does ATP3 requires Special sound card..?

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riturajnitk

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hi guyzz.. wen i visited the nehru place(delhi).the vendor said i neeed to have some special sound card else my ATp3 will not give me optimum o/p.. please tell me whther he is rite??
wht all i need to have good o/p with ALtec Lansing ATp3..
thnx
 
No , nothing like that .. but if you use a good quality sound card , you'll notice a lot of difference in sound output compared to lets say, an onboard sound chip ..
 
Onboard will make it work....but not to a nice level.....
if u have cash to spend on ..buy a entry level Creative Blaster Live 5.1 will cost abt 1.1k.....will deliver excellent performance.
 
hey :) u got a bit confused there....sorry abt myself not being clear....

Speakers : ATP3 (anyday)
Sound Card : Creative Live Blaster 5.1 ( its the name of the sound card :))

P.S. Pls dont buy the creative 5.1 speakers the atp3 wins hands down considering the cost and performance factor.
 
ATP3 does not require anything other than a sound signal source (with standard 3.5mm pin) . As long as you have one -- be it your computer output, a personal CD player (diskman), an mp3 player, worldspace radio, or anything else equivalent -- you are good to go.

Never trust dealers. Dealers will try to sell you whatever is most profitable to them; not whatever is best for you.

I have not one but two ATP3s -- one bought in Hyderabad and one in Chennai. The former almost four year old, and the second one two year. Both performing flawlessly still, almost like new. No distortion, no jarring although each has been running for an average of 5 hours every day. Their sound is most pleasant and upon every hearing I am amazed anew. You can listen to them for hours on end, without ear fatigue.

ATP3s are self-amplified; so make sure you give raw signal to it. Not amplified ones. Moreover, you should go for these if you are looking for musical speakers; not boomboxes.
 
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sound is more of a personal choice. I'd say get a demo from the dealer without a dedicated sound card to see if your pleased. If not, then go for the sound card. It will make a difference IMHO
 
DCEite said:
I have an ATP3 and i think its grossly overrated. Frankly, i found the Creative's Bass more pronounced.
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Well, it all depends on what one prefers. Nobody has claimed that one should buy ATP3s for the bass. I specifically wrote above that if one is looking for boomboxes, the ATP3s are not the right speakers.

Depends on what you wish to do with your speakers. If you want to shake rooms, makes beat gushes flow around, want to have parties and generally disturb your neighbourhood, the ATP3s are the worst speakers to have. Go with Creative, or something else, or even other Altec Lansing 641s or such.

But if you want to listen to a range of musical genres, want to hear tabla being played as if it were a tabla and not a drum, care about the overall melodiousness of the sound -- the ATP3s are superior to most other models even from Altec Lansing itself that are far more expensive.

I listen to old and new Hindi film songs, ghazals by Mehdi Hasan to Talat Mehmood, hindustani classical instrumental and vocal, and western classical -- and after years of listening too I hold these ones dear. For the sheer range of these speakers and their capability to handle every genre so competently.

Recently, I was on the lookout for a music system. The only reason for that being that the ATP3s are not very good at producing the full orchestral power when, say, in a concerto the focus shifts from the solo instrument to the orchestra. But after auditioning most music systems available in the market (the Philipses, and the Sony's) and being thoroughly irritated by their boominess, I'm back to my ATP3s. Those speakers have lots of bass, room shaking, earth shaking bass -- but I can't stand them for more than 30 secs.

When I have more money, and when they offer better warranty, I'll probably buy either Wharfedales or Paradigms, with some suitable receiver to go with them. Till then, either my ATP3s or an upgrade to MX5021s.

Am I trying to make it out that these ones are god's gift to mankind? Not at all. They have their limitations. But within those, they are an excellent set, outstandingly rugged and durable, and simply unmatched value for money.
 
oh oops :ashamed:

ps, I'm quite happy with the speakers i have , and I'd rather make my own than buy something off the shelf. but then again, not everyone can :P
 
greenhorn said:
oh oops :ashamed:
ps, I'm quite happy with the speakers i have , and I'd rather make my own than buy something off the shelf. but then again, not everyone can :P
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Actually this is an interesting subject. I'd like to learn more about how good self-assembled speakers can be. What are the components that go into it, and how do you ensure that they are of high quality?

I haven't actually heard the MX5021s, but from whatever I've read about them I know that those are the only ones that can interest me. A friend of mine bought FX5051s some days back, because he wanted a 5 channel gaming set. Those are not satisfactory to my ears. The sound is thin, no roundedness, and is generally dissatisfactory. The bass is good as it's tight and not boomy, but the midrange is poor. Moreover they start distorting just above 60%.

I'd have bought the MX5021s but I'm thinking that for 8K odd that they cost, if I add some more grands I should be a able to get a proper bookshelf music system. But one can't really say without hearing. The 5021s might turn out better than systems twice as expensive.

But the audio-equipment industry in India is just disgusting -- they simply want to focus on how loud and boomy the speakers can be, with little concern that the music is getting totally drowned by the overpowering beats. I couldn't find a single set with non-ported speakers in the market for the life of me.
 
i asked here in ahmedabad for ATP3 and dealer told me that company has discontinued the Speaker . so any other option in that range .

Thanx
 
proloyc said:
Actually this is an interesting subject. I'd like to learn more about how good self-assembled speakers can be. What are the components that go into it, and how do you ensure that they are of high quality?

I haven't actually heard the MX5021s, but from whatever I've read about them I know that those are the only ones that can interest me. A friend of mine bought FX5051s some days back, because he wanted a 5 channel gaming set. Those are not satisfactory to my ears. The sound is thin, no roundedness, and is generally dissatisfactory. The bass is good as it's tight and not boomy, but the midrange is poor. Moreover they start distorting just above 60%.

I'd have bought the MX5021s but I'm thinking that for 8K odd that they cost, if I add some more grands I should be a able to get a proper bookshelf music system. But one can't really say without hearing. The 5021s might turn out better than systems twice as expensive.

But the audio-equipment industry in India is just disgusting -- they simply want to focus on how loud and boomy the speakers can be, with little concern that the music is getting totally drowned by the overpowering beats. I couldn't find a single set with non-ported speakers in the market for the life of me.
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sorry for going OT , but its good information i think everyone ought to have.

buying the drive units , then assembling the cabinets here seems cheaper to me than buying teh whole thing abroad. woofers from local brands like bolton/dainty and Phillips dome tweeters are available in electronics shops . they're quite VFM, and can beat any PC speaker setup when it comes to the sheer authority of the sound. for personal/near field listening at low ~ medium volumes , these PC systems are quite alright, but the assembled systems come into their own when you start cranking up the volume :)

my current setup was assembled when i was in college, lots of time and limited money (when people were off buying FX 5700's , i saved up to buy 8 inch woofers and dome tweeters). but now the sony Xplod sub turns out to be a limiting factor( its bass is quite inferior to the floorstanders i have :( )

You can get high quality drivers like peerless, vifa etc in india, or if you can buy from abroad, practically anything :) Crossover design, you'll have to take care of , because most neglect it. then the cabinet design, you can go overboard with it , because you dont have to worry about shipping, and it will cost much lesser for you to make it here . use 1 inch MDF and reinforce the heck out of it :P

The electronics, well, its a bit hard, but there are a lot of electronics stores which do make amplifier boards. they usually quote the power figures quite generously.. something which claims to be 40+40 W might turn out to be just 12+12 :| by looking at the supply voltage requirements , you should be able to judge the output. also, some allow DIY board (with components and a spare PCB or ready soldered boards.) if you know your way around electronics , you should be able to buy a good one if you have some fluency with DIY electronics !

you can do all this , or get an assembler, just like local PC assemblers to make you a speaker system by you quoting a config ( ie 8 inch bolton speakers , i inch dome tweeter, 60+ 60 W amp, no bass and treble controls ( they usually put it by default , and that is usually implemented with some suxxy op amps like the LM 324) so avoid them at all costs :) , and wooden floorstanding ('tower') cabinets .

If you're thinking about going down this path, diyAudio.com - audio projects by fanatics, for fanatics is a good place to start :)
 
That was wonderful bit of information, Greenhorn!

Although, given a choice, I'd rather go for a factory produced set than an assembled one. I believe there are lots of small things that can make a difference. So I'd much rather go with an established, streamlined process than hand assembling. Moreover, I don't know how good the analogy with assembled PCs holds. PC components are the same being used in all branded PCs too, but I don't quite know about speaker driver units.

I'm looking mostly for a private listening set. So I don't need high power output. But I do insist on natural sound and good balance -- basically linear delivery, with no emphasis or de-emphasis. Also, I hate artificial bass like anything.

For the amplifier, I'd without question go for a reputed manufacturer. No assembled ones there! For the speakers, I think the manufacturers are just trying to cut corners to improve profitability, and that's why despite knowing how to produce hi-fidelity speakers, they are keeping away from it. They also focus on fashion and gimmicks (like karaoke) than on the fundamentals, to boost sales.

I am surprised to see that not a single player in India seems to be capable of supporting SACD and DVD-Audio formats.
 
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