Sennheiser Surrounder with SB Audigy 2 NX
Jun 27, 2010 3:22:42 GMT
Post by elysion on Jun 27, 2010 3:22:42 GMT
Finally my Sennheiser Surrounder is working!
I've bought the Surrounder a few months back for 50CHF including shipping (about 30.5£ with todays currency exchange rates). This one is used but came in nearly mint condition. The Surrounder itself and the accessoiries look like new, only the original box has seen better times.
I have two Sennheiser LUCAS which are in fact identically to the Sennheiser DSP Pro that was sold to drive the Surrounder. The problem is that the DSP Pro had a special adapter/filter for the second headphone out. This adapter/filter should filter out the center signal. I have no such adapter/filter and had to search an other source.
I have two M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI cards that would be capable of driving the Surrounder, but this way I would have to do a lot of work to refurbish an older PowerMac G4 2x 1.42GHz (the fastest Mac I have that still has PCI slots). I was never a fan of the M-Audio drivers (mediocre software support and and lots of bugs). In the end I needed still an other solution than the Revo 7.1.
After good results with the Behringer UCA222 I was looking for other cheap USB/FireWire audio interfaces that work with OSX. It was a coincidence that I've learned that the Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX (part-no: SB0300) is fully working with the built-in drivers of OSX. Creative doesn't support this USB audio interface at all for OSX. There's no official support, but who cares since the Creative Windows software support is bad for older products that are out-of-production. OSX built-in drivers are very good and can deal with a lot of USB/FireWire audio interfaces.
www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21899
I got the Audigy 2 NX from an auction for the sensational price of 9.10CHF including shipping (it's about 5.5£). For a total of about 36£ I've got a working Sennheiser Surrounder now.
The Surrounder works perfectly with the Audigy 2 NX. Installation was very easy: Just connect the Audigy 2 NX with the USB port of the Mac and select it in the sound control panel as output audio interface and do additional settings in Audio-MIDI-Setup. That's it. The only problem I have found is the need to keep Audio-MIDI-Setup open after you have selected quadrophonic output in the speaker setup. If you close Audio-MIDI-Setup the setting falls back to Stereo output. I did some testing without setting the speaker setup to quadrophonic. Anyhow I got surround sound out of the Apple DVD Player. I guess depending on the media played the appropriate way for output is automatically selected. The speaker setup seems not very important as long as you select a 4 channel output in Audio-MIDI-Setup. 24-bit/96KHz is only possible with 2 channels. You will only get 48KHz is you go up to 4 channel with 24-bit. That's a limitation of the Audigy 2 NX hardware.
Connecting the Surrounder to the Audigy 2 NX is easy. Just plug in the front and rear cables of the Surrounder into the front and rear connectors of the Audigy 2 NX.
First impression: Sound quality is not really comparable to normal headphones. I love my normal headphones a lot more than the Surrounder. I have to admit that the Surrounder has a couple of features that are absolutely unique. It's totally open. The room around your ears is free, the Surrounder rests on your shoulders. It's quite comfortable and the weight is not a problem. Good headphones are still more comfortable than the Surrounder IMO. The 4 speakers are embedded in a frame made of some kind of styrofoam. According to the Surrounder manual the frame also incorporates a built-in 4-channel amplifier. Two pots for volume and bass are integrated in the front of the frame. They are easy accessible if you are wearing the Surrounder.
One thing is sure: This thing is FUN!
It's not really audiophile device, but it's a total different concept compared to standard headphones. The first thing I have tested are moovies and I really hear a surround effect although it's probably not state of the art. Currenty I'm listening to some music with the Surrounder and I find it quite fatigueing but the soundstage is really very wide. Unlike with headphones it does matter how your head's position is relative to the Surrounder. The sound changes if you are mooving your head. It's the same with the loudness.
I understand why this thing was a commercial failure, but it's absolutely unique. It don't know of anything that is comparable to the Surrounder. And it looks awesome...
I'm currently in the house of my parents and I have no digicam here (the Surrounder pics above are from the auction). This Sunday I'll take the Surrounder with me to my apartment in Basel (where I have my digicam). I will post additional pics ASAP.
I've bought the Surrounder a few months back for 50CHF including shipping (about 30.5£ with todays currency exchange rates). This one is used but came in nearly mint condition. The Surrounder itself and the accessoiries look like new, only the original box has seen better times.
I have two Sennheiser LUCAS which are in fact identically to the Sennheiser DSP Pro that was sold to drive the Surrounder. The problem is that the DSP Pro had a special adapter/filter for the second headphone out. This adapter/filter should filter out the center signal. I have no such adapter/filter and had to search an other source.
I have two M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI cards that would be capable of driving the Surrounder, but this way I would have to do a lot of work to refurbish an older PowerMac G4 2x 1.42GHz (the fastest Mac I have that still has PCI slots). I was never a fan of the M-Audio drivers (mediocre software support and and lots of bugs). In the end I needed still an other solution than the Revo 7.1.
After good results with the Behringer UCA222 I was looking for other cheap USB/FireWire audio interfaces that work with OSX. It was a coincidence that I've learned that the Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX (part-no: SB0300) is fully working with the built-in drivers of OSX. Creative doesn't support this USB audio interface at all for OSX. There's no official support, but who cares since the Creative Windows software support is bad for older products that are out-of-production. OSX built-in drivers are very good and can deal with a lot of USB/FireWire audio interfaces.
www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21899
I got the Audigy 2 NX from an auction for the sensational price of 9.10CHF including shipping (it's about 5.5£). For a total of about 36£ I've got a working Sennheiser Surrounder now.
The Surrounder works perfectly with the Audigy 2 NX. Installation was very easy: Just connect the Audigy 2 NX with the USB port of the Mac and select it in the sound control panel as output audio interface and do additional settings in Audio-MIDI-Setup. That's it. The only problem I have found is the need to keep Audio-MIDI-Setup open after you have selected quadrophonic output in the speaker setup. If you close Audio-MIDI-Setup the setting falls back to Stereo output. I did some testing without setting the speaker setup to quadrophonic. Anyhow I got surround sound out of the Apple DVD Player. I guess depending on the media played the appropriate way for output is automatically selected. The speaker setup seems not very important as long as you select a 4 channel output in Audio-MIDI-Setup. 24-bit/96KHz is only possible with 2 channels. You will only get 48KHz is you go up to 4 channel with 24-bit. That's a limitation of the Audigy 2 NX hardware.
Connecting the Surrounder to the Audigy 2 NX is easy. Just plug in the front and rear cables of the Surrounder into the front and rear connectors of the Audigy 2 NX.
First impression: Sound quality is not really comparable to normal headphones. I love my normal headphones a lot more than the Surrounder. I have to admit that the Surrounder has a couple of features that are absolutely unique. It's totally open. The room around your ears is free, the Surrounder rests on your shoulders. It's quite comfortable and the weight is not a problem. Good headphones are still more comfortable than the Surrounder IMO. The 4 speakers are embedded in a frame made of some kind of styrofoam. According to the Surrounder manual the frame also incorporates a built-in 4-channel amplifier. Two pots for volume and bass are integrated in the front of the frame. They are easy accessible if you are wearing the Surrounder.
One thing is sure: This thing is FUN!
It's not really audiophile device, but it's a total different concept compared to standard headphones. The first thing I have tested are moovies and I really hear a surround effect although it's probably not state of the art. Currenty I'm listening to some music with the Surrounder and I find it quite fatigueing but the soundstage is really very wide. Unlike with headphones it does matter how your head's position is relative to the Surrounder. The sound changes if you are mooving your head. It's the same with the loudness.
I understand why this thing was a commercial failure, but it's absolutely unique. It don't know of anything that is comparable to the Surrounder. And it looks awesome...
I'm currently in the house of my parents and I have no digicam here (the Surrounder pics above are from the auction). This Sunday I'll take the Surrounder with me to my apartment in Basel (where I have my digicam). I will post additional pics ASAP.