the Interceptor's general AUDIO thread

To all you audiophiles: I'm open to suggestions for next semester when I move. Keeping all the same equipment (an X-530 sub, a Z-4 sub, 2 X-530 speakers, 2 Z-4 speakers, and 2 Toshiba SS-200W-M speakers), what is the best setup?
Given we're talking of a surround sound setup, I'd use...

  • the Toshiba speakers as mains
  • both X-530 satellites as center speakers (either right/left or above/below whatever screen you use)
  • the Z-4 satellites as rears
  • both subwoofers close to the main speakers
Might be a bit tricky wiring this up, but it should be possible.
 
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since i still haven't gotten around to getting myself a NAD C316BEE, i've stolen my dad's amp for the time being.
it's sort of to try out what difference a 'decent' amp would make. until i can get my hands on the NAD i will be using a LINN direktor... it's actually a multi-room-receiver, but works as plain old amp just as well, so who cares :D
 
I am fed up with Realtek "HD" garbage. Are there any decent, but not too expensive usb audio cards? I have no open PCI slots so it has to be usb.
 
I am fed up with Realtek "HD" garbage. Are there any decent, but not too expensive usb audio cards? I have no open PCI slots so it has to be usb.

i had a creative x-mod on my laptop for two years which served me well. won't be the best you can get though, definitely better options on the market.

on another note: i finally got around to ordering my NAD C316BEE and, to go along, quite a bit of hopefully decent cables: 3,5m to connect my PC, another 3,5m to connect the subwoofer (which will come in due time) and another 30m of speaker cable. all manufactured by goldkabel, recommended by a friend (anyone have experience with that, i guess not?).

crosspost madness!
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whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop! (imagine a zoidberg-scuttle)
 
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So I spent nearly all day in electrical stores today, looking at headphones (haven't had the new ones more than a year and already broke one of the swivel points! - super-glued it together so may just end up using them as is), home theatres in boxes and home theatre components among other things.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions.

Are open headphones suitable for use out and about? I mean just how much sound leaks out? I don't really like other people to be able to hear what I'm listening to, but I found some that I kinda liked so I got to thinking...

And I've been considering some kind of home theatre deal, it isn't really necessary but I just find dialogue on some movies too low and when the audio on the whole is low it becomes a strain. Wouldn't mind some more bass either. I don't really care for rear speakers, nor do I have the room for them, so I only really want 3.1 atm. There's a Denon 3.1 system that's pretty much all I need for $425/?310 except each channel can't be adjusted separately so I can't up the centre if I want. Only 1 HDMI input and one optical so so real room fro growth but it isn't really needed.

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There's also a Marantz NR1501 on sale for $300/?220, 7.1 channel, heaps of inputs, more than I need but damn cheap.

I have a pair of Onkyo bookshelf speakers so I only really need a centre channel and perhaps a sub, but the cheapest sub I saw was $200/?150 and a centre would be about $100/?70.

Another option is a set of speakers, like Denon's SYS56HT for $300/?220.

sys56ht.jpg


Probably all overkill, I only watch movies/TV from the computer (HDMI out) and the wife watches TV and it's only a 20" 720p in a tiny living room. Will probably also use it for music from the 'puter/ipod - not HQ stuff.

I'd buy the Marantz amp in a heartbeat if I knew I could take it back to Oz with me but I believe it's 100V only, not 100-250V, also the receiver has different frequency range so it wouldn't work. As it is it's just really tempting.

Any thoughts? I'm just thinking "out loud" so anything is appreciated.
 
All I can say about "good" home theater speakers: Ever since I have the new Pioneer amp with proper Teufels, I get the dialog way better than before! I always had my center @+5 (out of 6 on the old Sony receiver). Now the Pioneer actually has my center @-7db, and even at low volume it is crystal clear. Thats actually a bigger improvement than the sub which has 5 times the power...
So: Go for it!
 
My old ones were decent, but had self-soldered/gaffataped cables that broke quickly where the cable had a volume control thingy. Maybe that messed up things a bit :D
 
Small update: They're lovely. Now I can hear how crappy everything is :cry:

Welcome to the club. I'm a member of that club since 1990 or so and probably am a Diamond Status member now :p

PM me, if you want some tips for awesome sounding headphone music.

i had that a lot when i changed to decent speakers / amp :p

Quite interesting, huh?

Even more interesting is, when you hear that what you thought was crap before, actually sounds good now, because your old system simply couldn't reproduce it well enough.
 
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Quite interesting, huh?

Even more interesting is, when you hear that what you thought was crap before, actually sounds good now, because your old system simply couldn't reproduce it well enough.

yeah it's great what can be dragged out of certain stuff that was, tbh, pretty boring before. there are whole pieces of songs that i never heard before...
moments when you think "wait, i've never heard THAT instrument in that song before" :?

also, it's strange how i now want to go on improving what i have further and further, whilst before i was happy with what i'd got for such a long time. oh well, i guess a big part of that is the fun of making stuff yourself... in combination with boredom (which, funnily enough, comes up strongly when i have to study hard for my exams).
 
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I always had my center @+5 (out of 6 on the old Sony receiver). Now the Pioneer actually has my center @-7db, and even at low volume it is crystal clear. Thats actually a bigger improvement than the sub which has 5 times the power...
So: Go for it!

Hmn. So would you say it's a big advantage being able to adjust channels separately? The 3.1 set would fit perfectly in the room but I just can't help but think that the Marantz amp is much better value even though it would work out more expensive when speakers are added and wouldn't fit as easily - I'm even considering changing the layout of the room to create more space around the TV.
 
Mostly I'd say that a measurement device can be a great help in setting up your system... Especially if you're useless at doing it yourself. Like me.

Usually all the HT solutions have options to turn up the center. OR: Try to get something like ac3filter going on your PC and adjust from there. Dunno how that works over HDMI, though. It worked using spdif with and old 2.0 setup of mine.

Have you thought about 1.1 systems that emulate surround?

Also: a 5.1 system isn't much of a hassle to install, IMHO. You got a couch? put the rear speakers on the corners of the couch... or wall mount them... IMHO, the rears are worth it...
 
The 3.1 system is simple, just a bar type speaker that would sit in front of the telly and a sub as you can see from the pic, there's no mic-based setup or anything. There are a few basic settings; movie, music, news for example that just cut certain speakers I believe. News is probably centre only, music is stereo for example.

The PC? Well I just checked and the HDMI shows just 2 channels, but I guess that's cos it's plugged into the TV? Perhaps I could change the settings through Windows device manager if plugged into 3.1 set-up. I'm not very PC savvy and the computer is a Japanese-only model that I nearly ruined by installing an English version OS, rendering most of the hardware useless when I lost all the drivers. I'm sure at some stage the realtek HD audio controller showed 5.1 set-up through HDMI but now it's gone, it just shows analog and optical outs (not in use).

If I got the full 5.1 speaker set up I could probably put the rears behind the couch but would need stands - more cost - and they would be right behind my head, there's no space to separate (perhaps I should post a pic of the room). Can't wall mount because one wall is a kitchen, one is a sliding door to the balcony and one is closet and door, not to mention that I don't want speaker wire trailing around the apartment, especially with an 18 month old around.


Edit: went out and bought the Marantz amp today. I'll think about what to do about speakers, might try out the bookshelves on their own to see how they sound, might not need a sub after all.

Edit 2: so I tried to set up just the bookshelves and the computer but I only have 1 HDMI cable, damn! I'm used to stuff coming with cables these days. I have a DVI to HDMI and even an optical digital audio cable but one of the connector types is wrong. Guess I'll have to wait 'till tomorrow.

Plus, the bookshelf speakers I have are 4ohm and the amp is rated 6-8ohm. Will it be OK to use at relatively low levels? I don't know much at all about it but is it only really a problem if you start pushing it hard and will i make a difference having only 2-3 speakers connected? All Onkyo speakers seem to be 4ohm. These are the specs...

2WAY
impedance 4?
input power 70W
sensitivity 82dB/W/m
frequency 50Hz?35kHz
cross-over 6.5kHz
6.0 litre cabinet
dimensions 150W?241H?251Dmm
weight 3.6kg each
woofer 13cm New A-OMF cone
tweeter 2.5cm soft dome

0.84



on another note: i finally got around to ordering my NAD C316BEE and, to go along, quite a bit of hopefully decent cables: 3,5m to connect my PC, another 3,5m to connect the subwoofer (which will come in due time) and another 30m of speaker cable. all manufactured by goldkabel, recommended by a friend (anyone have experience with that, i guess not?).

Looks like Christmas morning to me.
 
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Cheap* USB DAC suggestions? :) Two outputs is a plus.



*dozens, not hundreds of ?
 
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Nothing wrong with that!
 
Shamelessly crossposting from the latest purchase thread.

https://pic.armedcats.net/c/cr/crazyrussian540/2011/02/04/38d0d6c07daa6b9a71530341aa210609_001.jpg
Generic picture... Mine actually looks like its in much better condition

At $1, it would be a crime not to buy it.

Threw it onto our turntable thats hooked up to 4 JBL JRX115s, and it sounded amazing.

Got it at Jerry's Records. That place is incredible. Tens of thousands of records for sale, and nothing but records (and record players).
Any audiophile in the Pittsburgh area must check the place out (if they haven't already heard of it).

EDIT: Found a picture of the place.
https://pic.armedcats.net/c/cr/crazyrussian540/2011/02/04/about2.jpg

Everything you see there... Records. No tapes, no CDs, no MP3 players... just records. For the most part they range from $1-$5. But there are some rare ones that go higher obviously.

Really an amazing place for any audiophile.
 
I raise you on that:

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I must acquire those!

Need to get back out to Jerrys with more than a dollar in my pocket.
 
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