Can I use 7.1 speakers (T7900) in a 2.1 setup?

[Chris [BEANS]]

Hi,

My dad gave me a huge box of speakers a few years back and I've never opened it.
Was looking for new speakers recently when I realised I had it so I've opened it up and it's a shiny new set of Creative T7900 7.1 speakers.

I don't have the room for a surround setup and just wondered whether these could be used properly as a 2.1 setup?

I'm pretty sure it came with an Audigy 7.1 card which I may or may not have somewhere, but I do have a Soundblaster Audigy 2 soundcard installed with six inputs in the rear but unless I'm being stupid, no mic input?

I appreciate I know nothing about soundcards and speakers so can upload pics of the inputs if what I'm saying isn't clear.

Anyway, can this be used in a 2.1 configuration?

Thanks

 

[Marsman]

Yeah, just remove the side, centre and rear speakers, and set the sound card to 2.1 output.

The Audigy 2 should have a microphone input.

 

[Chris [BEANS]]

Thanks

Got the two speakers and sub set up fine, and they work great.

Couple more questions though if OK?

I don't have a 2.1 configuration option. I get 'Stereo', 'Quadrophonic', '5.1' and '7.1'.
It allows me to test the speakers for each setup and on stereo the two speakers work great, and if I select 5.1 then the sub works great too, but in simple stereo obviously the sub doesn't show up.
Any idea?

Secondly and much less important, is there any benefit to plugging in the centre speaker too?

Cheers

 

[Marsman]

I'm surprised there is no 2.1 option. Normally stereo (2.0) and 2.1 come under the same option/selection. If when it is set to 2.0, there is no bass, then what you could do is, connect the centre speaker and set the output as 5.1.

The only downside of doing that is, as you won't have any rears, any sounds that intended for the rears, won't be heard. The sound card cannot know that there are no rear speakers present, so will send the sounds anyway. I suppose it depends what you are using the speakers for. If you are playing a FPS game, for eg, then any sounds that are coming from behind, won't be heard at all. If you were using 2.0, then all sounds are routed to the connected speakers.

I'm assuming "quadrophonic" refers to 4.1? Could be 4.0 I suppose, which would be no better than 2.0 really, as the key is that the sub is not being used. If it is 4.1, then you could connect the rear speakers and place them next to the left and right fronts. From a surround sound point of view, it's a poor placement, as all speakers are in front of you, but as your sound card will not allow you to use 2.1, it might be the best alternative.

Edit: Just thinking about it. If "quadrophonic" refers to 4.0 and not 4.1. You could just connect centre and rears, place the rears either next to the fronts, and set the sound card to 5.1. Again, not ideal for surround sound, but would allow you to get bass from the subwoofer, and sound from all speakers.

 

[Chris [BEANS]]

OK, sussed it

It seems that what you have to do is go for 5.1, and you later get the option to 'untick' any speakers that you don't have.
So simply unticking centre speaker and rear speakers will leave you with a 2.1 setup.

After all the faffing about I've actually gone for 5.1!
The rear speakers are under the sofa at their respective ends and pointing out and away. Obviously this isn't how they're intended to be used, so I wasn't expecting it to work, but it's still surprisingly effective

Really appreciate your help on this one