanting better sound quality you could switch to headphones.
Personally I have a decent 5.1 system with discrete parts, but I still listen my music 2.1.
Elitist much? You clearly haven't looked into it too hard if you think the X-fi isn't any good. Creative may have made some rubbish cards in the past, but they have also made some very good ones, such as the AWE64 Gold back in the days, and the X-fi Elite Pro now. The X-fi uses the same DACs as are in the E-mu 1820m, and it has got some rave reviews from hi-fi and pro audio sites. Sure it isn't up there with the £1000+ pro level cards, but then it's not aimed at the same market as they are.
The X-Fi Elite Pro in my HTPC replaced a Marantz CD transport and a £500 Monarchy Audio DAC (too much gear in the lounge according to the missus), and the X-fi certainly matches the far more expensive hi-fi equipment it replaced in my opinion. Both are playing through a 650W Nikko amp from the 70s, mid-range Van Den Hul interconnects, and a pair of Ruark Crusader floorstanding speakers. So maybe not uber-high-end, but not cheap rubbish either.
But I will agree with you that the effects are superfluous and best avoided. Just don't throw the baby out with the bath water. The Xfi is a good card.
Sounds interesting. Do you have som links for those?
Cheers
I know!, does he not realise that Bit-Tech is the final word in reviews :)