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daveyd
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Joined: 26 Feb 2005
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 Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 11:08 am Post subject: Best speakers to go with Audigy 2zs?? |
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I currently have an Audigy 2 zs hooked to a set of older 5.1 digital speakers (Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500). I cannot get great sound out of them for the life of me so I am in the market for new speakers.
I am looking for a set of speakers around $200-300. I want to be able to listen to DVDs on my PC in Dolby Digital 5.1 AND be able to have the newer games that have 5.1 sound played without problems.
My questions:
1. What are the best speakers in that price range to do that?
2. What is the difference between analog speakers and digital speakers?
3. Is the Audigy 2 zs's Digital out port considered the SPDIF?
4. With new speakers, would I have to hook them up to the Audigy's Digital out port to get 5.1 sound in DVDs as well as 5.1 in games?
5. Do the analog connections give Dolby 5.1 sound?
Thanks.... |
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lilbump3000
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Joined: 26 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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Between that price range im sure you can find some logitech Z-5500 speakers.
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n3ksus
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Joined: 16 Oct 2003
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 12:36 am Post subject: |
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| yeah Logitech z-5500 are the current top dogs right now in the speaker area. |
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fussnfeathers
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Joined: 14 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:52 am Post subject: Re: Best speakers to go with Audigy 2zs?? |
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| daveyd wrote: | I currently have an Audigy 2 zs hooked to a set of older 5.1 digital speakers (Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500). I cannot get great sound out of them for the life of me so I am in the market for new speakers.
I am looking for a set of speakers around $200-300. I want to be able to listen to DVDs on my PC in Dolby Digital 5.1 AND be able to have the newer games that have 5.1 sound played without problems.
My questions:
1. What are the best speakers in that price range to do that?
2. What is the difference between analog speakers and digital speakers?
3. Is the Audigy 2 zs's Digital out port considered the SPDIF?
4. With new speakers, would I have to hook them up to the Audigy's Digital out port to get 5.1 sound in DVDs as well as 5.1 in games?
5. Do the analog connections give Dolby 5.1 sound?
Thanks.... |
I agree on the 5500's, they'll do well for you. Cambridge has really gone downhill, they used to be quite good.....
Difference between analog and digital speakers: Digital speakers will have a Dolby decoder built in, so you can run a single optical cable from your soundcard (if equipped), rather than 3 analog cables. Other than that, there's minimal difference in sound quality, if any.
Yes, the Audigy2 digital out is SPIDF. It's sortof multi-purpose. It's SPDIF or optical, depending on the cable/connection.
No, you don't have to use the optical port to get 5.1, since the Audigy also does 5.1 decoding on-board. It has the analog connections (front l/r, rear l/r, center/sub) along with the optical. Hook a set of analog speakers up, you've got 5.1. So, yes, you'll get 5.1 if you use the analog connections, and your card is set for 5.1 decoding. The only time you wouldn't get 5.1 is if you're using onboard sound, or a card that doesn't have a decoder, in which case, you'd need a speaker set that had its own.
IMO, the only reason to use digital, if you have an Audigy 2, is if you get electical noise from the analog cables. Otherwise, there's no difference in sound quality between a digital or analog stream.
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werty316
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Xal
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| Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:31 am Post subject: |
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Check pricegrabber at the top of the page for prices and reviews for a review on them, I think Nate did one a while back.
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daveyd
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Joined: 26 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| I just ordered the Z-5500s. After reading all the reviews, they sounds like they kick some serious ass!!!! |
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daveyd
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Joined: 26 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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Where's the edit button?!? 
Can I hook up both the analog and digital at the same time to the Audigy 2zs...or should I just jook up the digital since the Audigy upmixes stereo sounds? |
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Josh
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Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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| daveyd wrote: | Where's the edit button?!?
Can I hook up both the analog and digital at the same time to the Audigy 2zs...or should I just jook up the digital since the Audigy upmixes stereo sounds? |
Edit button was taken away after a previous member deleted all their posts and ruined alot of good threads.
But if you are the last person to post in a topic...copy your text, delete the post, then re-post 
Lotsa new ppl ask that 
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daveyd
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Joined: 26 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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OK...just got my Z-5500s..dammmmmnnnn the sub is HUGE!!
Anyways, what type of cable do I need to hook the speakers to the digital connection on my Audugy 2zs? It looks like a RCA coax connection in the back of the control unit of the 5500s but a regular connection in the back of the Audigy...what gives? |
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daveyd
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| Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| anyone? |
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Ham_fisT
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daveyd
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| Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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any loss in sound quality with the "mono" adapter? |
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ToggleHead
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| Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:50 am Post subject: |
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wait whats a "regular connection"?
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Ham_fisT
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| Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:13 am Post subject: |
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| daveyd wrote: |
any loss in sound quality with the "mono" adapter? |
it's not a "Mono" connection actually, it's a digital connection, you just need a mono plug because the sleeve portion of the 1/8" plug bridges two contacts in the soundcard output jack, and enables the coaxial S/PDIF signal.
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daveyd
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| Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Ham_fisT wrote: | | daveyd wrote: |
any loss in sound quality with the "mono" adapter? |
it's not a "Mono" connection actually, it's a digital connection, you just need a mono plug because the sleeve portion of the 1/8" plug bridges two contacts in the soundcard output jack, and enables the coaxial S/PDIF signal. |
OK...I went to Radio Shack and bought a digital coax cable and the 1/8" mono adapter. I have them plugged into the Digital out on my Audigy 2 and the coax in on the Logitech control station
When I play Saving Private Ryan through PowerDVD I can get DTS digital but not Dolby Digital 5.1. The logitech control unit detects it as Stereo. In fact, when I play any other DVD with the coax connection its does not play DD 5.1 only DTS digital...
Any idea???? |
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limp
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Joined: 07 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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Hi,
Did you select in the control panel of PowerDVD in audio, you have to put SPDIF ONLY for it to work...
And check the parameters in your Audigy control panel... |
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daveyd
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Joined: 26 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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| limp wrote: | Hi,
Did you select in the control panel of PowerDVD in audio, you have to put SPDIF ONLY for it to work...
And check the parameters in your Audigy control panel... |
Yes, in PowerDVD it is set to SPDIF only. Like I said, the Logitech unit detects when its a DTS stream but not DD 5.1 |
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fussnfeathers
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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Like he said, is your soundcard set to Optical, 5.1 speakers, etc etc? It might have reset when you did the optical connection.
Try it with the standard analog connections, and see if it works that way. Like I said, you'll never notice the difference.
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daveyd
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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| fussnfeathers wrote: | Like he said, is your soundcard set to Optical, 5.1 speakers, etc etc? It might have reset when you did the optical connection.
Try it with the standard analog connections, and see if it works that way. Like I said, you'll never notice the difference. |
It's not an optical connection, it's a digital coax. The speakers, sound card and PowerDVD are set to 5.1. If they weren't, it wouldn't recognize DTS like it does. It still wont recognize DD 5.1...only DTS in a DVD |
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fussnfeathers
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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I know what it IS, but sometimes the settings are combined into one "optical" setting.
Do this: (I don't use onboard sound, so I don't have an Audigy to check for sure that it works, but it should)
Looks like you need that 3.5mm mono to RCA adapter (Radio Shack for 3.99) adapter along with an RCA cable as your primary connection from SPDIF out on your AUDIGY, all going into the coaxial input of the control module to get 5.1 or DTS. Then, you need to go into AUDIOHQ in your Windows Control Panel and go to DEVICE CONTROLS then DECODER then select SPDIF passthrough at the bottom. I believe you can also do this within the other nice SB control panels in your Creative software (you can probably use either, but I went with both). But then I read you also had to set your Windows Control Panel - Sounds and Audio Devices - Advanced to DESKTOP STEREO SPEAKERS. This was confusing to me, but it seemed to work. When you are doing this, keep the volume in the control module to a minimum. Pops and clicks did happen for me during this process, and the last thing you want to do is blow the speakers when you first get them. Now, pop in a DVD, but go into your DVD player / Windows Media Player / whatever dvd software you use, and set it to SPDIF out as well. Then, a DVD with 5.1 or DTS selected should do the trick. Once again, keep the volume down.
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fussnfeathers
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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Hm.........no delete button anymore?
Anyway, that makes sense, to set it to Desktop Speakers, rather than 5.1. Since the signal going from SPDIF to the Coaxial input is technically two-channel that's then split in the control module decoder to 5.1. Try the above, and see if that fixes it for you.
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daveyd
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Joined: 26 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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Well it looke like it is the Saving Private Ryan DVD. For some reason the Logitech control unit will recognize DTS but not DD with this DVD. I have other DVDs that the unit recognizes DD.
In the back of the control untit, I have the 3 analog cables going to my Audigy 2 zs. I also have a Digital coax plugged into the unit going into the Audigy. Is it OK to have the analog and digital cables plugged in at the same time? |
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fussnfeathers
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| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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Nope, just one or the other. Unplug the analog cables.
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daveyd
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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| fussnfeathers wrote: | | Nope, just one or the other. Unplug the analog cables. |
Well, I have all 3 analog and the coax digital cables plugged into the back of the Logitech control unit. On the remote, I can push the Direct button to switch to Direct Sound (analog) when playing music and games...then push the Coax button on the remote when playing DVDs (DD5.1/DTS) and it seems to work fine |
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