Would this be possible? (speaker question)

[MiccyNarc]

I just noticed that the price of the Logitech Z-5500 has dropped to $215 dollars at Newegg and I'm probably going to purchase some soon.


Right now I'm using some logitech 6.1 surround speakers (X620) and was wondering:
Could I hook up these new speakers alongside my old speakers?
I have 3 audio jacks on the back of my soundcard (Front, Rear, Subwoofer/Center) and I was thinking that I could just plug my current speakers into the rear output, then plug the 5500s into the Front and Center jacks.

Then I'd have a 11.2 speaker system. Would this idea work?

Thanks.

In case you need a better idea of what I'm talking about :
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...kerdiagram.jpg

[Aedan]

What were you hoping for?

[MiccyNarc]

Originally Posted by Áedán

What were you hoping for?

Improved positional audio.

[Aedan]

It would make it worse unless you specifically have a card set up for 11.1 audio.

[MiccyNarc]

Originally Posted by Áedán

It would make it worse unless you specifically have a card set up for 11.1 audio.

Oh really? How would it make it worse?

([/newb :-\]

[danrok]

5.1 is ideal for games and movies since it is widely supported.

In any surround sound system, it is important to have all the speakers correctly positioned to achieve a "sweet spot", otherwise it doesn't work as it was intended.

Positioning 12 speakers correctly would be a real pain, anyhow. Most likely you would need a fleet of speaker stands which could prove a bit expensive.

All the speakers need to be at the same distance from your head and at the same height (apart from the base bin).

I don't understand your diagram - you have front speakers in front of you and to the rear!

[Aedan]

Basically, audio positioning involves mixing the sound between different speakers to simulate where the audio is coming from. There is the expectation that one audio output on the sound card maps onto one speaker to ensure that when the soundcard thinks it is talking to the front left speaker, it is actually doing so.

For 5.1, when the soundcard wants to make a sound appear to come from somewhere on the lefthand side in front of you, it plays the sound across at least three of the channels. That is, it'll play the sound most loudly on the front left speaker and at the same time play it somewhat more quietly on the center channel. Often it will also play the sound even more quietly on the rear left channel just to help to complete the illusion.

Using the same audio output to feed two different speakers in two different positions destroys that, as there is no longer the one to one mapping. Hence, when the soundcard tries to play across the three speakers, it's actually playing across six speakers that are not in the positions that the soundcard expects. The result is poor positioning!

[MiccyNarc]

I don't understand your diagram - you have front speakers in front of you and to the rear!

Eh, draw a line through the center of the diagram, on the lower half, those are the X620s, on the upper half, you'd have the Z5500s.

Thanks for the advice Aedan. I might still give it a shot but I won't invest any more than time in it..probably do it over Christmas break.

Thanks again.

[dsio]

The thing you get with the 5500s is balance. The 620s and the 5500s are extremeley different. The 5500s are much louder than the 620s for a start, but then they also sound different. What sounds tinny and weak on the 620s sounds strong on the 5500.

Mixing rubbish speakers with quality reduces the whole system to rubbish.

Using the analoge jacks in a split like that will produce terrible results as well. Use digital on the 5500s and throw the 620s in the bin.

[MiccyNarc]

Originally Posted by dsio

The thing you get with the 5500s is balance. The 620s and the 5500s are extremeley different. The 5500s are much louder than the 620s for a start, but then they also sound different. What sounds tinny and weak on the 620s sounds strong on the 5500.

Mixing rubbish speakers with quality reduces the whole system to rubbish.

Using the analoge jacks in a split like that will produce terrible results as well. Use digital on the 5500s and throw the 620s in the bin.

But I <3 my 620s



Advice taken. I guess I'll be ordering some Z5500s only soon

Well it will reduce my wire clutter :P

[dsio]

And i liked my casio digital watch until I bought a Tag Heuer Carrera.

You cant know how much better something is until you have it.

Celeron owners think there computers are fast. If they were given K8s they would be shocked by the difference. Everything is relative mate

[chrisbard]

It would be possible (I think) to add another sound card and then to mixx the chanels the way you want!

[chrisbard]

Originally Posted by dsio

And i liked my casio digital watch until I bought a Tag Heuer Carrera.

You cant know how much better something is until you have it.

Celeron owners think there computers are fast. If they were given K8s they would be shocked by the difference. Everything is relative mate

Yeah that's the point. Everybody thought Dsio is a video/audio/tuning guru or somethin' until Monkeyman showed up and then they all could see the difference....or me...

I just love that " Everything is relative mate " what can I say, preach it bro'

[Rondog]

I can relate this to a personal situation of mine. Everyone where I live thinks im a computer guru who knows all. Here im the biggest newb on Earth.

[chrisbard]

Originally Posted by Rondog

I can relate this to a personal situation of mine. Everyone where I live thinks im a computer guru who knows all. Here im the biggest newb on Earth.

Exactly my point !

[Rondog]

Originally Posted by chrisbard

Exactly my point !

Everything is relative.

[robbie]

You'd kill the card. Basically your probably going to pull twice the current threw it.

[danrok]

If we all knew everything, there would be no point in having a forum like AOA!

[MiccyNarc]

I can relate this to a personal situation of mine. Everyone where I live thinks im a computer guru who knows all. Here im the biggest newb on Earth.

You sound like me.

If we all knew everything, there would be no point in having a forum like AOA!

QFT.

[Bob TEh g!mP]

As far as splitting an analog signal, there is no noticeable difference in audio quality going from 1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 16, ect. In the audio profession this is done all the time, even to high impedence microphones with no amplifier(20Kohms +) What you will run into is bad audio quality from phase cancelation. inherently, mixing different types of speakers and faceing them twards each other, will cause certain frequencies to be boosted and others to be muted. Without going in to a long theory about this.... The best solution for pc based audio is dependent on the room acoustics and listeners position.

If you are in a room less than 10mSQ (30'Sq) 4 or even 2 channel will offer more audio positioning and pleasnt sound than say 5.1, 7.1 . However if the room is long are larger, you can benefit from the multi speaker systems. The key is to place all speakers EXACTLY the same height and distance from the listener. If that is not possible, at least aim each speaker to the sweet spot and use seperate volume controls for each output. If you can't do it software based, do what I do and take an old 4 channel analog inline volume controler from a logitec speaker system and use it on just the channels you need to boost/attenuate. I.e. left channels if the are farther away from you, or back channels if same\closer, ect.

Also, to get the most enjoyable experience yout of your ?.1 system, play your most favorite songs and adjust the bass bin to just compliment the mid bass and up frequencies. One of the biggest mistakes I see in any audio system is the user will play the bass 3+db higher than the speakers. You will find that you can understand the vocals much better and overall insturment subtlety will shine through.

Also, for every "wall" that you put your sub next too, you will boost it's output 3db ( the "rate" of volume increase that is noticeable) So, if you put your sub in a corner, you will boost it 9db! 10db is doubling the output of the speaker. So it's like you are almost playing that one speaker twice as loud as the other speakers.

And one more note on my long winded post, make sure you ALWAYS hook positive to positive and negative to negative. If not you create frequency cancelation because as one speaker is "pushing" the other is "pulling". Now, it won't be total noise cancelation, but the mid-range and lower(i.e. Bass) will take a BIG hit and make your music sound very muddy!