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General discussion

5.1 Speaker setup

Sep 25, 2006 10:54PM PDT

Just ordered a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Digital Out PCI sound card and need advice on speakers. I have an OLEVIA 27'' monitor (and it was well worth the cost:-)) and would like to keep it's excellent speakers in the loop. The details of the connections evade me. Most sound cards seem to have 3 jacks. Some come with a mixer box. I may need only 2 more speakers and a woofer to complete the set up? The monitor may lose it's audio as soon as I disconnect the on-board sound?
Any advice? Got the sound card cheap but thought I'd ask before going any further.

Discussion is locked

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Re. 5.1 Speaker setup
Sep 25, 2006 11:35PM PDT

the soundcard should have outputs in the form of 3 3.5 mm stereo mini jacks (the same as used on most headphones these days) the three inputs are 1) front right/left, 2) back right/left, and 3) sub/center. You should have no problem hooking your monitor's speakers into the front right/left jack, as the speakers are probably already hooked up to your computer through a 3.5mm jack anyway. The trouble you will run into is the amplification of the potential rear speakers and center speaker (any sub worth its weight should be amped to begin with). You could purchase powered speakers or use a boombox/ home stereo system with aux ins, but unless you have all of the components already and don't mind some complex wiring, it would probably be easier picking up a cheap 5.1 creative speaker bundle, and hook up using the sound cards digi out.

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Voice matching and speaker quality
Sep 26, 2006 12:13AM PDT

I am not familiar with the Olivia moniter, but I sincerly doubt that the quality is supperior to almost any 5.1 speaker package you could find. Also, surround sound speaker sets are 'voice matched' from front to surround, which is important for getting seamless transisitions of sounds from front to back. You would be much better off with a complete 5.1 speaker package.

If for some reason you really need to keep the speakers as is in the front, you could pick up a 2.1 speaker system and hook it up to the rear surround jack. The only problem you might have is finding a 2.1 set with a dedicated subwoofer input. You will want this, as there is little LFE encoded to the rear surrounds, and you will be missing out on a lot of the bass.

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(NT) (NT) I agree with fhscomtech3
Sep 26, 2006 12:39AM PDT
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Thanks all
Sep 26, 2006 5:55AM PDT

It helps to ask. The Olevia is a HDTV/monitor and does have great speakers. 3 on each side for limited volume but great quality sound in stereo. Currently they are fed through the monitor cable with no other input. The neat thing about all the software and cheap storage now is that I don't need a separate entertainment center. I've backed up my DVDs and CDs to MP3 and am just looking for a better speaker/sound system to help them along. It's adequate now; but whats that worth?
PIP is possible while I surf the web etc.
Oddly enough I'm ahead of my friends on this one as they are sticking with TiVo and a stereo system and a TV all hooked up in a pile of mess.