Best 5.1 setup for PC gaming.

[ComradeTony]

Hello,

I'm looking to add a 5.1 setup to my current PC gaming setup.

I already have a Sound Blaster Z as my sound card. I'd like a nice 5.1 setup, and I'm unsure if I should get something like the Logitech Z906 (http/www.logitech.com/en-us/product/speaker-system-z906) or a home theater setup.

Questions:

1. Can my current sound card power a true home theater audio system?

2. Should I upgrade to a better sound card?


Budget: $400-600

Thank you for your time

 

[boju]

Depends on your sitting arrangements whether home theater setup would be necessary. If you're in a bedroom sized room with a computer desk the Logitechs will be perfect for this space. If your in a lounge room/living room, largish area then a home theater setup would make sense.

Either method will have an additional amp like an AVR or the Logitech z906 Subwoofer with builtin amp. Wont need to worry about your sound card not providing enough power.

 

[ssddx]

1. no, it can not "power" them but it is not "powering" a z906 either. the z906 is self powered (soundcard only provides signal) and home theaters have either integrated amps (in the case of htibs) you using a receiver (which normally you would bypass the soundcard and use hdmi instead) or having self powered speakers.

2. no reason to do that honestly. i'd invest in better speakers for the money.

for $400-600 you can get into a monoprice 10565 / energy classic 5.1 take set paired up with a receiver which is a good start into hifi. its going to blow the z906 out of the water as pc audio really can not compete with hifi/theater. you would connect via hdmi out your video card (or motherboard if you have no video card) and bypass the soundcard. now you could use the soundcard (optical output) but that is not the ideal method (its compressed audio, hdmi is uncompressed) of connecting.

now, if you wanted a 2.1 home theater set.. you could certainly do that from your soundcard outputs easily enough.

 

[boju]

Pretty sure he meant signal strength not that kind of power dude

 

[ComradeTony]

I should have been clear on the sound card question. Is the sound card GOOD enough to provide a quality signal was more along the lines of what I was wondering.

What is a good receiver? Thanks

 

[boju]

A good AVR with 1080p/4k video pass through with HDMI input(s) and output - and include all other audio/video connections such as RCA and Optical. Good units can cost a lot. Then theres the added cost and time looking for speakers. Speakers will have to 'speak' for the AVR so spending a lot on an AVR and cheap on speakers wouldn't be sensible.

Some of good leading Audio Visual Receiver brands are Yamaha, Onkyo, Marantz, Denon.

All depends on the space you're going to be in as well. Big setups for big rooms vs smaller setups for smaller rooms. Big setups in a small room is big waste of money. I mean comparing size of speaker setups between component tower speakers vs Logitech satellites.

Can get cheaper package deals etc but would have look at reviews.

 

[boju]

Would like to remind you if going the Home Theater route by means of a Receiver as discussed earlier by ssddx you'll be using HDMI. Receivers don't have 3.5mm input jacks for multi channel as you would find on PCs. Today and for many years now AVRs have been made dominantly for HDMI. Can get away with Optical if your sound card has one but won't be getting the true benefit of an AVR only using Optical due to bandwidth limitations.

Most practical way of using an AVR is how it was explained earlier by using HDMI. If you have modern Graphics Card with HDMI it most likely can do sound as well. So its just a matter of connecting HDMI in to the AVR and AVR HDMI out to a HDMI display. Sound will play through the AVR and get video to the monitor.

If you still want your Sound card in the equation, stick with the original Logitech speaker idea of yours, will be a whole lot easier.

 

[ssddx]

is a sound card good enough? sure, but given how things have moved away from analog inputs, other than using optical which is inferior there is not much point to using a soundcard. a soundcard however would work GREAT with a nice pair of powered speakers (or passive speakers used with an amplifier) for a 2.0 or 2.1 set.

you can get decent entry level receivers for about $200. sony makes some which go on sale for as low as $180 at times and work great for on the cheap. in addition to the above listed brands pioneer is also good. sony is not top tier but can work well for on the cheap. if using an avr you will want to use hdmi as we listed several times in this thead.

 

[GuybrushT2]

I have an HTPC with a Claro Halo XT sound card hooked up to a 5-channel amp that I built. This goes out to my Klipsch home theater speakers and custom built sub. The PC acts as my preamp/receiver/source for everything - even my PS3 and VCR route sound through it. So, yes, a quality sound card is as good or better of a preamp as you'll find in a typical AVR, but as has been stated, you'll need a good amplifier depending on your speakers. Gaming on a real surround sound setup is quite an experience over typical PC speakers.

 

[turbopixel]

Especially for gaming and movies I wanted originally buy the Logitech Z906. After researching the web, I found good reviews about a similiar but better setup, the Edifier S550. But then the Edifier S760D got available, an updated version. If you have the money, I recommend it too.