Sound design in games has come a long way since the monotone “beep” from Pong. I’ve been playing a lot of Age of Empires III lately. Each broadside, cannon and mortar has its own magnificent boom. Recently, as a huge battle was raging, I realized that so much of what was making the game immersive was the quality of the sound.
Last year, while at Warren Bucklietner’s Dust or Magic conference on children’s media, I heard Mark Schlichting (one of the creators of the landmark Living Books titles) talk about the importance we, as a species, put on sound. For example, people were asked to rate the quality of two video images. In one room there was a great sound system but lesser quality video equipment. In the other, great TV, but poor audio. Consistantly, users rated the video better in the room with the higher quality audio, even though the image was empirically less good.
This all leads up to the importance of a good sound system for your computer or gaming rig. I’ve found no better speakers as of this date than the $399 500-watt, THX-certified, Logitech Z-5500 – a 5.1 surround sound system. Five single element satellite speakers and a ten inch subwoofer provide a balanced sound that works well with music and special effects. Each satellite has better than sixty watts output, with the subwoofer capable of 188 watts RMS. In practice I turned down the woofer to achieve better balance, but it is good to know the power was there if it is needed (as it often is in explosive games).
More than just speakers, the system has a brain. It can decode just about every major 5.1 multi-channel format (Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and others including the ability to generate pseudo-multi channel from stereo input).
The control center is a stylish paperback sized unit designed to sit on the desktop, with a big aluminum knob for volume and other settings. Above the knob, five buttons control input, effect, settings, level and mute functions. Unfortunately the labels on these buttons is tiny and they are not back-lit. You want to be careful when changing functions in the dark. A two line back lit display lists the currently selected function.
There are three mini-plug inputs on the back of the control center, which can be used as analog in from three separate sources in stereo mode or as multi-channel input if your sound card has already done the decoding. The control center also has coax and optical digital inputs on the back, and another analog input on the side. Hook these beauties up to you Soundblaster and you’re going to fall in love with your system all over again. Suddenly, your computer becomes more than just a plaything. The Logitech Z-5500 transforms it into an amazing media center, whether you’re playing games, music or movies. Top pick.
