Thinking of buying a nice little 2.1 setup for my games, but I'm not sure if the sound quality on old systems is even worth spending money on.
Will SNES games in particular benefit from the added subwoofer?
Sounds systems in general are a pretty worthwhile investment in my opinion. Good ones tend to hold up, the technology doesn't really change that much and so they tend to be good for a long time, and really most things get some benefit from it.
Unless you like a particularly compressed sound that weaker speakers supply then you're never going to really lose something from getting reasonable speakers, everything will sound as good or better.
I don't think you'll get too much from older games from the subwoofer, but how much are you looking to spend here? Also, is this only for older games or is this for more general use?
>>3002994
It's strictly for my retro station, to replace my pvm's mono audio. SNES is original hardware, everything else (from mame up to gamecube) is emulated if that has any effect on sound.
Was hoping to spend around $100 bit I don't even know if it's possible to get decent speakers for that much, let alone a sub
I actually thing snes benefits the most from added Treeble effects to fix the muffled samples, but this is just my personal preference.
>>3003018
So, I will assume that emulation does something, but that's going likely be an issue with just generating the signal, not the actual interpretation of the signal itself.
So, 100 dollars is a bit low. My recommendation is to go to Craigslist or something similar and see if you can find a reasonable set of speakers and receiver. If you're getting real speakers you'll probably need a receiver to hook it all up to as well.
The good news, as I said, is that speaker technology doesn't change that dramatically. Sound is nothing more than vibrations in air, a speaker is nothing but a film that vibrates to generate those vibrations. So older high end speaker equipment tends to still be quite good. I got my current set on craigslist for 200 dollars, all together for 2.1 with a Denon receiver, which is a good brand for entry level speaker equipment. Remember, you don't want your speakers to be too small. They don't have to be gigantic, but creating vibrations really does require a certain amount of energy, period. And so, particularly for Subs, a certain size is needed. Those ones in the picture you posted look find to me, bigger is fine too, but don't get them much smaller.
You can get as audiophilic as you want, and I can't guide you there, people get so obsessive that it's well beyond my ability to give a shit. But I do believe that with reasonable speakers you can get improvements that almost anyone will notice. And I think you can do it for around ~150 to 200 if you go to craiglist.
Good brands off the top of my head
Receivers:
Denon
Sony
Yamaha
Speakers:
Klitsch
Polk
...
Really, what you should do, is if you see someone selling a set at a price that's reasonable to you, look up the manufacturer, read some reviews, find what you're looking for.
>>3003032
Did you mean Treble?
>>3002982
>snes with subwoofer
No. With the exception of one or two games, SNES games are stereo at best, a LF channel isn't needed.
>>3003095
I think it doesn't particularly hurt to have though, even though I think many SNES games aren't that bass heavy. But since he also mentions that he emulates other systems up to Gamecube and stuff that it's not bad to have. Having a subwoofer to supply that extra oomph can be very gratifying. People tend to go TOO crazy with subwoofers I think, when they're just blasting bass to the point of distortion, but there really is a lot of value in it. The most extreme example being when you listen to something with the bass range removed, it's impressively dramatic.
>>3002982
Unless there is a game that specifically created sub bass sounds, then its not worth having a subwoofer for SNES. Now on the other hand...SEGA CD & Playstation, sure, because those had CD quality music.
>>3003095
The point of the subwoofer is saving space and money. Humans can't easily perceive stereo position at bass frequencies, so you only need the one sub. But most SNES music does not have much bass because it was designed for playback on small TV speakers.
>>3002982
It is. Depending on the size of the room you can probably make do with a very basic cheap system. Under $100 is easily doable.
Ignore the goofs saying it's not worth is or that a sub woofer won't make a difference. They've never tried it. Most likely their mom won't let them have a sound loud system in their room.
>>3003136
Then why get a subwoofer if SNES doesn't have much bass? Just unnecessary.
Anyway this is all moot, true audio bliss is only found using headphones.
>>3003178
The use of a subwoofer augments the bass capability of the main speakers, and allows them to be smaller without sacrificing low frequency capability.
>>3003074
Not that I'd know, I'm all about that bass
>>3002982
>>3003018
>>3003120
>>3003178
AFAIK most consoles games were NOT made with subwoofers in mind. Only some arcade games originally had subwoofers built into the system. I think Afterburner was one of them.
8-bit consoles were all mono, I think. Games with CD music were definitely made for stereo speakers. Some had virtual surround/faux-3D audio effect that should work with any decent pair of stereo speakers.
>>3003465
>http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=38240.0
Some arcade games mentioned in url above should sound nicer with a subwoofer, but looks like most arcade rigs were made as cheaply as possible without them.
>>3003465
You don't seem to understand that a 2.1 set is different from two full range speakers. Because the speakers in the 2.1 set cant reproduce those low requencies, you get a subwoofer. You don't need one if you have two full range stereo speakers.
>>3003503
I know wtf a 2.1 set is.I've used few in my fucking lifetime, and read the specs for shits and giggles. It's a subwoofer(for "all dat bass") plus 2 smaller speakers for higher frequencies. Fuck, do you have to keep repeating that? What's your fucking problem besides autism???
I'm basically telling OP it's NOT necessary for most retrogames and it won't be MUH ACCURACY either. WTF do you want to point out that I don't already fucking know?!?
>>3002982
The speakers on my TV were absolute shit. Got some decent speakers and it sounds way better.
Don't be stupid, it's not!
i use 2x stereo systems through splitter to get more immersed in game
>>3004921
Muh sides. Tell me you're only pretending to be retarded. Show me a SNES game that supporks surround sound with 5.1 speakers.
>>3005852
Wouldn't two stereo systems be 4.0 or 4.2 with subwoofers? Tell me you're only pretending to be retarded.
>>3005852
http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,136/p,15/
Heres a list.
>>3005852
http://www.gamnesia.com/articles/throwback-thursday-top-5-uses-of-surround-sound-on-snes#.VC4QCn_86Ul
>>3002982
I've got what I suppose would be called a 2.0 sound system (pic related) and it is truly awesome.
But my setup is for consoles, music and movies, not just consoles.
With NES, N64, Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast and PS (only retro consoles I've got, can't speak for SNES) everything sounds awesome. It's especially sweet when there's a racing wheel or a light-gun in use too it really drives that "arcade" sort of experience for me.
SNES S/PDIF 96kHz digital audio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlOu-JNbWro
>>3006520
Nice wood on those.
>>3006613
It's a nice brand too.
