Showing posts with label quality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quality. Show all posts

Logitech G35 7.1-Channel Surround Sound Headset Review

Logitech G35 7.1-Channel Surround Sound Headset
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
These headphones are a lot of fun.
I'm not a gamer - can't play many games because I get dizzy, but I am sort of a collector of headphones. Frankly, I expected these to be awful and was more than pleasantly surprised to find that they are really quite good.
OK, so they look like some kind of boy toy science fiction gizmo. For me, I could do without all the buttons. But having a volume button on the headphone and a mute for the mic is very useful.
Most headphones depend upon the right combination of source and headphone to get a good sound. If you plug most high end headphones directly into your ipod or computer soundcard the sound quality is atrocious. The right mate of source and sound can mean that the right $20 headphone in your ipod can give surprisingly good sound if it is a good match.
The good (and the bad) of a USB headset is that it bypasses the amp in your computer soundcard. Instead, the digital to audio processing occurs through USB. This approach can allow very high quality sound, and in the case of this headset, it succeeds.
As to sound quality. I am impressed with the surround sound where normally I find surround unbearably processed and artificial, the software does a good job. With the surround sound turned off, and these headphones are in pure stereo mode, forget it, it's awful. But that isn't what these headphones are for. Bass is excellent with good low extension and not even the slightest touch of boominess. Artifical bass enhancement is one of the things I hate about most processed sound, and I was delighted to find that none was present. Logitech is to be commended for making that choice in the design because most people equate sloppy boomy bass with high quality (think car stereo woofer).
The mid range is outstanding. That's where the sound really excels. I have a few very high end headphones where the midrange is weak. With these headphones subtleties of tone and shading in human voices are easy to hear.
The high end of the sound spectrum is the weakness of the sound signature. Lost highs are the big price for processed sound. Imagine a bell ringing. After the bell rings the sound hangs in the air and slowly fades. When the highest highs are lost, and the sound is processed, the sound gets artifically cut off and the "air" is gone from the sound. At the present state of technology this seems to be unavoidable in all processed sound. The good news with this headset is that this loss of highs is not too horribly bad. I could listen to music (which is not what these are for) and it was not too distracting. The offset was the beautiful mids and the realistic sound stage.
Listening to movies, other than gaming, is where this headset excels. This is where location of sound can make a huge difference, and the ambiant sounds contribute to the experience. Watching a movie with these headset while sitting right in front of my computer screen is immersive and exciting. I can imagine that in games, where location of sounds is critical, that these would greatly enhance the experience and give the player an extra edge.
Finally, they are pretty comfortable. The choice of cushioning is very appreciated.
My partner and I both want to use them. I was given these to review but I might have to buy another set. The price, when you consider that it includes the digital audio converter and amplification, is very reasonable for a headset of this quality.

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The Logitech G35 headset. Game-changing immersion with 7.1 surround sound powered by Dolby technology for a detailed soundfield. Featuring three swappable headband pads; three customizable G keys; on-ear audio controls; and an adjustable, noise-canceling microphone.

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Panasonic SC-BTT370 5.1 Channel 3D Blu-ray Cinema Surround Home Entertainment System Review

Panasonic SC-BTT370 5.1 Channel 3D Blu-ray Cinema Surround Home Entertainment System
Average Reviews:

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I got this system in March after pre-ordering it. I have had previous good luck with Panasonic home theater systems so I waited buying an upgrade until this was released this year. And I'm glad I did. What a great product. I've had it for 2 weeks now and I'm really impressed with this system. I don't have a 3D television, I only use this system for Bluray discs. You do not have to own a 3D television to use this as a bluray system.
I've shopped around for other home theater systems for a long time. I've gone to many electronics stores, Fry's, Best Buy, Target, but I was not impressed with any of the other brands out there. Sony, Samsung, LG, I truly believe this Panasonic system beats them all in terms of quality, sound, picture, and features.
Likes:
Viera Cast: Built-in ready to go WiFi for streaming netflix, vudu, and many other services. This thing will also do Skype!
Down-firing subwoofer: Panasonic changed the subwoofer so it fires the bass into your floor, creating a theater-like boom and experience. And let me tell you, this subwoofer really rumbles my condo. The bass is deep, no distortion whatsoever even when I've cranked this system really loud. I'm really impressed with the design of the subwoofer. Whether you want to watch movies quietly or crank it up during an action-packed movie, the bass produced by this system is totally jaw-dropping.
Cinema Surround Sound - The cinema surround sound feature you can turn on really increases the surround effect of movies, making this 5.1 system sound like a 7.1 system. I recommend turning the rear surround speakers up, you can customize every speaker and how loud you want them to be. You can even increase the bass output. The surround sound produced is clear, crisp, sounds excellent, and during actions scenes you don't even realize that it's the superb surround experience making your heart pound, not the movie.
2 HDMI Inputs & Optical In: The SC-BTT370 allows you to connect your xbox or ps3 or whatever has an HDMI source directly to the unit, so you don't have a ton of fussing and forgetting which system is hooked directly to your TV and what setting you are supposed to be on. I have my xbox directly connected to the surround sound system and it works flawlessly.
Picture: The deep color and full 1080p picture renders beautifully. I am breathless when watching bluray movies on this system. The Netflix and VUDU streaming services are integrated nicely, and look stunning as well. I watched U-571 and Blawhawk Down last night, and I still couldn't believe how clear and beautiful the picture was.
3D Discs: I do not have a 3D television, and you do not need a 3D television to use this player. I have talked to many people who have bought this system, and they rave about the 3D capabilities and I believe it. They told me this play blows the PS3 out of the water in terms of 3D rendering and detail.
Dislikes: None

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3D Technology Checklist
This product is 3D-related. To help you get a great 3D experience, use the checklist below to ensure you have everything you need. 3D viewing requires:


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MTX Monitor 5i 5-1/4 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair Review

MTX Monitor 5i 5-1/4 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair
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I bought these to replace a pair of Jensen JS43 that worked and sounded good for their size but was not on par with the rest of my surround sound system. My Centre Channel is a Polk Audio RM6751, the Surrounds are Klipsch HS-1's, The Sub is a late 1990's Paradigm PDR-10, with a silver Yamaha HTR-5930. And I have to say I am glad I made the decision to go with these. The sound sound from these speakers as good if not a little better than my Klipsch's and I am very pleased with other than I was hoping for a little more Bass out of them given they go down to 48 Hz. But they still have a full sound for their size. I would recommend to people and I hope this review helps.

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Energy ESW-M6 800 Watt Mini Subwoofer (Black) Review

Energy ESW-M6 800 Watt Mini Subwoofer (Black)
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I took delivery of this subwoofer yesterday and hooked it up immediately to my "second" system, which consists of an Oppo BDP-80 universal player, Onkyo TX-NR807 receiver, and a pair of Dynaudio Focus 110 monitors. The Dynaudios are small but capable of room-filling sound with decent bass extension; I had been running this setup without a sub, and it was more than adequate for casual listening and video viewing.
When you take the ESW-M6 out of the box, its size is disconcerting -- it's just 8" on a side, with three sides totally consumed by the 6" woofers (one active front-firing, two passive side radiators). You're thinking, "this might work for desktop audio, but it will never make enough sound to fill my living room, and no way will it match my Dynaudios for musicality."
Wrong and wrong again. After I set a couple of knobs and switches on the back and connected it to the receiver, I ran Audyssey MultEQ with the new speaker in the mix. Had to go back and set crossover manually, however, because Audyssey had set it at 40 Hz, way too low to give this little cube any work to do (it bottoms out at 42 Hz, according to the manual). So I tried a crossover at 80 Hz, quite nice, and at 100 Hz, even better.
Bottom line, this sub really delivers. I used two jazz CDs with good clean acoustic bass lines to listen carefully before-and-after for pitch (i.e., can you hear the note and not just a thump?) and lower distortion. The Energy sub scored high on both counts. This was not subtle! The bass line was consistently easier to follow; adding in the sub took some pressure off the Dynaudios, so they produced cleaner sound above 100 Hz, and the Energy ESW-M6 easily handled the material below the crossover point.
A bonus was that the bass now sounded more substantial. There was a very pleasant, appropriate sense of fullness to the bass sound that had been missing before. I'm not saying that those 6" speakers managed to fully pressurize my semi-large, high-ceiling living room. But they delivered a realistic, musical, "woody" bass-fiddle sound that the Dynaudios had not pulled off. And they didn't strain and distort anything in the process.
When the M6 is broken in, I'll try out more demanding material -- symphonic music and movie special effects -- and return to this review with the results. But for now, I'm really pleased. The 200-watts-RMS amp (ignore the 800 or 1200 watts "dynamic" rating) is obviously effective in powering this well-designed unit. Apparently size no longer matters! The performance of the Energy ESW-M6 far exceeded my expectations.
(OK, back with an update. Ran the lobby shootout sequence and a few other moments from "The Matrix." Sub performed very well. Did NOT best the $15K multichannel setup in my 15x19x8 home theatre, which still sounds more spacious and impactful. No surprise there. It was very interesting to note, however, that the electric bass line in the shootout often sounded cleaner and more rhythmic on the little Energy sub! Less thump, more music. I also had a wonderful time with Bach: Violin Concertos -- the cellos and basses sounding astonishingly big.)
Strongly recommended, especially for those who don't want to see a big ugly sub in a living area (the piano black finish is quite elegant, although it shows fingerprints easily). Incidentally, the backside controls include a variable low-pass filter, a zero-to-360-degree phase control, a selectable auto-on feature, and two line inputs. This is what you would expect for a sub in this price range, and it's another sign that this is no toy. It is NOT to be confused with Energy's home-theater-in-a-box products, or with computer add-ons. Rather, it's competitive with Velodyne or REL products in this price range.

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