How to choose an audio set?
I've recently purchased 360 and I'm looking for an audio set to use both with it and my PC which are connected to one monitor. Thing is, so far I've been using crappy hi-fi with only one AUX which means that currently I have to unplug and plug audio to hifi every time I switch between PC/360. Moreover, as using regular jack-in headphones with 360 isn't an option (or is it? maybe i'm missing something?) I have to plug headphones into hi-fi which produces background noise of almost painful level.
So, I'm looking for some nice audio set. I haven't decided whether to go for 5.1, or just look for something simpler, only thing I know is that it has to have multiple audio inputs (for PC and 360) and option to connect my jack-in Creative EP 630 headphones to it. Generally speaking I'm thinking about buying crappy speakers and some nice 5.1 headphones, but where to find something that I could connect my 360/PC to and get nice audio output for connecting headphones + some speakers?
I think that I could find out the best solution myself, but I don't have any experience with buying audio sets, so could someone give me fast rundown which factors and specs will be important to look for or where I could read a little about it to make up my ignorance?
INT is my dump stat.
Awesome surround set.
I paid over $300 two years ago. Really does the trick.
play_TOGETHER
absolutePOWER
What I would suggest is that you buy a Sound Card that supports Optical Audio inputs. You then connect a 5.1 system and then run your 360 audio through the PC. You may have to monkey a bit with your sound I/O settings when switching between the PC and the 360, but it will work the best.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118105
However, to do this you will need to run dual soundcards, for windows, to get the best results. One card is in, the other is out.
Another alternative is to get a sound card that utilizes optical audio out, and the run that to a receiver that has multiple optical audio inputs and then run the PC and 360 off of different inputs. This is a more expensive solution, as these receivers are pricy, but simpler.
Option 1 basically turns your PC into an audio receiver. Option 2 has you run both through a separate receiver.
I had a set of the Logitech Z-680s. Briefly. They were some of the worst speakers I've ever heard, just absolutely atrocious. They were ridiculously overbassed. At 0, you had none at all. At 1, you had way way too much, and it went up fast from there. Further, it was boomy and full of resonance, not well controlled at all. It wasn't just too much bass, it was sh*tTY bass to boot.
The mids and treble were no better, harsh and unpleasant, to point of literally being unlistenable for music. You could clearly hear it, it's not like the speakers were broken, but the voicing was so abysmal that it was shudder-worthy. I sampled some in the store and came away equally appalled, and I've been a negative fan of Logitech speakers ever since. I haven't heard the specific speakers mentioned upthread, but I do NOT trust that company with any audio-related product after hearing the sh*t they shoveled out. I can't believe they were willing to ship such garbage. I also couldn't believe the positive reviews, either; it's clearly apparent that many computer geeks have never learned what music should actually sound like. The Z-680s were designed for rubes who didn't know better. They paid a premium price for a pile of garbage. Don't make the same mistake.
You really, really don't want 5.1 headphones. That's a real mess of an idea; a 'subwoofer' in headphones is laughable. It's marketing, not audio science. Get a good stereo pair instead, and use 5.1 speakers when you want surround.
Above all else, DO NOT BUY COMPUTER SPEAKERS. Buy theater gear instead. Even the cheap theater gear comes with multichannel inputs, which is great for computer sound. The Onkyo 504 is $250ish retail, for instance, and comes with 7.1 analog inputs. I suspect their HTIBs will probably also be the same way, and will sound very good for the price. A $500 Onkyo HTIB with multichannel audio inputs (make sure they have it, I haven't confirmed this) is likely to make you pretty happy, a heck of a lot more than $400 computer speakers. The only real downside is needing space for the receiver, but hell, you could probably make a cradle under the desk for it, as long as you gave it airspace on all sides.
Theater gear usually sounds good. Computer speakers are usually much poorer.
If you can let us know what your budget is, we can probably make some specific recommendations.
Oh, and I didn't directly answer your question: what you probably want is a 'receiver', a device that handles multiple inputs and does amplification for you. The 504 mentioned is a good choice.
Yep, I was missing that word in English (quite suprisingly I couldn't find any corresponding word in my language). Big thanks Malor.
Currently I'm completely short on money but I think I could afford up to something around 200 usd for reciever + speakers. Problem is, here in UE most of prices of audio electronics are much higher or differ from US ones, and that's why I'm not asking for certain reccomendation but rather for a set of guidelines what to look for.
Headphones that I was intended to buy for last few months are Grado SR60. I'm yet to decide on an audio set - should I look for speakers and reciever separately or for a bundled theather gear instead? (Once more, all that I'm looking for is good reciever to have nice quality output for headphones and two speakers that will provide regular quality sound, nothing fancy. As I've said I do all my listening on headphones)
INT is my dump stat.
Well, to do what you want to do WELL, you need to get up to the $500ish level. You're talking about buying 5 speakers, a subwoofer, and a receiver, and if you try to buy all those things at once for $200, you're going to end up with cheap crap.
What I'd suggest would be to first replace the receiver at the center; get a reasonably good one that supports multichannel analog and a few optical inputs. Ideally, get one that supports HDMI switching, but those cost quite a bit more. An Onkyo 504 should work fine, for instance: it's what I'm using. I don't think it will do HDMI, but I don't need that anyway. (HDMI is DVI + sound in a small connector; it's the new hotness for video signals.)
Then, once your budget recovers, start looking for reasonable speakers and headphones.
If you can save up and take the plunge into a $500 home-theater-in-a-box, particularly from Onkyo, you'll probably save some money over buying the separate pieces, and will get pretty good sound.
In theory, the Logitech computer speakers that RedBrain linked will do what you need. However, the writeup explicitly says that the 5500s are closely related to the 680s, which were some of the worst speakers I've ever heard. I'd be wary of those.
I don't use HDMI with 360, I have VGA cable instead. That means normal two cinch audio input.
504 looks very fancy, but here it costs 400-500 usd, like any other reasonable tuner. That's much too much. I guess I have to look for computer audio set with crappy speakers and good audio output for headphones.
PS. Z-5500 looks nice - it's exactly something I'm looking for - a set with multi-stereo input. But still, I'm not sure what I'd use 5.1 (I don't need fancy sound if I'm going to use headphones 90% of time) for, isn't there 2.1 equivalent for it?
INT is my dump stat.