Ok..I had a 2.1 Speaker system that had a decent Subwoofer..But it looks like my woofer has gone south on me. So this may be a good time to buy a decent Speaker/Sound system.My Asus MB came with realtek inbuilt sound system..which was pretty neat actually..except it gave me this screechy sound problem. So I moved the Audigy 2 Z card from my Dell over and I have that Screech problem solved.So...I was looking at various speaker system. The one I hought would be really good is the Klipsh systemhttp://www.klipsch.com/products/details/pr...#specificationsBut its a tad pricy... however, From the Audiophile side...Klipsh is a good speaker company. They make some really good high efficient Horn speakers for Stereo and HT etc. But thats an analog speaker system.But then, I was thinking... how about a Home Theater in a Box for the PC. No, I don't intent to use this for watching movie or listening to CD's..oh no.. this is 100% for Flight simming only.Panasonic SCHT40 800 Watt 5.1 Channel Home Theater System - Retailhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16882103093Would that not be a better idea?I have an ADCOM System and a Velodyone F1200 Subwoofer in the living room..but I don't want to move that to the PC room. But been thinking of actually moving it over and trying it out.What are you suggestions? I think sound is equally important. Any comments? Anything that you have seen that piked your interest and care to share?Manny

What? no one cares about Sound when it comes to Flight Sim?Hmmm............Manny

I do care Manny but I use the onboard Realtek High Definition sound in 5.1. It seems to work okay.I use a Creative speaker set up which is perfectley adequate for FSX in my view. I think those theatre systems are more for whatching films and listening to music (which incidentally the Creative system does very well).Best of all it only cost

Thanks Howard.Yeah... My MB Realtk Hi Def gave me the "Screeching" problem that I could never solve..so I had to go to the BIOS and disable it. Then I moved the Audigy 2 Z from my old Dell XPS over. So I didn't really spend any money on it. I had a 2.1 PC Speaker with woofer that I bought about 4 years ago. But thats gone kaput. So..I was thinking of getting some speakers. I would like to get a decent sounding subwoofer with the speaker set. so I started looking around and all I found were similar to the ones that I had. except they were 5.1 instead of 2.1But a good sound does make a difference. I realized it..when I flew the FSX Goose. When you are flying the gooze and then you cut the throttle.. the chug chug..sound kicks the subwoofer and it sounds really good. Thats why I was getting greedy about having a better sound...mainly better subwoofer. I was also thinking that the sound card had a digital Optic out. Why not use it. A Low end HT that has speakers like the one I mentioned for $180 seem to be good and more flexible. Manny

Did you install drivers in the right order? On the Gigabyte board you must install the Universal Audio Architecture bus driver before the Realtek HD Driver.

Not sure Howard.. I installed and uninstalled so many sound drivers and version... I can't now recall.. All I know is..that I couldnt get rid of that screechy and crackling sounds.Well anyway..I just ordered the $170 Panasonic 5.1 Home Theater in a box. I am going to try connecting it to the Audigy 2 Z card. if the subwoofer in it is not good.. I might move my Stero subwoofer the Veldoyne F1200 over for a few days of flight simming. ;)I'll report back..if it was a mistake or if I made a great choice.:)Manny

I care about sound in FS. :) It's just been a few days since I was here in the forums.I too am thinking about getting a 5.1 setup for my FS rig.Incidentally, I also have a Velodyne sub with my stereo.For Fs, I am probably just going to get something decent, but not break the bank over it. Probably some decent sub, for the groovy Goose chug-chug as you mentioned, and some 5.1's to take advantage of FSX neat sound system.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2530 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

This one should be perfect.Stelios

I use a reasonably generic Altec Lansing 5.1 setup for my desktop computer and it actually produces some decent enough sound - good enough to replace the component stereo setup I had in the computer room. Your best bet will probably be a designed-for-computer 5.1 speaker set. This is due to the way the Home Theater in-a-box system will work (or won't work) with your computer. The Panasonic HT-in-a-Box looks ideal and at a good price, but one thing that concerns me with that purchase. In looking at the sales photos of the unit, I don't see any 5.1 "analog" channel inputs on the back - it only has coax and SPDIF digitals and some sporadic analog inputs (for VCRs and MP3 players, etc)Most home theater receivers only speak 5.1 through Dolby Digital (or DTS) on their digital inputs. This is a problem with computer use because other than passing-through a Dolby signal from a movie, computers rarely if ever generate their own DD encoded audio. YES, computers can generate 5.1 audio, but by default they cannot OUTPUT that audio in the Dolby Digital format (again, unless it is being passed through from a DVD). If you tried using the HT-in-a-box with FSX 5.1 sound via digital, you would lose your 5.1 information in the translation between your computer and the Panasonic receiver. There is a fix, but it involves a new audio card with what's called "Dolby Digital Live". This technology encodes, in real time, your computers 5.1 audio into true Dolby Digital 5.1, and outputs that information via a digital connection to a DD capable receiver. Old nVidia nForce 2 motherboards had this capability branded with the "Soundstorm" name (nForce 3/4 did not), and manufacturers like Diamond and Turtle Beach make add on cards with the capability as well. I ran into this problem with my Home Theater PC setup. Long story short, I encoded my DVD movies into MP4 and used AAC 5.1 encoding for sound. My receiver was only being sent 2-channel stereo even though the source was 5.1, because the receiver can only understand Dolby Digital for 5.1. I purchased the Diamond Dolby Digital Live capable card for my HTPC Computer, and now I get full blown 5.1 sound in my movies via my digital link. (It shows up on the receiver as actual Dolby Digital sound).Ok - sorry for the long winded response, but I just wanted to insure you didn't buy the receiver/Home Theater package without insuring that you could *ACTUALLY* use it with 5.1 gaming sound. :) -Greg

Oh Oh!Greg! I wish you or someone had told me that before I ordered my system. Or I that had waited for a while to get more opinions. And it was not long winded response. It was right on the money..useful information that I am sure many who are reading would find useful in addtion to me.Hmmm.... Guess. I wasted $200:)MannyEdited to Add:IT may not be too late. I love newegg. I just pinged them (They have instant messaging on their website customer service). I told them that I am yet to receive the package but I may have bought the wrong product and want to return it. They said, to refuce the package when the UPS tries to deliver it. And thats it.Cool. Thanks for that useful info Greg. That was a very useful tid bit of information. Let me see what else to get then.So theoratically, a receiver with analog inputs for for all 5.1 channels should receive the output from the cards..right? There are Yamaha recivers I like that do that. but its an overkill for FSim. Manny

Good thread. I too am thinking of buying a 5.1 system for FSX and for FS2004 and always wondered why people just don't purchase a home system rather than the "computer" sound systems? They look so tiny and usually sound so "tinny" (is that a word?)... no good bass which we need for the roar of those engines.I thought the Audigy II ZS did have a digital output? Need to look at the card to refresh my memory. But I would like to hear what other simmers are using right now and if they are happy with their sound set up.ClutchProject 9 Dragons

Exactly Clutch. Thats what I was looking at HT sound system. The most expensive and good PC sound system still looks tiny no matter what.And yes..the Audigy card like the one Ihave Audigy 2 Z has the digital out. And thats what I thought would send out 5.1But the thing that was clarified by Greg was, it would send out the 5.1 from the DVD player as a pass through. But it would not send out 5.1 from say...the Flight sim FSX.Unless you have those other "LIVE" cards or one of old nvidea motherboard that Greg mentioned that would create the 5.1 mix and then pipe it via the digial out.Manny

Boy Oh Boy.I simply tried to connect my Audio Subwoofer to the Audigy 2 Z Card via theLine Out 3 Jack: to Front Center, Subwoofer, Side Left (only on 7.1 systems) and Rear Center (only on 6.1 systems) inputs on powered analog speakers or an external amplifier. I then changed the card settings to 5.1 Well, I get the sub sound on the Velodyne woofer. But its too mild and it doesn't do justice to the woofer. I can't use this Audio woofer for the PC. I need to put this back in the living room. Oh well.. I tried. :)Hmmm It looks like I need to stick to the PC Speakers. Manny

Any of the better multimedia sound systems for computers are fairly decent. My choice would either be the Klipsch Pro-Media Ultra 5.1 or the Creative GigaWorks 7.1 set.Both are better options than many of the HT in a box systems out there.I have a full size home theater sound setup that I use with my PC. It's fantastic! Most would argue that it's complete overkill (And it is), but heck..I like it :-)Here's some pic's of my setup:http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/view_userim...hp?user_id=4052it consists of the following components:Sound Card=......M-Audio Delta 1010CD Player=.......Cambridge Audio Azur 640CReceiver =.......Arcam AVR200 (90W/ch) stereo / (70W/ch) all channels driven 5.1Power Amp =......AMC 2N100-5 (150W/ch) 5 channels / all channels drivenFront Speak =....Dahlquist QX10A Towers Ctr Speak =......Dahlquist QX60CA Center ChannelSurr Speak =.....Dahlquist QX10A TowersSubwoofer =......HSU STF-3(12")http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg

I'm using my old but so good Videologic Sirroco 2.1 speaker setup ended up adding an old Arcam stereo amp with a pair of polk audio RT8 speakers used as the rear speaker,all connected to my SB Audigy.Provides great sound and it really makes a difference with FSX.The Airbus works well with 5.1 sound.... and wait until you hear an aircraft go around while your landing, the sound engine in FSX Is a work of art.John