I am looking to upgrade/add to my audio hardware, and have a some questions about HTPC even though I mainly use my computer for gaming.
I currently have a set of Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 speakers, which I have used for gaming over the past 9 or 10 years (or more?), spanning at least three or four computer builds. I am looking to upgrade these to something modern (I know the sub will eventually die on me). Should I be looking specifically for PC gaming speakers? Or HT speakers?
I am using a Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality Xtreme Gamer Pro. I assume I need speakers which will take analogue inputs. I have read that HTIB speakers tend to accept only optical/HDMI? If I upgrade the sound card, I will likely go with the Sound Blaster Zx. I am comfortable using Creative Alchemy and have not had any significant driver issues on my past three builds, so will likely stay the course.
So given that I am using a PCI / PCIe sound card, should I only be looking at speakers marketed as PC gaming speakers? I happen to also have a pair of Mackie HR624 studio monitors from years past when I was doing some studio work. Any way to intelligently incorporate those into a setup? Or will that just cause problems and disrupt the consistency of sound quality? They are powered, and can be used in either a powered or passive capacity, fwiw.
Also, and I guess I can't blame them, the Sound Blaster cards are no longer supporting 7.1 for gaming audio. Seems like 5.1 is all they're doing. Is that common for HTPCs as well?
Are Logitech's 5.1 speaker systems decent for gaming and movies? Or is there an argument for going with more reputable home theater speakers? I worry that they will not measure up in games, which is where I spend 95% of my time, or that I will have a hardware mismatch between the card and the speakers.
I use a Panasonic 50" plasma for gaming, and for movies. I use an nVidia GTX 680 video card, which has HDMI output. I run DVI from the card to the plasma, but understand that HDMI can carry with it audio. If I want to watch BluRay movies from my computer's BR drive, is there a level of sound fidelity I'm missing by not setting this up differently? I just use the free Cyberlink player, if that means anything. Am I getting the HD audio from bluray by simply running it through the sound card and analogue out to surround speakers? Or is there another hardware routing I need to use to get HD audio in this case? I have nothing running from the drive to the sound card, but I assume that is handled through the PCI/SATA interfacing with the motherboard. I do get 5.1 surround effectively.
And finally, does anyone have a good recommendation for gaming headphones/headsets? I use the nice studio Sony stereo headphones somewhat rarely because I can usually play games with the surround speakers. Is it worth it to go with surround headsets? Or just high quality stereo? I play everything from FPS, RTS, EVE Online, Flight simulators, ArmA 2, etc.
So what I'm wondering is:
1. any good recommendations for 5.1 gaming speakers given my soundcard/PC configuration?
2. is there a different setup I should be using to get the best quality audio from blurays through the video card/sound card/bluray player?
3. any way to incorporate my Mackie studio monitors?
4. any thoughts out there on the new SB Zx cards which should be available soon?
5. any recommendations for a good gaming headset or headphones, stereo or surround?
I currently have a set of Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 speakers, which I have used for gaming over the past 9 or 10 years (or more?), spanning at least three or four computer builds. I am looking to upgrade these to something modern (I know the sub will eventually die on me). Should I be looking specifically for PC gaming speakers? Or HT speakers?
I am using a Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality Xtreme Gamer Pro. I assume I need speakers which will take analogue inputs. I have read that HTIB speakers tend to accept only optical/HDMI? If I upgrade the sound card, I will likely go with the Sound Blaster Zx. I am comfortable using Creative Alchemy and have not had any significant driver issues on my past three builds, so will likely stay the course.
So given that I am using a PCI / PCIe sound card, should I only be looking at speakers marketed as PC gaming speakers? I happen to also have a pair of Mackie HR624 studio monitors from years past when I was doing some studio work. Any way to intelligently incorporate those into a setup? Or will that just cause problems and disrupt the consistency of sound quality? They are powered, and can be used in either a powered or passive capacity, fwiw.
Also, and I guess I can't blame them, the Sound Blaster cards are no longer supporting 7.1 for gaming audio. Seems like 5.1 is all they're doing. Is that common for HTPCs as well?
Are Logitech's 5.1 speaker systems decent for gaming and movies? Or is there an argument for going with more reputable home theater speakers? I worry that they will not measure up in games, which is where I spend 95% of my time, or that I will have a hardware mismatch between the card and the speakers.
I use a Panasonic 50" plasma for gaming, and for movies. I use an nVidia GTX 680 video card, which has HDMI output. I run DVI from the card to the plasma, but understand that HDMI can carry with it audio. If I want to watch BluRay movies from my computer's BR drive, is there a level of sound fidelity I'm missing by not setting this up differently? I just use the free Cyberlink player, if that means anything. Am I getting the HD audio from bluray by simply running it through the sound card and analogue out to surround speakers? Or is there another hardware routing I need to use to get HD audio in this case? I have nothing running from the drive to the sound card, but I assume that is handled through the PCI/SATA interfacing with the motherboard. I do get 5.1 surround effectively.
And finally, does anyone have a good recommendation for gaming headphones/headsets? I use the nice studio Sony stereo headphones somewhat rarely because I can usually play games with the surround speakers. Is it worth it to go with surround headsets? Or just high quality stereo? I play everything from FPS, RTS, EVE Online, Flight simulators, ArmA 2, etc.
So what I'm wondering is:
1. any good recommendations for 5.1 gaming speakers given my soundcard/PC configuration?
2. is there a different setup I should be using to get the best quality audio from blurays through the video card/sound card/bluray player?
3. any way to incorporate my Mackie studio monitors?
4. any thoughts out there on the new SB Zx cards which should be available soon?
5. any recommendations for a good gaming headset or headphones, stereo or surround?
Facebook
Twitter