Need help with subwoofer setup.

2009-05-05 11:56:35

#1

Drykill: I Like Waffles.; +47|6702|England

hi,
I currently have Creative T3100 2.1 speakers linked upto my X-fi extreme gamer soundcard on a Y splitter so I can use my headphones at the same time. Thats about as far as my audio knowledge goes.

This setup is fine however the sub on the T3100 just isn't powerful enough for me, I'm a bit of a bass nut atm so I'm looking at getting a second sub but I have no idea how to go about doing it.
I have a a couple of vague ideas how to go about doing this but since I've never used this kind of stuff before I don't know what will work and what wont.
Is it possible to get a desktop amp or something which plugs into the soundcard (optical link maybe) and run everything of the desktop amp?

And what are good amps and subswoofers?

Actually writing this I've had another thought, getting a bigger sub would drown out the weak speakers on the T3100, would I be better off getting new 2.1 speakers w/ sub or get some speakers + amp + sub separately?

I'm a bit of a sound config newb

Last edited by Drykill (2009-05-05 12:03:59)

2009-05-05 12:09:08

#2

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

Budget.

That's a statement. You comply.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-05 12:12:34

#3

Drykill: I Like Waffles.; +47|6702|England

Freezer7Pro wrote:
Budget.

That's a statement. You comply.

Depends how good it is. £100-200?

2009-05-21 13:43:40

#4

King_County_Downy: shitfaced; +2,791|6607|Seattle

I would just buy a whole new speaker set up. You can get good ones for pretty cheap. (less that £200)

Sober enough to know what I'm doing, drunk enough to really enjoy doing it

2009-05-21 14:24:26

#5

Gooners: Wiki Contributor; +2,700|6642

downy :S

2009-05-21 14:29:30

#6

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6463|The Twilight Zone

the cheapest option is to get a sub and plug it into your sound card "surround imput" which should first be configured to quadrofonic setup in your windows audio control panel.

https://www.shrani.si/f/3H/7h/45GTw71U/untitled-1.png

2009-05-21 16:28:50

#7

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

Why would he want quadrophonic sound in a two-channel system?

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-21 16:57:15

#8

Drykill: I Like Waffles.; +47|6702|England

I've given up with this idea, not 100% sure what I need etc so I'll just stick with the sennys for now

2009-05-21 17:02:00

#9

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6463|The Twilight Zone

Freezer7Pro wrote:
Why would he want quadrophonic sound in a two-channel system?

1 for 2.1 speakers and one for the sub

2009-05-21 17:25:33

#10

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
Why would he want quadrophonic sound in a two-channel system?

1 for 2.1 speakers and one for the sub

Quadrophonic is four channels; That means that every time he uses a multi-channel program (games are notorious for this), he'll get a subwoofer acting like two rear speakers.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-21 17:27:52

#11

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6463|The Twilight Zone

Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
Why would he want quadrophonic sound in a two-channel system?

1 for 2.1 speakers and one for the sub
Quadrophonic is four channels; That means that every time he uses a multi-channel program (games are notorious for this), he'll get a subwoofer acting like two rear speakers.

I did say the cheapest option didn't I? It works good as the sub has a switch or what its called to only receive low signals.

2009-05-21 17:33:24

#12

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:

1 for 2.1 speakers and one for the sub
Quadrophonic is four channels; That means that every time he uses a multi-channel program (games are notorious for this), he'll get a subwoofer acting like two rear speakers.
I did say the cheapest option didn't I? It works good as the sub has a switch or what its called to only receive low signals.

But the sub would still only be playing the sound for the rear speakers, and the satellites would only play the sound of the front speakers. He'd lose a lot of sound by doing so, imagine something moving from in front of you to behind you in a movie; he'd hear it approaching in the fronts, but then only hear it leaving in the sub.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-21 17:35:25

#13

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6463|The Twilight Zone

Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:

Quadrophonic is four channels; That means that every time he uses a multi-channel program (games are notorious for this), he'll get a subwoofer acting like two rear speakers.
I did say the cheapest option didn't I? It works good as the sub has a switch or what its called to only receive low signals.
But the sub would still only be playing the sound for the rear speakers, and the satellites would only play the sound of the front speakers. He'd lose a lot of sound by doing so, imagine something moving from in front of you to behind you in a movie; he'd hear it approaching in the fronts, but then only hear it leaving in the sub.

quadrophonic setup is 2x stereo nub

2009-05-21 17:37:56

#14

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:

I did say the cheapest option didn't I? It works good as the sub has a switch or what its called to only receive low signals.
But the sub would still only be playing the sound for the rear speakers, and the satellites would only play the sound of the front speakers. He'd lose a lot of sound by doing so, imagine something moving from in front of you to behind you in a movie; he'd hear it approaching in the fronts, but then only hear it leaving in the sub.
quadrophonic setup is 2x stereo nub

Quadrophonic means four channels. Look it up. It's not the same as using a Y-adapter on the output.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-21 17:45:33

#15

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6463|The Twilight Zone

Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:

But the sub would still only be playing the sound for the rear speakers, and the satellites would only play the sound of the front speakers. He'd lose a lot of sound by doing so, imagine something moving from in front of you to behind you in a movie; he'd hear it approaching in the fronts, but then only hear it leaving in the sub.
quadrophonic setup is 2x stereo nub
Quadrophonic means four channels. Look it up. It's not the same as using a Y-adapter on the output.

2x stereo yes. what you hear in front you can hear in the back, i've done it, check your sound card settings

2009-05-21 17:57:44

#16

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:
quadrophonic setup is 2x stereo nub
Quadrophonic means four channels. Look it up. It's not the same as using a Y-adapter on the output.
2x stereo yes. what you hear in front you can hear in the back, i've done it, check your sound card settings

Some sound cards interpret it as dual stereo, but most don't. Neither my Xonar, my Realtek, SoundMAX or nV integrated do that. They do quadrophonic sound; four channels.

Also note that this usually plays stereo sources in both outputs. You did test with a multi-channel source, right?

Last edited by Freezer7Pro (2009-05-21 17:58:33)

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-21 18:00:21

#17

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6463|The Twilight Zone

Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:

Quadrophonic means four channels. Look it up. It's not the same as using a Y-adapter on the output.
2x stereo yes. what you hear in front you can hear in the back, i've done it, check your sound card settings
Some sound cards interpret it as dual stereo, but most don't. Neither my Xonar, my Realtek, SoundMAX or nV integrated do that. They do quadrophonic sound; four channels.

Also note that this usually plays stereo sources in both outputs. You did test with a multi-channel source, right?

affirmative, as long as the sub has the switch it will play what its supposed to play

2009-05-21 18:05:45

#18

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:

2x stereo yes. what you hear in front you can hear in the back, i've done it, check your sound card settings
Some sound cards interpret it as dual stereo, but most don't. Neither my Xonar, my Realtek, SoundMAX or nV integrated do that. They do quadrophonic sound; four channels.

Also note that this usually plays stereo sources in both outputs. You did test with a multi-channel source, right?
affirmative, as long as the sub has the switch it will play what its supposed to play

I'm not talking about the frequency range. I'm talking about the amount of channels. See that pic on wikipedia? If he were to hook the speakers up the way you are suggesting, he'd get four channels, and the sub would only act as the rear two of those dots, where it should be acting as a mash-up of the two top ones.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-21 19:44:50

#19

Defiance: Member; +438|6681

If a thread so much as mentions sound, it very rapidly turns on to a Freezer/Sup dialogue.

It's funny to watch how one posts, and there's still a couple people in the thread, then the other starts in and before you know it, they alternate and everyone else has vanished. Even the OP. It's not even useful anymore.

2009-05-21 22:08:39

#20

lxcpikiman: imbad @ bf2; +70|6605|Toronto-Canada

very true Defiance.
is it a sound quality/performance related topic, you will definitely see freezer and sup go at it.
but I root for freezer!

Last edited by lxcpikiman (2009-05-21 22:09:54)

2009-05-21 23:22:55

#21

Defiance: Member; +438|6681

lxcpikiman wrote:
very true Defiance.
is it a sound quality/performance related topic, you will definitely see freezer and sup go at it.
but I root for freezer!

P/P discussion got lost a fair few posts ago, now it just looks like mechanics debating.

Which you'd think is a virtual impossibility, but hey...

2009-05-22 00:25:04

#22

Zimmer: Un Moderador; +1,688|6766|Scotland

Defiance wrote:
If a thread so much as mentions sound, it very rapidly turns on to a Freezer/Sup dialogue.

It's funny to watch how one posts, and there's still a couple people in the thread, then the other starts in and before you know it, they alternate and everyone else has vanished. Even the OP. It's not even useful anymore.

I love it. It makes me giggle in the morning.

2009-05-22 04:12:42

#23

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6207|Winland

There's just something about him that gets me going every time. I'm weak.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-05-27 09:24:45

#24

twoblacklines: all grown up now (its boring); +49|6217

Ive had all these and more and still prefer a good 2.0 hifi setup.

I had TDL RTL 2's + Harmon Kardon HK680 + Beresford Dac and it was supreme.

BF2S Forums Need help with subwoofer setup.

Freezer7Pro wrote:

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Defiance wrote:

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