My quest for a good audio device for my 8890 continues. It starts on this post if you want a little background.
http://sagerforums.com/showthread.php?t=9659
I returned the Phillips Aurilium I purchased choosing to stick with the Extigy. With further use and tests I have hit a stumbleing block. The Extigy sucks when playing music. There is no other way to put it. Here is what is happening.
If you plug front and rear speakers into any other sound card and play MP3's or CD's and such you get stereo sound piped through all your speakers. With the Extigy you get stereo in the front speakers and ONLY the front speakers.
Why? Got me. To make it so you can hear music in the rest of your speakers, like the rear speakers you have plugged into the Extigy that work with everyting else you have plugged them into, you push a button on the front of the Extigy that turns on CMSS (Creative MultiSpeaker Suround). Ok, fine, now you have stereo playing on your speakers. Great, those rear speakers are now playing music like they should. There is only one problem... the sound sucks.
CMSS "upmixes" (Creative's word) the stereo signal so that it can be played on more then the front speakers. When the Extigy "upmixes' the siginal it kills it. Most of the bass is lost, the vocals fade away and sometimes are lost in the twangy sound that use to be music that is now spewing out of the speakers. In addition for some reason I have found that the CMSS adds an echo to everything. So in the end with a $300+ speaker system and a $150 external sound card I can chose to have decent sound from 2 speakers or crappy sound that is only better then the internal speakers on my 8890.
Whew, sorry, venting there.
In any case, has anyone experianced something similar using the Extigy and a 4.1 speaker system (Klisph Promedia THX 4.1 system)? Anyone happen to have a suggestion as to how to improve the situation? I might just have to return the Extigy... mabe the Aruilium I returned early this week will still be sitting on the shelf and I can get it again.
BAH!!!
http://sagerforums.com/showthread.php?t=9659
I returned the Phillips Aurilium I purchased choosing to stick with the Extigy. With further use and tests I have hit a stumbleing block. The Extigy sucks when playing music. There is no other way to put it. Here is what is happening.
If you plug front and rear speakers into any other sound card and play MP3's or CD's and such you get stereo sound piped through all your speakers. With the Extigy you get stereo in the front speakers and ONLY the front speakers.
Why? Got me. To make it so you can hear music in the rest of your speakers, like the rear speakers you have plugged into the Extigy that work with everyting else you have plugged them into, you push a button on the front of the Extigy that turns on CMSS (Creative MultiSpeaker Suround). Ok, fine, now you have stereo playing on your speakers. Great, those rear speakers are now playing music like they should. There is only one problem... the sound sucks.CMSS "upmixes" (Creative's word) the stereo signal so that it can be played on more then the front speakers. When the Extigy "upmixes' the siginal it kills it. Most of the bass is lost, the vocals fade away and sometimes are lost in the twangy sound that use to be music that is now spewing out of the speakers. In addition for some reason I have found that the CMSS adds an echo to everything. So in the end with a $300+ speaker system and a $150 external sound card I can chose to have decent sound from 2 speakers or crappy sound that is only better then the internal speakers on my 8890.
Whew, sorry, venting there.
In any case, has anyone experianced something similar using the Extigy and a 4.1 speaker system (Klisph Promedia THX 4.1 system)? Anyone happen to have a suggestion as to how to improve the situation? I might just have to return the Extigy... mabe the Aruilium I returned early this week will still be sitting on the shelf and I can get it again.
BAH!!!
