some general questions about sound/video/everything else

[HardTech]

I'm currently debating whether or not I should buy the Creative Labs DTT3500 and a Creative Labs Live! Platinum 5.1. Does Creative Labs have a new Live! Platinum card in the making now? Should I wait before I upgrade?

The speakers are a question for me because I also want to be able to watch TV/DVD's on my TV that's going to be hooked up to my video card. Can I just get a small surround sound system from Best Buy and hook that up? Or how about this: get some semi-high end home audio speakers (Denon Receiver, Paradigm speakers, etc. etc.) and hook that up to my computer and ultimately to my TV?

Here's pretty much what I want to do.

Get the Live! Platinum 5.1 to send audio to a receiver and then the speakers.
Get an ATI Radeon 64meg DDR ViVo and hook that up to a Sony WEGA TV
Hook the TV up to the receiver so I can watch TV with surround sound goodness

Ultimately, I want to be able to pop a DVD in my computer and have it play on the TV with excellent quality (ATI's hardware decoding) and then be able to watch it in 5.1 surround with the awesome stereo setup. Also, when I'm browsing and have some background music on, I want to be able to close my eyes and point at the singers (gives you an idea of how good sound quality I want).

Would this be feasible? Or would the computer somehow degrade the signal so that it wouldn't be perfectly replayed on the TV in 5.1 surround? thanks

 

[CygnusX1]

I have both the Radeon 64 DDR and the SoundBlaster Live Platinum 5.1. They are both good choices for what you want to do. For the speakers: I'm not sure if the 3500s would be a good choice for you. They are very good multimedia speakers and will sound great for games and DVD in a small - medium room. However, for listening to music and for DVDs in larger rooms you would be better off getting a decent receiver and some speakers. I've heard good things about Yamaha's surround receivers and Paradigm speakers. No personal experience though. The SBLive 5.1 can either output a non-decoded digital stream out of the spdif output or decoded DVD audio out of 6 analog outputs. Buying a receiver with a spdif input and decoder might produce better sound. In my experience, amplified speakers designed for computer audio rarely sound as good as a decent receiver/speaker pair.

Hope that helps,

Mark.

 

[HardTech]

right on man, thanks

 

[NateLam]

good comments up there. I'm only going to comment on the sound stuff, cuz i spent months perfecting a computer sound setup. I am using the CL 5.1 card now, like he said, you can get dolby digital effects straight from the soundcard's EMU, and you don't need to have a digital encoder in your speakers, hence the DTT3500, you'd be wasting money. If you want home theater, definately don't get computer speakers, but if you're tight on budget, the BEST computer speakers you would want to get for home theater and music use are either Klipsch promedia v2.4 (400watts of wonderful RMA power in 4 sats and a sub) ($250) or the Midiland s4-8200's (true 5.1 sound, includes center, digital deck, and 100watt sub) for 279 on outpost.com. In your case, your idea that you want to hook it up to a reciever/amp and through a regular home theather system is good, at home i just have all decked components, but parts are PRICEY. good luck

 

[Term2]

I was tight on budget so I bought the Midiland S4-8200 speakers as my mini home theater system with only 86 USD after applying all sorts of discounts (150 MCI + 50 off 200 + free shipping + 35 gift cert => Man, was I happy ? sure did).

My friends came by to listen and they like the sound. The sound is pretty good and loud enough for me. The only problem with it, is it needs to use optical cables not regular RCA connections as they produce low humming sound. Consider this before purchasing it.

I am sure the sound is better than the Creative DTT3500. Problem is what do u want to use these speakers for. For computer games, Midiland speakers might not be ideal.