Creative 5200 vs Logitech Z640

I already have the Creative 5200 5.1 speakers for one of my computers, and I ordered the Logitech Z640 for my other computer..question is, which set is better overall..and for gaming, etc...?

I looked the specs of both and they are pretty close, except that the Z640s have a higher rms bass rating, and the 5200s have a higher rms satellite rating I think...

Also, is it true that you shouldnt buy an Audigy 2 unless you have really high end speakers? Because I was thinking about getting one, but if I dont have a $300 set of speakers, would it be a waste of money. I would think that an Audigy 2 would be good for any sound setup..

Thanks for any input...

unwrittenLaw said:

I already have the Creative 5200 5.1 speakers for one of my computers, and I ordered the Logitech Z640 for my other computer..question is, which set is better overall..and for gaming, etc...?

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they're both good. there's been some quality control issues with the logitech's hopefully that will be cleared up with yours. i diskike creative and similar companies(intel, microsoft, walmart etc.) so i tend to favor the opposing company when it comes to them.

unwrittenLaw said:

I looked the specs of both and they are pretty close, except that the Z640s have a higher rms bass rating, and the 5200s have a higher rms satellite rating I think...

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it really matters more of how the speaker is built. RMS measures distortion. it doesn't take into account the speaker's voice because that's where your opinion on what sounds good comes into play. you may end up liking the lower powered speakers better.

unwrittenLaw said:

Also, is it true that you shouldnt buy an Audigy 2 unless you have really high end speakers? Because I was thinking about getting one, but if I dont have a $300 set of speakers, would it be a waste of money. I would think that an Audigy 2 would be good for any sound setup..

Thanks for any input...

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well you're talking about surround sound now. you have quite a few speakers around to fill the room. it'd be in your best interest to upgrade your sound card. a card that i would consider on par with those speakers would be around the turtle beach SC, audigy1, soundstorm area. mid range. right now i've seen OEM audgy2's going for $70. for the money you may as well get it. with those speakers i'd say you'd hear a difference.

I already have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and 2 Soundstorm boards..(NF7-S 2.0 and A7N8X-Deluxe). But I was thinking of getting an Audigy 2...

It seems like the Z640s have more bass to them and the 5200's have more mid to high range accuracy, but I haven't had the Z640s long enough yet to determine which ones are better over all. I'm not an audiophile, but I obviously like good, clean sound and a decent combination of components...

As far as specifications, I'm still learning them for speakers/sound cards, etc...What do mean when you say the "speakers voice" as you stated what sounds good comes into play...just trying to educate myself...

well alot of speakers will come in the same size and shape yet will have drastically different sounds. it usually has to do with the type of materials used to make it and what kind of measures were made to make it air tight and suppress all sound coming from it.

alot of musicians will understand what i mean by this. different materials will have different tonal properties. with guitars musicians usually like heavier instruments because they're made of denser materials and it seems to be a general rule of thumb that a denser material will have better tonal characteristics.

essentially sound is vibration and different materials will handle vibration differently. in the sound dampening field engineers are swaying from the high density theory and experimenting with other things like foams. since foam is pourous it tends to absorb high frequencies better then a dense material because high frequencies will bounce off of a dense material and go back to the listener.

it's hard to do use the same ideaology with modern speakers because most are created through a process called injection molding where plastic resins (liquid form) are shot into a mold and cooled off until they harden. since the difference from plastic to plastic isn't very great it's hard to say that any one plastic is better then another.

with PC speakers it's more about speaker construction and sound suppression. i don't know alot about how PC speakers are made and i don't have the money at the moment to take my z340's apart but from listening to different speakers i can say that there is definetly a difference from speaker to speaker and between the amplifiers used in each speaker system which also has alot to do with a speakers voice.

if you take the same speakers you have and changed the amplifier used to something of much better quality you could change the sound from your speakers without actually changing the speaker itself.

I also have the Creative Inspire 5200s and they're ok I guess. They don't sound that good if you pump up the volume but the bass is good enough for my room (Where my computer is).

I heard the Logitechs were a bit better since they provided more power and sounded much more clear than the Creatives.

What will you be playing, music from cds, mp3s or watching DVDs?

If you don't utilize the center speaker as much (Like me), perhaps you should consider the Logitech z560s?

The Logitech's are too bright for my tastes. Sharp treble and punchy bass. Good for home theater type sound, not too good for music (unless all you listen to is (c)rap)

Headphones!!!!!

tycanadian said:

The Logitech's are too bright for my tastes. Sharp treble and punchy bass. Good for home theater type sound, not too good for music (unless all you listen to is (c)rap)

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*Smacks tycanadian* How dare you diss one of my favourite types of music! LOL!

Strida:

Can you elaborate why you would choose headphones? I personally find them ok for games but it isn't too enjoying to always have ear muffs on 24/7 when you're on the computer and it sounds nicer to have music coming from all sorts of speakers.

i have the z640's and if i want to seriously listen to music or really get into a game i can't use them. they just aren't very good quality. they are muddy and harsh sometimes. i hafta get my headphones out to enjoy the sound.

if you are looking for good quality sound... save up, buy the z680s or similar speakers. or you could go a step better and get a home theater receiver and use some nice bookshelf speakers and it will sound alot better. maybe not as much bass but everything will be alot clearer.

I'm no audiophile and going from $60 speakers to $300+ dollar speakers is quite a jump and probably not necessary for me. I have a home theater receiver and good speakers but thats for my living room. I dont really need to get gung ho and have computers and recievers all over my house. I know this one guy who has like 6 computers in 2 bedroom house. I mean if its a hobby thats cool...but I spend my money on other things like my cars and my wife..and try not to splash too much on computer stuff because theres a point of diminishing returns where you just start buying crap that you dont really need or use and it gets just a bit too excessive. I dont need a media center pc, file server, gaming pc, blah blah blah...then he's got like three laptops...all on a wireless network..in a tiny *** house lol. So he can browse the net on a laptop sitting on a couch 3ft from his other 2 computers in the living room...it just seems like a waste, not to mention he's draining power from the whole damn neighborhood..
sorry for the rant, I just dont get the whole, need a pc in every room of the house mentality. But hey, its your money...


Anyways, I've been using the 640s and they sound pretty good, a little more bass/power than the 5200s but the 5200s seem to have more clarity in the mid/high ranges.

Is there a way to set up Soundstorm on my NF7-S so that I can have my z640s and headset/mic plugged in at the same time and just switch between them through the control panel. I get sick of having to reach around my computer and plug in my headset into the green jack everytime i want to use them, and then plug my front left/right speakers back in...