Best budget surround sound set up

T

Thomasj

New Member
Im looking at the budget surround set ups for pc and was wondering if anybody has any experiance with the ones available for at or under 50. I like to shop from newegg but will go elseware if the price is right
 
I bought the Logitech X-530 5.1 surround sound speakers from Neweeg about a year ago for around $50. They are amazing speakers, especially for the cost; they are highhly recommended. I know lots of other people on CF have them as well. They are insanely popular as great low-cost surround sound speakers for your computer.
 
I want to run the x-540 set up from logitech. My Motherboard only has one audio out jack. Do I need to get a sound card? If so, what card is good for someone on a budget? The system looks like it needs a front, center/sub, and rear hookup.
 
Your onboard sound there is simple two channel not a newer 6 or 8 channel type there. For the best sound especially when gaming or running multimedia going with a good sound card always works best. The problem is the good cards priced lately run about $75 new. newegg only saw the open box Xtreme Audio model for under $50 if you ever have plans to run Vista with the updated software.

There was one Turtle Beach TBS-3300 7.1 surround model seen for about $60 if you can't go for something like the Creative SB Xtreme Gamer, Music or Audio retail seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118109
 
Well I found out that my mic jack and input jack becomes Center/sub and rear surround when you change the settings to 5.1

When you plug into one of the jacks a window pops up and asked what you just plugged in. You just select the correct answer and then it works.
 
Dual purpose jacks there. The Creative X-Fi models cards no longer see two separate jacks for mic and line-in on them. The single jack seen on that line of cards is called a Flexi Jack. Apparently the board manufacturer did the same thing for the onboard there.
 
Use that onboard sound, If you are doing a cheap 5.1 setup and don't care about quality. Just follow the instructions on changing the Mic-In jack, In place of a Central, Sub. But this means that you connect a Central Channel or Subwoofer in. So you will have to check for the other 4 speakers. You may only be able to run a Quadrophonic setup depending on how many analog ports you have.
 
Most 939 boards as well as Intel models see 6 channel output for the onboard with newer models seeing 8 channels. With a budget board the onboard will suffer for gaming and more for multimedia while a half way decent card added in would see the applications sound mixer and equalizer options. You get what you pay for seems to hold true in most cases(pc of course).
 
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