Help needed in selecting a good sound card - speaker combination

[vivekbabbudelhi]

Hash……..i just got a piece of ur mind………boy don’t deviate from topic


1. i posted on because u called all those people fools who prefer 2.1 over 5.1 no matter what company they belong to ...
So all guys who buy 2.1 are damn fools even if it’s something like klipsch


2.have some sense boy…… any guy who shells out 8k for mx 5021 JUST FOR MUSIC would definitely have 4 k to spend for blowing it off………..



3.let u know for music I bought a Thompson hifi back in 2001 and it has much more caliber than most of today’s creative sound cards in that amount..& more I too have audiligy 2…but I rarely use pc to listen albums so its almost useless for me…..i have hifi without its speakers ….they were damaged in transition so I just needed a powerful stereo set so mx5021 was the way to go…


4.you say altec lansing portrays music…….funny to learn……then all this digit team who yells mx 5021 are best in 2.1 in our market are some a$$ holes u presume it……… they are making money by misleading buyers….is that what u cry……..
Cheap pirated mp3’s sound better than uncompressed audio????a new revolution……..SONY BMG take a note here

5. u wanna make me learn what digital sound is & what dsp is

For ur kind info only dude im BACHELOR IN TECHNOLOGY IN ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS that too not from any damn private college but from NIT
And more I have cleared UPSC to get a govt. job and im IES with INDIAN RAILWAYS

So boy don’t ever try to teach me what digital signal processing is all about



Now make some sense & justify it & don’t make irresponsible comments like this

.... anyway .. seems i'm really talking to FOOLs here who prefer 2.1 (which doesn't even exist) with 5.1 .... no matter what company they belong to ...

 

[deathvirus_me]

5. u wanna make me learn what digital sound is & what dsp is

For ur kind info only dude im BACHELOR IN TECHNOLOGY IN ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS that too not from any damn private college but from NIT
And more I have cleared UPSC to get a govt. job and im IES with INDIAN RAILWAYS

So boy don’t ever try to teach me what digital signal processing is all about

Likewise .. me doing BTech in IT , and got a job in CTS (Cognizant in case u don't know) ... plz go ahead .. share ur knowledge , and plz. gimme a darn technical answer to my question : what is the darn "quality" sound ur referring to all this time ?? i mean real technical answer ok ?? sharing ur knowledge wouldn't be a problem right ??? u should be real good at it i hope .. unless of course u go bring in the clothings again .. ...

Once again .. i'm just asking someone to prove me wrong .. i have no shame in admitting my mistake .. but plz ... don't give me answers like :

music quality means having a good rms set (90w for mx5021), a respectable brand (altec), respect giving genuine reviews(chip n digit for india),damn good looks that blend with interiors, boast & flaunt factors(like thx ) and most a top notch music playback capability

I need a straight technical answer .. what u mean by "quality" sound from the MX5021 that even 5.1 speakers cannot achieve ?? And plz. for the last time .. give a technical answer , and not include clothing in ur answer again ..

1. i posted on because u called all those people fools who prefer 2.1 over 5.1 no matter what company they belong to ...
So all guys who buy 2.1 are damn fools even if it’s something like klipsch

Aahhh .. reasoning is a bad habit .. u can infact go even higher i think .. infact mere Bose stereo headphone cost around 5ks .. lol ...

4.you say altec lansing portrays music…….funny to learn……then all this digit team who yells mx 5021 are best in 2.1 in our market are some a$$ holes u presume it……… they are making money by misleading buyers….is that what u cry……..
Cheap pirated mp3’s sound better than uncompressed audio????a new revolution……..SONY BMG take a note here

Lol ... so ur speakers produces the music ?? and processes it too ?? And man , u got a problem with reading or what ?? Did i ever mention MP3 was better than uncompressed audio ?? ... hmmmm ... wonder where i wrote that ..

Oh btw .. ur words are so more matured than mine right ?? lol .. ... hmmm .. wonder when i said the reviewers are fools ... and oh .. plz. don't tell me some reviews are biased !!! ...

 

[vivekbabbudelhi]

Ok………….dude……play it straight u want a straight technical answer….so ur on……..

let me compare some best known pc speakers in Indian market
Look back to digit review in May 2006 u have ur answer there



1.FREQ. TEST FILES
50/100/250/500/1000/15000 HZ

2.TREBLE/VOCAL/BASS RATIO


2.1 speakers
Altec lansing MX5021THX
4/4/3.8/4/4.2/4.3 (freq.file)

4.1/4/4.3(TREBLE/VOCAL/BASS RATIO)



LOGITECH Z-2300 THX
1.8/2/2.1/3.3/3.5/3.8

3.8/4.2/4.2



ALTEC LANSING ATP3
0.7/1/1.2/1.5/2.3/2.8

3.7.3.8/3.1



INSPIRE 2500
1/1/0.8/1.6/2/2.5

2.2/2.5/2.5



5.1
INSPIRE 5.1 5200
1.2/1.8/2/2/2.2/2.5

2.3/2.1/2.3



LOGITECH Z-5500D THX
4.2/4.3/3.1/3.5/4/4

3.3/3.2/3.3


Now boy if ur an engineering student then u would be able to understand what it means

Ability to produce a 50hz test sample is most difficult test for a speaker and all INSPIREs fail in that toooo badly .so u can see LOGITECH Z-5500D THX is best speaker in all above and everyone in India knows LOGITECH Z-5500D THX is best 5.1 pc speaker

Now coming to Altec lansing MX5021 THX u can see it can produce all freq. test files at good scores so correlate sound spectrum between LOGITECH Z-5500D THX & altec lansing MX5021 THX ……..

Any speaker is judged by its capability to reproduce a wide spectrum of sound……..TECHNICALLY

And THX is not just alone a gimmick if it was so then all inspires & sbs should too have it…..?


what conclusion u draw from there ???????????And yeah this was all technical stuff….u wanted…….boy…...LAME TECHNICAL STUFF………..

and plz. Don’t make me sick by crying foul that this test by TEAM DIGIT was a FLUKE coz. DIGIT IS MOST RESPECTED INDIAN DIGI MAGAZINE

 

[deathvirus_me]

plz go ahead .. share ur knowledge , and plz. gimme a darn technical answer to my question : what is the darn "quality" sound ur referring to all this time ?? i mean real technical answer ok ?? sharing ur knowledge wouldn't be a problem right ??? u should be real good at it i hope .. unless of course u go bring in the clothings again .. ...

U still don't answer the way i want it .. just slapping in some info from a review that even u didn't conduct urself is not what i am looking for .. it seems this topic (or argument) is going no where because ur too stubborn to share ur "knowledge" ... And oh , seems u really don't understand english now .. coz i wanted an answer from ur knowledge bank , and not from digit's .. or maybe ur knowledge bank is based upon Digit reviews ..

And oh since u bring in THX ... i guess u don't even have an idea of what ur talking about .. for ur little info ..

Excellent surround systems can be developed and installed with no THX certified components at all, or systems can be designed melding THX certified components and non-THX certified components with excellent results.

In order to achieve the greatest benefits of THX using a minimum number of THX components, one needs a good quality subwoofer, a THX certified preamp/processor, and some dipole or bipole surround speakers (they do not necessarily have to be THX certified). In order to create a true THX system, however, all THX components should be used throughout the sound chain.

...

Wonder what else u'll put forward ... now from Chip ?? or again back to shirts and pants ..

Any speaker is judged by its capability to reproduce a wide spectrum of sound……..TECHNICALLY

Likewise ,,, finally u say something i was trying u to understand so long .. speakers merely reproduce , and not PRODUCE ... so if u DSP is bad , even ur MX5021 cannot do wonders .. For simple testing try running a good quality audio stream , and then compressing it to the lowest and running it again .. I bet ur MX5021 wouldn't "reproduce" the same output quality both times ..

Look at this : *www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=25&product=14090

Thats a 22W RMS sub woofer , 8W per channel (total 4) and a 18W Center Channel speaker .. so no way can u consider that bad .... and plus with the Audigy 2 ZS , u add in stereo upmix with CMSS2 (so it gets louder than 2.1 anyday) ... clarity with Acoustic Audio effects , proper Bass Redirection and a subwoofer gain of 12 dB ... so u really don't miss out much from the MX5021 , and u get 5.1 , CMSS2 , loads of effects processed by a dedicated sound processing chip , and surround sound , real THX effects and Dolby effects and EAX4 (or even EAX5 with XFi's) ... and so on (which i think the MX5021 cannot add in !!) ... not only will u enjoy ur music , but u'll ensure that u can get the best "quality" sound without any effect on the CPU's performance .. try running at audio stream at 24 bit , 192 KHz , particularly if ur hardware doesn't support it properly .. and see if ur MX5021 can rectify the jitters produced .. and even if ur onboard sound chip claims its does .. just make sure u check the CPU usage during the whole process .. wonder ur MX5021 will help reduce the CPU usage too ..

now would you give up all that just for a MX5021 , specially since ur not loosing anything noticeable , and gaining a lot more .. ??

I'd never be a fool to stop anyone getting a MX5021 if he/she can afford it .. but in that case too , i'd recommend him/her a sound card for the speakers , that actually has a hardware sound processing chip .. But with a fixed budget of 7k's .. u decide for urself now , would u get a MX5021 or a T6060 + Audigy 2 ZS bundle !!! .. (oh i think i know ur answer "coz ur too stubborn to accept facts i hope") ..

 

[sashijoseph]

Well it all depends on what you listen to more...2 channel music or home theatre stuff(dvd-videos,games etc).
If it's music more and HT less,I would go with the MX5021 and look hard for a SBLive5.1(the emu10k1 dsp with kx-drivers rocks).This would be a killer combo for pure stereo pleasure.
If it's the other way round then the creative speakers and the audigy would be better.

 

[blackleopard92]

who said one would buy a MX5021 without a soundcard??

as for your logic, it's reverse is also true. i.e. a good soundcard is a waste if paired with a bland speaker.
sub 10k 5.1 are super bland.. they have soo much of reproduction issues.. failing out here and there.. none of this happens with MX5021/ 6021.

just a simple comparison bwt the two (although there is no reason why one should do it, i mean mx5021 is too good for this T6060)
this is for MX5021.

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL): 103 dB
TOTAL CONTINUOUS POWER:
90 Watts RMS
• Front Speakers: 20 Watts/channel @ 6 ohms @
10% THD @ 150 - 18000 Hz 2 Channels Loaded
• Subwoofer: 50 Watts @ 4 ohms @ 10% THD @ 40
- 150 Hz Single Channel Loaded
SYSTEM RESPONSE:
30 Hz - 22 kHz (-10 dB)
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO @ 1 KHZ INPUT:
> 80 dB
DRIVERS (PER SATELLITE): One 1" hornloaded
tweeter and two 3" full-range
drivers

SUBWOOFER DRIVER:
One 6.5" long-throw woofer

T6060
Speaker Power: 8 Watts RMS per channel (4 channel)
18 Watts RMS center channel
22 Watts RMS subwoofer
Frequency Response: 40Hz ~ 20kHz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 80dB

i mean.. i can't compare these two babies. one represents pinnacle of 2.1 and other is denominator of 5.1

also, i had little space in my home.. setting 5.1 was waay too space consuming. not to mention getting them accruately spaced at right angle was a problem too.

 

[deathvirus_me]

who said one would buy a MX5021 without a soundcard??

the budget is around 8-10k.

The MX5021 costs around 8k's inc. if i'm not mistaken .. so with 2k's , u'd not find any good sound card (as the original SBLive's are almost a gonner) ... seems a pretty tight decision ..

I think i'm pretty much done here .. it more like speaking to stone walls .. nothing will get through i guess .. but for a final comparison ...

MX5021 + pwny sound card (if u find one better for 2k's inform me) : better speaker specs ... eeer .. can't think of many more ..

T6060 + Audigy 2 ZS .. or for a matter of fact , for 10k's ->

T6060 + XFi Xtreme Music (should be tight but should just fit in) : not much inferior to MX5021 , albeit not better obviously ... 24 bit Crystalizer , CMSS 3D , a 24 bit, 96KHz DAC with a 4-channel mixer built in , Full hardware accelleration upto EAX5 , surround sound , better THX experience , Dolby Pro Logic , Awesome reverb .. more lively Bass Redirection , Bass Boost , Subwoofer gain (+12 dB with the Audigy 2 ZS alone) ...

Not to mention , most of these things are done by the Audigy 2 ZS too ..

And oh about space .. i think most speakers are wall mountable , so i don't think its 5.1 speakers are much space consuming ...

Oh , plus with 2.1 setups you lose out on the gaming experience too .. i would not call it a waste getting a MX5021 , but unless ur filthy rich , a nice 5.1 setup with a good sound is what i'd recommend .. Plus i do wonder how many of u actually run the MX5021 at >60% volume to enjoy it ..

And oh , do try running some nice plugins in ur media player .. I run Winamp with AudioburstFX ... and hell it makes a lot of difference .. wonder if any onboard sound accelerator would run audioburst at high settings without affecting the overall system performance ..

And likewise as i expected much earlier .. no one could actually come out with a proper explanation i was looking for, which would shut my mouth (one guy got close where he mentioned speakers "reproduce" and ... not "produce") .. in case of computers , u'll always come across many things where the hardware specs make ur jaws drop ... but unless its actually harnessed its pretty much useless .. plus if hardware specs would make two things comparable so easily , then this gadget world would have been so much easier to go through ..

I'm done talking to bricks and stones .. to people who compare computer peripherals to shirts and pants .. to people who are more driven by just a few specs ... crap anyways ... me wasted too much time puttin a little sense in people whose needs are more governed by money rather than desire ... chalo .. u guys go party with this "win" (if u consider it one).. i'm off to something better ...

 

[vivekbabbudelhi]

U still don't answer the way i want it .. just slapping in some info from a review that even u didn't conduct urself is not what i am looking for .. it seems this topic (or argument) is going no where because ur too stubborn to share ur "knowledge" ... And oh , seems u really don't understand english now .. coz i wanted an answer from ur knowledge bank , and not from digit's .. or maybe ur knowledge bank is based upon Digit reviews ..

FREQ. TEST FILES
50/100/250/500/1000/15000 HZ

Altec lansing MX5021 THX
4/4/3.8/4/4.2/4.3

LOGITECH Z-2300 THX
1.8/2/2.1/3.3/3.5/3.8

ALTEC LANSING ATP3
0.7/1/1.2/1.5/2.3/2.8

INSPIRE 2500 2.1
1/1/0.8/1.6/2/2.5

INSPIRE 5.1 5200
1.2/1.8/2/2/2.2/2.5

LOGITECH Z-5500D THX
4.2/4.3/3.1/3.5/4/4

• boy I was really afraid that u wont be able to make any sense out of my lengthy post….. so u are

Everyone make some observations:

1. All above speaker tests were done using a top notch sound card available (audiligy 2 platinum) with SAME test SOUND Files

2.Any speaker is judged by its capability to reproduce a wide spectrum of sound…….. so observe
1. INSPIRES ,ATP3 are weakest of them in reproducing a wide variety of spectrum
2. Altec lansing MX5021 THX and LOGITECH Z-5500D THX are best capable of reproducing a wide variety of spectrum so they are TERMED best in that test(DIGIT MAY 2006)

3. LOGITECH Z-5500D THX is best pc speaker in Indian market and it retails for 25k .. Altec lansing MX5021 retails for 8k and it has some what comparable capability to reproduce a wide spectrum of sound.. at just a fraction of price except LOGITECH Z-5500D THX is a 5.1,digital and is louder by tons….

3. u work in a capitalist corp. so know something about pricing strategy of pvt. Corps.


Creative lineup 1.sbs
2.inspires
3.gigaworks THX

Sound cards 1.live
2.audiligy
3.xifi THX



Have some sensible pairing
1. Sbs sound best on an onboard audio/live
2. Inspires sound best on audiligy 2

It wont make any difference if u end up paring inspires with xifi’s than a inspires with audiligy 2 value……I bet…..why???? because inspires don’t have capability to reproduce a wide spectrum of sound… so even a xifi THX cant help them in reproducing accurately it would be sheer waste…..inspires are not designed for that ….gigaworks thx are designed for that aspect…….dont end up doing something weird like sbs5.1 coupled with xifi xtreme music would take on Logitech z-5300 & audiligy 2 for that price……why ???? because inspires and sbs are not even capable of reproducing accurately what audiligy 2 feeds to tham……digest it off….inspires are budget speakers……and don’t say any thing about rms of inspires …..i have listened INTEX -4800W having 460W RMS sounding like crap with a audiligy2 card…..


Altec lansing MX5021 THX paired with an audiligy value 2 would be fully able to reproduce what audiligy value 2 feeds to it so that’s why they are best…stereo…at affordable price….for audiophiles….strict audiophiles….stereo.music lovers……only

a good soundcard is a waste if paired with a bland speaker.

that’s what im trying to say all this time

if creative were nuts to give u all in INSPIRES then why would they produce a class like gigaworks THX

my recommendation is Altec lansing MX5021 THX paired with audiligy 2 is good enough for audiophiles….strict audiophiles….stereo.music lovers at affordable price of just 11k…..and in terms of audio reproduction inspire 5.1 & audiligy 2 combo is a waste for 8k for audiophiles….strict audiophiles….only….for DVD video buffs at budget its ok

and no shirts & trousers this time it would be something like this : a guy buys transcend ddr2 800 another one buys ocz/cellshock …haha ….ask any enthusiast what cellshock is for him ……..same is mx5021 for me……and yeah don’t ask cellshock owner if he has a 946 or a p965/975x……coz any guy who shells out 8k for mx 5021 JUST FOR MUSIC would definitely have 4 k to spend for blowing it off………..

 

[blackleopard92]

audigy 2 ZS sells for 2 k in nehru place.... as for gaming experince.. i hardly miss any i am not a super gaming freak that needs sound from exact position to keep me happy. the growl of a engine on MX5021 is enough to satisfy me.

however, don't expect 128 bit encoded mp3 sounding awesome on these.. the data lost is too much. alteast get 320 bitrate mp3/256 AAC, or flac if u can get your hands on them

as for 5.1 better at movies, well all the movies we see (ripped ones) are stereo quality only. only original DVD have 5.1 channels embedded in them, which i never buy.

 

[vivekbabbudelhi]

U still don't answer the way i want it .. just slapping in some info from a review that even u didn't conduct urself is not what i am looking for .. it seems this topic (or argument) is going no where because ur too stubborn to share ur "knowledge" ... And oh , seems u really don't understand english now .. coz i wanted an answer from ur knowledge bank , and not from digit's .. or maybe ur knowledge bank is based upon Digit reviews ..
...

Wonder what else u'll put forward ... now from Chip ?? or again back to shirts and pants ..

I need a straight technical answer .. what u mean by "quality" sound from the MX5021 that even 5.1 speakers cannot achieve ?? And plz. for the last time .. give a technical answer , and not include clothing in ur answer again ..

Hmm….it seems to me that u are toooooooo much obsessed with t6060s ……& excessive obsession drives people to do crazy things ….so here is a crazy reply from my KNOWLEDGE BANK…..hope u can digest it……


*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?p=554805#post554805

 

[aneesh kalra]

So what did you buy eventually saud and recently during one of my visits to nehru place I cam to know that the 2zs has been discontinued and even when it was in production it never retalied for anything less than 5 grand maybe here it has ben confused with the audigy 2 and has ben mistakingly quoted to have aprice tag of 2k.

 

[saud_khan]

Well.........I bought a MX5021 and beleive me its gr8!!!!!!!!!!! Got it for arounfd 7.5 k in Lamington Road