Creative 5.1 SBS A500 Speaker

Hi, would i be able to connect the Creative SBS A500 Speakers (5.1) to the Asus G1S-A1 notebook without having to buy any external sound card or without having to buy any other hardware. Anyway does the G1S even support 5.1 speakers? If it does mind teaching me how to connect the wires? It seems like 5.1 speakers requires 3 output jacks but it seem like the G1S only has 1. Here is the link to the speaker : http://sg.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=25&product=16927

Anyone here uses a 5.1 Speaker with the G1S? If yes, did u buy any external hardware so the speakers would work with the notebook?

Thanks,
RuleBreaker

 

THere's not enough info on that site for me to determine if the system has optical input. If not, then you would indeed need to buy an external sound card such as the Creative X-Fi Notebook, + the 5.1 breaker.

A more cost-effective solution is I think if you search specifically for a 5.1 system with digital optical input (SPDIF). The G1S can output SPDIF from the dual line-out/SPDIF socket, using a cheap adapter to TOSLINK. Like that you need no external hardware besides the sound system.

 

oh ok so IF the Creative 5.1 SBS A500 Speaker has an optical input, what do i have to do to get it to work?

 

Get the TOSLINK adapter, plug it in, switch your sound card settings to digital output (instead of analog). Even switching may be automated (I don't know never used SPDIF)

That's about it, it think.

But make sure that it does, before buying it! The XFI + 5.1 breaker would take easily close to 100USD, I think.

 

yea i saw the price already the X-Fi itself caused already SGD199. I just email the Creative Lab to find out of there is an Optical Input jack.

 

hey Optical Input means "Optical Input A form of a digital connection that uses optic fibers to transmit digital signals in the form of light ?"

oh yea and mind posting a picture of how the TOSLINK u where talking about look liked..i Yahoo-ed and Googled but seem to find many different tpe..

 

do u think this would work if the speaer doesnt have the optical input jack?

i get a rca cable to optical adapter than get the TOSLINK adapter and than plug it into my notebook.

do you think this will work?

 

No, rca is 2 channel. most speakers have optical jacks, as far as I know, my old logitechs do. Theyre like 5 years old. Although I dont acually have any cables to use optical.

 

i think the asus has the intel hd audio. wht u can try b4 buying creative card is remapping the 3 output pins of asus in sound config. panel. to all three outputting sound out and connecting ur headphones to each one to see if they wrk. i think asus has the realtek alc 662 which allows 5.1 analog output with jack remapping.

this is wht anandtech said " There's one USB port, an unpowered FireWire port, three audio jacks allowing for 5.1 analog speaker connections,"

link:- http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=2899&p=5
i think g1 and g2 have the same sound card.

 

er..i think the G1S uses Realtek ALC660

look at the specs colum
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-G1S-Notebook.3889.0.html

 

Aren't we complicating things a little bit too much here?

Just make sure you get a sound system with an optical input, and that's it.

As to the picture, I have that kind of adapter but it's in a box far away I might do it later.

 

oh ok thanks E.B.E

haha very tired now..i am from singapore and its 3.14am..i always come at this time to post because in US its afternoon..will get more replys..thanks again..

 

er ... i checked realtek's website and there is only mention of 662 there.
i checked the page and it mentions tht it is capable of outputting 5.1 surround. the only reason i'm mentioning this is because i think tht 5.1 speakers with optical in are expensive thn normal 5.1 speakers (i may be wrong and wud be happy to be corrected) it's ur personal choice wht type of speakers u want to buy.

here's a link of the realtek 662 sound card
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/...d=1&PNid=24&PFid=37&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=144

it clearly mentions
Hardware Features
Meets performance requirements for Microsoft WLP 3.08 Vista premium and mobile PCs
Six channel DAC supports 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 5.1 channel audio solution
Two stereo ADC support 16/20-bit PCM format
All DAC support independent 44.1k/48k/96kHz sample rate
All ADC support independent 44.1k/48k/96kHz sample rate
Supports 44.1k/48k/96kHz S/PDIF output
All analog jack port are stereo input and output re-tasking

sorry if i'm wrong abt anything, just trying my best to help

 

I've never heard of using the onboard card for 5.1 analog output. (I'm not saying it's not possible I'm not into these things) How would that be done? It seems to me we're falling short a few signals from the line out for that.

 

according to the creative site the solution would be using the inspire digital 5500 speaker set. It has an optical input jack and a built-in decoder.

similar products would be the logitech z-5500 and Klipsch dmx-5

 

the clevo m570 ru is capable of 7.1 analog out and it has 4 analaog jacks in the front for tht and most laptops having 3 jacks shud be able to output 5.1, unless i'm missing sumthing or if the maufacturhas disabled sumthing . i knw toshiba x205 can't output 5.1 even tho it has 4 jacks 'coz it doesn't use a soundcard capable of doing tht.

edit :- just looked at this thread where the dell 1330 allows 5.1 out through the 3 jacks
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=155062

 

Definitely laptops having 3 or more jacks can output 5.1. But... most laptops don't have 3 jacks, just 1: line out/SPDIF.

 

the g1 has the following audio ports, so can they output 5.1 analog out ?
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
1 x Line-in jack

i'm interested as i want to buy g1 or 1530 and want 5.1 out.

 

hey i have the same question

but with the logitech z5500 5.1 surround system

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/224&cl=us,en

 

my guess is that you need a mini s/pdif to coaxial cable or a mini s/pdif to optical cable and use one of the two digital inputs on the z5500. I'm looking forward to do the same but both the logitech z5500 or the creative inspire 5500 digital or the Klipsch dmx-5 are hard to find here.

probably these cables and adapters will do the job:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35921&doy=2m12&C=SO&U=strat15

 

Yep, that was my original suggestion.

 

hmm i notice all the hardware than Asus uses cant be found on the official websites..even my bro's G2P that uses the X1700 ATI graphic card cant be found on the ATI website..the ATI website only has X1600 and skips X1700 and goes on to X1800...so now i am really confuse does the G1S uses ALC660 soundcard or ALC662?

But i really think Asus G1S uses ALC660 cause all the review website says so! take a look at this ( another review )
http://www.mobilewhack.com/asus-g1s-notebook/

 

eh what do u mean by use one of the two digital inputs?? how many input jacks are there? and is digital input and optical input jacks the same?

sorry ya getting really confuse now..

 

the z5500 has two digital audio input jacks, one optical and one coaxial. you can use anyone to provide digital audio to it, depending on the kind of output audio jack the source (console, dvd, md, PC) uses.

 

hmm..i not sure if the Creative 5.1 SBS A500 has Optical Input or not..i emailed creative but havent gotten a reply..do u think it has? i tried googling and yahooing but no results.

 

I believe that in the Creative brand only the digital inspire 5500 has optical input, as the logitech z5500 and the Klipsch DMX-5

Creative site says that the SBS need a computer with a multichannel soundcard, so I presume it doesn't have the digital input you need.

 

oh so if i wanna use the SBS A500 i have to buy an external 5.1 supported soundcard?

 

Is it just me or are we running in circles here?

 

haha..okok i know what to do..i shall go to the shop tml and ask them if that bloody speaker has a Optical Input if it has than great..if it doesnt than i think i shall just buy the external soundcard..

 

sorry if i confuse anyone even more, but i think the sbs a500 has 3 analog in tht go the sub-woofer which redistributes it to the satelites.

 

anyone has any idea how much the external Creative soundcard with 3 output jacks would cause...thinking of buying it...those 5.1 speakers with optical in cause a bomb..SGD700+!!

thanks for ur help guys! if u have any other info just post them =)

 

I estimate the X-Fi with the 5.1 breaker at 110-120 EUR here in the EU. But I don't know how prices are in SG...

Anyway, I think the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage SRM is a more cost-effective solution: http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-advantage-srm/whatdoiget.aspx
With this, you don't have to pay for the 5.1 breaker, like with creative.

And the sound quality might also be better than with the Creative. The downside it's that it;s hard to find outside US.

 

oh man..they dun ship it outside of U.S...i think getting the X-Fi would be easier..just 1 stop away from my house..

Turtle Beach will only ship to destinations in the continental United States (including Alaska), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

 

if u buy the creative keep in mind u'll have to buy the dock cable also to get 5.1 out from the card

 

erm..can u show me a picture of the dock cable..sorry huh i very noob at this kind of thing i only know how to build computer amnd fix software stuff

 

oh ok i am going to buy this external soundcard the PCMCIA Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS Notebook but it seem like it has also 1 output jack but it supports 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 speakers? and there is a jack between the input and output jack is that where i connect the dock cable that bond was talking about so that it can use 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 speakers?

Link for the External Sound Card:
http://sg.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=244&subcategory=718&product=10769&nav=0 ( singapore link )
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=205&product=10769&nav=0 (US Link )

 

oh ok nevermind i got it, the soundcard comes with the docking cable which i have to use to connect to my speakers, i did some research on this speaker stuff, thanks E.B.E, bond and all.

 

Do NOT buy the ZS if you have an Express slot on your computer! It won't work.

The XFi is for the Express slot.
The ZS is for the PCMCIA slots.

Your computer will only have one of those, most likely the Express.

I think I was clear about this in my earlier posts on the thread.
This is about the XFi by the way, i think the ZS includes the dock.

 

ARGH!!so which card to i buy? erm mind giving me the link from the creative website? but my laptop user guides says that i have a *PCMCIA slot*..i dun see any express slot in the user guide

*This is what is writen in my user guide:
One PCMCIA 2.1 complaint PC Card socket is available to support one type I/II PC card. The socket supports 32-bit CardBus.This allow accomodation of Notebook PC expansion options such as memory cards, ISDN, SCSI, Smart Cards and wireless network adapters.*

And this is the requirement for the Creative SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Notebook:
Intel® Pentium® III, Mobile Pentium® III, Pentium M, Celeron - 1.2 GHz, or equivalent AMD® processor, or faster
Intel, AMD or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP2) or 2000 (SP4)
256MB RAM
600MB of free hard disk space
*Available Type II CardBus slot (PCMCIA slot)*
CD-ROM/CD-RW or DVD-ROM drive required for software installation
Headphones or external speakers (Audio will not play through built-in notebook speakers)

 

You have the G1S, right? Here's what the G1S page on the ASUS site states:

1 x HDMI Port
1 x VGA port(D-sub 15 pin)
4 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x 4 in 1 Card Reader
1 x Express card
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
1 x IEEE 1394 port
1 x RJ11 Modem jack for phone line
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x TV-out(S-Video)
1 x Line-in jack
1 x External SATA Port

There's no PCMCIA there.

Please pull out the dummy from the slot. Look at this image:
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn...mobile01-286b7f503b3750cd16f35a9e6c3a0707.jpg

the black one is an Express dummy. The gray one is a PCMCIA dummy.

That should clarify things.

 

wth..my G1S user manual give false information going to freaking sue them..lol
Hmm so i see than i will have to get the Creative Sound-Blaster X-Fi Xtream Audio Notebook? This will be competible right?

It seem like the Creative Sound-Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook is better than the Creative Sound-Blaster X-Fi Xtream Audio Notebook but it needs a PCMCIA...damn it

The Link:
http://sg.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=16642

 

If your dummy card has the indented shape (as opposed to rectangular shape) then you have Express slot and you need the X-Fi card, yes.

You need the card in the link that you gave, plus the 5.1 breaker that is listed at the bottom of the page.

Yes, the sound quality is not improved from ZS to X-Fi, but there isn;t much you can do about it.

Except trying to find the Turtle Beach SRM in Singapore. Or the M-Audio Transit (if you find the latter, please check whether it has the 5.1 breaker included)

 

Oh the docking module is already in the package..the ZS has more capabilities =(( but i have no other choice..so i guess i will have to go with the X-Fi i tired finding the Turtle Beach SRM in singapore..didnt get any info about that in singapore..and the X-FI card says "Enjoy cinematic DVD movie playback and surround sound with PowerDVD featuring DTS® and Dolby Digital®-EX (free download with purchase)." does that mean that i can only watch movie with surround sound when playing movie with PowerDVD??

would that X-Fi card be a good buy in US for USD123? would u get this card if u need an external soundcard?

argh damn it why cant asus just put a bloody PCMCIA slot..

 

I wouldn't get the XFi but I don't need 5.1 sound. USD123 seems a bit much for US prices.

As has been stated several times, the 5.1 breaker is NOT included in the XFi package but has to be bought separately, at least in EU and US.

 

The 5.1 breaker is not the Docking Module?

If it is that its included in the package because this are the package contents:

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook
Speaker Docking Module
Earphones with integrated microphone
Quick Start leaflet
Installation CD
Travel case

Content link:
http://sg.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=16642&nav=3

 

it then seems that in Singapore you get the docking module as well.

Then it's a bit cheaper for you.

 

so the X-Fi in singapore is a good buy? if it is i might be getting it tomorrow. How much does a docking module usually cause in the US?

 

Don't know I'm not from US. Try google.

 

yep..googling now oh right u are from the Netherland? oh right than would that be a good buy in the Netherland? it seem to be 30pound, SGD90, USD61

 

lol i havent been following the thread i have a simple question

do i need to buy anything to use the logitech z5500?