Nothing Better For Use With Sound Blaster! 5.1 or Audigy (Creative Desktop Theatre DTT2200)

Member Name: tybalt

Product:	Creative Desktop Theatre DTT2200
Date:	19/12/01 (2548 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: CHEAP, great sound

Disadvantages: big box

I, as I seem to writing all too frequently, have just built myself a new PC! It was the first one I have ever built and the only previous experience I have had with PC Hardware was doing the odd upgrade to my old PC. It was pretty nerve reeking, but I survived and I really enjoyed it and the sound I now get out of it is great.

Most people underestimate sound when it comes to computers, but I consider it as important as anything else in a PC. It is not required to have sound to make a pc work, but I couldn't live without it.

I listen to music a lot and have a large music collection. I encoded these all into mp3 files on my PC. Thankfully they sound better being played on my PC than on anything else. I have the DTT2200 Home Theatre speakers with the Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Player. This is a very common combination and I can see why.

Anyone who has experienced 5.1 surround sound when playing games will know what I'm talking about. These have to be one of the best surround sound speaker sets available that don't cost £200 or so. I got my set in a deal with the sound card for £90! That's a saving of over £100 compared to PC World.

Well I got my speakers home and the first thing I realized was the amount of leads there are. Then I thought there are 5 speakers to connect and I can tidy them away behind things. The installation of the speakers was especially easy. I had the OEM version, and I only had a wee diagram to refer to. It is thankfully self-explanatory; each socket on the subwoofer is clearly labeled and easy to read. There are also handy little stickers you can wrap around the leads to let you know what's what.

There is one really useful thing I find with this set-up. You get a lovely wee remote control. It is the on/off switch, front to rear fader and volume control. This makes things lovely and easy. The only dial on the actual subwoofer is the one for bass. This is particularly good for
me, because by the time I had all the leads in, I had a very messy panel, so since there is nothing to change on it, it is hidden neatly away on the floor. The subwoofer is also a very large box, which you may want to keep on the floor.

They connect using analog connections (their older brother the DTT3500 has digital connections), which is fine for me. There are three leads to plug into the back of your surround sound, sound card.

Now onto the performance of the speakers, after all that's what I bought them for. Like I said I love music, and these speakers don't disappoint. There is great playback. Although it does depend on your sound card and what media player you are using. One thing to be careful of though; I wouldn't advise anyone to set the bass level to anything about ½ way round the dial. It is unbearable I find at anything more than this. It doesn't even sound right.

If you have a sound card that supports EAX, then you can use these speakers to create some pretty cool in game effects. If you use a game like Operation Flashpoint or Half-Life for example, you pinpoint exactly where everyone else is just by sound. This doesn't work with all games, but good when you get one that does. You also need the proper surround setup for this to work properly.

The sound you get is crisp and clear. For around £60 this is one of the best deals I have ever seen. There is little better than it. The only thing that I would maybe consider upgrading my speakers for would be something like that of the DTT3500. It has an amplifier that attaches to it.

One thing to be wary of with these speakers is that they aren't brilliant if you need your music really loud, there is a little degradation of the sound. If like me on the other hand you don't need your PC to sound like something from a rock concert, then this will probably be the best choice. Also the volume control is a little steep, it rises very sharply.


Overall if you are looking for 3D surround sound; for games, music, DVD movies or anything else, then this will probably be perfect for you. It has been for me, I have had no problems with the set-up.

If you would like to know where I got this deal, then leave a comment and I'll post the address. Don't want to be accused of advertising though.

David (aka Tybalt)

Summary: