I am a VERY regular gamer, and though I dont have answers I also question the ability of a 5.1 surround sound system in such tight spaces.
However I too would invest (and own) a 5.1 surround sound system for my computer games. I bought some RCA's from radioshack, and use a receiver that I have floating around. The whole system would have cost around $600, though I can say that this is not the best way to go. I didnt have to buy the receiver, and the RCA's were on clearance + going out of business sale at radio shack. I got them for $20 a pair and they were regularly $80.
I would like to make a recommendation....
First, The Soundblaster X-Fi, does a wonderful job at simulating surround sound for a 2 source sound system, and is truely Audiophile grade sound card. I am going to be using this in my media center/pre-amp, and am so impressed by its amazing clarity. This soundcard does a better job at producing a great sound then receivers costing thousands. The only problem, which does make a weird sense, is that the SPDIF's on this card output 2 channels only. I gave this some thought, and looked at the specs
Audio Performance (Rated Output @ 2Vrms, Typical Value) Signal-to-Noise Ratio (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Weighted)
- Stereo Output 109dB
- Front and Rear Channels 109dB
- Center, Subwoofer and Side Channels 109dB
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (20kHz Low-pass filter) = 0.004%
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ) 10Hz to 46kHz
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input) 10Hz to 88kHz (Stereo only)
With a 109db Signal-to-Noise Ratio, and an amazing Digital to Analog conversion, this card can out perform almost anyones receiver. It does an amazing job at MP3's, and it steps up even on movies and CD's. This soundcard makes it possible for you to build a pre-amp, CD Player, and DVD Player out of a computer that can go to bat with the best. Add that a Computer with a tuner card can record TV shows, has a huge advantage of processing power, and you could see that a computer is probably the audiophiles best friend for home audio.
With headphones, its amazing at how perfect this sound card sounds. Of course I own Grado's SR225's which I couldnt be more happy with. These are amazing headphones for all sorts of applications, and they sound better then almost any sub $3000 speaker based system Ive heard. I highly recommend them for the gamer, or anyone else, who needs to play sound without bothering the house. Of course it still lacks the low vibration a big sub allows, which if you really wanted, you could turn your cross-over on your sub down below 100Hz, and you will get the vibration without any noise.
The overall opinion on speakers seems to be that the logitechs are the better system around, which is specifically designed for this application.
Mike
I do have a question. Awhile ago I saw devices that produce vibrations without any sound, I never got a chance to try one of these out, but I was always interested in how it performs. It may be another solution to the headphone gamer.
