An important component of any video editing system is the audio output. For me it has two main uses with the obvious one being to make sure when editing video, any recorded sound is balanced and clear for the listener.
And of course, I also use it simply as a music player when I am editing.
In the past, I had quite a sophisticated setup using an old but very cherished stereo system I have had for years -a Realistic STA2000 amp married to a pair of Realistic T200 and a second pair of Realistic T70 speakers forming a surround system. I used output from the PC into a spare AUX port on the amp as well as a decent turntable, DVD player and even a reel-to-reel tape player.
Sadly, over time, components died as they do – some of the elements were over 40 years old – so recently I had to look for something to replace it. This time around, nothing quite so sophisticated was needed as my main A/V in the lounge was well catered for with a Sony 7.1 system, big screen TV, Blu-ray etc.
So, I did what I guess a lot of people do, checked out what decent systems there were designed specifically for computers, and it turns out there is not a lot. I could I suppose have opted for an external amp and looked at something like studio monitors from Mackie, but on a whim, I looked at what Logitech had in their product line up that might suit my needs.
Now, its important to bear in mind here that when it comes to REALLY wanting to get into the audio side of things for mastering, I use a pair of Sennheiser HD490 Pro headphones in conjunction with a RØDECaster Pro II console, so these days it is more about music listening than serious DAW work, although I’ll use the speakers when I am just rough cutting.
Consequently, the Logitech G560 system caught my eye. I don’t need a surround system anymore, so the combination of amp / sub-woofer and a pair of satellite speakers suited me just fine.
Wiring it into my system was a little tricky needing a splitter / cable setup so that I could route the audio from the RØDECaster (it connects to the PC via USB-C) but quite doable with a little trial and error of just which out-port on the RØDECaster to use (hint: it is best to use one of the 4 headphone ports).
One thing that I did not need, but am sort of stuck with though, and you may like this sort of thing.
On my Gigabyte Aero laptop, there is a built-in app that allows you to control not just the colour of the keyboard backlighting but also select pre-setup patterns and colours that flow through the keys as you type. My 4 year old step granddaughter loves it, but I can think of nothing worse or more distracting!
Similarly, the satellite speakers in the G560 setup have built in LEDs that flash in time in cohort with whatever audio is playing and again, there is a button to change presets. Thankfully though, I discovered you can turn this off if it ain’t your thing.
Audio wise, the quality is very good. You cannot get the sorts of volume I used to be able to coax out of the previous Realistic system, but that is probably a good thing. Speaking of which, a previous Logitech system I used to also use had the volume control on the amp / sub-woofer, and it took me a little while to discover on the G560 setup it is on the top of the right hand speaker in the form of a rocker switch.
At AUD$399 I’d place the Logitech G560 as decent value for money. Logitech market it as a “PC Gaming System”, but for those of us who might only dabble in the genre and are more interested in the music side, the G560 admirably does the job.
If indeed you do want a full 5.1 setup Logitech has the AUD$729 ZX906 system byu the way.
