Tell me about the... Z5500's

Will:
I really hate stereo ( provided the audio console effect on my speakers is on 6 ch direct ) as I hear the music from the front only, I want to be surrounded and hear from the back too, thus CMMS 3d is needed else I hear nothing out of the front speakers when listening ot stereo or mono music... Infact I even moved the balance to 20% extra to the rear as im sitting just 50 cm from my center and 1 metre/yard from my front speakers, while at elast 3m from the rear ones...

Atm I have it on stereo surround I guess for a few days as it sounds nice.
I want the digital coz I have some dd and dts films/tracks on my pc wich I want to get the most out of, and renmeber, I aint got an xfi just an audigy SE so analog aint ''crystal clear'' like with an xfi prolly...

But still it leaves the question about: where on earth is my digital out on my audigy SE ?
 
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I have heard proper hi fi its awsome my grandad as it on some mega expensive speakers as he plays a electric organ so gets the best he can afford which is usually good stuff.

For pc stuff tho 5.1 with the z5500 should be fine.
 
On-Board Connectors
Line level Out (Front / Rear / Side / Center / Subwoofer) or Headphone Out
Line In / Microphone In / *Digital I/O
Aux Audio In
Supports SPDIF Out for Stereo Digital Speakers or SPDIF In/Out with Creative Digital I/O Module (sold separately)

I think you need this tho for digital

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The Sound Blaster Digital I/O Module gives you optical and coaxial digital inputs and outputs for easy connections to digital speakers or home theater systems.

Dedicated optical and coaxial digital outputs
Easy connections to your digital speakers or home theater receiver for stereo music playback and pass through of multichannel DTS™ and Dolby® Digital movie sound.

Convenient optical and coaxial digital inputs
Digital inputs for connecting to and recording from other digital audio devices.

Works with the following Sound Blaster cards:
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Sound Blaster Audigy 4
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value
Sound Blaster Audigy SE
Sound Blaster Live! 24 bit
 
badbob said:
Never heard a proper Hi-Fi? The soundfield on a pair of quality speakers, with correct placement sounds STUNNING.
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Never read: Teenage budget of 280€ and refuses to lose 5.1 for games :p ?

I have the Z5500's now so regardless, I prefer to keep hearing from the back.


I'll buy the module for 15€ I guess skeet.


Wich leaves me with a final direct question:

What's better, optical or coax?
 
both the same. do you have all the analogue leads plugged in (front L+R, Center, sub and surrounds) ? if so itd just stick with them, you arent likely to hear a massive difference
 
Coax i think. Tbh i dont think digital is worth moving to unless you have a over a thousand quid system. You just wont get the benefit.
 
Psypher5 said:
negative.

dolby digital films sound AWESOME.
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so do DTS. but both are achievable without using spdif and crucially.....without spending more money. and awesome is subjective lol

badbob said:
You get dolby digital over analogue, it's that that the soundcard will do the processing.
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unless the card has a hardware decoder, which the audigy SE doesnt from memory, then it'll be the software that does the decoding.
 
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not many creatives do digital via analogue...

well ok maybe not awesome in caps, pro logic movie mode does a good crack at it though. I just like the dolby digital 5.1 sound ok >.>
 
Psypher5 said:
not many creatives do digital via analogue...

well ok maybe not awesome in caps, pro logic movie mode does a good crack at it though. I just like the dolby digital 5.1 sound ok >.>
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you dont understand how the process works. basically, software takes the 5.1 discrete audio track from the movie and decodes it to 5.1 analogue. the sound card then outputs that result, ready6 to feed in to some 5.1 speakers or an amp. EVERY sound card that has multi channel outputs is capable of this.

im glad you like your DD5.1 movies..... just wait until you hear some HD stuff.
 
If I'd have the sndcard sent the digital signal over to my speakers tho, wouldnt the Z5500's do the decoding? As they have hardware dd and dts decoding ? The sndcard would just relay the digital signal over the cable, not decoding it though hardware or software @ my pc.
 
woooo tryed em a bit more and discovered the ''boost'' levels of volume, it sends my whole room shaking any pieces of paper are dancing up and down and any ligthweight stuff is sent flying due to this kit, very nice kit for house music and other bassy songs.


For rock however, the bass is a bit too much and both the middle and high tones are a bit lacking ( not too loud compared to bass). Still a huge improvement from what I had tho. I think my dad's Jamo dynamic D4's sound better for rock music.
 
snowdog said:
woooo tryed em a bit more and discovered the ''boost'' levels of volume, it sends my whole room shaking any pieces of paper are dancing up and down and any ligthweight stuff is sent flying due to this kit, very nice kit for house music and other bassy songs.


For rock however, the bass is a bit too much and both the middle and high tones are a bit lacking ( not too loud compared to bass). Still a huge improvement from what I had tho. I think my dad's Jamo dynamic D4's sound better for rock music.
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Hold down mute and keep turning it, you will hit boost 22, but i wouldn't recommend playing it like that with the sub maxed for very long or on a very bassy song since your probably going to destroy the sub.
There is also some kind of button combination to change the way the display looks and the colour of the light but i can't remember how to do that, apparently it makes the system quieter but i can't remember.
 
I think these speakers are quite good! - I had my old Hi-Fi hooked up to my PC for the last 4 years or so and when they gave up (last week :() I decieded to buy these ones.

They look nice, sound good and at a good price.

Hooking the speakers to the wall was a little bit of a pain but with a flexible neck screwdriver it was possible.

As analog pointed out there is a "2nd skin" mode can be turned on when the controller in standby mode (red light is on) and then hold down the al the buttons except for level. After a few seconds you get a message on the controller screen stating that 2nd skin is active. The standby light changes at a purple colour and the way the volume increased is also altered.

- Also another 'feature' you can activate is 'Diagnostic Mode'. Same as above... when the controller is in standby mode press and hold the Input and Effect buttons for a few seconds.
When a digital stream is detected, it will display information about that stream for five seconds... just displays a little more info by doing this.
 
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