- Joined
- Sep 7, 2003
It's time for some upgrading!
I'm liking my headphones, and am getting really tired of speakers now. The only time speakers are worth it is when they are on really loud, and that bothers people, and it just isn't practicle. My headphones sound very, and I mean very good, but only at very high volume levels. I am told that I need an amp. My guitar friend calls it a preamp, and I think that's what I'm going to call it so that it's not confused with an amplifier that acts as a speaker.
The preamp will increase the volume going to my headphones, even though I dont need to have my headphones on louder. This should make a more fulfilling sound, correct?
How about a receiver? Is a receiver purely an interface for hooking up wire speakers to a computer sound card? Or can it do more? I have an idea, but I dont know if it can be done. Buy a reciever and hook up my Z5300 speakers to it, along with the subwoofer, and over time upgrade it speaker by speaker, until I have a complete home theatre system. That way I'll still have surround sound when I need it, like for movies, and I can switch to 2.0(or 2.1) mode for stuff like music. Is there a switch on them to switch from 5.1 to 2.1? I know my Logitechs do, but that's no where near home theatre status.
Then, in addition to that, I would also like a headphone jack on the receiver, so when I plug in the headphones it turns off the speakers, or I could do it manually. I would have the preamp in between the sound card and the receiver, connected by a digital cord, right?
Right now I have an Audigy. I want to upgrade. I'm going to get the Chaintech AV-180(I think that's what it's called) and experiment with it. I'm sure I won't like it since it's so cheap though, and I'll end up selling it, but it's not much of a loss since it's so cheap to begin with.
The M-Audio Revolution 5.1 is another possibility. From what I hear it's not as good as the chaintech for 2.0 audio, but I have doubts in a $20 sound card.
And I know an Audigy 2 ZS would be fine no matter what, but I'm not sure about the sound quality compared to the M-Audio. How about having two sound cards, one for the headphones, and one for the speakers. The M-Audio would be for the speakers while the Chaintech would be for the headphones. Could I have both plugged into the receiver at the same time, and just switch in the Volume Control on my computer?
What about the cord on my headphones? I plug it in atleast once a day and I'm scared it'll bend over time. I hear that the sound quality might be better from a higher quality cord. Someone told me he thought the bass was richer when he switched cords, however it seems like no one really knows for sure if there is a difference or not. Can someone point me in the right direction? I wouldn't mind upgrading them if it isn't too expensive, since I'd then be able to use my stock ones as backup in case if the other ones broke from time and use. Seems like a win win situation to me.
So what headphone cord, preamp and receiver would be suggested? Remember, I dont know anything about any of this stuff, so you have to explain everything to me. The people at Sharkyforums stopped replying to my thread, lol, hopefully you guys will be a little nicer.
I'm liking my headphones, and am getting really tired of speakers now. The only time speakers are worth it is when they are on really loud, and that bothers people, and it just isn't practicle. My headphones sound very, and I mean very good, but only at very high volume levels. I am told that I need an amp. My guitar friend calls it a preamp, and I think that's what I'm going to call it so that it's not confused with an amplifier that acts as a speaker.
The preamp will increase the volume going to my headphones, even though I dont need to have my headphones on louder. This should make a more fulfilling sound, correct?
How about a receiver? Is a receiver purely an interface for hooking up wire speakers to a computer sound card? Or can it do more? I have an idea, but I dont know if it can be done. Buy a reciever and hook up my Z5300 speakers to it, along with the subwoofer, and over time upgrade it speaker by speaker, until I have a complete home theatre system. That way I'll still have surround sound when I need it, like for movies, and I can switch to 2.0(or 2.1) mode for stuff like music. Is there a switch on them to switch from 5.1 to 2.1? I know my Logitechs do, but that's no where near home theatre status.
Then, in addition to that, I would also like a headphone jack on the receiver, so when I plug in the headphones it turns off the speakers, or I could do it manually. I would have the preamp in between the sound card and the receiver, connected by a digital cord, right?
Right now I have an Audigy. I want to upgrade. I'm going to get the Chaintech AV-180(I think that's what it's called) and experiment with it. I'm sure I won't like it since it's so cheap though, and I'll end up selling it, but it's not much of a loss since it's so cheap to begin with.
The M-Audio Revolution 5.1 is another possibility. From what I hear it's not as good as the chaintech for 2.0 audio, but I have doubts in a $20 sound card.
And I know an Audigy 2 ZS would be fine no matter what, but I'm not sure about the sound quality compared to the M-Audio. How about having two sound cards, one for the headphones, and one for the speakers. The M-Audio would be for the speakers while the Chaintech would be for the headphones. Could I have both plugged into the receiver at the same time, and just switch in the Volume Control on my computer?
What about the cord on my headphones? I plug it in atleast once a day and I'm scared it'll bend over time. I hear that the sound quality might be better from a higher quality cord. Someone told me he thought the bass was richer when he switched cords, however it seems like no one really knows for sure if there is a difference or not. Can someone point me in the right direction? I wouldn't mind upgrading them if it isn't too expensive, since I'd then be able to use my stock ones as backup in case if the other ones broke from time and use. Seems like a win win situation to me.
So what headphone cord, preamp and receiver would be suggested? Remember, I dont know anything about any of this stuff, so you have to explain everything to me. The people at Sharkyforums stopped replying to my thread, lol, hopefully you guys will be a little nicer.