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51 Comments
- Stonedonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Heh. Do you play... video games?
- Supaman223, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6^ I bet you it scares the ***** out of you when they do!
- Gizza, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Trying playing something like BF2 with a good 5.1 system and tell me you cant notice it.
My brother has the logitech Z-5500 with a x-fi and its incredible. I use to think my z-5300s were great, seems like they just keep getting better tho. - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Hmmm, I've had to use USB sound before after the sound function in my laptop died and I've never been impressed with the sound quality.
"As for sound quality the FX5051 is good to very good"
and for 250 bucks I expect a lot better the "very good" I'll stick to my klipsch 2.1 system. Still blows the doors off most other systems i've heard. - apotropaic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5There are so many ways to run wire neatly its not even funny. I have a surround sound setup and I couldn't even begin to tell you the advantage it gives me in games. I can tell where people are all around me... people never sneak up on me because of this
- 7477696700, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You call that a review? Four pages and it's all about the casing.
Try this one for some actual critique, limitations, and setup instructions for Mac users (who actually are supported)
http://www.everythingusb.com/altec_lansing_fx5051.html - ohmar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Amen to the Grados. Im wearing mine right now. For those of you who have not listened, you dont know what you are missing.
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7If you have to ask, then you probably shouldn't try.
- zaqintosh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This is a terrible review. He spent about 4 pages summing up what I can tell just by looking at the speakers. Then basically devotes one sentence to his "listening experience" which is obviously a load of bull. Then doesn't even mention if GAMES SUPPORT the 5.1 surround through usb... does it have EAX? does it do 3D sounds? Does it even decode DOLBY or DTS ???
Jesus.. what a joke. - Stonedonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Too bad they didn't make any mention of the CPU cycles eaten up by USB-based speakers. This is the first I've heard of this type of speaker in a while, so I was curious about whether or not that aspect had been improved.
- BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Do people with surround speakers on gaming systems game in closets? Who the hell wants to run cable 8 feet around a room and up a wall just to hear what you can hear with good headphones? TOO messy.
Now if we're talking about home theater on a nice 50" HDTV....then it's worth it. But to hear someone in WoW casting a spell behind you? C'mon.... - pengu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4i'll stick with Optical Digital thanks.
- accesory, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4klipsch still makes the best computer speakers out there IMO. I am especially impressed with their 4.2 systems, though they're expensive and sometimes hard to find
- nipterink, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2not too shabby, pretty expensive for their output. although I already have Z5500s and they have served me well over the years.
- jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1no more cpu cycles than any soundcard
- dogshaft, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Laptop maybe?
- Asianwaste, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Aren't surround sound cards like 5 bucks these days?
- jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2amplify digital audio ?
amplifiers take analog audio, it has to be converted before.
and 5.1 upmix, what kind of marketing ***** is that? - accesory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Zalman and Razer both have surround sound headphones...
- contradictator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2So is there headphone equivalent to this? A pair of good USB headphones that turned all your audio in surround sound would be great, especially if you didn't need a 5.1/7.1 sound card.
- jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16 outputs, 6 speakers.
Not complicated.
Now it depends on how your software uses those outputs. - CircusNinja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I guess my problem with a setup like this (and why I would agree with OpCzar) is that if you're living in an apartment with 3 other people, it's not practical! Especially in a place like London, where on top of that your living in such close proximity to everybody else.
It only seems viable if you actually own your own house, in which case I'll prolly have a room dedicated to gaming (and sound proofed, no doubt!! ) - jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15.1 surround through USB, you mean an external soundcard?
Yes they do. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Is it Dolby Surround Sound or is it "surround sound?" Most of the sound devices out there are "surround sound." That is, they don't actually decode the individual dolby-encoded Surround Sound tracks, they just send two-channel audio to a bunch of speakers. Some of them try to guess what the audio should sound like by seperating high and low frequencies to different speakers. The result is ass.
- cyberghost232, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I use a Sound Blaster X-Fi and a pair or Grado SR 80's when I game and watch movies on my pc. Sounds good enough for me. Last thing I need is more wires every where.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3i got the fx4021 Soundsystem from Altec Lansing and its awsome ... great sound an brilliant bass!
- chilidawg87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think for the money, a better system can be set up.
The plus to this one is that it takes up a small amount of space with a decent sound.
Cool none the less... - dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2lmao @ your sarcasm.
(It was sarcasm right? *worried look*) - PicklePower, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Price tag: $250
- dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2A sound card with 6 analog channels and a digital output, together with a good 5.1 channel sound system that will take the digital input is cheaper than this USB one anyway, and sounds just as good. :)
- randomvictim, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4I've been running surround sound via USB threw my creative 24-bit live! external for a few years now, this isn't anything new.
- shark72, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Too bad they didn't make any mention of the CPU cycles eaten up by USB-based speakers. This is the first I've heard of this type of speaker in a while, so I was curious about whether or not that aspect had been improved."
On my Celeron notebook, using a set of USB speakers sucks 1% - 2% of the CPU. That's probably not a big deal for most people. If I were playing games, it might be an issue. But if I were concerned about one or two percentage points of CPU usage, I'd be using a faster PC anyway. - jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Optical Digital ?
You realise that speakers only accept analog audio?
Thus you'll need digital to analog converters.
They are either integrated in the speakers or the soundcard. - mplex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I tried to pass AC-3 through SPDIF on my Live! External to my receiver, no go. Seems this unit will only do analog 5.1. It can only pass 2ch PCM through SPDIF. I suggest the Turtle Beach Micro if you want to hook a computer to a stereo.
- Teaboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hasn't it broken by now?
- Devil2U, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This review is MEHHHHH. More bling bling pics then real analysis.
Sure, design is one part of what defines a product...ONE PART!
IMO, the folks over at everything usb did a much more in-depth review. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@pengu:
I wasn't aware there were any audio devices that required "dodgy windows-only" drivers.
Where's the patch? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4You are very right. The only time you ever notice surround sound is when you are watching a home theater tye system. This is still a very good idea but Im not sure if I would use it that much; I mostly just use a nice headset.
- jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11) surround headphones idea is *****
2) using headphones is bad for your ears - pauldonnelly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Dolby Surround is ass too. It just hides a rear "surround" channel in the stereo channels and uses that to put a little ambient noise behind you.
EDIT: That's not to say that it isn't pretty cool, and can't sound good. But even mono can sound great with the right conditions. - OpCzar, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7Dunno, never found surround sound on a pc useful. It's not like I'm watching 5.1 sound movies on my 17 inch lcd... Besides, you can get the same effect from a less expensive 5.1 headphone set.
- jeriqo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1by adml_shake
"Hmmm, I've had to use USB sound before after the sound function in my laptop died and I've never been impressed with the sound quality."
This has nothing to do with USB.
Since it's all digital, there is no audio modification AT ALL.
USB is just the transporter.
The soundcard connected to this USB then converts the audio to analog, which is sent to the speakers.
The most important part by far is the speaker. Digital to Analog converters are cheap these days.
by accesory
"klipsch still makes the best computer speakers out there IMO. I am especially impressed with their 4.2 systems, though they're expensive and sometimes hard to find"
So useful when there are no 4.2 sources on earth. - jawngee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Not sarcasm, I'm pretty sure its a bot. Look at his/its other comments.
- shtonkalot, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Can you have a Motherboard with USB 2.0, without at least a 5.1 channel integrated audio solution onboard?
"no need for a 6-channel sound card" well I'm hard pressed to find a computer that doesn't have it built in already... - pengu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0not mention most decent machines already have Optical digital on them, and it DOESNT require some dodgy windows-only driver to do it.
- JB1984, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3This new USB speaker system is a huge breakthrough in technology. I am really interested in trying out this product.
- pengu, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0no. speakers work with an AMPLIFIED electrical signal. that is what an amplifier is for. the amplifier accepts Optica Digital audio and decodes the Stereo PCM and upmixes to 5.1 sound, or decodes the 6 discrete channels.
have some idea what the hell you're talking about first. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6My computer doesn't deserve this. Bad computer!!
- driftwood07, on 10/12/2007, -28/+23digg me down
- TravisS, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3wonder if this would work on a mac
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