Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom

[DanishDevil]

Anyone in the UK want to buy some Logitech Z-5500 surround speakers and control pod/remote?... the sub isnt working anymore thanks to my dog!!! but the rest is all in great condition!

List 'em up on the FS forums here. The members here definitely know how awesome they are. Include a link to this thread just in case they don't

Congrats on the good deal!

 

[ChaoticAtmosphere]

List 'em up on the FS forums here. The members here definitely know how awesome they are. Include a link to this thread just in case they don't

Congrats on the good deal!

 

[Trexian]

Hello folks.

My first post here I have had the z5500 for many years now on my second set now due to a fire a few years back.
I just got a new sound card the HT omega claro plus.

My setup:

Devices hooked up is the z5500 and USB wireless logitech headset
Firmaware version of the z5500 is : V.2.1.0
PID R744
Speaker wires
Boost 11 only
Let us prey By Judas Priest album Sin after Sin
Favorite game is Elder scrolls 3 Morrowind
Favorite movie is Predator

My system specs are.
AMD PhenomII 995 BE
8Gigs ram 1333
2 Radeon HD 6870's crossfire
HT omega claro plus sound
Logitech G90 wireless headset
Logitech Z5500 speaker system
1000 watt PSU


I would like to know how to setup this confusing mess of a card driver with this z5500 system to play mostly FLAC music and games of all sorts ( movies i already know which setting works good)

No matter how i try I cannot get more than my 2 front channels and sub to work via SPDIF unless i play a disk or file that is already pre-encoded in multichannel. I try to play games with DD live or DTS interactive I get no rear channels.

 

[DanishDevil]

You're going to want to either set up Dolby Digital LIVE, or run the set through the analog cables. This will force your HT Omega Claro Plus to actually do the encoding, rather than the Z-5500's themselves. Welcome to TPU and the Clubhouse!

 

[Mussels]

you need a 5.1 source to get 5.1 sound. its as simple as that.


you can use upmixing, but that ruins any 5.1 audio you have from the movies/games.

 

[Rickkins]

I too have a set of z-5500's...

 

[Trexian]

Thanks guys for the reply.

I forgot to say I have a tosslink hooked up to the spdif out in the card and also the 3 analog cables all into the logitech pod.

So I was under the impression that this card had the way to transform any file you feed it into DTS or DD at least that's what i read from this. I mean it does show up as DTS digital or DD digital on my control pod but only 2 channel which is lame and now find myself to be a numb nut for paying so much for a stupid sound card.
I thought from what I read about this card would encode my flac music to DTS. I mean DTS 2 channel is no different than stereo. So pretty sad they have that as there selling point. Nowhere does it say on there site that encoded material is going to be 2 channel only when using powered speakers. And as far as playing already encoded stuff i just use passthrough for that anyway. so for us z5000 dolby digital live and DTS interactive is plain useless?

This card would be better with a home theater receiver/amp, but with this logitech z5500 it is bottlenecked

So now I can do just same as my lame x-fi 5.1 surround card could

 

[Mussels]

it converts analogue to digital, compressed into DD/DTS.


stereo analogue to stereo digital.
to answer your question: where does it say its turning stereo into 5.1? it doesnt.


you've completely missed the purpose of the feature it seems.

 

[Trexian]

it converts analogue to digital, compressed into DD/DTS.


stereo analogue to stereo digital.
to answer your question: where does it say its turning stereo into 5.1? it doesnt.


you've completely missed the purpose of the feature it seems.

It seems that way indeed. Not much of a sound expert here





But i do have good ears and DD live 2 channel digital does not sound better than PCM stereo 2 channel.
So now i just use my passthrough device like i did with my cheap card and get the same results
I use PLII movie for games and PLII music for FLAC and my movies passthrough in their 5.1 state but it is not what i expected from this expensive card when they specified that this shinny card would encode DTS and DD.

If they would just say "This card will convert analog to digital without adding multichannel" I would not have gotten it. ( not blaming anyone but myself for that move though )

and to answer your question this is taken from my manual. you tell me what one is supposed to make of this?

 

[Mussels]

DD/DTS is not going to sound better, if anything it sounds worse - its being compressed.


digital SPDIF via optical or coax can only do stereo uncompressed - hence HDMI coming out to do 5.1/7.1 uncompressed.


that wording from your manual makes sense to me - DD and DTS are only 5.1/7.1, and its converting to that format. it doesnt mention upmixing.


edit: i can set my sound card to 2.0 input and 5.1 DDL output, which gets what you want from music. but it ruins anything in 5.1 in the first place.

 

[Trexian]

that wording from your manual makes sense to me - DD and DTS are only 5.1/7.1, and its converting to that format. it doesnt mention upmixing.

You took that and twisted it.

It says if you use SPDIF output mode ( which I am)

Dolby digital live: audio will be encoded to AC3 5.1

That is the source of my first problem on my first post it does not encode it to 5.1 it encodes it to 2.1

 

[Mussels]

no its encoding it to 5.1.

you're mistaking the word encoding with upmixing.

its creating the extra channels but there is no audio to go in them - they're blank. if you had a 4.0 or 5.1 sound file, it'd be there.


DDL and DTS encoding is to convert analogue audio - be it stereo, 4.0, 4.1, or 5.1 into a digital SPDIF equivalent. however many channels you have for the input is what you get for output - upmixing is required to move those first two channels into the others.

 

[Trexian]

no its encoding it to 5.1.

you're mistaking the word encoding with upmixing.

its creating the extra channels but there is no audio to go in them - they're blank. if you had a 4.0 or 5.1 sound file, it'd be there.


DDL and DTS encoding is to convert analogue audio - be it stereo, 4.0, 4.1, or 5.1 into a digital SPDIF equivalent. however many channels you have for the input is what you get for output - upmixing is required to move those first two channels into the others.

Ah ok I think i get it now, very confusing, thanks for bearing with me on this one Mussels, I do appreciate all the responses.

So in your professional experience what would you use dolby digital live and DTS interactive for when using the z5500's since most multichannel audio is already digital and ran in spdif passthrough?

 

[Mussels]

Ah ok I think i get it now, very confusing, thanks for bearing with me on this one Mussels, I do appreciate all the responses.

So in your professional experience what would you use dolby digital live and DTS interactive for when using the z5500's?

atm i use plain stereo digital over optical since i cant use 5.1 in this room, at my last house i went for DTS encoding and just stuck with what i got. music was stereo, games/movies were 5.1.


i found that by upmixing the speakers got too loud and the sub couldnt keep up, resulting in music with too little bass.

 

[jerrygp]

Z-5500 Pid# issue

I have a Z-5500 Digital system I purchased new back in June of 2005, I am now trying to sell it, but have had numerous requests for the PID# with the format R####, which as you know is located on the bottom of the controller. The number I have on an adhesive tag in that location is 10004885-0501R. That same tag is not only on the controller but all of the speakers including the sub. I bought the system from ZipZoomFly, and am wondering after cruising thru this and other forums, that although Logitech does not remanufacture or refurbish this system, (and quite frankly since I purchased it, I believe, very early on in its production life, that this should not be the case, it being on the market for such a short time.) I am about to peel the sticker on the controller back and see if in fact there is the proper R number underneath. Maybe I am barking up a dead tree. Can anyone help shed some light on what's going on here? The R number is apparently very important to this very large Z-5500 community, as it seems that number determines what is compatible with what in later production runs.

I very much appreciate any light anyone can shine on my predicament. The whole system is in perfect condition with all documentation and remote and wiring, and I want to try and sell it but apparently I need more info for the more discerning of the folks that frequent this and other forums.

 

[Trexian]

If you look under any of the satellite speakers the PID number is there.

 

[jerrygp]

Thanks for the reply. The speakers all have the same number on them as the Pod.

 

[Mussels]

this is what it should look like from underneath, with PID

 

[Danish]

Ok experts. I have a question for you.

I want to build a media system with surround sound but have a limited budget to spend.

Now I have a plan but before I run out and execute it I was hoping that someone here would like to verify that my plan works.

I have an old flatscreen HDMI TV and I want to hook three things up to the TV and subsequently the audio.

1) A mediaplayer
2) A PS3
3) A TV-box from my TV supplier.

I want to use this product as mediaplayer and will be using 720p .mkv files for movies and tv-shows.

For sound I've found a PID R512 version of the Z5500.

It will all fit in my pricerange but my question is. Will they work together. On the surface it seems that the Lacie box could connect with the Z5500 via an optical cable.

And both the Z5500 and the Lacie supports AC3 yes? So I would get real surround sound. yes?

But then I wouldn't be able to connect the tv box and the ps3 at the same time since there is only one optical in?

Am I right or have I overlooked anything important?

Cheers.

 

[Mussels]

if you connect teh devices straight to the z55's and stick with dolby digital or DTS audio, it will be fine. the key there is the files themselves, not the player.


connecting the devices to the TV and then TV to the speakers you'll likely only get stereo. they tend to not pass surround sound through their HDMI ports because the HDMI specs are ghey.

 

[Danish]

Ok, so I would get DD from the lacie box. But how do I connect the lacie and the ps3 at the same time? There is only one optical in? So only one of them gets surround?

 

[Mussels]

that could be a problem for you, yes. afaik PS3 doesnt have any other outputs.


you could always get some kind of optical SPDIF splitter or switch box to swap it easier.

 

[Laurijan]

I modded my 2 back speakers (Z-5450) to be wired since one of them didnt connect anymore.

 

[ChaoticAtmosphere]

I modded my 2 back speakers (Z-5450) to be wired since one of them didnt connect anymore.

I do not see the relevance of your post in a thread that is titled "Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom"

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Heh thanks for bumping the thread tho because I was gonna...

Suddenly can't get my rear 5500 speakers to work in 5.1, in Windows test or X-Fi software. Set to 5.1 in both and also know physical connections work as Stereo x2 outputs sound from them.

Anyone have a clue? Spent a fair amount of time screwing with it and trying various things, mainly in X-Fi software. I guess this really isn't a Logitech issue but dunno where else to post and not worth new thread.