Logitech Z-5500 + Xonar D1 Questions

Totally Dubbed · 12 Jan 2010 at 23:45

Hey again

I'm using XP + Logitech Z-5500 + Xonar D1 sound card
Iv'e got several questions to put forward:
-What sample rate should i use on the Audio Centre for the D1?
(I know it's been posted but didn't understand it)

-What EQ should i use? The best one is Soft rock, i gave up on the lack of bass on it, so made one my self by trial and experimenting. Should i have EQ on at all, especially seeing as i have the Z-5500? It does sound better with my "setup" though

-Do any of you guys use the dolby options? As i don't No need to IMO...

-What should i set on the effect for the Z-5500? 6 ch direct or Dolby Music? The Dolby Music sounds a lil better, just not sure what is better.

-Flexbass: Any use? As i can't hear a difference with it on(with large speakers enabled) or off.

-GX MODE? I don't game on the PC. Is there any use in this feature being enabled?

-SVN: Any use at all? Just seems to up the volume on everything.

I know i'm a noob at this subject, but i really do love my music....and the D1 hasn't really delivered to my high expectations....£60...and can't really hear a huge amount of difference between my gd old realtek on-board...

Thx in advance for the repplies!!!

Greebo · 13 Jan 2010 at 09:05

Totally Dubbed said:
Hey again

-What sample rate should i use on the Audio Centre for the D1? 96 seems to be the recommended

-What EQ should i use? EQ is personal taste. Myself I have it switched off but some people have it on and adjust it accordingly to suit their taste. No recommended answer, just have it set to what sounds better to you.

-Do any of you guys use the dolby options? As i don't No need to IMO... Depends on the source. Obviously for Dolby encoded films and games I do.

-What should i set on the effect for the Z-5500? 6 ch direct or Dolby Music? The Dolby Music sounds a lil better, just not sure what is better. Again it's down to what you think is better.

-Flexbass: Any use? As i can't hear a difference with it on(with large speakers enabled) or off. The z-5500 are soooooooo bassy I can't see why you would need it on.
-GX MODE? I don't game on the PC. Is there any use in this feature being enabled? For games only so ignore.

-SVN: Any use at all? Just seems to up the volume on everything. Leave off. All it is meant to do is "equalise" the sound levels in a track eg makes the quieter bits louder. My personal view is that so long as your source is decent then the track should be played the way the artist meant it to. The quiet bits are quiet for a reason

I know i'm a noob at this subject, but i really do love my music....and the D1 hasn't really delivered to my high expectations....£60...and can't really hear a huge amount of difference between my gd old realtek on-board...How is it connected to your z5500? If optical then your soundcard is not doing any of the processing, your z5500 are so it will not sound any different to the onboard. If you have a quality soundcard then you should connect it anologuely to the z5500's

Thx in advance for the repplies!!!

cmndr_andi · 13 Jan 2010 at 09:23

Aye, do what greebo says

Especially make sure you connect it via analogue (the 3 colour coded 3.5mm jacks), or you won't be making use of the clever stuff on the sound card - just the stuff on the z5500 (which I don't think is nearly as good).

As for the which settings to use on the z5500s, I switch between them depending what i'm doing.

- For Music I put it on dolby music, everything sounds great and music comes out of all speakers (my standard itunes mp3s only come out of the two front speakers when in 6 channel mode, as you would expect).

- For movies/TV I set it to dolby movie. You can set it 6 channel and mess around with the xonar settings, but I find the movie option to sound great and easy to set.

- For games I use 6 channel mode. This means modern games can give you proper 5.1 surround and make it sound good. If you are running old games (which only have stereo sound) you may want to set the speakers to dolby movie.

This is just what I use (and i'm certainly no pro), but I find it works rather well.

Totally Dubbed · 13 Jan 2010 at 11:15

Thx for the repplies, I don't use optical, i use the 3.5mm jacks.

I will stick to what you guys said

THX!

Marsman · 13 Jan 2010 at 12:22

That is very interesting. When you said you heard not much difference compared to the onboard, I was expecting you to say you used optical. Obviously that is not the case. I do not have have those speakers or DX, but I do have a DS, which I found to be noticeably superior to the Realtek on my motherboard.

Maybe it's down to the speakers being used, as to whether the difference is small or significant. I will say though, the Z-5500 are not the best choice if music is the main use. They are far better than the cheap 5.1 PC offerings, but a good stereo or an amp and some decent speakers would show the Z-5500 up in the music dept. For games and movies though, they are superb, short of spending significantly more cash on separates.

Greebo · 13 Jan 2010 at 12:33

I agree with Masman. The z-5000 aren't the best choice for a purely non gaming person.

I had a 20 year old quality seperate amp and some decent bookshelf speakers and knocked socks off the z-5500 for music with my Asus.

I tend to listen to music on my headphones so I don't really miss the seperates system that much.

For movies and games though, for the money there is nothing to match the z-5500's.

In an ideal world if I had the space I would have bought a decent av receiver and proper surround sound speakers. I saw some 5.1 kef ones go for £50 on Ebay recently. That kind of setup would have destroyed the z5500's even in games and movies.

Totally Dubbed · 13 Jan 2010 at 19:07

Well that put aside,
I love my logitech's

Thing is i'll be using them with optical for the Xbox 360 + 3.5mm for the PC

And the more i listen to them the more i'm listening to the difference. It's louder, and clearer...but i'm wondering if that's because of the EQ iv'e set...as before i didn't really play around with EQ at all.