USB Speakers (READ ONLY ARCHIVE)

[allthumbs]

Hi guys, well, I've done more testing.  I'm running the Z Cinema through the X-Fi to the aux connector ATM.  I don't use the media center crap, so I'm not bothering with the USB connector.

Anyway, it's plenty loud using aux, and I also found that using the X-Fi's graphic equalizer, I can get rid of most of the sub "noise" at low volume.  It takes some adjusting, but by lowering the 31 Hz, 62 Hz and 125 Hz bands equally from -3 dB to -5 dB, it is a lot more effective than adjusting the bass setting on the X-Fi or on the Z Cinema.

Basically, the lower the volume, the more those three bands needs to be reduced to balance the satellites and subwoofer properly.  Please try it out and see if it helps!

[Creatus]

I am also experiencing this problem.

The bass is embarassing sounding, choking out occassional vibrations when it doesn't seem like it should and overall being silent most the time and quiet. I really think this is just how the subwoofer is with poor design, seriously considering returning the speakers.

[mike12489]

Hi everyone,

I found this thread today since I've been having the same problem.  I don't want to mess with other mixers or other audio software so I looked for hidden options in the software or drivers.

I did have a bit of luck, but you'd have to have the speakers connected via USB with Logitech's software installed and you'll also have to use regedit which of course can really screw your computer up if you don't know what you're doing.

Open the driver file at %ProgramFiles%\Logitech\Z Cinema\Driver\ZCinema_Vista.inf in notepad and scroll down to the line that says:

;; SRS-specific GUIDs and registry keys.

Underneath that line are listed the options that are controlled by the keys under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SRS Labs\APO\TruSurround HD\

Open regedit and start experimenting with the values (after making a backup of course and you'll want to keep the driver file open so you know what you're changing).  There are 17 options there total and AFAIK you can only change a few of them without going into the registry.  Some of them don't seem to do much but a couple can be pretty powerful.  Turning on TruBass and turning the Space level up to 100 made things sound a lot better to me with the way my speakers are set up.  Changing values alters the sound immediately so it's easy and quick to tweak things.

If you change something and things go sour and you can't figure out how to change it back, just restore the backup.  If you were naughty and didn't make a backup, then you can go back to that driver file and scroll down to the line that says:

;; SRS-specific values.

The numbers at the end of those lines are the defaults.

Hope this helps someone.

Mike

[jormajoo]

Thanks for the info Mike.

I will probably try that sometime soon, although I have been thinking that the speakers have started to sound a little better after some use

[Martin0815]

Hi Mike12489,

I tried your drivertweak on windows xp 32 bit, but nothing changes.

I went into registry found under TSHD the entrys of the .inf-file, changed them, but I can hear ans see no differnce.

This is the complete path in my registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0026\TSHD

Please help.

Regards Martin

this is a part of ZCinema_XP.inf:

[TSHDDefaults.NTX86.AddReg]
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,Enable,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000001
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,FocusEnable,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000001
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,TruBassFrontEnable,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,TruBassSize,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,TruBassSubEnable,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,TruBassFrontEnable,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000001
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,OutputMode,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,TruBassSize,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000001
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,FocusLevel,%REG_BINARY%,cd,cc,cc,3e
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,TruBassFrontLevel,%REG_BINARY%,00,00,00,3f
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,DefinitionFrontLevel,%REG_BINARY%,cd,cc,cc,3d
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,DefinitionCenterLevel,%REG_BINARY%,cd,cc,cc,3d
HKR,%TSHDSubkey%,InputGain,%REG_BINARY%,36,3c,35,3f

[candiria]

Hi, I just bought a Z cinema. I've read everywhere that it was supposed to be the best 2.1...

Once at home, at low level because of my neighbours, my bass started to rumble quite loudly and randomly.

That's exactly the same issue.

I tried to follow Mike's advice but i'm running on XP and didn't manage to turn anything right.

Please, help !

[Martin0815]

Hi,

I still have not managed to permanently reduce the annoying bass on low volumes.

At the Moment I have to reduce the bass level to zero everytime I turn my computer on. Anybody has an Idea to make this automatic?

I have Eventghost running to map the remote buttons to user events. Maybe with a script?

Anybody?

I am running XP at the Moment changing to 7 in the next couple of month.

Regards

Martin

[bobblehead]

Seems that using the remote, I can adjust the bass level lower than the GUI allows, which effectively sets bass at 0 and the problem is gone.

[orientheights]

Hi, I am also experiencing "drop outs" of mids and highs at low volume levels while using the AUX input with my iPod connected to it. Anyone find a good fix for this? Appreciate your help.

[orientheights]

SOLUTION: If you have high/low dropouts when playing at low volume, adjust your treble and bass to be commensurate with the volume. If your volume is at two dots adjust treble/bass to one dot. No more fade outs.