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Thought I'd share this little discovery.
For quite a while now, I've been playing either a Yamaha DG-Stomp or Korg Pandora through the auxiliary input on my computer's soundcard. Works pretty well, very controllable volume levels. But the monitor sometimes causes RF hum problems. It seems like every frickin' application has its own goddamn volume control that screws with the overall output volume! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] And of course, it's just annoying having to fire up the computer to play guitar.
Anyway, I was in Wal-Mart last week and saw this el cheapo ($45) home theater 5.1 surround sound system, brand name "Durabrand." Now, I looked at this route before — plugging a headphone amp straight up to a speaker ensemble — but every system I found required six inputs (R-front, R-rear, L-front, L-rear, Center, Sub). This one, however, does a *fake* 5.1 interpolation from a 2.0 (that is, plain ol' stereo) input. Seems like it would be lame for a real home theater application, but it's perfect for what I wanted it to do!
Got it home, plugged it all in... Pretty nice! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Even has a slim little remote control unit that can control each speaker separately. Plus a mute button! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Only complaint, I don't understand why the "DVD" input seems to be a bit louder than the "AUX" or other inputs. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] Oh, well... just plug into the DVD input. Problem solved!
A way fuller sound than any "practice" amp I ever heard, plus it has all the effects and tone flexibility of whatever preamp you want to use. 100 watts, it can get pretty loud, too.
For quite a while now, I've been playing either a Yamaha DG-Stomp or Korg Pandora through the auxiliary input on my computer's soundcard. Works pretty well, very controllable volume levels. But the monitor sometimes causes RF hum problems. It seems like every frickin' application has its own goddamn volume control that screws with the overall output volume! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] And of course, it's just annoying having to fire up the computer to play guitar.
Anyway, I was in Wal-Mart last week and saw this el cheapo ($45) home theater 5.1 surround sound system, brand name "Durabrand." Now, I looked at this route before — plugging a headphone amp straight up to a speaker ensemble — but every system I found required six inputs (R-front, R-rear, L-front, L-rear, Center, Sub). This one, however, does a *fake* 5.1 interpolation from a 2.0 (that is, plain ol' stereo) input. Seems like it would be lame for a real home theater application, but it's perfect for what I wanted it to do!
Got it home, plugged it all in... Pretty nice! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Even has a slim little remote control unit that can control each speaker separately. Plus a mute button! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Only complaint, I don't understand why the "DVD" input seems to be a bit louder than the "AUX" or other inputs. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] Oh, well... just plug into the DVD input. Problem solved!
A way fuller sound than any "practice" amp I ever heard, plus it has all the effects and tone flexibility of whatever preamp you want to use. 100 watts, it can get pretty loud, too.
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