Ketxxx
Heedless Psychic
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Messages
- 11,521 (1.67/day)
- Location
- Kingdom of gods
| System Name | Ravens Talon |
|---|---|
| Processor | AMD R7 3700X @ 4.4GHz 1.3v |
| Motherboard | MSI X570 Tomahawk |
| Cooling | Modded 240mm Coolermaster Liquidmaster |
| Memory | 2x16GB Klevv BoltX 3600MHz & custom timings |
| Video Card(s) | Powercolor 6800XT Red Devil |
| Storage | 250GB Asgard SSD, 1TB Integral SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda |
| Display(s) | 27" BenQ Mobiuz |
| Case | NZXT Phantom 530 |
| Audio Device(s) | Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-E |
| Power Supply | 1000w Supernova |
| Software | Windows 10 x64 |
| Benchmark Scores | Fast. I don't need epeen. |
With the recent invasion of chav-like people in the forums killing braincells all over the place with their "innits" and "mas", this is my attempt at rejuvinating intelligent thought to some degree. I also decided to make this thread as discussions on speakers, soundcards, equalizer settings, etc, is somewhat.... lacking. Call this thread general advice for those thinking their speakers aren't sounding as good as they could and people looking for advice on a new soundcard or set of speakers if you will.
With that said, I'll kick things off with my impressions of my current setup.
Speakers: Logitech X540s 5.1 70RMS watts
Speaker Special Features: Desk hub for headphones, "Matrix" mode
Soundcard: Asus Xonar DX 7.1
Audio Obsession Level: Extreme Audiophile
Firstly lets talk about the speakers a little, granted they are not THE most powerful speakers you can buy, but the quality IS there, and thats what matters - good sound quality. As far as midrange speakers go these are good, accuracy across all frequencies is very accurate, and you can even crank these puppies up to full volume with no distortion (assuming you have a good soundcard). These speakers even have a sweet hub you can plug headphones in to save bending over or generally having a wire in the way. The speakers also have a very interesting "Matrix" mode. This mode effectively balances sound channels across all speakers, and it sounds bloody fantastic. Unlike other speakers that tend to rely on walls for acoustic reverberation the X540s do not and have a habit of being deceptively loud. Often I have found myself cranking the volume to "just" 40-50% thinking its not too loud, only to venture downstairs to do something and finding myself able to hear the speakers throughout the whole house clearly with a healthy "boom" from the Subwoofer. The only speakers worth upgrading to from the X540s would be the Logitech Z5500s.
Now heres where things get more complicated as we arrive to the soundcard and its software, configuring it for optimum sound quality. The approach I like to take when setting up for the best possible listening experience is when using the Equalizer, adjust each frequency at a time, moving one slider up and down if needed to get a feel for how it effects the genre of music you listen to. While doing this be sure that nothing sounds distorted across the frequency you are adjusting before moving on. Often you will probably find yourself saving a few different equalizer settings and comparing them all, tweaking the best sounding setting so its "perfect". It goes without saying, but also make sure your soundcard drivers and software are the most up to date available. Often new sound drivers and software will have extra features, bugfixes, tweaks for lower CPU utilisation, and even internal driver tweaks improving audio quality just that little bit more. If your privvy to the option, its also worth experimenting with any LFE Crossover Frequency option you may have, it will help "tune" your speakers in even further than just the Equalizer alone. That about covers me and general advice I have to give, below is a screenshot of my "perfect" Equalizer settings that may help people with the same speakers I have, but such settings are very subjective.
With that said, I'll kick things off with my impressions of my current setup.
Speakers: Logitech X540s 5.1 70RMS watts
Speaker Special Features: Desk hub for headphones, "Matrix" mode
Soundcard: Asus Xonar DX 7.1
Audio Obsession Level: Extreme Audiophile
Firstly lets talk about the speakers a little, granted they are not THE most powerful speakers you can buy, but the quality IS there, and thats what matters - good sound quality. As far as midrange speakers go these are good, accuracy across all frequencies is very accurate, and you can even crank these puppies up to full volume with no distortion (assuming you have a good soundcard). These speakers even have a sweet hub you can plug headphones in to save bending over or generally having a wire in the way. The speakers also have a very interesting "Matrix" mode. This mode effectively balances sound channels across all speakers, and it sounds bloody fantastic. Unlike other speakers that tend to rely on walls for acoustic reverberation the X540s do not and have a habit of being deceptively loud. Often I have found myself cranking the volume to "just" 40-50% thinking its not too loud, only to venture downstairs to do something and finding myself able to hear the speakers throughout the whole house clearly with a healthy "boom" from the Subwoofer. The only speakers worth upgrading to from the X540s would be the Logitech Z5500s.
Now heres where things get more complicated as we arrive to the soundcard and its software, configuring it for optimum sound quality. The approach I like to take when setting up for the best possible listening experience is when using the Equalizer, adjust each frequency at a time, moving one slider up and down if needed to get a feel for how it effects the genre of music you listen to. While doing this be sure that nothing sounds distorted across the frequency you are adjusting before moving on. Often you will probably find yourself saving a few different equalizer settings and comparing them all, tweaking the best sounding setting so its "perfect". It goes without saying, but also make sure your soundcard drivers and software are the most up to date available. Often new sound drivers and software will have extra features, bugfixes, tweaks for lower CPU utilisation, and even internal driver tweaks improving audio quality just that little bit more. If your privvy to the option, its also worth experimenting with any LFE Crossover Frequency option you may have, it will help "tune" your speakers in even further than just the Equalizer alone. That about covers me and general advice I have to give, below is a screenshot of my "perfect" Equalizer settings that may help people with the same speakers I have, but such settings are very subjective.
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Wise move on blacklisting Creative, their driver support especially sucks, and their tech support isn't any better.
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