Clarity in the calamity

My 9 year old speakers from Boston Acoustics (via Gateway computers), have been picking up AM radio stations at odd hours in the morning. Let me tell you it was quite scary the first time it happened. I thought I had burglars talking to me about politics and sports. So I made the executive purchasing decision by ordering a set of Logitech Z-5450 5.1 speakers (with wireless surround). At first I was in shocked at just how much I was missing on both the low and mid range. Music, movies, and games (in 3d surround no less) sound like tangible reality vs. the recordings and synthesis they actually are... or so I thought. Things got better...

I've been reading about the merits of a better sound card, and I had to take the plunge myself. You can only read so much about how something sounds. Just like you have to taste an orange to know what an orange should taste like. So I got a Creative Labs Soundblaster X-fi, with the hopes it would make my investment into my speakers more than just a boy's fancy for high-tech toys. . . I installed the card, the drivers, the software, and apparently it installed within me belief.

To paraphrase the Monkees:
Then I saw her face heard her voice, now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!

Imagine the first time you saw your favorite band in concert. The drivers of every speaker impregnating the air with the sonic bass pressure and flurrying the atmosphere with the slicing treble from the guitars and vocals. It's like every mp3 I listen to I'm at a private performance from the artist. Scenes from the Matrix were great, but I've been behind in the movie world and I don't own a movie that I'd consider Dolby Digital benchmark material. So I tried downloading some WMV:HD, but I'll share the results of that later, as I'm not done testing the movie aspect.

Videogames are a passion of mine, and without getting ultra nerdy I can say that it's nothing short of crazy how good this setup is. I play a game called Battlefield 2 that supports 64 players skirmishing in a semi-realistic wargame. CNN doesn't know how real it seems at my desk. Discovery channel, eat your heart out. Tanks roll by and I fear for my life.

My speakers are a Ferrari with slick handling and a powerful yet versatile engine. My new soundcard is the skilled driver and mechanic to making this sonic machine scream down the soundtrack of my life. I've been throwing rock, prog-nu-metal, 90's alt, alt-country, white soul, r&b, even some freaking Elvis. I'm happy to report that this setup was worth it, and it wasn't even that much of an investment considering the use that they'll get. The speakers were only 250$ from Amazon, and the soundcard is 111$ from Newegg.com.

To my friends that are technically inclined, I have to say this is a must do upgrade. If you spend any sort of time listening to music at your computer it's a no brainer. Of course there's more to this story because the highest end model of the card is actually a studio quality (not just marketing mojo here) recording/mixing device. Maybe I'll upgrade for Christmas, then I can record my (not-so) sweet lixx on my axe. =)