Sound Systems

[Lewiji]

Right-o. We all love sound. Come on, a game isn't the same without it, and next to noone has no music on their computers.

[Lewiji]

Today I bought a "NTech 5.1 Home Theator System". Now I've been wanting a 5.1 system for a while but some surround sound headphones caught my eye...However browing Cov's "computer shop" (That's actually the name of the shop!) I saw these-20 quid, and there was a display one and it looked and sounded good. So of course I bought it and proceded to heft that rather large box home on the train.

http://www.xebsoftware.com/images/speakerbox.jpg

Upon opening the box I was presented with a mass of plastic wrapped...plastic. And lots of cables. It's pretty lucky I'm a techy guy or I'd have a bit of a problem, the manual is USELESS and all directly translated from Japanese. However I quickly determined which cables went where and after lots of ripping plastic and plugging I had the system set up.

It looks rather sexy. The whole thing is silver/black/blue-The sattelites are small rounded cubes, with a black "X" shaped front and a blue circle in the middle. The stands are a nice contemporary curve however this makes them impossible to fix to a non-flat surface without the aid of masking tape.

The sub-woofer is quite large compared to my Xbox's 2.1 sub, again black, with a silver panelling on the front and a blue "spike" over the blower. A silver cased speaker is on the side also.

The remote control box is pretty standard, Power, Master, Surround speaker volume, Center volume, and Woofer volume.

Cables are appropriately sized, back speakers being long and center being short etc.

So, I switched my PC on and attempted to play a song-only to find the speakers didn't work. Bugger. I checked the remote box-Oh yeah. Forgot to press the power button. Pressed it and was greeted by sheer bliss. Very, very, ear shatteringly loud bliss. Quickly fumbled the volume down.

One niggle-Maybe I haven't got the software set up just right, but the sub doesn't seem to pick up everything on music-you can still hear it as the sattelites seem to be quite powerful but it doesn't quite punch through the air. The part in cLOUDDEAD's "Teen Keen Skip" where the piano loop stops and the whole song explodes, doesn't quite...explode. For example. However most songs (Franz Ferdinand was another test victim) played perfectly as you'd expect. This is also on my dad's onboard 5.1 sound card, maybe it would be better on a proper card.

Now for a spot of gaming. Logged into Xfire and joined my mate's game of CS:S.
Ohhh, yes. Now this is what I've been waiting for. I can now pick out things I've never even HEARD before on my old speakers. The low rumble of an AK47 echoing off the walls of a small house, the sound of oncoming SMGs a mile off. And YES! I can pinpoint exactly where someone is, even if they're behind me! It's an amazing experience switching from low quality 2.0 speakers to this beautiful product. I couldn't believe how much quality they had packed in for 20 quid-bearing in mind this was reduced from 50, but it's still a very cheap price for 5.1 sound.

Overall, a great quality product for an amazing price.

Pros:
VERY cheap
Good length cables
Easy on the eyes
Great sound quality

Cons:
Sub doesn't pick up on some parts of music
Stands very slippy and no good on uneven sufaces (IE top of my monitor)
Low grade plastic degrades the looks a bit, but for 20 quid you can't complain really.

[The Visioneer]

I'm going to put a few goods words in here for my 2.1 system from Creative. They are great! The speakers a fairly small, and yet give out great quality sound from music and DVDs, and the sub is great. I often have to turn the bass down as it causes light fittings and the like to shake all over the house.

They don't need a special soun card, one lead into the sub, and then two out of the sub into the speakers. Perfect.

My other computer has a 5.1 set-up, and I can't tell any real difference, in fact, I prefer my 2.1.

[Lewiji]

Just like to say that I bought a proper sound card and now the sub woofer works perfectly :D Bargain

[Phreeck]

A neighbour gave me this system free about 2 years ago now.

I presume its very old and probly can't buy it anymore but if you wanna look on eBay, I'm sure you'll find it.

Its a Labtec system.
I have never had the volume about half because it deafens me/everyone, even though the speakers are little satellites.

On winamp my equiliser has to be no bass at all, because it pumps out so much, all you can hear downstairs is Boom Boom Booom.

Although the bass is off on the equiliser. it still gives out some bass.
And there are no controls on the actual sub, the only control are 2 volume sliders on one of the satellies.

Good quailty though, even when turned up, there is no fuzziness.

One problem is that at the end there are 2 jacks to go into the PC, and one hole, so you have to get a 2 into 1 converter thingy, don't worry they are only cheap though.

Heres a few pics, they arn't very good, but you can see what we have.

http://img97.exs.cx/img97/2268/P1110032.th.jpg (http://img97.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img97&image=P1110032.jpg)

http://img155.exs.cx/img155/8194/P1110035.th.jpg (http://img155.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img155&image=P1110035.jpg)

[Lewiji]

Yes, I'd like to say that on mine since it's 5.1 surround it will take up 3 slots (ie line in, line out and microphone) meaning if you like teamspeak in games, you'll need a USB mic.

[Tiggs]

(Headphones can count as a sound system to, right? Don't feel like making a whole new thread)

Creative HN700 Noise Canceling Headphones

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/7668/headphones2tj.jpg

Price: £30 from Dabs (http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3T9L&CategorySelectedId=11123&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11123)

Whats in the box:
HN700 Headphones
1.5m cable
Carrying pouch
2x AAA batteries
Dual plug adapter for airplanes

Once you've broken through the packaging (which isn't exactly easy) you're greeted by a very nice set of headphones. They feel pretty well built and they are pretty comfortable to wear. They can easily be collapsed to a pretty small size, that although not pocketable, can easily be dropped into a bag without taking up too much room. The sound quality is pretty good, strong base and good high end, although its not quite as clear as it could possibly be.

And then theres these headphones main feature, the noise canceling, which works like a charm. Its controlled by a switch on the left earcup and completely removes all lot pitched rumbles while leaving in higher pitched noises such as peoples voices. The only real chance I've had to test this has been walking down the high street and switching it on and off as cars went past. The result was quite impressive. They managed to completely remove the engine noise of the cars going past, although the tire noise came through. They even managed to silence a DB9 that buzzed past.

All in all these were a pretty good buy. Most other noise canceling headphones cost in the region of several hundred pounds, and although these are in no way perfect, value for money wise they can't be beaten.

[Stringy Pete]

Plantronics Audio 90 Headset
£23 from overclockers.co.uk
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/5696/audio90w5we.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

These are the top of the range Plantronics (apart from the USB headsets) and as on my other computer we have a pair of Audio 60s, I decided to ask for these for christmas from my brother.

Upon opening the present I realised that these things were MASSIVE. I didn't expect headphones that covered the ears, but these damn well nearly managed it. After some fiddling with arm lengths I got them to sit comfortably on my head and got to testing them.

In iTunes, listening to some heavy drum and bass, the sound reproduction is pretty much spot on at maxmum volume, and perfect at all volumes below that. The sound that comes out is comparable to the quality given out by my Kenwood HiFi speakers that I usually use with the computer. No matter what music I threw at them they refused to distort or crackle, and a great listening experience was had by all.

On to gaming, and I was amazed by the sheer volume and crispness offered by these headphones. Every single sound in CS:S was enunciated and it didn't miss a single pin drop. The gunshots, footsteps and everything sounded spot on. I had no complaints about the microphone from people I asked, and upon testing in Sound Recorder the mic quality seemed to be top notch.

If I had to recommend a high end headset to someone who was only after stereo sound (most people are) then this would be the one. There is no reason to fork out less for the lower end Plantronic models, and certainly very little reason to fork out more for the USB versions or for more expensive models from other manufacturers.