Whats the best LFE crossover frequency for my sub?

juno_first · 31 Jul 2009 at 22:10

Maybe a little technical here, Im still learning myself.
I just got a soundcard & speakers & am finding music is missing some frequencies; either too much bass boom or not enough mid tones.
I cant seam to get it right.
Also Im noticing a sort of squelch effect where the volume automatically drops after a low frequency sound (this happened after installing the soundcard).

Im reading up on this & have learned my speakers have a fixed crossover of 120hz (indicating the sub does a lot of work) but THX specs require 80hz (as the speakers are THX certified).
Moving the crossover slider in the soundcard drivers creates more or less bass but im struggling find the best compromise.
Does anyone have the same speakers & have found the best crossover frequency or should I just not use the function?
Hope these aren't too many noob questions.

thanks

Soundcard:
Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe

Speakers:
Logitech Z-5500 THX Certified 5.1

AbsenceJam · 31 Jul 2009 at 23:50

Out of curiosity why have you paired that card with those speakers? Seems an enormous waste.

juno_first · 1 Aug 2009 at 00:56

So do you think the speakers are not good enough for the soundcard?

My old speakers were naff & I needed new, the Logitechs appeared to give the best boom for buck.
I like lots of bass for games/dance music/films & heard these speakers were good for that.

I had to get a PCI-E soundcard as the only free PCI port blew on my mobo (the x-fi gamer still worked though) so got the xonar S/H after the speakers.
The xonar sounds noticably better than the creative though, especially with high frequencies.

AbsenceJam · 1 Aug 2009 at 06:33

juno_first said:
So do you think the speakers are not good enough for the soundcard?

My old speakers were naff & I needed new, the Logitechs appeared to give the best boom for buck.
I like lots of bass for games/dance music/films & heard these speakers were good for that.

I had to get a PCI-E soundcard as the only free PCI port blew on my mobo (the x-fi gamer still worked though) so got the xonar S/H after the speakers.
The xonar sounds noticably better than the creative though, especially with high frequencies.

The point of the card you have is the bitstreaming of high resolution audio codecs from BD to an AV receiver. That's what the price is for. I believe it also has better DACS but the Logitechs really aren't good enough for it, they're just PC speakers still.

I was just curious, wondered if you planned on getting a proper home theatre sound setup.

juno_first · 1 Aug 2009 at 12:05

Well the speakers can only manage 96khz/24bit & BD is 192khz

I've tried the HDMI pass-through which works although its a bit bright.
The on-board 'Splendid Video' will not work in W7 64bit 7600 RTM.
When using a digital spdif wire, the speakers decode ac3/dts as per THX specs (good for a potential WD Player).

james.miller · 1 Aug 2009 at 12:32

turn the crossover off and let the speakers handle it. THX states 80hz...for thx certified speakers not inluding pc speakers. the logi's are already set up to handle the crossver at the best point so let them handle it.

and agreed with above, that card is an enormous waste for any pc speakers - its the sort of card you pair with a grands worth of kit - id be suprised if you heard any difference between that and a d2 for your applications

90% of the discs out there are 48khz/24bit btw, 192khz discs are pretty much none existant.