so what, the back speakers wont play anything? from the reviews i read (many) no one seemed to mention them not producing 5.1? So if i play a dvd on my xbox 360 or mac mini with these speakers connected the front and sub speakers will only work? in that the centre one will output nothing? usually it is supposed to do vocals correct? i don't know alot about this stuff so fill me in. I don't mind if it isn't true 5.1 but if some of them won't output anything then what's the point i may as well get the same ones in 2.1
No, they'll play back on all speakers. The distinction is less simple than that.
Let me try to explain. "5.1 surround sound" generally refers to a set of audio technologies involving six speakers
and dedicated channels for each of those six speakers. The two major formats are
Dolby Digital 5.1 and
DTS (Digital Theatre System). Home theater setups include a seventh piece of hardware, called a receiver, which includes the necessary electronics for connecting other electronics to your speakers as well as the logic and processing systems needed to "decode" digital audio from, say, a DVD.
Computer "5.1" systems generally (but not always) lack the electronics required to handle Dolby or DTS sound streams. Instead, they use computer software to "fake" surround sound, altering the output of normal stereo audio to make it sound something like Dolby Digital--but it's a poor mimicry. (Incidentally, most home theater receivers also include a "fake" surround mode, called Pro Logic or Pro Logic II, which can be used to give stereo sound sources a better ambience.) This software is usually Windows-based, and therefore will not work under OS X at all, meaning that the marginal benefit of having six PC speakers becomes zero. A high-quality 2.1 system would probably be a more appropriate purchase.
The Mac mini can output "digital" audio to speakers, but you need speakers that are "smart" enough to know what to do with that digital output. You need a receiver or a set of speakers with Dolby surround built-in in order to use that function.
These Logitech speakers appear to be "dumb"--they can't process real 5.1 encoded audio, but can only fake it--and without the Windows software, they can't even do that. What you'll get is the Left channel out of the two left satellite speakers and the Right Channel out of the two right satellites. The subwoofer will handle the bass of the stereo sound, and the center channel speaker will play back a mix of the L and R channels.
I hope this is clear--I've been writing a massive brief for days and am a little burned out and zombie-like.
