Auzentech Prelude Discussion Thread

Yeah, I realised that on my old motherboard as well, whenever I move the mouse it would make noise, glad it's sorted now, still gotta get the X-Fi Prelude, however

 

http://www.ecost.com/Detail.aspx?edp=40503841

Refurb'd Z-5500 for $169.00

Get at it cheap kids.

 

just over the weekend, TigerDirect had a weekend deal to get the Z-5500's new for $139 i believe after a MIR.

 

Well, as you're talking about speakers... could someone recommend me a good headset?
I'm trying to find a microphone as a single thing so that I could use my Sennheiser HD 590, so far I haven't found anything useful.
Are there any headsets that have a so far similar performance from the headphone part, that do have a nice mic also? (... and don't require a headphone amp? ).

 

I must say i picked up a set of the z5500 because of the sales and i must say that im NOT that impressed with them. Moving up from my z5300 i was expecting a lot better sound quality. They do sound a little bit better but not by leaps and bounds. However the control center is a nice touch and very handy.

 

Are you running optical; coaxial? Sometimes, one change in the configuration can make a huge difference.
BTW: the control center has a HUGE cool factor. If only the remote had forward/back controls, it would be perfect!

 

Headset...Grado SR-80 ($95 USD) and worth every penny. Best bang for your buck.

 

Does the Prelude have Vista x64 signed drivers?

 

Im running it through analog with my x-meridian. I do like the control centers additional inputs because i can bypass my computer and run straight to the speakers for my satellite receiver. I didn't even bother testing out digital out of my sound card because the resolution of the sound card is more than the receiver can handle.

I did however notice that when i tweaked my EQ it became much flatter and smooth transitions because these speakers have better freq response.

 

@lehed: Yes, they work and they are signed

@nosferatu: I'll have a look at them So far I looked at Sennheiser (as I like my HD's), AKG, Beckerdynamic and the newer Razer Piranha.
I didn't really want to spend 400$ and more like some of the AKGs cost, but I don't want to get anything that is noticably worse than my HD 590's.

 

@anthony , if you can take back the 5500's I would. You can find good quality HTIB for $200 or less. ShopONKYO.com has great deal for home theatres IF you live in the USA. -You get receiver and full speakers and sub for $200 or less. For Canada, try Ecost.com as they usually have HT system for great prices. These system would sound much better then the Z-5500's. Hope this helps.

 

IMO when I went from my Z5300 to a z5500 after giving the z5300 to my dad, I notice a improvement. But I was using digital most of the time, because at the time I had the Razer barracuda AC1 and headphones. And I had them in digital.

Them being Digital and me not wanting a HT speaker setup that was more then 200 dollars. Is the main reason why I got them, so I wouldnt have to unplug my headphones to use them and back and fore.

I dont agree that a 200 HT setup would sound better then the Z5500's, because I asked for help before I even got my Z5500's like a year and 2 months ago.

People was telling me I was better off with the Z5500's then getting a HT setup with 200 dollar budget.

Also we do have a 200 dollar HT setup in the other room and upstairs both of them are trash. Thats another reason why I disagree.

 

Yea i think i will return them. I may just buy a decent amp to drive my z5300 speakers and then later down the road pickup good speakers.

Has anyone played around with a DIY speaker setup?

 

HTIB are better than z5500? I know they are powerful (1+kW), but better?

I got my parents a Sammy HTX50 (1kW, 5-disc DVD Upconvert) for christmas for ~$200 for their new TV and it sounds pretty nice for the price.

 

Some, it depends on what you get. I don't mean the cheap units with the DVD players built in and little small cube speakers. I am talking about HTiB's from Onkyo and other higher end audio manufacturers that have decent AV receivers and moderate speakers. The Z-5500's aren't particularly nice sounding when compared to HT systems, they can't compete with a quality receiver and speaker system.

@Anthony, you have a point about the budget of $200...There are some places that sell decent HTiB's for under $200. HT systems have been dropping considerably in price. Of course get what you think will be the best match for you. When it comes to playback systems for a PC, most will always tell you a receiver and speakers are much better then a "PC" branded speaker system.

 

anthony: you mean hooking up different speakers to the Logitech subwoofer's? dunno if it's the greatest idea. i've never tried myself, but i find the Z-5500's speakers to be quite nice. And i'm not sure why you'd have expected the Z-5500's to sound "leaps and bounds" better than the Z-5300's. They're both in Logitech's high-end speaker lineup. I mean.... if you were like me, going from a set of Logitech Z-640's to the Z-5500's, then yeah...... nice boost in audio quality on just about every level.

 

@ ElementalDragon

no i mean buying a nice HT amp and hooking the logitech speakers to them. Later down the road look at new speakers possibly a DIY solution.

 

I am SO excited!!

Tomorrow i will get a new X-Fi Fatal Pro (Retail, thus also a brand new box), because my previous Fatal Pro died + extra 3 months warranty. I'm gonna sell my X-Fi and i've ordered the Prelude. In fact the Prelude would only cost me €25 more. I got the Prelude for €150 and i can already sell my X-Fi for €125, since it's a brand new version.

Got a few questions, since i won't bother looking through all the 25 pages in this thread:

1. Will the experience be the same as with my X-Fi? I also loved the sound of my X-Fi, but i felt that it was missing something.

2. The software interface, is it the same as with the X-Fi, like the Entertainment, Gaming and Audio Creation windows?

3. Less bloatware compared to X-Fi?

4. Does it only have the X-Fi chip or also have the CM8788 chip? Some guy i know told me that the Prelude has both, but i'm not sure.

When i get the Prelude, i will rip my crappy current soundcard out of my rig and put it in my cats litter box so they can piss on it. eeright:eeleft:

I remember when i went from onboard to X-Fi, i didn't really noticed the sound quality increase, but when i was forced to use onboard again (now a PCI version, but it's the same crap) i was like "No! Please no! Sounds horrible! ".

Even though Creative sucks as company and their customer support, their cards produce way better sound than onboards.

 

good thing Auzentech is even better. that's one thing i hated about Creative. once the X-Fi came out, they completely abandoned the Audigy 2's and such, even though they're still a fairly good card for how cheap they are. almost never released a driver for Vista. think the only version they released.... was the version that came out just after Vista did.

Fairly certain you'll love the Prelude to death.

 

Except my microphone still doesn't work right 90% of the time.