Will CREATIVE GigaWorks S750 be enough for a large board room?

[FreshPrince]

Also, which sound card to best power this beast?

 

[InlineFive]

Envy24 is supposed to be good for music.

 

[Nebor]

Board room... like at an office? Why do you need surround sound?

I would say that since they aren't powerful enough for my 20'x25' bedroom, they wouldn't loud enough for much of anything. They just aren't powerful speakers.

 

[InlineFive]

Klipsh ProMedia 5.1s?

 

[FreshPrince]

Originally posted by: Nebor
Board room... like at an office? Why do you need surround sound?

I would say that since they aren't powerful enough for my 20'x25' bedroom, they wouldn't loud enough for much of anything. They just aren't powerful speakers.

700watt still isn't loud enough?

 

[Pariah]

Joking aside, I get the impression that Nebor might be close to legally deaf, so I wouldn't value his opinion much in this matter. Whether or not they are loud enough for your tasks would depend on the size of the room, what material you plan to play on them, and how loud you want them to play.

Also for a sound card, the speakers were obviously designed by Creative with the Audigy2 ZS in mind, so you might as well pair them together. Creative used to offer a bit of a discount if you bought them together directly from them, not sure if they still do.

 

[FreshPrince]

Originally posted by: Pariah
Joking aside, I get the impression that Nebor might be close to legally deaf, so I wouldn't value his opinion much in this matter. Whether or not they are loud enough for your tasks would depend on the size of the room, what material you plan to play on them, and how loud you want them to play.

Also for a sound card, the speakers were obviously designed by Creative with the Audigy2 ZS in mind, so you might as well pair them together. Creative used to offer a bit of a discount if you bought them together directly from them, not sure if they still do.

the question is which one though? will the low end audigy2 zs work fine, or do I need to get the Audigy2 zs platinum pro?

 

[Pariah]

If the sound card will be connected to nothing but that set of speakers, there isn't one good reason to go with anything above the standard 2 ZS, the Platinum and Pro simply add breakout boxes that allow for more versatility in connecting the card to multiple devices. Completely useless if all you need is connections to one 7.1 speaker set

 

[darkswordsman17]

Actually, look at the Creative Decoder DDTS-100. Its basically a mini-reciever. Unless you've got a pc handy then go with the Audigy 2 ZS.

Yeah, I think Nebor has too sensitive of ears or has blown out his ear drums from super high end speaker systems. I don't seem to have the same problem with mine that he has with his.

Of course for the price of those speakers you could get 2 sets of Z5300s which I would think would be better for what you need. Of course I don't know how you'd hook them up at the same time, but eh, its an idea to look into.

 

[DarkAmeba]

I'd check out the Promedia 5.1's and the Logitech Z-680's too. I'm gonna be picking up some Z-680's soon... sweet speakers.. not the best, but the built in decoders are awesome.

 

[Nebor]

The Gigaworks simply are not loud enough for movies. When I watch an action movie, I want to feel like I'm there. I want to hear explosions around me, deafening gun shots, etc. The gigaworks simply can't deliver that. I'm not sure that any multimedia speakers can.

 

[FreshPrince]

Originally posted by: Pariah
If the sound card will be connected to nothing but that set of speakers, there isn't one good reason to go with anything above the standard 2 ZS, the Platinum and Pro simply add breakout boxes that allow for more versatility in connecting the card to multiple devices. Completely useless if all you need is connections to one 7.1 speaker set

that's what I've been looking for, thx!

 

[DarkAmeba]

Originally posted by: Nebor
The Gigaworks simply are not loud enough for movies. When I watch an action movie, I want to feel like I'm there. I want to hear explosions around me, deafening gun shots, etc. The gigaworks simply can't deliver that. I'm not sure that any multimedia speakers can.

What kind of speakers do you use???

Do your neighbors approve of > 700 watt speaker systems?? :Q

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: DarkAmeba

Originally posted by: Nebor
The Gigaworks simply are not loud enough for movies. When I watch an action movie, I want to feel like I'm there. I want to hear explosions around me, deafening gun shots, etc. The gigaworks simply can't deliver that. I'm not sure that any multimedia speakers can.

What kind of speakers do you use???

Do your neighbors approve of > 700 watt speaker systems?? :Q

I use gigaworks with my PC, use denon\mission combo in one guest room, use pioneer elite\sanyo in the living room.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Nebor, I can understand your frustrations. You must have listened to some very nice HT systems, and of course almost any speakers will not compare to them. I still find it hard to believe your disappointment with these though. Movies are where mine shine for me. I would question if you had them set up correctly but, I know you probably have them setup better than I do. You've heard the Promedia Ultra 5.1s haven't you? What is your take on them?

 

[DarkAmeba]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: DarkAmeba

Originally posted by: Nebor
The Gigaworks simply are not loud enough for movies. When I watch an action movie, I want to feel like I'm there. I want to hear explosions around me, deafening gun shots, etc. The gigaworks simply can't deliver that. I'm not sure that any multimedia speakers can.

What kind of speakers do you use???

Do your neighbors approve of > 700 watt speaker systems?? :Q

I use gigaworks with my PC, use denon\mission combo in one guest room, use pioneer elite\sanyo in the living room.

so.. since you've got that extra set in the guest room, you need my address so I can relieve you of the burden of them, right???

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Nebor, I can understand your frustrations. You must have listened to some very nice HT systems, and of course almost any speakers will not compare to them. I still find it hard to believe your disappointment with these though. Movies are where mine shine for me. I would question if you had them set up correctly but, I know you probably have them setup better than I do. You've heard the Promedia Ultra 5.1s haven't you? What is your take on them?

I've only heard the Ultra's at Best Buy and at a friend's house. I'd say they're about the same as the gigaworks. A stronger sub, and from what I've read, slightly less musical satellites.

I hear people say their gigaworks shake windows and whatnot... But I just haven't seen it. I even considered that maybe there was something wrong with my Audigy 2, and tried running the gigaworks off my onboard sound to see if I could get some more volume. No good.

My problem isn't with the quality if the sound coming from the Gigaworks, I'd say that's fairly phenomenal for the price, my problem is with the power, particularly for movies. I don't see how I could have them set up wrong. They're plugged into a surge protector, surely that couldn't be limiting the power to them?

 

[darkswordsman17]

I highly doubt your surge protector is to blame. I have mine plugged into one along with my computer, my monitor, and my printer.

Is it your sub, the speakers, or the whole system in general that you find to be underpowered?

I don't see what could be causing the problem, if there is one I mean. Have you checked the software? Maybe update drivers if you already haven't, or tinker with the mixer.

 

[Nebor]

I'd say it's the satellite volume that's insufficient.

I have the latest drivers for my sound card, and my volume controls are set properly at 80%. The omamp on Audigy cards creates distortion if driven near max. Wave is set at 100%.

The mixer itself shouldn't be tampered with, since any changes to the "sound" ie: bass redirect, mixer, custom speaker config, all cause all output to be downsampled to 16-bit instead of 24-bit.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I never knew that about the mixer.

If I have mine set with master control volume at full, bass at 55, treble at 75, and all the rest at full will that cause it to downsample? Oh and all speakers at full.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
I never knew that about the mixer.

If I have mine set with master control volume at full, bass at 55, treble at 75, and all the rest at full will that cause it to downsample? Oh and all speakers at full.

Changing the bass or treble settings in your Surround Mixer will also cause downsampling, use your speaker's control pod for that. Like I said, full Master Volume will cause distortion.

When you say all speakers at full, I assume you mean the center\side\rear settings on your control pod?

 

[darkswordsman17]

No, actually in the mixer.

Hmm, looks like i'll need to play around with settings some. I had thought I noticed some distortion.

Thanks for the enlightening, and also for helping me pick these so many months ago (not sure if you remember helping back then or not).

So I should have my bass and treble at full in the mixer then correct? Just change them on the control pod instead right?

 

[Nebor]

Right. What I would recommend is hitting the default button. That should take care of any changes in the mixer that may be causing down sampling. However, if you've done the custom speaker configuration, the only way to undo it is to uninstall and reinstall the drivers.

Don't mention it on the help, I try to help people here, it helps to offset my hellish behavior in OT.

 

[Nebor]

No, the default bass and treble is 50%. Just hit the default button.

 

[darkswordsman17]

As far as I know, I didn't do any custom speaker config. I just installed it and then changed settings in the mixer.

I notice an improvement in sound quality, the power has diminished though. I guess that would explain our discrepencies. Looks like I'll have to try and see if they can still shake the walls tomorrow. I'll be nice tonight :evil: