Windstorm

What is this Panasonic decoder? ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Actually what I meant was using digital cd audio over the pci bus, that is what the setting I mentioned does. You do need a separate audio cable at all if you do this. Although I'm not sure which versions of windows have this feature - w2k has it for sure. It should be somewhere in the cdrom drive properties in device manager, under 'settings' probably. Here is the one from win2k. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Seeing the amount of debate concerning the benefits of upgrading speaker wire, I did a blind test on my roommates while upgrading mine. I set up two sats right beside each other, one with the standard wire and 1/8 minijack (the long wire for the rears), the other with 40ft of 16 gauge oxygen free soldered directly to the speaker. I then had them listen to music for 20 minutes while I switched the sats around. Here is what they said: Roommate 1 said the stock wire had a more "stereo" sound to it. I don't know what this means since only one sat was playing at a time, but from what he said it sounded like there was *slightly* more reverb with the standard wire. With about half of the songs I played he couldn't tell a difference at all. Roommate 2 was able to hear a difference after about 10 minutes of listening. She described the thick wire as being "less trebly" than the standard, and "sounding better" in general. After about 15 minutes she could pick which wire was being used, most of the time. Also keep in mind that I did not compare 40ft of 16 gauge to 40ft of standard cable which I previously had going to the rear speakers. I think the differences would have been more pronounced with the longer length of standard cable. Personally I do hear a difference with the new wires - I can pick out more detail in the individual sounds I hear. The rear sats particularly sound better. When I first got my pros I heard sounds in music which I never heard before, after the wire upgrade I hear yet more new sounds. I don't know if it's because I am listening more intently with hopes of hearing a difference? From what my roommates said it seems there is a physical difference. I would recommend a wire upgrade to anyone thinking about it, especially if you have long wires like I had. The speaker wire cost me $20 Canadian for 2 spools of 50 feet. That's about 13 cents US per foot. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Are you using an audio cable from the cdrom to the sound card? I had the same problem, it went away at some point. I don't know exactly what I did to fix it, but it may have been changing to digital audio and doing away with the audio cable. Its in the cd drive properties in win2k, I dont know about 98 or me but it should be in the same place. Btw I have a sb live. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Grrr....Can't delete post... Yes I know soldering audio equipment is a pain in the ***... but I've done it before. Just finishe soldering wire directly to the speakers... time to enjoy my reward. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Ahh yes, thanks for the links. It looks lika a significant difference - the 4.00 have just a single cap, the new ones.. a cap, a coil (transformer??) and some other components... now we see where part of the extra $50 went. Now for the inevitable question... Klipsch people, can we get our hands on those crossover boards for a small fee? Having seen the inside of the sat, it doesn't seem too difficult to change... ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Ahh yes, thanks for the links. It looks lika a significant difference - the 4.00 have just a single cap, the new ones.. a cap, a coil (transformer??) and some other components... now we see where part of the extra $50 went. Now for the inevitable question... Klipsch people, can we get our hands on those crossover boards for a small fee? Having seen the inside of the sat, it doesn't seem too difficult to change... ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I am in the process of installing 16 gauge wire for my 4.00's, and have decided to solder it directly to the speaker, getting rid of the miniplug altogether. I have a sat opened up as I write this, and have noticed that the only thing between the tweeter and midrange driver is a 2.2uF capacitor. Seeing how Klipsch boasts an "improved crossover network" in the 4.1, I was wondering if anyone knows what the 4.1's use? Maybe if it is just a different cap I can change it myself... instant upgrade? ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Sounds like something Compaq would use... You should upgrade... a SB live value will do fine and won't be too expensive. You don't need the new 5.1 cards unless you plan to add extra speakers. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Did you try clearing the bios? I had a similar problem, also have a Pioneer 16x dcd, 105. Originally I had a HD as master on ide1 and the dvd as well as my burner on channel 2. Then I got a scsi HD, and put the dvd on ide 1 and burner on ide 2. After doing so i could no longer enable dma on the dcd drive. This was win98. Also I really have a hard time adding other ide devices with this config, sometimes they are not detected, or I have to really screw around with the arrangement - for ex. hard drives will not install as slave under either cdrom as master. I don't know if its the pioneer drive or the mobo, but flashig my bios didn't help. In the end I put on winme and it worked, but crashed lika a *****, so i changed to 2k. Also pioneer has a rom update for their dvd drivers on their site... try that. http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/ServiceAndSupport/SelfHelpForIndList/1,1458,60~6020~6020600,00.html

babies come from college dorms nine months after frosh week... ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Set powerdvd to 4 speaker output. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

You wouldn't really notice anything over 30 or 40 fps... North American TV shows 30fps, movies in theaters show 24. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Does anyone know if there is a way to run the Startup group programs automatically when the pc wakes from hibernate? ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

1. Booze 2. Booze 3. Booze 4. Booze!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Set Windvd to 4 speaker, and make sure your creative sw is also set for 4. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Yup I agree with you billie... bass does sound good at moderate volumes, but the sub can't keep up when you crank them. "knocking a hole in your wall" is a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe 2.1's would have a better sub response, their sub is over half the total system power as opposed to 4s... (plus no attenuator) ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

What center channel do you have? Does it keep up with the rest of the system? ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Go to a hardware store, buy some L brackets, drill a hole for the screw, then spraypaint them black. Cheap as dirt. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

There is indeed a mini to coax(rca) cable. My friend had Creative send him one, I think it was five bucks plus shipping. He had to call them though, and it cost a shitload in long distance. You can also try electronics stores - there are generic adapters like that, and any generic one should work. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Where are you purchasing this decoder from? I was about to get the midiland, but obviously this one looks better... can you post if you find a distributor? I don't know about this decoder, but the ads2000 doesn't downmix the LFE, so to get full effect you would need another sub. My friend is building one for me just for that purpose. It will cost about $150 canadian with amp. The sound quality is not as good as the promedia sub, but it shakes the room a whole lot more, this is why it is perfect to use for the lfe channel. For the center I agree with rol1, it would be better to just use one sat, a quint or a pro. Or an inexpensive powered monitor... ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Actually Distec powerdvd doesn't downmix lfe.... I wish it did 'cause win dvd won't do 4 channel under win2k. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

If you plug the extra sub into the sat out you will not get vary much bass sent to it because of the crossover... Bass does not get sent to the sats! ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Funny you mention that Baz, I put down a $40 deposit at Si-Com last summer, but the copy of the invoice showed the remaider due to be $249... So I was all happy thinking I would get them for a hundred bucks less.. Then the bastards went under. I got my deposit back , but had to shell out 420 at AudioTronic... too bad I didn't know Tolga sold them. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I never noticed a difference until I got the pros... Now I have napster filter anything below 192, and I rip CD's at 256. 128 bit is NOT cd quality - you always lose quality when compressing, even at 320. Its a question of when the loss is no longer noticable. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.