sound advice needed

bimmerboii · 15 Nov 2006 at 00:03

ok, so i have just built my new gaming rig. now's the time to get a proper sound system for it. i do need a bit of help/advice as i have very little knowledge on sound cards and speakers.

firstly, is the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music + Inspire T6060 5.1 Speakers - Retail from OcUk good for me? I play games a lot and listen to my music often.

I also hear that the Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers are good.

Which one should i choose? what are the pros and cons of 2.1 and 5.1?

hardc0re_tid · 16 Nov 2006 at 12:59

if you are really into your music i wouldnt bother with a cheap set of 5.1's, get a good set of 2.1's if anything.

i have an Audigy 2 and was thinking of going for the X-Fi and was recomended to do so

sorry i cant be of more help

Dr.EM · 16 Nov 2006 at 13:08

My brother has the T6060's, they are terrible tbh. As hardc0re_tid says, you are much better off with 2.1s at this price point. Yes, the Acoustic Energy Aego M will sound massively better than the T6060 and they are highly reccomended. Them with the X-Fi would be a great combination.

If you definately want 5.1, i'd reccomend buying an Audigy 2 second hand (£15 or so) and then the Logitech Z-5400 or Creative GigaWorks 5.1 G500 sets from here. It's not worth buying cheap 5.1 sets imo. The Audigy 2 card is quite accpetable, i'm still using one with expensive Hi-Fi equiptment!

Really, 5.1 has advantages for gaming and movies, but you'd need to consider if you can set them up properly. If you don't have the space to do so, the effect will not be worthwhile. 2.1 is better for music and yet is perfectly good for games and movies too usually. Since you have a fairly modest budget, i'd probably go 2.1 here as the quality of sound will be much higher for the same price

bimmerboii · 16 Nov 2006 at 14:50

thanks for the replies

another question though, (this may sound stupid as i am a noob in sound systems) is it ok for me to use the Acoustic Energy 2.1 without any soundcard? I have £100 budget and i wont have anough money left for the sound card. I have a ds3 mobo which has Realtek HD Audio Manager.