mendron

Commendable
Oct 22, 2016
5
0
1,510
Good evening gentlemen.

So, I currently have a laptop as my main home computer.
I use it as if it was a desktop computer because although +2 yrs old, it's still a very good machine. It's an ASUS N53SV in good shape.

Anyway, recently I was offered a Logitech Z506 speakers set. I've been using it 24/7 since day 1 with only the green cable attached to the laptop, but in the last few days I've been thinking whether if I've been using the set wrongly. I think I'm not taking the advantage of the full potential of the speakers.

I started googling and found out that there's something called USB sound card, namely the ASUS XONAR U5 and the CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER OMNI.

So I've got 2 questions:
- Am I doing anything wrong (by not taking advantage of the full 5.1 sound system?) or the sound is ok but eventually any settings are not?
- If so, are any of those things the solution to my problems? or is there anything else?

Much appreciated!

.Diogo
 
Solution
generally laptops only have stereo out so a usb soundcard of some sort which supports 5.1 is usually needed.

xonar u5, xonar u7, creative omni, creative xfi 5.1 or using one of the various cheapo units you can find will all give you 5.1 support.

i've used 2.1, 3.1 and 5.1 and honestly i can work with any of them. the 5.1 is nice for movies and games for mroe ambiance but normally you can play through fine without it.
generally laptops only have stereo out so a usb soundcard of some sort which supports 5.1 is usually needed.

xonar u5, xonar u7, creative omni, creative xfi 5.1 or using one of the various cheapo units you can find will all give you 5.1 support.

i've used 2.1, 3.1 and 5.1 and honestly i can work with any of them. the 5.1 is nice for movies and games for mroe ambiance but normally you can play through fine without it.
 
Solution

mendron

Commendable
Oct 22, 2016
5
0
1,510
Thank you very much for your support. That was the answer I needed.

On a additional note: which one would you recommend to give me full 5.1 sorround sound? Should I invest in a xonar/omni/xfi or a low cost brandless piece of hardware to the same end would give me the same sound quality?
 
depends how picky you are and how good your ears are.

if you're not picky a cheap unit may suffice. with that said, there are more duds, bad units or instances of poor quality audio amongst them.

if you want to play it safe, buy a name brand asus or creative one. no need to get their top of the line since its only the z506.
 

mendron

Commendable
Oct 22, 2016
5
0
1,510
I will do.
Thanks for your support! Much appreciated!

If you may, one more question (if this is not the indicated place, sorry, it's my first post.):
Can you recommend me a good wireless headphone below the 100/150€ ? I'm not an audiophile but I do enjoy a quality sound.
If there are no good wireless headphones, then the good old cable is not a problem.

After this, you may close the thread. Thanks.
 
not sure about any decent wireless headphones...

but for wired headphones the ad500x (open, wide soundstage, not much bass) for gaming or the hd518 (open, decent soundstage, neutral) for general use are good picks. if you did not mind using a decent headphone amp or at minimum a decent soundcard, the dt990 is within budget (recommended schiit magni amp.. but that pushes budget hard)