• Welcome to Poasters Computer Forums.
 

News:

Welcome to the ARCHIVED Poasters Computer Forums (Read Only)

Main Menu

Mp3's and speakers

Started by LugwidVanB, August 11, 2009, 16:46 hrs

Previous topic - Next topic

LugwidVanB

I listen almost exclusively to mp3 music on the computer and car. I wanted to buy a set of 5 surround speakers but now I read that mp3's only play on the 2 front speakers so any more than that is wasted. Is this true? Why? Is there a solution to use all speakers? Thanks

Tom

Buffalo2102

Music is almost always recorded in stereo so only two speakers are used/necessary.  Surround sound and 5.1 are standards designed for movies.  If you have a surround amplifier and speakers then it will sometimes have an option to pipe music to all speakers and create a kind of "virtual surround" but that depends on the amplifier or device that is playing the file.  It's not something I like personally, as it means you are not listening to the true sound.

The MP3 compression standard was designed for music and so also only really allows for 2 audio tracks (stereo).  Having said that, there is a newer version of the MP3 encoder that supports 5.1 with only a small overhead.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_Surround.  This standard is only really any good though if you have 5.1 source material, which most music is not.

Buff
Vista x64 Home Premium. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Abit IP35, 4 Gig Kingston HyperX PC8500C5 DDR2, GTX260, Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer, Antec 900 Gaming Case.

LugwidVanB

Thanks for the enlightenment Buff. I read somewhere that logitech makes the best surround sound speakers. The  Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System is around $75. Is there a better deal? Thanks.

Tom

Bill

I would spend some time in a store that sells audio equipment.  Speakers are like monitors, you should listen to them before you buy.  Everyone has different preferences, and ears.  I have a pair of Klipsch that I think are terrific, probably the best I've heard, but you might not like them at all.

Bill
Antec 3700 | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R | Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz | 4 GB (4x1GB) DDR2 PC 5300 Kingston RAM | Antec NeoPower 550W | eVGA GeForce 9500GT 1GB 128 bit PCI Express 2.0 | Intel SSD X25-M 80GB | VelociRaptor 150GB | WD 80GB 7200rpm |Samsung 22x SATA Burner |Windows 7 32-bit

Hoot

My Klipsch 2.1 were stolen unfortunately some time ago. I replaced them with some cheap but very good for the price Logitech X230's and for the price they rock. Of course having and Xfi now the Grado 80 cans I have are stunningly superb.