Hell Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 I mentioned this on another forum but the more I think about it the more I'm still surprised by it. Ihave had the promedia 4.1's for like 2 weeks now and after reading all the reviews and comments by users about the bass I'm just not impressed at all with my set to the point I'm wondering if there's something wrong with the sub. I had a set of ATP5's that I returned for various reasons and picked up the promedia's instead and the ATP5's sub hit WAY harder. I can hear bass, the satellites sound fine but the sub just doesn't have any punch, I hear the bass but I don't feel it, no shaking, no thump it's almost like background noise. ATP5's, lobby scene, matrix, the place shook (and only at around 75% volume), I remember the breeze coming out of the sub blowing a friend of mines pants around. Klipsch, at 70% volume, all mixture settings for the sound card at 80%, bass/treble 50%, nothing... you can hear bass but it's much more prominent from the sats, no vibrations from the sub in the floor, you have to put your hand about 5 inches from the port to feel any breeze, etc and that's with the subwoofer volume knob all the way up on the control pod. I've moved the sub around, played with the sound card settings (SB Live original full version ) and tried different sources/media. So I guess my question is is that it? was I expecting to much from these? is it all hype or do I have a problem? I'm really kind of dissappointed, I like the overall sound of them, nice clarity, good highs etc but I was definitely expecting more from the sub, especially after the ATP5 with a single speaker and 1/4th the power of the klipsch. The promedia, about 60% volume, card mix cranked, winamp EQ bass all the way up, subwoofer volume on CP cranked I can start to feel vibrations through the floor from a few feet away on some bass heavy songs but nowhere near chest thumping... Just Wondering... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paragon Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 The Pro sub should push fairly well.. you may need to break it in some more. Mask of Zorro - chapter 27 - mine explosion.. I can rock the room.. and nice air-condition for the feet. Make sure you have the sub volume set to the mark - pushing it higher at high main volumes will cause the limiter to kick in. I can see if I can get Matrix DVD and test my system tomorrow - still have yet to do so. Remember that sub placement plays a big role.. The Pro sub likes a good corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajachepe Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 Try also the "wave" and the "bass" by doubleclicking in the sound icon (the litttle yellow horn)in your taskbar. I got the Pro's 4.1 too and the SBLP 5.1, so i got them in a "6.2 configuration by using my ACS48's as center.They do ratle my computer room pretty good. Other than that, I couldnt tell you. I also don even have to go over 50% in the main volume of the Pros hardly ever, I do keep the main windows volume high tho( 90 to 100 %). good luck!. Oh I almost forgot, you'll find the bass/treble setting after you double click in the sound icon in the taskbar then click the "advanced" tab in the main volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Posted April 24, 2001 Author Share Posted April 24, 2001 Well even with the subwoofer volume down on the mark or even lower at any volume it just doesn't seem powerful. I've really played with it through the range of both speaker and sound card controls and just can't seem to get any kick from it bass wise, the rest sounds fine. And I've moved it around the room and it hasn't made much difference. I'm not trying to harsh on the klipsch here or anything along those lines. But for instance at say 50% volume with the subvol at at any percentage putting your hand next to one of the speaker grills on the sub you can't feel much response at all and you'd have to have your hand a few inches in front of the port to feel any air movement, what's coming out of the sub sounds muddy, not defined. The Sat's are fine, I've rechecked all the connections on everything a couple of times. I normally leave the volume around 30-40% for most stuff, subvol at 50%, I know how to get into the advanced windows mixer and mute/unmute, change the volumes, change the bass/treble, I've messed with all of that and I have a hard time believing this rooms acoustics could be that detrimental to the sub output, though maybe it is I'm not a speaker guru by any stretch of the imagination. but going back to the atp's, in the same spot I've had the klipsch you could feel the wind from those things from a distance and it was putting out some chest thumping bass, I wish I had another klipsch set to compare it to, in fact I've been thinking about going down somewhere that has them on display sometime this week/weekend whatever and listening to them and seeing if it's just me or what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paragon Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/175/jeffrey_lew.html Get Diffuse the Bomb and try that out. Also, from Napster or wherever: Boston Acoustics Bass Test CD - Woofer Cooker Try em out.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Hell: ...I'm wondering if there's something wrong with the sub. ... There must be something wrong with either the soundcard/setup, or possibly the speakers. What sound card do you have, and can you tell me the software version? -djf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Posted April 24, 2001 Author Share Posted April 24, 2001 It's a soundblaster live original full retail version, one with the daughter card/gold plated line outs, etc. Using Liveware 3.0 under Win2K. I did download the 'woofer cooker' and diffuse the bomb, definitely getting some bass out of it though on both tracks it's not tight, feels the sub drivers are "fluttering" on the low notes, perhaps that's normal considering the bass lines. In the cooker the long, low bass line in it, while definitely moving some air out of it sounds either distorted or, all I can describe it as is like it's fluttering, can't handle it, and that's at extremely low volume, like 15% on the CP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesSpathelf Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 Well, have you considered that the Atp5's have a smaller frequncy range, (45hz-18khz) while the promedia's go from (29hz to 20khz) so the sub from the Atp5's may be taking a higher frequency range than the sub from the promedias.(Explaining why you're feeling more base from Matrix scenes in the Atp5 sub and in the Promedia satellites than its sub). As for the lack in base, it could be that your got a lemon (there are always some lemons, usually no matter who makes what) My sub from the v.2-400's causes numerous door knobs and windows to rattle in my dorm room, as well as really being able to feel it from 5-10 feet away when playing Metallica's live bass solo from Mexico, of course I never get to do it very long, The RA isn't a big fan of bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Hell: ...definitely getting some bass out of it though on both tracks it's not tight, feels the sub drivers are "fluttering" on the low notes, perhaps that's normal considering the bass lines.... Well, it's a rare possibility (though it fits the symptoms) that one of the two subwoofer drivers is reversed polarity. This could be a woofer magnetized or wired in the wrong direction, or, more likely, a wire harness error. This would cause the woofers to flap around a lot, and not produce much useful sound. In any case, it's not something you should have to screw with any more. Send an e-mail to Amy referencing this thread, and she'll likely arrange a replacement system or sub. -djf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Posted April 24, 2001 Author Share Posted April 24, 2001 Well, a friend of mine and I just came back here and I had him listen to it, woofer cooker and diffuse the bomb, still flapping/fluttering really bad, and then I unplugged the satellites, just the woofer going and to both of us it sounds like the speakers are blown, definitely something not right with it and this is at very low volume, no more than 30% main and on the mark on the CP for subwoofer vol, and something is just not right with it and I've never even had this system up at max vol, oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Posted April 24, 2001 Author Share Posted April 24, 2001 hmm weak, looking at the receipt from compusa to, I've had them longer than 2 weeks and they only have a 14 day return policy. I didn't pay much attention to the bass at first since for like 10 day my mom never left the damn house, the day I bought the speakers she got sick so I didn't turn them up at all and it wasn't until after that that once I got some volume on them that I realized how weak the sub sounded next to the ATP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Posted April 24, 2001 Author Share Posted April 24, 2001 alright, last piece of evidence here, tell me what this sounds like to you... main CP vol at about 20% I'd say, sub CP vol at the 10 oclock marked off position, sound card volumes at 90%, sound card bass/treb 50%. Here's a small wav I recorded playing the subwoofer cooker, crappy mic about 9-12 inches away off to the side of the port. (don't play this loud if you give it a listen). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windstorm Posted April 24, 2001 Share Posted April 24, 2001 Just listened to the woofer cooker track and almost all the continuous low bass produces quite a bit of port noise. The sub moves a LOT of air, I can feel it about 10 feet from the sub, but it just sounds like gurgling... Same thing happens at the very end of the track when the frequency goes down - I guess there is a certain frequence at (or below) which all I get is a lot of air movement and port noise. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paragon Posted April 25, 2001 Share Posted April 25, 2001 Put your sound card volumes to 80% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windstorm Posted April 25, 2001 Share Posted April 25, 2001 Don't think that will help... It is really noticeable when playing the game Starlancer, while you're walking around in the halls or sitting in your cabin there is a lot of port noise coming from the sub. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajachepe Posted April 25, 2001 Share Posted April 25, 2001 I downloaded the woofer Cooker and it does give me some awesome Bass, but the highs are really crappy,not in the account of the pros but in the MP3 itself. I would imagine there is a better version of it, but not on Napster. Hard to tell with your sample recording, sounds pretty much same as I hear it on mine... awesome bass poorly defined highs. I find that the Pros are a great set and they tend to "amplify" poorly transfered tunes,but the bottom line is that they are just about the best PC speakers there are in their class... Also I noticed that a lot of peolpe belives that if their woofer doesnt keep an steady stream of wind coming out of the port, then is not kicking... This is far from thruth. I hope you dont have a bad set and I wish you the best of lucks in getting the sound you hope for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Posted April 25, 2001 Author Share Posted April 25, 2001 Well the MP3 of it I DL'd was a 320Kbitencoding, 10 meg file size so it wasn't that. And I don't expect to not need a fan this summer when it gets hot out because I think the port will cool the place off *grin*. But that track is the first time I've felt any breeze coming out of the port from further away then a few inches, even at 50-75% volume the bass can't even be felt through the floor on anything while I'm sitting a couple of feet away (it's sitting on a hardwood floor, btw) And I've listened to alot of stuff with it, punk, metal, zep, watched atleast a good 10 DVD's with it, matrix, saving private ryan, etc. And I get this distinct feeling that if I turned up that woofer cooker past say 20% the sub would come apart. I get the same thing on diffuse the bomb by jeff lew, those two tracks, the bomb and cooker are the only two I've really heard any bass coming from it of any note but what comes out is with a lot of port noise and both tracks make the satellites distort and that's at really low volumes, 20% tops on the CP and with the subwoofer vol at the recommended point. And there's been no point in time with these speakers that the bass ever threatened to overwhelm the satellites even if I cranked the subwoofer volume knob to max, I get more bass out of the satellites. I wish I had another set to listen to but Amy emailed me back and told me she thinks I need to exchange my sub so I'm know trying to figure out the best way to do that, hate having to chip out shipping to arkansas from new england on 300 dollar speakers that are 3 weeks old, not to mention having to wait to get them back, next time I'm shopping at best buy where they have a 30 day return policy *grin*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paragon Posted April 25, 2001 Share Posted April 25, 2001 Best Buy is nice.. but Im just plain tired of their customer support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajachepe Posted April 26, 2001 Share Posted April 26, 2001 Good luck with your new Sub Hell,I do understand your frustration,You ovbiously had a "bum" sub, things will get better with your new one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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