Why dont my Logitech Z-5500's sound good?

P4raDoXx · Aug 6, 2008, 02:33 AM

all the reviews say they are amazing. i know people who say they are amazing. i probably have them set up strange or something...

heres the data:

each satalite is 2-3 feet from my head, with the front and rears making a square (with my head in the middle) pointing at my head. the centre is above me (above my moniter) and pointed towards me. the sub is on the floor to my right. its close, when sitting normally my leg brushes the front right corner.

im using a creative x-fi xtremegamer card.

my ears hurt! the sound is very harsh and sharp. if i play with the EQ it gets better (at a loss of clarity) and my ears still feel strained and fatigued. music is the worst. games are probably the best, but they still sound weird. its probably the lack of low-mid freqs and a badly configured surround sound.

really all im asking is for advice on the optimal settings and configuration of the system. and i know the "best" sound can only be decided by me, but please give me something to go on. the console settings for my sound card are confusing also. if someone could supply a setup for that too, i would be glad.

i've actually considered that i got a "bad" set. like factory error. because it doesnt sound bad, just odd, and completly out of whack.

**kris23** · Aug 6, 2008, 02:49 AM

usually its just creative screwing people up, the drivers arent very good...

usually with gaming and creative cards, EAX MUST be enabled to sound good.

and.... these speakers were meant for being spaced a large ways apart from each other, the rear channels have to be far behind you or else everything will sound harsh and messed up especially on loud

P4raDoXx · Aug 6, 2008, 03:08 AM

im guna download the new drivers off the creative site. last time i updated it was a year ago. ill reply when they're finished.

EDIT:

ok, the driver made a small difference. i also reset the x-fi console and reset the settings on the speaker control pod. i moved my rear speakers back. i also increased the overall sound bitrate in the vista sound control panel

now im noticing that i am hearing no sound from 90 degrees left and right. whats that called, staging? (not sure on the audiophile vocab :-) is there something i can do to remedy this? the front is well balanced (ill play with it more to get the sound right) but to my sides and rear everything is weak.

Judas · Aug 6, 2008, 05:15 PM

imo, the z-5500 is pretty damn good.

but it sounds like your trying to set it up in a box the size of 5x5x5 feet or less or something. still it should sound really good still.. not harsh in any way.

The interface is really nice.

Input is obvious

Effect is ONLY used when using 2 channel devices (like an ipod directly plugged into the side), otherwise leave it at 6 channel direct.

Settings allow you to change an effect that you may have applied. (doesn't work in coax/optical or direct 6 channel mode)

Level allows you to adjust the sub/center/rear volumes.

There are more options however presented on the remote.

I highly suggest using the "test" butto the remote to produce a tone that will rotate through all the speakers allow you to try and accurately balance how you like to hear your surround sound. You cannot however adjust volume lvls specifically per channel (aka adjust rear left volume without affecting the other rear right)

If your using a 2 channel audio device, i recommend using either 2x stereo mode (this duplicates the stereo so that both the front left/right and rear left/right produce a quadraphonic stereo sound.

OR

Dobly ProLogic II for either movie (works well enough for games/movies/general stuff) or use the music one for obviously music....

If you want to test your speakers using another completely different source, i'd suggest grabbing a portable player with a line out capability to see how the speakers sound....

My center speaker is usually 2 full notches below default, the rear speakers are full 3 notches higher then default, and the sub is set usually 2-3 full notches above default due to my enviroment.

considering that the rear speakers are a full 12 feet behind me usually, and the center is in line with the front left/right and is much much closer.

Those are my settings...

Using Realtek ALC88x series onboard audio with "speakerfill" works very well,

But i prefer the Realtek ALC889a with either Dolby Digital LIVE! or DTS-Connect that provides a pure digital 5.1 connection to the speakers to be very very good.

Zelig · Aug 6, 2008, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P4raDoXx

amy ears hurt! the sound is very harsh and sharp. if i play with the EQ it gets better (at a loss of clarity) and my ears still feel strained and fatigued. music is the worst. games are probably the best, but they still sound weird. its probably the lack of low-mid freqs and a badly configured surround sound.

The Z-5500 do put out fatiguing sound.

However, there shouldn't be a lack of low-mid frequencies, the Logitech sub excels at those frequencies.

Is there anywhere you can go to listen to another set of the Z-5500?

**dj_stick** · Aug 7, 2008, 12:21 AM

the general rule for sound systems is that all speakers should be at the same volume/level and distance from the listener, at ear level, except for the LFE (sub) which should be 10dB below

also, what is the size/shape of your room, and how have you got your speakers arranged?

your room (and it's contents/arrangements) could be (part of) the source of this "bad" sound - "why do my speakers sound bad" is an extremely hard question to answer as you have to include the room, what reflectors/absorbers are in the room, the source signal, components of the speakers, components of the soundcard, quality of the power being provided to the amp, quality of the signal cables, any interference present, listening position, speaker arrangement...

P4raDoXx · Aug 7, 2008, 02:52 AM

thank you judas. that cleared up quite a bit for me

now i said the low/mid freqs were "weak" because if i turn those up in an equalizer, the satalites crackle and snap like my old speakers did if you went too low.

they ARE quite close to my head. ive moved the rear speakers back a bit, but i cannot move the centre at all and the front satalites could only be moved about a foot or two if i got another pair of stands. i tried them out upstairs in the living room (a open ended square) with a speaker at each corner, (about 20 feet apart) and the sound was much better. right now they are about 2 1/2 to 3 feet from my head

the room im in is acoustically crap. i know this because i play drums, trumpet, guitar and piano down here and the stucco walls and ceiling (yes, stucco. sky blue stucco. i didnt design this btw) almost "mute" the sound so it echos and mutates and reflects all over. i never noticed a problem with my computer because my old speakers were very close to my head.

the room is a rectangle. im on the middle of a side of it, so my front speakers cant move very far forward. would ceiling mounting them be bad? wouldnt games and stuff sound like im below everything?

EDIT:

my basement is about 25' by 35'

ANOTHER EDIT:

as for all those factors contributing to bad sound, i think most of them wont matter. i now realize i will probably have to move my speakers farther away.

i will also be soundproofing the room (foam panels or something) soon. so if that is a factor, it will be fixed

**dj_stick** · Aug 7, 2008, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P4raDoXx

the room im in is acoustically crap. i know this because i play drums, trumpet, guitar and piano down here and the stucco walls and ceiling (yes, stucco. sky blue stucco. i didnt design this btw) almost "mute" the sound so it echos and mutates and reflects all over. i never noticed a problem with my computer because my old speakers were very close to my head.

this is the main problem - bad acoustics = bad sound

as for ceiling mounting, don't - you get the best sound when the speakers are at ear level, and equidistant from your head

here is the standard placement chart used when mixing for 5.1 - so you'll get the best result if you listen to a system set up this way:

P4raDoXx · Aug 7, 2008, 07:08 AM

ahh ok. ty for the chart. i will be moving my rears closer to the sides now.

Judas · Aug 7, 2008, 09:47 PM

Personal preference will always play a factor

Also being that the speakers are so close to you, i'm wondering what volumes your using them at.... considering that i've tried using the speakers within a 5 foot diameter space.... the sound becomes deafening far to quickly (close range lol), but the sound quality still is great.

I'm wondering if your equalizer your using or your own computer's volume controls are affecting things as well... I know alot of people who've tried out the z-5500's but had thier sound cards volume controlls and other sliders setup or were preset in a manner that did not suite the speakers at all, more along the lines of being designed for unamplified speakers (totally overdriving the signal before reaching the speakers)

Amp~>Amp~>speakers are usualy a bad idea

**dj_stick** · Aug 8, 2008, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

I know alot of people who've tried out the z-5500's but had thier sound cards volume controlls and other sliders setup or were preset in a manner that did not suite the speakers at all, more along the lines of being designed for unamplified speakers (totally overdriving the signal before reaching the speakers)

Amp~>Amp~>speakers are usualy a bad idea

that doesn't make any sense - no computer soundcard has a built in amplifier - even passive speakers have a seperate amplifier in the chain after the soundcard output.

however if you are over-driving the output of the soundcard, causing digital clipping before the sound even leaves your computer, then that'll create some problems (but is generally pretty hard to do without cranking all EQ faders and the master level fader)

P4raDoXx · Aug 8, 2008, 02:27 AM

everything is pretty balanced... windows volume is at 75%, sound card volume is at 75% and the EQ sliders are quite close together.

i dont play it very loud. for music im at like 3-4 bars and games are about 8-10 bars up. for some reason game mode on my sound card, even though the volume is set the same, sounds a lot quieter.

whats the best way to set this up for games? ive tried the CMSS 3D setting on my x-fi card, and have found it gives an echoy, "empty" feeling to the sound. kinda like the speakers are out of sync. the effect is ignorable in games (i never knew the pop of a bullet could sound so satisfying!) but the "3d surround" thing doesnt work nearly as well as it did on my set of 2.1's,believe it or not.

note ive only played 2 games with them (an old stratagy title and medal of honor: airborne,which wasnt very good but i promised myself id finish) neather were mixed in 5.1 i think. im going to try bioshock and some other stuff with it. ill update later

Judas · Aug 8, 2008, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_stick

that doesn't make any sense - no computer soundcard has a built in amplifier - even passive speakers have a seperate amplifier in the chain after the soundcard output.

however if you are over-driving the output of the soundcard, causing digital clipping before the sound even leaves your computer, then that'll create some problems (but is generally pretty hard to do without cranking all EQ faders and the master level fader)

There were a number of sound cards that had a higher volume output through the jacks.. while they were not fully powered in any way, they produce a considerable amount of distortion of amplified speaker system if the volume lvls over 50%.

But my major reason for stating the amp~>amp was bad is due to using another source to test the speakers, such as another audio player that doesn't have a static built for LINE OUT connection. If using any of these kind of devices for the system, usually a volume lvl of 2 or less is required so that overdriving of the signal doesn't occur. Still a line out is always favourable.

Now i've never been a fan of the creative cards for a number of reasons..

Unfortuneately what your discribing is nearly identical to that of my experiences when running the X-FI Fata1ity, makeing it sound good was just not working, and the surround sound was simply not working either unless i played a passthrough 5.1 digital audio stream to the speakers.

**dj_stick** · Aug 9, 2008, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

There were a number of sound cards that had a higher volume output through the jacks.. while they were not fully powered in any way, they produce a considerable amount of distortion of amplified speaker system if the volume lvls over 50%.

there were some "value" cards, back before onboard audio took prevalence, that if not set correctly, had the main lineout set as a headphone output, with a small amp - that's probably what you're talking about, but a simple control panel switch would have fixed that problem

P4raDoXx · Aug 9, 2008, 02:17 AM

im getting some pretty intense crackling during bass heavy music. not from the sub, from the sats. usually during rap/hip hop, but high quality rock does it too

Judas · Aug 9, 2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_stick

there were some "value" cards, back before onboard audio took prevalence, that if not set correctly, had the main lineout set as a headphone output, with a small amp - that's probably what you're talking about, but a simple control panel switch would have fixed that problem

ok

p4radoxx, that's a definite sign of either overdriven line from the sound card OR bad speakers...

is there any other sources you can attach... can you hook up the speakers using a DIGITAL connection like fiber optic or coax to test the speakers? As that's as normalized sound as you can get. A decently mastered DVD (good quality) should be able to provide with accurate sound and to be able to tell you if the speakers are just bad.

Actually Xbox360 is another source option with a fiber connection.

P4raDoXx · Aug 10, 2008, 03:24 AM

mmk, i bought a coax cable for my DVD player when i bought the speakers. i didnt notice any crackling then, but i would need to test again.

is there any way to use coax on a 360? i dont really wana spend another $50 for another decent digital cable

EDIT:
in the meantime, is there anyway to test if my sound card is overdriven?

**dj_stick** · Aug 10, 2008, 04:06 AM

yes, this program will help isolate any soundcard quality issues - http://audio.rightmark.org/

read the instructions, run the tests, and post your results- i'll be able to tell if there's anything wrong from reading the graphs

P4raDoXx · Aug 10, 2008, 05:04 AM

ok, i followed all the setup instructions on the soundblaster X-FI guide, and its telling me my input levels are too low, giving me numbers around -85dB

how can i fix this?

EDIT:
btw changing the sliders doesnt do anything

EDIT:
i checked all the levels i could find and played with them. nothing made any difference. as detailed in the instructions i connected the front left right line out to the line-in/optical-out socket, and tuned off all the features on the console, and changed the levels to the reccomnended levels using the audio creation mode.

**dj_stick** · Aug 11, 2008, 01:42 PM

are you able to test the speakers with another system?

P4raDoXx · Aug 12, 2008, 06:40 AM

not any other PC, no. but i can use an xbox 360 (if i get an adapter) and a tv/dvd player. im guna test with those soon.

Judas · Aug 12, 2008, 05:39 PM

fiber optic cables (at least i think every xbox360 has the fiber optic port) are dirt cheap.. you can get 3 foot one for about 5 bucks now....

or any set top box dvd player with a Digital COAX out and a good quality master DVD will generally always show off the potential of the speakers..

newheart · Aug 30, 2008, 12:26 AM

Greetings, anyone have 5.1 setup for Audigy 2 ZS and Logitech Z-5500 speakers for KX project drivers?

Thank you.

**dj_stick** · Aug 30, 2008, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newheart

Greetings, anyone have 5.1 setup for Audigy 2 ZS and Logitech Z-5500 speakers for KX project drivers?

Thank you.

will be the same as the setup up for any 5.1 speaker set... aka the standard 5.1 settings in the surrounder

newheart · Aug 30, 2008, 08:16 AM

Oke, i've tried but there is no sound from rear speakers, and if i get sounds it's crappy.
It worked fine on windows XP, now on Vista it's really problematic to configure it.

P4raDoXx · Aug 31, 2008, 11:27 PM

mmk, so i think ive ironed out most of my problems. except the crackling. ive tryed to isolate the problem, and it seems that music with heavy sounds around 62 Hz causes my satilites to crackle, like they cant handle such a low frequency. i think that 62 hz is around where the bass gets redirected to the subwoofer. (i found this out by playing with my equalizer sliders. when i cut or lower the 62hz slider the crackling stops)

any way to fix this?

EDIT:
now that i listen to it, its not really a crackle, its more like a messy buzz

Judas · Sep 2, 2008, 08:12 PM

question.

when those tones are being made.. what happens if you cup your hand around the sides of the speaker.... and apply a little preasure. (or try to apply preasure around different parts of the speaker casing).... no i don't mean the speaker itself.....

P4raDoXx · Sep 3, 2008, 02:58 AM

ahh, vibration! i will try that now...

EDIT:
nope, nothing. in fact the casing barly vibrates at all. i tried different places. it is definatly comming from the speaker cone itself.
little note, might be usefull. i have the "scope" visualizer on media player, its clipping during music that crackles the most. i dont know how accurate that thing is, but i do know clipping is bad. it doesnt sound like clipping ive heard before (i have some experience with large sound systems)

EDIT:
i noticed that iTunes sounds better then media player (coldplay never used to crackle) and realized that the volume slider on iTunes is at like 75% where the media player one is at 100%. i pulled it doen to like 50% and it improved, not by much, but it now sounds like iTunes does. my sound card might be overdriven, because the worst music is techno i pull off newgrounds that is amaturly mixed and probably set with a higher gain. i however, do not know how to change the sound card gain.

Judas · Sep 3, 2008, 04:41 PM

if the casing isn't virbrating... it's the sound/signal to the speakers that's being overdriven or has been mixed in a manner that the speakers are amplifying poorly.

I've only ran into one Z-5500 set where the casing vibrated which i shipped back as faulty.

Most of the audio where the speakers will do that is for example really low quality internet radio or mp3s or something that had no equalization or normalization.

Aug 6, 2008, 02:33 AM	#1
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	Why dont my Logitech Z-5500's sound good? all the reviews say they are amazing. i know people who say they are amazing. i probably have them set up strange or something... heres the data: each satalite is 2-3 feet from my head, with the front and rears making a square (with my head in the middle) pointing at my head. the centre is above me (above my moniter) and pointed towards me. the sub is on the floor to my right. its close, when sitting normally my leg brushes the front right corner. im using a creative x-fi xtremegamer card. my ears hurt! the sound is very harsh and sharp. if i play with the EQ it gets better (at a loss of clarity) and my ears still feel strained and fatigued. music is the worst. games are probably the best, but they still sound weird. its probably the lack of low-mid freqs and a badly configured surround sound. really all im asking is for advice on the optimal settings and configuration of the system. and i know the "best" sound can only be decided by me, but please give me something to go on. the console settings for my sound card are confusing also. if someone could supply a setup for that too, i would be glad. i've actually considered that i got a "bad" set. like factory error. because it doesnt sound bad, just odd, and completly out of whack. __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 6, 2008, 02:49 AM	#2
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 5,990 Rep Power: 121 System Specs	usually its just creative screwing people up, the drivers arent very good... usually with gaming and creative cards, EAX MUST be enabled to sound good. and.... these speakers were meant for being spaced a large ways apart from each other, the rear channels have to be far behind you or else everything will sound harsh and messed up especially on loud __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Aug 6, 2008, 03:08 AM	Thread Starter #3
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	im guna download the new drivers off the creative site. last time i updated it was a year ago. ill reply when they're finished. EDIT: ok, the driver made a small difference. i also reset the x-fi console and reset the settings on the speaker control pod. i moved my rear speakers back. i also increased the overall sound bitrate in the vista sound control panel now im noticing that i am hearing no sound from 90 degrees left and right. whats that called, staging? (not sure on the audiophile vocab :-) is there something i can do to remedy this? the front is well balanced (ill play with it more to get the sound right) but to my sides and rear everything is weak. __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035 Last edited by P4raDoXx; Aug 6, 2008 at 04:06 AM.

Aug 7, 2008, 02:52 AM	Thread Starter #7
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	thank you judas. that cleared up quite a bit for me now i said the low/mid freqs were "weak" because if i turn those up in an equalizer, the satalites crackle and snap like my old speakers did if you went too low. they ARE quite close to my head. ive moved the rear speakers back a bit, but i cannot move the centre at all and the front satalites could only be moved about a foot or two if i got another pair of stands. i tried them out upstairs in the living room (a open ended square) with a speaker at each corner, (about 20 feet apart) and the sound was much better. right now they are about 2 1/2 to 3 feet from my head the room im in is acoustically crap. i know this because i play drums, trumpet, guitar and piano down here and the stucco walls and ceiling (yes, stucco. sky blue stucco. i didnt design this btw) almost "mute" the sound so it echos and mutates and reflects all over. i never noticed a problem with my computer because my old speakers were very close to my head. the room is a rectangle. im on the middle of a side of it, so my front speakers cant move very far forward. would ceiling mounting them be bad? wouldnt games and stuff sound like im below everything? EDIT: my basement is about 25' by 35' ANOTHER EDIT: as for all those factors contributing to bad sound, i think most of them wont matter. i now realize i will probably have to move my speakers farther away. i will also be soundproofing the room (foam panels or something) soon. so if that is a factor, it will be fixed __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 7, 2008, 07:08 AM	Thread Starter #9
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	ahh ok. ty for the chart. i will be moving my rears closer to the sides now. __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 8, 2008, 02:27 AM	Thread Starter #12
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	everything is pretty balanced... windows volume is at 75%, sound card volume is at 75% and the EQ sliders are quite close together. i dont play it very loud. for music im at like 3-4 bars and games are about 8-10 bars up. for some reason game mode on my sound card, even though the volume is set the same, sounds a lot quieter. whats the best way to set this up for games? ive tried the CMSS 3D setting on my x-fi card, and have found it gives an echoy, "empty" feeling to the sound. kinda like the speakers are out of sync. the effect is ignorable in games (i never knew the pop of a bullet could sound so satisfying!) but the "3d surround" thing doesnt work nearly as well as it did on my set of 2.1's,believe it or not. note ive only played 2 games with them (an old stratagy title and medal of honor: airborne,which wasnt very good but i promised myself id finish) neather were mixed in 5.1 i think. im going to try bioshock and some other stuff with it. ill update later __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 9, 2008, 02:17 AM	Thread Starter #15
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	im getting some pretty intense crackling during bass heavy music. not from the sub, from the sats. usually during rap/hip hop, but high quality rock does it too __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 10, 2008, 03:24 AM	Thread Starter #17
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	mmk, i bought a coax cable for my DVD player when i bought the speakers. i didnt notice any crackling then, but i would need to test again. is there any way to use coax on a 360? i dont really wana spend another $50 for another decent digital cable EDIT: in the meantime, is there anyway to test if my sound card is overdriven? __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 10, 2008, 05:04 AM	Thread Starter #19
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	ok, i followed all the setup instructions on the soundblaster X-FI guide, and its telling me my input levels are too low, giving me numbers around -85dB how can i fix this? EDIT: btw changing the sliders doesnt do anything EDIT: i checked all the levels i could find and played with them. nothing made any difference. as detailed in the instructions i connected the front left right line out to the line-in/optical-out socket, and tuned off all the features on the console, and changed the levels to the reccomnended levels using the audio creation mode. __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035 Last edited by P4raDoXx; Aug 10, 2008 at 05:35 AM.

Aug 12, 2008, 06:40 AM	Thread Starter #21
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	not any other PC, no. but i can use an xbox 360 (if i get an adapter) and a tv/dvd player. im guna test with those soon. __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Aug 30, 2008, 12:26 AM	#23
newheart DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Greetings, anyone have 5.1 setup for Audigy 2 ZS and Logitech Z-5500 speakers for KX project drivers? Thank you. __________________

Aug 30, 2008, 08:16 AM	#25
newheart DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Oke, i've tried but there is no sound from rear speakers, and if i get sounds it's crappy. It worked fine on windows XP, now on Vista it's really problematic to configure it. __________________ Last edited by newheart; Aug 30, 2008 at 02:47 PM.

Aug 31, 2008, 11:27 PM	Thread Starter #26
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	mmk, so i think ive ironed out most of my problems. except the crackling. ive tryed to isolate the problem, and it seems that music with heavy sounds around 62 Hz causes my satilites to crackle, like they cant handle such a low frequency. i think that 62 hz is around where the bass gets redirected to the subwoofer. (i found this out by playing with my equalizer sliders. when i cut or lower the 62hz slider the crackling stops) any way to fix this? EDIT: now that i listen to it, its not really a crackle, its more like a messy buzz __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035

Sep 3, 2008, 02:58 AM	Thread Starter #28
P4raDoXx DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Posts: 65 Rep Power: 26	ahh, vibration! i will try that now... EDIT: nope, nothing. in fact the casing barly vibrates at all. i tried different places. it is definatly comming from the speaker cone itself. little note, might be usefull. i have the "scope" visualizer on media player, its clipping during music that crackles the most. i dont know how accurate that thing is, but i do know clipping is bad. it doesnt sound like clipping ive heard before (i have some experience with large sound systems) EDIT: i noticed that iTunes sounds better then media player (coldplay never used to crackle) and realized that the volume slider on iTunes is at like 75% where the media player one is at 100%. i pulled it doen to like 50% and it improved, not by much, but it now sounds like iTunes does. my sound card might be overdriven, because the worst music is techno i pull off newgrounds that is amaturly mixed and probably set with a higher gain. i however, do not know how to change the sound card gain. __________________ P4RADOXX: Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40Ghz \| BFG nVidia GTX 260 OCX \| eVGA nVidia nForce 680i \| 2GB DDR2 800Mhz Mushkin XP2 \| 80GB Seagate 7800.10 (System Drive) \| 500GB Seagate 7800.10 (Storage Drive) \| PC Power and Cooling 600 \| Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Antec P-182 SE \| Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) \| Acer AL2223W 22" Widescreen \| Logitech G9 Mouse \| Logitech G15 Keyboard PCMARK06: 10,035 Last edited by P4raDoXx; Sep 3, 2008 at 03:10 AM.