bought logitech z-640s....now problem (sound card.)

[inflames988]

just bought a set of logitech z-640 speakers....didnt realize u needed a fancy sound card to get all the speakers to work so basically only the front left/front right speakers work, however if i press the matrix button on the center control speaker it will make the center speaker give sound as well. it will probably be a while but i guess it will be worth it to get a sound card...ive heard good things about the turtle beach santa cruz but basically i just want good sound quality for a cheap price....i was looking at this on newegg any other suggestions http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...117-105&DEPA=0

btw there are 5 speakers (5.1 i think its called) and a subwoofer, one of the five is a center speaker with controls for power, volume, matrix, fader, center and headphone port. i want them all to give sound

EDIT: if possible i would like a way to get my speakers to play my ipod music as well...like i have the ipod dock that has the connector for a 1/8th audio cable (same kind used in headphones) but there is only one input on the speakers, basically the green orange and black plugs, if u want u can replace it with the RCA connector thing (makes the red and white plugs used in like tv/vcr/dvd go into the black and green plugs for the speakers) but if possible maybe a sound card with an input so i could attach my ipod to it?

o well just found that my onboard sound has an input and that the card i was lookin at (and pretty much all cards) have input.

[Hi Ho]

The sound card you linked to will give you 5.1 sound but definetely not the best sound quality. It uses the same chip that my onboard did and my Audigy ES blows it away. If you can afford it I'd recommend either the Audigy ES or the Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit. Both have a line-in so you can connect your Ipod.

[inflames988]

Actually im a little confused here. in the instruction manual it says if u have a 6 channel sound card connect....blah blah blah, if u ahve a four channel.....if u have a two channel...is 5.1 the same as 6 channel? like i said, 5 satelites and one subwoofer. either way im loving the speakers. even with the sound just from my crappy onboard sound with only 3 of 6 satelites working they sound alot better then my old 1995 gateway speakers...i really dont have alot of money to put towards this like i said i just want the rear speakers to work with decent quality.

[SonicVanguard]

You're not confused - 5.1 speakers are 6 channel - the subwoofer is the 6th channel but it only requires a fraction of the sound spectrum - hence the audio industry gave the subwoofer the .1 designation.

Dave.

[inflames988]

thanks i thought that was it but it was a little confusing...btw my old (boston acoustics) subwoofer seemed a LOT louder--however the setup i had was 2 basic speakears plugged into the computer, and the sub plugged into them, so the speakers AND the sub had a bass level control, so if both were all the way up it was rediculously loud--the sub was meant to be used with two smaller satellites that were plugged into the sub itself, and the sub was meant to be plugged directly in the computer, hence there would be only the control for the sub level on the sub itself and it wouldnt go as loud, but still the new sub seems kinda quiet. maybe the new sound card will improve it who knows.

[shadowbreaker513]

I'd say wait and get the Santa Cruz card. I have it and I love it.

[inflames988]

yea, ive realy heard alotta good stuff about that card. im trying not to keep putting so much money into my computer though

[Hi Ho]

There is a level control on the back of the Z-640 sub. Try that if you think it's too quiet. I have mine all the way down because it's too boomy for my tastes when I turn it up.

The Aopen card would work and give decent sound but if you can I'd still spend the extra money for the Live 24-bit. It would sound much better. If you play games the Sound Blaster has MUCH better decoding (EAX 3). When I played games with my onboard sound (same chip as the Aopen card) I never heard the center speaker make a sound. With the Audigy it goes all the time and sounds 10 times better.

[inflames988]

thanks--ill think about it...yea i do know about the control on the back just doesnt seem like its that loud even when its up hopefully somethings not wrong.

just wondering hi ho---how much were urs when u bought em? saw these in the store for 59.99 and kinda bought them on an impulse. they didnt seem to be very available online at newegg or many other places.

[Hi Ho]

It's most likely the sound card. My onboard sound didn't even have bass/trebel controls and it sounded thin.

[Panama Red]

Guess I'll chime in. I have the Z-640's running on the onboard 5.1 sound on my P4P800 Deluxe. Have also run them on my Abit NF7-S with Soundstorm on board sound. Both sounded excellent to me. As HiHo said, I have the bass turned all the way down. My daughter's room is directly below my computer room and I have to keep the volume low when she's in there cuz it vibrates her ceiling! Got mine on sale for $49.99.

[Hi Ho]

The onboard sound on your boards is worlds better than the CMI-8738 chip that the Aopen uses. That's from personal experience with the same speakers.

EDIT: After reading a couple reviews and remembering one of the reasons I bought sound card I will warn you that with the Aopen card you lose the line-in when you have it set to 5.1 sound. Not a good design.

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho The onboard sound on your boards is worlds better than the CMI-8738 chip that the Aopen uses. That's from personal experience with the same speakers. EDIT: After reading a couple reviews and remembering one of the reasons I bought sound card I will warn you that with the Aopen card you lose the line-in when you have it set to 5.1 sound. Not a good design.

ouch...thatll hurt since it wont accomplish all i want....basically i just need a budget card thatll do line in and surround....maybe ill get the one u mentioned hi ho but....as usual moneys a prob.

panama red, yea ur board has good onboard sound then mine....i have an asus err something MX-SE (budget AMD board, basic onboard sound pretty low quality) the bass gets louder with more volume obviously but still not too loud...guesing its the sound card, i cant control the bass from my comp just the overall volume so ill see what happens/what i can find in terms of a sound card.

[inflames988]

ok would any of these card work for me:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...126-002&depa=0



if neither of these will work ill probably wait and get one of the two hi ho mentioned or maybe the santa cruzhttp://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...120-102&DEPA=0

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by muskie88 panama red, yea ur board has good onboard sound then mine....i have an asus err something MX-SE (budget AMD board, basic onboard sound pretty low quality) the bass gets louder with more volume obviously but still not too loud...guesing its the sound card, i cant control the bass from my comp just the overall volume so ill see what happens/what i can find in terms of a sound card.

Just curious. If your mobo is an A7V8X-MX SE, that's the same board I used for my daughter and my son's machines. The SoundMax sound on board may not be the greatest but it is rated to handle 5.1. Are you sure you have the Z-640's configured correctly? The green plug goes in the green jack, the black plug goes in the blue jack and the orange plug goes in the pink jack. Forget about the designations for mic and line in. Then go in the Advanced area of your speakers under the Sounds and Audio Devices (Control Panel) Select "5.1 surround sound speakers". It should prompt you to id which speakers are connected to which jack. That will configure your onboard to run the speakers so all will work. Try that once before you spend your money on a new sound card.

[inflames988]

yeah thats the board--thanks!! ill try it, although i will lose my line in so i wont be able to play my ipod through them. guess i can just use itunes.

[inflames988]

just tried it out--not really working. i put it on 5.1, black plug in blue, green-green, orange-pink(red)?...nothing. ive tried moving the fader up and down and alll (controls the rear volume)...stil nothing.

PR....im kinda getting it now, but it didnt ask me to id which speakers were in which jacks--although i think i should switch them--whne i have the orange in pink and black in blue the right (rear) speaker makes alot of sound and the left rear is almost nothing (thinking this should be center), any easy way to tell?

[Panama Red]

You mentioned earlier that you had pushed the Matrix button. The Z-640 manual says NOT to use the Matrix if you have a 6 channel capable sound card (or onboard). Also, I'm assuming you installed the Soundmax drivers from the mobo disk when you first set up the system. Did you select 5.1 in the speaker setup?

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by Panama Red You mentioned earlier that you had pushed the Matrix button. The Z-640 manual says NOT to use the Matrix if you have a 6 channel capable sound card (or onboard). Also, I'm assuming you installed the Soundmax drivers from the mobo disk when you first set up the system. Did you select 5.1 in the speaker setup?

yup-- just edited my last post, i undid the matrix button.

not really sure, but my left rear speaker seems to be making almost no noise while the right makes much more, ive moved the fader around and stuff but not much is happening.

just switched the two plugs and now the center speaker does nothing unless its on matrix?? when i have it like this the rear satellites seem fine. the "center" speaker control is now controlling the level of the sub??!

[Panama Red]

Wish I had the magic answer for ya. When you open the SoundMax control panel, do you see a speaker display on the left? Does it show the 5.1 layout?

[inflames988]

yup, after i did the sound devices things i checked it in soundmax both are set to 5.1...basically i can either go:

black plug in blue= no sound from left rear speaker
black plug in orange= no sound from center speaker, "center" control (volume of center speaker) controls level of the subwoofer.

now when i open my sound thing i have alot more options, to control the volume of the diff speakers and stuff. this is all kinda causing problems though, windows wouldnt start up right when i restarted and my onboard video seems to be diff...idk ill mess with it tommrowo and get back to ya thanks for the help though PR definetely a step closer to getting the surround working...without spending any $$$

and lastly--once i get the speakers working i have to do something about that LED on the center speaker...its BLINDING ive never seen a little LED so bright...dont notice it till i look down at my keyboard or something else and all i see is blue spots all over the place....ouch

[Hi Ho]

I had the same problem with my onboard sound with the sub/center being reversed. See if there is an option that switches the sub/center through software. Otherwise you will need to do it physically. I did it with a cable like THIS and the adapter that came with the speakers.

About the LED, where is your center speaker? I have mine on top of my monitor and the light is tilted up and doesn't bother me at all.

[inflames988]

mines in front of my monitor where i can reach it easily, it wont wit on top of my monitor even with the stand reversed. anywho wont have any time today to work on this but ill try tommorow and see wat happens.

[inflames988]

under the "center" control in the volume control of my comp it gives me the option to "switch LFE and center"...i did this and all the speakers work as they should. however the "rear" speakers dont seem to go to loud nor does the center...for example with fader all the way up the rear speakers are as loud as the front ones. and the center control on the speakr itself still makes the bass go up but makes hte center go up as well--which doesnt go up very high. still new to this all and i DONT like the way the windows volume control adapts to this by giving me 5 more options under my volume. i kinda like to be able to control it all from one point (the main center speaker) and btw windows always has LFE for that switch lfe and center thing and for an option in volume control with the surround sound speakers...is this the same thing as the rear output??

[inflames988]

ok well ive finally finished getting everything set up and it all works. the only problem is i still have no input...i can live without it and just use itunes, but if i took an old sound card and put it in, would i be able to somehow use the input on that and get it to input to the onboard sound and into the new speaker setup?