Can I integrate a pair of Studio Monitors in a 5.1 speaker set up on my PC?

[WimboJallis121]

I'm currently looking at replacing my speakers (which desperately need doing!), but am a bit unsure about how to do it. My PC is mainly used for gaming, watching films/TV series and music production. Obviously I need a nice pair of studio monitors for my music, but I'd quite like a 5.1 set up for my games and films as well. So my question is - would it be possible to buy a 5.1 set and replace the center left/right with the monitors? .

I guess if the worst comes to worst I could just buy both sets anyway, but it seems like a lot of hassle to keep switching them over. Do people have any similar configurations? What advice would you give, other than using both anyway? I also have a Tascam US 122 MK2 sound card, and dual boot windows 8.1 and OS X Yosemite. I run it as a hackintosh so that I have all my production software on my 'mac', while the windows side is more for leisure and personal use. I've not decided exactly what equipment i'd like, but I'll post some links similar to what I'm considering.

5.1 - Logitech Z506
Monitors - PreSonus Eris E5

Thanks, I appreciate any suggestions

 

[dudio]

You wouldn't have to keep swapping the speakers back and forth,
and could just leave it all connected with your upgraded Left, Right, and Center,
but the question would be is how good really is the amplifier that comes in the
Logitech system? Maybe you should consider getting a decent home surround receiver
and connect the PC's soundcard to that

 

[americanaudiophile]

You should be able to get the monitors connected to the Logitech but balancing them to the rest of the Logitech speakers would be very iffy.
You might also have latency problems when recording and mixing since you won't have the monitors connected to the Tascam.
I think just having separate set ups makes more sense for you. You can set up the OS X to use the Tascam as your audio device and your 8.1 to use the Logitech as its' audio device so you don't have to switch all the time.

 

[WimboJallis121]

YI think just having separate set ups makes more sense for you. You can set up the OS X to use the Tascam as your audio device and your 8.1 to use the Logitech as its' audio device so you don't have to switch all the time.

Thanks, yeah I think I'll give that a go. I'll have a play around when I get them both anyway, but this seems like the best way to set it up I wanted to have the monitors included as I spend most of my time on 8.1 listening to music anyway, so I guess that was why I wanted to have them integrated - but I guess I can just change the audio playback device depending on what I'm doing, i.e. using the Tascam as the default audio and changing it to the Logic set when I go into a game or want to watch something Thanks guys!

 

[obababoy]

YI think just having separate set ups makes more sense for you. You can set up the OS X to use the Tascam as your audio device and your 8.1 to use the Logitech as its' audio device so you don't have to switch all the time.

Thanks, yeah I think I'll give that a go. I'll have a play around when I get them both anyway, but this seems like the best way to set it up I wanted to have the monitors included as I spend most of my time on 8.1 listening to music anyway, so I guess that was why I wanted to have them integrated - but I guess I can just change the audio playback device depending on what I'm doing, i.e. using the Tascam as the default audio and changing it to the Logic set when I go into a game or want to watch something Thanks guys!

I am looking to do this also...I have a 10 year old 5.1 logitech which does surround well but lacks clarity in the front. I have cakewalk MA-150's I want to have for left and right. They have optical hook ups so I am going to enable multiple audio sources and try that.

I'm willing to bet we can set up a hot key script to switch between the sources if we need to. I find myself doing it so often with my 7.1 headphones and speakers.