Request for LCD Suggestion - Plz be kind enough to drop in ur opinion
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Go for Z5500. It just rocks
Go for Z5500. It just rocks
What about X-540 and G 51? Cause I don't have such a big house to handle the full power of Z 5500.
Moreover what about sound card? Is the on board audio enough or should I have to go in for X-fi series?
desiibond
Bond, Desi Bond!
^^ onboard will not be able to send Dolby/DTS signal to Z5500. If your house is not that big, go for Z5300. should cost around 8k. 250W RMS and THX certified speakers. Hard to find these days.
Yep. Creative X-Fi is lot better when compared to onboard audio.
For a 20k budget, get Z5300 and Creative X-Fi Platinum or X-Fi XtremeGamer
Don't buy X-Fi XtremeAudio or X-Fi 5.1 they are rebranded Live! soundcards.
costs 7.5k
M-Audio card+Z5300 should be a great choice.
Yep. Creative X-Fi is lot better when compared to onboard audio.
For a 20k budget, get Z5300 and Creative X-Fi Platinum or X-Fi XtremeGamer
Don't buy X-Fi XtremeAudio or X-Fi 5.1 they are rebranded Live! soundcards.
costs 7.5k
M-Audio card+Z5300 should be a great choice.
My friend is having Digital Audio Output in his motherboard. He is going to use the DTS/Dolby decoder of the speakers for decoding by taking the output directly from the mobo thru a optical cable. Is it better than the software decoding like in (AC3 filter, FFDShow)? Cause even if I buy Z 5500, I wont be using that digital out, I'll be using the normal software decoding only. So the digital out on the sound card is not necessary, I only need the comparison of the quality of on-board audio ad sound card.
I don't think so I can get a Z 5300 anywhere. Also M-Audio 5.1 24/192 card is not for vista (of course the drivers are available in their site, though . . .)
Desiji, I would like you to tell the percentage of amount that I have to invest on sound card.
If I buy a 10k spks, will a 2.5K (35%) sound card be a better combination or do I have to go in for a higer range card?
And again, suggest me some spks other than z 5500 (reason - powerful sub for my room), Z 5300 (availability)
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m-jeri
Caballero de Real Madrid
hmm....
let me break it down to you....
as off the shelf dexktop pc speakers category...z5500 is the best out there.....none can do anything...
but there are lots of custom solutions..where u choose ur own spks and try mix matching....
i bought z5500 for 20k... price in kerala.. .... now i am going for X-Fi. fatality....
thght abt elite pro... well only diff between two is a 30 diff in snr and diff i/o module...
i yhink i can live with that.... so.... calculate the total i spend on sound solution... for getting the best....
in ur case... avoid M-Audio...unless u do lots of recording and stuf..... or try xonar or prelude if ur budget is limited...well not that difference....
or simple yet..just the z55 now and when u get the dough go for the sound card....period....
z5300 is history.....AFAIK..unless someone have old stocks...whch being abt months is highly unlikely...
so post after the decision...
make the diff of snr as 7 .....
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) 116dB 109dB
hehehe..nice...
let me break it down to you....
as off the shelf dexktop pc speakers category...z5500 is the best out there.....none can do anything...
but there are lots of custom solutions..where u choose ur own spks and try mix matching....
i bought z5500 for 20k... price in kerala..
.... now i am going for X-Fi. fatality....thght abt elite pro... well only diff between two is a 30 diff in snr and diff i/o module...
i yhink i can live with that.... so.... calculate the total i spend on sound solution... for getting the best....
in ur case... avoid M-Audio...unless u do lots of recording and stuf..... or try xonar or prelude if ur budget is limited...well not that difference....
or simple yet..just the z55 now and when u get the dough go for the sound card....period....
z5300 is history.....AFAIK..unless someone have old stocks...whch being abt months is highly unlikely...
so post after the decision...
make the diff of snr as 7 .....
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) 116dB 109dB
hehehe..nice...
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desiibond
Bond, Desi Bond!
^^ If you live in Bangalore, you can get it from SP Road. Enquired at Ankit Infotech and they have stock.
Coming to soundcard, onboard will not have dolby/DTS decoding capability and to get the most out of your speakers while watching a DVD movie, you do need a soundcard with Dolby/DTS capability.
A cheap Dolby/DTS soundcard is of no use. Get atleast Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer
Even when the dolby is off, you will notice lot of difference in sound quality.
Sound will be louder and clearer, lower load on CPU which means you can use the cpu cycles for other tasks.
For a soundcard, get the best that you can pay
For a home theatre setup, THX certified speakers + dolby/DTS soundcard adds lot of weight and will be worth every penny.
Moreover, the onboard soundcards have max of 16-bit audio sampling and all the current creative soundcards have 24-bit sampler.
Take a look at X-Fi XtremeGamer features: *in.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=15853&nav=0
Now, compare the features of your mobo onboard audio.
If you can't find Z5300, get X-540 or G51. I would pick x-540 among these two.
Techgage says:
Few other sites are saying that bass is muffled when there are too many sounds and if you turn down the bass, the loudness is lost. You better listen to G51 before making a decision. It's lot louder than X-540 but X-540 is a proven winner and suites those who never crank up the volume.
I would pick either X-540 or Z5300, Z5300 being my first priority.
Coming to soundcard, onboard will not have dolby/DTS decoding capability and to get the most out of your speakers while watching a DVD movie, you do need a soundcard with Dolby/DTS capability.
A cheap Dolby/DTS soundcard is of no use. Get atleast Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer
Even when the dolby is off, you will notice lot of difference in sound quality.
Sound will be louder and clearer, lower load on CPU which means you can use the cpu cycles for other tasks.
For a soundcard, get the best that you can pay
For a home theatre setup, THX certified speakers + dolby/DTS soundcard adds lot of weight and will be worth every penny.
Moreover, the onboard soundcards have max of 16-bit audio sampling and all the current creative soundcards have 24-bit sampler.
Take a look at X-Fi XtremeGamer features: *in.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=15853&nav=0
Now, compare the features of your mobo onboard audio.
If you can't find Z5300, get X-540 or G51. I would pick x-540 among these two.
Techgage says:
Few other sites are saying that bass is muffled when there are too many sounds and if you turn down the bass, the loudness is lost. You better listen to G51 before making a decision. It's lot louder than X-540 but X-540 is a proven winner and suites those who never crank up the volume.
I would pick either X-540 or Z5300, Z5300 being my first priority.
hmm....
let me break it down to you....
as off the shelf dexktop pc speakers category...z5500 is the best out there.....none can do anything...
but there are lots of custom solutions..where u choose ur own spks and try mix matching....
i bought z5500 for 20k... price in kerala..
thght abt elite pro... well only diff between two is a 30 diff in snr and diff i/o module...
i yhink i can live with that.... so.... calculate the total i spend on sound solution... for getting the best....
in ur case... avoid M-Audio...unless u do lots of recording and stuf..... or try xonar or prelude if ur budget is limited...well not that difference....
or simple yet..just the z55 now and when u get the dough go for the sound card....period....
z5300 is history.....AFAIK..unless someone have old stocks...whch being abt months is highly unlikely...
so post after the decision...
make the diff of snr as 7 .....
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) 116dB 109dB
hehehe..nice...
I'm not going for mix matching. I'd rather go for z 5500. Here, in chennai, it is 18.2 k. I'm still not sure about sound card. Of course I do want to have a better sound quality (In fact my on-board audio s***). But after selecting the 24-BIT mode in my on-board audio, i think its sustainable.
I'm not sure about those SNRs and DBs, I'm not so strong technically. But If I had to buy a sound card, should I buy a sound card WITH A digital out, so that I can use optic cable to let the speakers decode DTS/Dolby or buy a sound card WITHOUT A Digital out and use the DTS/Dolby decoding of application.
desiibond said:
On-board audio might not decode, but the applications will decode them right? and I can get the output through my Center+LFE, FL+FR, and RL+RR present in my on-board audio?
The above will have the same effect as the one decoded by z 5500 right? Of course the quality might differ, but decoding is the same right?
desiibond said:
As you said I will look out for this Xtreme Gamer sound card in my area.
desiibond said:
CPU usage lowered? Whoa! I'm gonna love it.
My on-board audio has 24 bit 48khz sampling rate.desiibond said:
And my friend's on board audio (who is having the z 5500) has 24 bit / 192 khz with a digtal out.
And as for the speakers, I'm still very much confused. Either X-540/G-51/Z 5500 or Z-5300 if available. I'll google for the comparison and will let you know soon.
m-jeri
Caballero de Real Madrid
AVOID Extreme gamer....not worth it...unless u on grid lock budget ..... they are just rebadged audigy or something....a card user himself said this... so ...i dunno for sure...
Tell me ur budget first....how much u gonna spend for the card....then we talk...thats good..so that if xtrme is the one u can go then let it be...
Tell me ur budget first....how much u gonna spend for the card....then we talk...thats good..so that if xtrme is the one u can go then let it be...
desiibond
Bond, Desi Bond!
^^ Actually, it's X-Fi XtremeAudio that was rebranded SB Live! 24-bit and not XtremeGamer.
Also check this page:
*www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/07/01/creative_x-fi_xtremegamer/3
XtremeGamer copared to XFX 680i SLI.
XtremeGamer has
1) 2MB onboard RAM
2) X-Fi processor.
3) eight channel digital to analogue converter rated for up to 192KHz, with a dynamic range of 114dB and a -100 dB THD & Noise rating.
emmarbee, what's the model number of your motherboard.
Also check this page:
*www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/07/01/creative_x-fi_xtremegamer/3
XtremeGamer copared to XFX 680i SLI.
XtremeGamer has
1) 2MB onboard RAM
2) X-Fi processor.
3) eight channel digital to analogue converter rated for up to 192KHz, with a dynamic range of 114dB and a -100 dB THD & Noise rating.
emmarbee, what's the model number of your motherboard.
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Guys, sorry for my belated reply. My dataone broadband is gettnig disconnected frequently, like @ 10-15 disconnections / min. So I only get few seconds of connection at a stretch, within which I have to load the page and post it.
Anyways,
madjeri, I don't have budget constraint. This doesn't mean I'm rich guy to buy a 9800GX2 instead of 2x8800GT. As I've mentioned in my first post, my budget is from 4k-20k. even 25k. But the thing has to be worth it.
At present am having Creative Inspire 5200 for Intel 945 GNTL on board audio (24bit/48Khz), I wont tell them as the worst speakers. They do sound good sometimes, in fact at many times I get satisfied with performance of the speakers especially the SUB woofer. My friend who had recently bought an Altec Lansing VS3251 based on Digit's review often mentions that mine is better than his, atleast for the performance of the sub woofer, but I personally haven't heard it once.
I don't know why the creative speakers (each & every model) have been rated low by DIGIT. Of course sometimes I get head ache due to the sound from my speakers. That is the reason why I'm thinking of changing it.
So the new spks which I'm gonna buy should be the price worth it. I'm ready to spend 18k for Logitech Z 5500 straight away, but it must be 4 times better than my speakers. If its not gonna be, then I'll go for G51 / X 540 again which must be thrice/twice better than my current speakers.
And one more thing, to utilize the DTS/Dolby decoding of logitech z 5500 I must have an optical/coaxial output on the board, which I don't have. So again I have to spend another 5-6k for a new P35 board or sound card, which means my total cost would rise up to 24k. So will it be 6 times better than my speakers???
Its Intel 945 GNTL. And ya, I can't overclock my CPU with this (we had a talk over this few days back )
Anyways,
AVOID Extreme gamer....not worth it...unless u on grid lock budget ..... they are just rebadged audigy or something....a card user himself said this... so ...i dunno for sure...
Tell me ur budget first....how much u gonna spend for the card....then we talk...thats good..so that if xtrme is the one u can go then let it be...
madjeri, I don't have budget constraint. This doesn't mean I'm rich guy to buy a 9800GX2 instead of 2x8800GT. As I've mentioned in my first post, my budget is from 4k-20k. even 25k. But the thing has to be worth it.
At present am having Creative Inspire 5200 for Intel 945 GNTL on board audio (24bit/48Khz), I wont tell them as the worst speakers. They do sound good sometimes, in fact at many times I get satisfied with performance of the speakers especially the SUB woofer. My friend who had recently bought an Altec Lansing VS3251 based on Digit's review often mentions that mine is better than his, atleast for the performance of the sub woofer, but I personally haven't heard it once.
I don't know why the creative speakers (each & every model) have been rated low by DIGIT. Of course sometimes I get head ache due to the sound from my speakers. That is the reason why I'm thinking of changing it.
So the new spks which I'm gonna buy should be the price worth it. I'm ready to spend 18k for Logitech Z 5500 straight away, but it must be 4 times better than my speakers. If its not gonna be, then I'll go for G51 / X 540 again which must be thrice/twice better than my current speakers.
And one more thing, to utilize the DTS/Dolby decoding of logitech z 5500 I must have an optical/coaxial output on the board, which I don't have. So again I have to spend another 5-6k for a new P35 board or sound card, which means my total cost would rise up to 24k. So will it be 6 times better than my speakers???
desiibond said:
Its Intel 945 GNTL. And ya, I can't overclock my CPU with this (we had a talk over this few days back
)
desiibond
Bond, Desi Bond!
@emmarbee, am pretty sure that XtremeGamer will be lot lot better when compared to the onboard audio.
Go for it along with the best speaker set that you can buy.
If I were you, I would go for Z5500
Z5500 is lot lot lot better than Inspire 5200.
X540 will be 2x better than 5200.
Z5500 will be 4x better than X540.
I would not bring G51 in here as it has bass related issues.
Advantage that Z5500 has over 5200:
1) THX certification, which is like a mark for premium sound quality
2) Dolby® Digital, DTS®, and DTS®, 96/24 soundtracks Hardware encoding. hundred times better when compared to software encoding
3) 62 watts RMS for 4 satellites, 69W RMS for center speaker, 188W booming sub.(6wrms for your current satellites and 18w rms for your current sub)
4) Wireless remote
5) Decoder box. Similar Dolby/DTS decoder from creative costs 10k+ and is not avialble.
This means that you can convert a digital audio signal to surround DTS.
First get Z5500D.
Get digital audio cable and plug it to your onboard audio and check if dolby/DTS decoding is happening. If it works and if you are satisfied with the audio quality, forget about XtremeGamer for now.
But you do need XtremeGamer for ultimate audio through your speakers.
Yes, you may say that you will not utilize the full potential of Z5500D. Who will???
But they sound amazingly clear. You can take a demo of these at HomeTown store (if you are in bangalore).
I heard them once and my hands started itching to get my wallet but I stopped as I recently bought 2.1 speakers.
there it's price was some 14k+tax.
Note: Logitech manufactures lazer mouse. iball also manufactures lazer mouse. But you can't say that iball is better though it shows more dpi. It's the quality that matter and not the spec. The same is with onboard vs dedicated hardware.
Go for it along with the best speaker set that you can buy.
If I were you, I would go for Z5500
Z5500 is lot lot lot better than Inspire 5200.
X540 will be 2x better than 5200.
Z5500 will be 4x better than X540.
I would not bring G51 in here as it has bass related issues.
Advantage that Z5500 has over 5200:
1) THX certification, which is like a mark for premium sound quality
2) Dolby® Digital, DTS®, and DTS®, 96/24 soundtracks Hardware encoding. hundred times better when compared to software encoding
3) 62 watts RMS for 4 satellites, 69W RMS for center speaker, 188W booming sub.(6wrms for your current satellites and 18w rms for your current sub)
4) Wireless remote
5) Decoder box. Similar Dolby/DTS decoder from creative costs 10k+ and is not avialble.
This means that you can convert a digital audio signal to surround DTS.
First get Z5500D.
Get digital audio cable and plug it to your onboard audio and check if dolby/DTS decoding is happening. If it works and if you are satisfied with the audio quality, forget about XtremeGamer for now.
But you do need XtremeGamer for ultimate audio through your speakers.
Yes, you may say that you will not utilize the full potential of Z5500D. Who will???
But they sound amazingly clear. You can take a demo of these at HomeTown store (if you are in bangalore).
I heard them once and my hands started itching to get my wallet but I stopped as I recently bought 2.1 speakers.
there it's price was some 14k+tax.
Note: Logitech manufactures lazer mouse. iball also manufactures lazer mouse. But you can't say that iball is better though it shows more dpi. It's the quality that matter and not the spec. The same is with onboard vs dedicated hardware.
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m-jeri
Caballero de Real Madrid
Guys, sorry for my belated reply. My dataone broadband is gettnig disconnected frequently, like @ 10-15 disconnections / min. So I only get few seconds of connection at a stretch, within which I have to load the page and post it.
Anyways,
madjeri, I don't have budget constraint. This doesn't mean I'm rich guy to buy a 9800GX2 instead of 2x8800GT. As I've mentioned in my first post, my budget is from 4k-20k. even 25k. But the thing has to be worth it.
At present am having Creative Inspire 5200 for Intel 945 GNTL on board audio (24bit/48Khz), I wont tell them as the worst speakers. They do sound good sometimes, in fact at many times I get satisfied with performance of the speakers especially the SUB woofer. My friend who had recently bought an Altec Lansing VS3251 based on Digit's review often mentions that mine is better than his, atleast for the performance of the sub woofer, but I personally haven't heard it once.
I don't know why the creative speakers (each & every model) have been rated low by DIGIT. Of course sometimes I get head ache due to the sound from my speakers. That is the reason why I'm thinking of changing it.
So the new spks which I'm gonna buy should be the price worth it. I'm ready to spend 18k for Logitech Z 5500 straight away, but it must be 4 times better than my speakers. If its not gonna be, then I'll go for G51 / X 540 again which must be thrice/twice better than my current speakers.
And one more thing, to utilize the DTS/Dolby decoding of logitech z 5500 I must have an optical/coaxial output on the board, which I don't have. So again I have to spend another 5-6k for a new P35 board or sound card, which means my total cost would rise up to 24k. So will it be 6 times better than my speakers???
Its Intel 945 GNTL. And ya, I can't overclock my CPU with this (we had a talk over this few days back
tish tish tish.....
....Foremost...dont think of the onboard craps....
1. dont think if u pay 3 times more u get 3 times more performance.... or anything like that
2. ur budget is 25k r8... for both spks and card....
3. buy z5500D.... 18.5k that leaves 6.5k in ur hand...
4. u got 2 options... buy a high end second hand card... or
5. buy the max card that u can afford for 6.5k...
its all subjective... ..u budget..ur better off w ith a prelude or xonar or X-Fi(one u can afford the most)for that budget...
and post what u decide...
@emmarbee, am pretty sure that XtremeGamer will be lot lot better when compared to the onboard audio.
Go for it along with the best speaker set that you can buy.
If I were you, I would go for Z5500
Z5500 is lot lot lot better than Inspire 5200.
X540 will be 2x better than 5200.
Z5500 will be 4x better than X540.
I would not bring G51 in here as it has bass related issues.
Advantage that Z5500 has over 5200:
1) THX certification, which is like a mark for premium sound quality
2) Dolby® Digital, DTS®, and DTS®, 96/24 soundtracks Hardware encoding. hundred times better when compared to software encoding
3) 62 watts RMS for 4 satellites, 69W RMS for center speaker, 188W booming sub.(6wrms for your current satellites and 18w rms for your current sub)
4) Wireless remote
5) Decoder box. Similar Dolby/DTS decoder from creative costs 10k+ and is not avialble.
This means that you can convert a digital audio signal to surround DTS.
First get Z5500D.
Get digital audio cable and plug it to your onboard audio and check if dolby/DTS decoding is happening. If it works and if you are satisfied with the audio quality, forget about XtremeGamer for now.
But you do need XtremeGamer for ultimate audio through your speakers.
Yes, you may say that you will not utilize the full potential of Z5500D. Who will???
But they sound amazingly clear. You can take a demo of these at HomeTown store (if you are in bangalore).
I heard them once and my hands started itching to get my wallet but I stopped as I recently bought 2.1 speakers.
there it's price was some 14k+tax.
Note: Logitech manufactures lazer mouse. iball also manufactures lazer mouse. But you can't say that iball is better though it shows more dpi. It's the quality that matter and not the spec. The same is with onboard vs dedicated hardware.
OMG! Are you sure that G51 has some bass related issues? If its gonna be like that, then i won't even speak of those speakers ever.
man, You've done a very simple job up there by comparing z5500 with 5200. You should've hit your head for doing this right?
Anyways, I'm sorry to compare my spks with existing ones, but all I want is spks that are lot better than mine. And you've said that it is so.
You told me to connect a digital cable on to my board, but I don't think there is a digital out in my board. If there is or if you know how to do that, let me know.
"Yes, you may say that you will not utilize the full potential of Z5500D. Who will???"
I didn't understand what you were saying there . . .
And BTW desi, you are saying that hardware decoding of DTS/Dolby is hundred times better than software decoding (even powerDVD etc.,). But how do you say that? Can you feel/hear the difference physically or is it just some theories proving your statements?
madjeri said:
I'll surely post what I had bought/decided. But before that I have to come to a decision right?
Madjeri & Desibond, here's one more requirement for the spks from my side.
The speakers that I'm gonna invest in should live atleast after my next two PC upgrades. I mean would be changing all the components but the speakers, is it possible with z 5500 (not the sub, I'm talking about the satellites)?
PLZ take a look at this thread,
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?p=914860
I've started it a week back and now only the sugestions are raining in.
Desibond and madjeri, can we please continue this discussion in that thread?
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