Creative Speakers 5.1

[Maren Ruminski]

Afterscoring a brand new sound card for my 486 build, a Sound Blaster AWE 64 Gold, it crossed my mind as to the likelihood of finding a PC speaker set of similar vintage. After searching for a while on eBay, the chances looked rather slim. Then out of the blue, these new set of speakers came out of nowhere and fortunately I had won the auction. With the lack of thrift stores compared to North America, finding items such as these makes it all the more challenging.

The SBS20 was similar in appearance though a more expensive option. With a dedicated AC power source, and separate controls for bass, treble, and balance, the SBS10 had none of that in comparison. Rated at 2.5 watt RMS, the speakers may be the same between the two given the similarities in design however.

I have a 2.1 Creative speaker system. While I'm happy with the sound quality, there's a small amount of noise or cracking sound being produced when the speakers are not in use (ie. no audio being played). What's causing this and how do I fix it?

I've read this question, and it's definitely not the same problem. One thing I've noticed is that it happens when I switch from Avast to a different antivirus, which makes me think it might be a software problem.

Why does this work? Amplifiers amplify, and when there is no useful sound to amplify, they will amplify noise. By turning down the sensitivity of their inputs and the volume of their outputs a bit, you'll cut the noise a lot.

In addition, it may improve your audio sound quality. When everything is set at or near 100%, a form of distortion called clipping occurs. This is when the tops and bottoms of sine-like waves get cut off flat, because they exceed the capacity of the amplifier (or sensitivity of the pre-amp inputs, etc). The result looks more like a square wave than a sine wave and sounds more like a square wave, too.

on Xp, I simply get into the "Sounds proprities" and mute all the others devices (wave, Mic ...), make sure your speakers are set to the appropriate speakers type and your micropfone is not using any "gain boost" or such feature.

Are you sure it's the speakers themselves and not the computer's sound output? I've been finding that since sound has been included on motherboards (instead of requiring add-on boards) that this is common occurrance. For whatever reason, it seems that on-board sound picks up a LOT of interference and sends it out the speakers/headphones. Especially if you've got the cpu set to be able to idle down to less than full speed.

Recently, I bought a pair of audio speakers from Creative instead as I found headphones to be a nuisance at times. Among the many reasons where battery issues of my (second) Logitech G930 wireless headset and the fact that I did not want to buy another one of those devices only to have them stop working after a couple of months because of it.

While that was great, I noticed an issue shortly after I installed them on a system running Windows 10. The speakers would suddenly stop playing audio. It felt random and happened while I was watching a video on YouTube or locally for instance, and also when I played music on the system using AIMP3.

ERP is a European directive that applies to energy-related products that are sold in significant number per year in the European Union and have a significant environmental impact as well as potential for improvement.

The fix is as easy as it gets. All you need to do is increase the volume of the audio on the device you are using to higher levels (as high as possible without getting distortions). You would then use the volume controls on the speakers to turn down the volume again to level the volume of the audio to previous levels.

This does mean however that you need to use the volume controls on the speaker each time you want to modify the volume of the audio as you should not touch the device's volume controls anymore afterwards.

I took mine apart and for some reason that made the right speaker, the one with the amplifier start working again. The same technique has not worked for the left speaker. There are four screws at the back (that need a very long screw driver) and two in the base.

This mostly annoys me in the night and in the early mornings, when I play silent music, being considerate to my neighbors. Obviously, the music is good enough to me, so why would the spakers tell me that there is a distortion. That is not how it should work, the user is the judge of the sound quality.

Guys, Drop the whole Windows complaint. This has nothing to do with Windows. This is just another annoying environmental feature like those dispensers on the new gas cans. The speakers can be plugged directly into other hardware that has nothing to do with a PC and the speakers will go into standby mode. Create a very short audio file at a frequency just above or below the range of human hearing and run that through Task Scheduler in Windows.

I bought some Creative T10 speakers for my Flex 6400 a few years ago. I have been really happy with them - they sound good, have plenty of volume, are reasonably RF-proof and were pretty inexpensive. I power them from the main station 13.8 supply (no noisy wall-wart) and feed the audio through a 1:1 audio transformer (ground loop isolator). I also pass all the wires through a mix 31 snap on ferrite.

What I don't like about them is that there is a circuit that puts the audio amp into standby mode if it doesn't get enough audio volume for a while (this may only be for units meant for the UK). What a PITA!! If I mute the speakers to take a phone call or something, then un-mute to get back to operating, it takes several seconds for the audio to come back on. If the band is quiet, it might not come back on until I tune onto a loud signal, then I still have to wait.

I finally opened the case and discovered that the audio amp is an STA540 from STMicroelectronics. Looking up the specs, I discovered that keeping more that 3.5 volts on the standby control pin allows amplification and less than 1.5 volts puts it in standby mode.

I used my o'scope to watch the action as it went into and out of standby mode. They put input power supply voltage on the pin for normal operation, then when it doesn't get enough audio, the voltage slowly decays to a few hundred millivolts. I think they just use the audio to charge up a big capacitor to keep it out of standby.

Now it stays on, even if I mute the rig for an extended period of time or have it on a squelched repeater freq. If enough time elapses, sometimes the LED extinguishes, just as if it was going into standby mode, but in fact the audio amplification stays alive. I made no effort to change this quirky behavior.

EDIT: Found the screwdriver... Once the six screws are out, pull off the two front panel knobs and remove the retaining nuts and washers. The front panel will now wiggle off. Don't pull too hard or you risk breaking the wires.

Thanks, Len. I was not able to determine of the knobs were part of a circuit on the fron panel. Retaining nuts would explain the added resistance! I'll need to pry off the knobs (which are REALLY tight).

Wow - were those knobs tight! Not enough room for a screwdriver, and I don't have a puller that is small enough, but a silicone sheet I had gave my two hands together enough leverage. Then in addition to the extra long Philips scewdriver, all I needed was a deep 10mm socket for the **** nuts. Nothing the right tools won't fix :-)

For context, my Switch never leaves my apartment, which makes pairing it with Bluetooth speakers a no-brainer. If you regularly take your handheld on your daily commute, balancing a couple of speakers on your lap (even small ones) is clearly going to be a no-go.

The added audio oomph the Pebble V3 speakers provide is startling, especially for a budget product. Not only do they get pleasingly loud when you crank them up to full volume, the sounds they provide are well-balanced, with reasonably rich bass adding real texture to the audio experience.

I've returned the Logitech X-540 speakers now and decided to go for Creative's Inspire T6100 which also has many good reviews. I originally wanted to go for the slightly more expensive newer model, the Inspire T6200 just for the wired remote but I couldn't find any reviews about them. They also use dual cone drivers for the satellite speakers which are commonly used in cars to produce the full range of sounds with one driver so, I decided to avoid them. Separate drivers for different range of sounds are better if you want good sound quality.

Right upon opening the box, you're greeted with advertisement for Creative's other products which Logitech doesn't do. Had the Creative Zen V Plus once but, decided to sell it because lines kept appearing on the QLED display screen despite getting a replacement. It was also cumbersome partitioning the space before I could use it like a drive too.

The wooden subwoofer with no wired remote. It feels lighter than the X-540's which is probably why the overall box was lighter. Notice the cone is protected and "blasts" out from the side instead of the bottom.

The adaptor is a big heavy thing compared to just the main plug the X-540 had. I guess this is where the weight from the subwoofer went. The big heavy transformer is actually situated two thirds of the way across the wire which makes it a bit awkward to setup because you have to decide where to put it. It doesn't help that the subwoofer audio cable is fairly short and can't be detached.

Some reviewers were complaining about the bright blue power LED. It's definitely brighter than the green LED on my old speakers. It can light up a corner of my room like my mobile phone whereas the old speaker would just glow faintly in the dark. It doesn't really bother me when the lights are on though.

Just like the X-540, the first thing I wanted to test was the surround sound. Using the same 5.1 surround sound movies ( i.e. FFVII Advent Children, Lord of the Rings, Evangelion 1.01), the effect was fairly much just as good.

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