Page 9 - Performance Music & DVD

Performance - Music
Testing both the Music2Go and the SoundXPlosion I used Foobar2K, a nifty media player that supports kernel streaming.  I pitted the Music2Go against a Terratec DMX 6-fire. I played an eclectic selection of music to test out how the M2G performs on different types of music.

For music the Music2Go is good, but don't expect it to blow you away. Because of its bright character, you may hear detail in treble regions you haven't heard before. With our Grado SR125 headphones it sounded a little too bright and thin. It sounded a little fuller with the SoundXPlosion headpones, but still had a thin and bright character. Perhaps the Music2Go does not get sufficient juice from the USB bus to really kick. It is possible to warm up the sound using the EQ in the M2G's driver, but I would rather not have to fuss with an EQ.  When driving a set of powered speakers, little difference was found in A/B tests.

Performance - DVD
We watched a lot of DVD's with the Music2Go. In anticipation of Shrek 2, I caught up on the original Shrek.  Also included were Winged Migration, Amelie, and Master & Commander. I suppose the best comment I can give to any piece of sound hardware is for it to be invisible, like it is not there. Of course, with those flashing blue LED's, it will not let you forget it is there.  After we covered up the LED's with a postcard, it left us to enjoy our movie.  And then another, and then another.  Perhaps a dozen movies later, we couldn't figure out which sound card was playing, the Music2Go or the DMX 6-fire. Not a bad trick.

I should note again that the included credit-card sized remote is solely for the included WinDVD 5.0.  It also works perfectly, if not limited in application.

For DVD Audio, I used the Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack.  First it is a surprise that the M2G could play the 24 bit/96kHz surround sound. Playing the disc did cause the system to get very sluggish.

Switching gears, the SoundXPlosion has a distinct advantage of having the subwoofers built right into the phones.

Oh, subwoofers. To get well off subject, every time I hear a kid posting in the forums about how loud his subwoofer can play, I cringe.  I hate to break it to them, but in normal operation, you shouldn't notice your subwoofer very much.  Oh I know, I'm committing sacrilege!  Subwoofers are intended to enforce only very low frequencies that can't be reproduced by regular loudspeakers.  A dinosaur stomping, a cannon shot, elephants talking, that sort of thing.  Things that are not really heard so much as felt.

The answer is that what we buy for our computers are not real subwoofers. Since low frequencies tend to be omni directional, manufacturers can separate the bass driver, call it a subwoofer and your ears will still hear sound as if it's coming from the same point in space. In theory, anyway. If the sub has a high crossover frequency, it will give away its location. If the crossover is too low, you'll either have very large speakers next to your monitor or you'll have midrange suckout (aka Bose). I know it is basically impractical to have full-range speakers next to our monitors and a true subwoofer somewhere else in the house, but a kid can dream.

Getting back to the SoundXPlosion, none of the above matters since the drivers are so close to your head.  Bass will sound like it's supposed to, integrated into the sound field.  Turning on the bass enhancement the SoundXPlosion will tend to have a one-note quality.  It will shake your head, yes, but don't expect it to play some funky bass lines while it's at it.

The SoundXPlosion did work very well for