Value for money Digital Processing Powerhouse

I decided to get this system after the sub on my old Logitech Z560 started rattling. The Z560 have served me well for almost 4 years so I thought replacing it with another Logitech is probably the logical move.

The Package

You get a lot from less than 300 bucks nowadays. The package standout is the big ported subwoofer with a 10" driver. There are 5 satellite speakers with 3" drivers plus 5 sets of 18 gauge speaker wires stripped at both ends to go with each satellite speaker. The amplifiers powering all these drivers are contained in the sub and there is a substantial heat sink at the back of the unit to dissipate the heat produced when the Z-5500 is driven through its paces.

The package also includes the Control Center which connects to the sub via a thick multi pin cord very similar to a VGA cord. This Control Center does more than just house the on-off, volume, and tone controls... think of it as the brains behind the Z-5500. It contains a fully digital input switcher, 2 channel Dolby Pro Logic II processing, 5.1 channel Dolby Digital and DTS decoding circuitry. This Control Center features a blue backlit LCD panel that displays info in 2 lines. The first line displays the Input mode... 6-Channel Direct, Coax, Optical. The second line displays the Effect or Processing mode... Dolby Digital, Dolby PLII, DTS Digital, and so on. The display also toggles to a level type display whenever the volume control is rotated. In this mode it can display the volume, subwoofer, surround and center channel levels, or toggle between various options depending on the input and effect selected.

Finally, there is the remote control which is simple yet well designed in that it allows you to navigate through all the inputs, effects, as well as set levels, in an intuitive manner. It even has a very useful "Test" button which cycles pink noise through all the speakers when pressed. The remote comes very handy when watching movies when you might want to sit a little further away from the monitor. The only gripe I had with it is that it is not backlit.

Inputs

The Z-5500 Control Panel allows the connection of multiple inputs. Specifically, you have the choice of the following:

1. 6 Channel analog mini-jack direct input from your sound card / motherboard output. If your motherboard or sound card has six channel analog outputs (Front Left, Front Right, Center, Subwoofer, Rear Left, Rear Right), Logitech provides the cable (3 mini-jacks in 1 cable) to connect these outputs to the Control Center.

If on the other hand your PC or Laptop only has stereo (Left and Right channels) output, you can connect this to the Control Center by toggling the switch at the back of the unit to Stereo 1-3 instead of the default 6 Channel direct. Toggling the switch converts the six channel analog input jacks on rear of the Control Center to three (3) separate stereo input jacks which can be used for 3 different stereo sources... say (a) to connect your laptop or PC's stereo output, (b) your portable mp3 player, (c) your portable CD player.

2. Digital Optical input via a Toslink optical plug.

3. Digital Coaxial input via a coax plug.

4. Analog auxiliary stereo mini-jack input on the side of the Control Center to which portable devices (such as mp3 players, CD players, etc.) could be plugged in. This input is shared by the 6 channel analog direct input though (or channel 1 of 1 to 3 if you have switch at the back set to 1-3 channel).

Digital Processing

The unit provides Dolby Digital and DTS decoding via the Optical or Coaxial Digital inputs. When using the Analog Inputs (6 Channels direct or 2 Channel Stereo), the unit can also do Dolby Pro Logic II Surround processing which in essense converts non surround (stereo or otherwise) input signal to Dolby 5.1 PLII Surround.

Connecting a PC's 6 Channel Analog, Optical Digital, or Coaxial Digital outputs

If you already have a top of the line soundcard with drivers having built in Dolby Digital / DTS processing capability, or your PC's motherboard and the software that comes with it includes decoding functions for Dolby Digital and DTS streams you have 2 options:

1. Use the Logitech provided 6 channel cable with mini-plugs to connect your your soundcard or motherboard to the Control Center and let your soundcard or motherboard hardware/software combo do all the 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS processing. In this case set the Z-5500 Control Center input to 6 Channel Direct. Note that this option is also the best setting for games as many games use the soundcard or motherboard sound chips via software drivers to generate EAX/Direct Sound surround processing for multi-channel output.

2. If your soundcard or motherboard has digital coax or digital optical output which can transmit Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS bitstream (not PCM) AND you want to let the Z-5500 do the 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, you will need to connect the soundcard's or motherboard's optical or coaxial output to the Z-5500 Control Center's optical or coaxial inputs. If you do this, make sure you enable AC3 (Dolby Digital) streaming from the PC via the sound drivers and/or software. In this scenario, you also need to select either Digital Coaxial or Optical input in your Z-5500 Control Center. If everything is configured properly, you should then see DD Digital or DTS Digital in the Z-5500 Control Center display.

Connecting a PC's 2 Channel Stereo Analog output

If your PC or Laptop only has stereo output (2 Channel Left / Right) you can still simulate the 5.1 experience via your Z-5500. You need to first set the toggle switch at the back of the Control Center from 6 Channel Direct to Stereo 1-3. You then plug in the stereo mini-plug coming from your laptop to any of the 3 (now stereo) input jacks at the back of the Control Center. You have to enable this input by selecting it from the Control Center's Input options. You can then simulate Dolby 5.1 (for Movies or Music) by selecting Pro Logic II (PLII) Movies or Music under Effects in the Control Center.

Connecting a DVD or Game console via these devices' Optical Digital or Coaxial Digital outputs

If you have a DVD Player or XBox that you want to connect to the Z-5500 via the coaxial or optical digital inputs respectively, make sure that these devices' digital output are turned on. In the case of the DVD Player, make sure that the digital output is set to Bitstream as opposed to PCM. Setting the player's output to PCM will only output stereo and not the full 5.1 DD or DTS bitstream.

Note that when playing DVDs via the player, you will still need to chose between 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS (if available) in the movie's setup or audio options. After you do this, the Z-5500 Control Center LED will display either DTS Digital or Dolby Digital.

Connection Setup Example

To use an example, I have an Intel D865 PERLK motherboard with 6 channel analog, Coaxial Digital and Optical Digital outputs. The Z-5500 is hooked up to my PC using both the 6 channel analog and the Optical Digital output. Note that these connections alone are not enough to output 5.1 Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS bitstreams from the PC to the Logitech Z-5500. You also need to run DVD playback software that will output 5.1 DD (AC3) and DTS bitstreams. The original Power DVD 5 (OEM Edition) that I was using only outputted PCM (stereo). Even using the 6 channel analog outputs did not mean I was outputting 5.1 DD or DTS bitstream to the Z-5500. I had to buy, download, and install a 5.1 Audio Pack upgrade for my Power DVD (OEM) software.

After upgrading my PC's DVD Player software, I could now use the PC to process 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS via software and output these to the Logitech Z-5500 via the 6 Channel Direct outputs. In this case the Logitech does no processing. I could also now also output AC3 encoded bitstream from my PC's optical or coaxial outputs and let the Logitech do the 5.1 DD or DTS decoding/processing.

I ended up selecting the Logitech to do the 5.1 DD or DTS processing when watching DVD movies (via the Optical Digital connection) as I noticed this sounded better. However, for music playback and when playing games, I preferred using the direct 6 channel analog connection. This is the reason I am using both 6 Channel direct and Optical Digital connections from my motherboard to the Logitech Z-5500.

Sound Quality

When playing music on the Z-5500, I initially found the bass a little on the boomy side which was easily rectified by using Windows Media player's built in equalizer. I played various mp3 files to test the Z-5500... all the mp3's I used were encoded at 192kbps or more using the highly regarded LAME encoder. I played Jazz tracks from Miles Davis In a Silent Way album, Pat Metheney's Question and Answers album; Rock tracks from Black Sabbath's excellently remastered Black Box collection, Red Hot Chilli Peppers Greatest Hits, as well as other tracks from Our Lady Peace; Rap tracks from Eminem and Public Enemy. To further test vocals, I played songs from Madonna's Immaculate Collection album, Gloria Estefan's Greatest Hits, and Ella Fitzgerald's Gerome Kern Songbook album. To test the overall dynamic range of the system, I also played a cover of Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick featuring 3 drummers playing simultaneously.

Vocals, cymbals and other instruments were rendered accurately, which is surprising for satellites with just one driver. Drums were hard hitting and tight, bass and synthesizer were definitely not one-note and went low enough to shake the cupboards. The sub of the Z-5500 is an improvement over that of my old Z-560. It can go lower and a louder without distorting. One minor problem I noticed with the output of the Logitech Z-5500 is that the mid bass can be localized as coming from the subwoofer if one listens closely enough. This is probably because the satellite drivers are still not big enough thus the need to redirect the mid bass frequencies to the sub in order to avoid overloading the satellite drivers. Note that for all music playback, I used the 6 channel analog direct connection which I preferred over digital (either stereo or Dolby PL II Music setting).

Update Oct 8, 2006 START

I would also like to add that Z-5500 do have excellent imaging... 3D like if you have good sources. I was just listening to Miles Davis' The Complete in a Silent Way Sessions (3 CDs) that I burned to mp3s and noticed the drums were seemingly coming from the area between the center and right speakers and at the back. This is in 6 Ch Direct Mode. In other words not in the same plane as the speakers. Note that you might need to experiment with speaker positioning to achieve these results. I have now removed the stands of my center channel so I can position it under my Dell LCD monitor. I added rubber footers to the front so the center speaker is tilted upwards.

I am not sure why Logitech put glue-like substance in the screw that connects the stand to the speakers. I had to drill the glue out to be able to remove the screw (and the stand).

Update Oct 8, 2006 END

For games I played Counter Strike Source, FEAR, and Battlefield 2. Suffice it to say that the Z-5500 is probably one of the best PC speaker choice out there for playing games, mainly because it can reproduce a game's sound effects even at high levels effortlessly and without distortion. Note that for multi-channel game playback, I am using the 6 channel analog inputs as the game and the software drivers themselves control the surround processing via EAX, EAX2 or Direct Sound.

For movies, I tested the Z-5500 not only hooked up to my PC (via optical digital) but also hooked up to a Samsung HD-845 Universal DVD Player (via coaxial digital). Here I used 5.1 DD or DTS decoding of the Logitech Z-5500 via the Digital Inputs. I used the Superbit Edition of Underworld which contains both DD and DTS tracks. The sound and vocals were pretty good although I thought the sound of vocals through the center channel were a little bit muddied... and somewhat nasal sounding. I also felt the need to boost the center channel a little compared to the surround channels. Please note that these observations when watching movies is in comparison to a high end home theater system with bigger center and surround speakers powered with dedicated amplifiers and a Paradigm Servo 15 v2 subwoofer covering the low end.

I noticed very little difference between DD and DTS as decoded by the Z-5500. I thought the surround effects sounded slightly better (more separation) when using Dolby Digital but the dynamics (explosions) were slightly more pronounced with DTS. The Z-5500 decoder was definitely doing its job though, as the sound effects were coming from all channels with the vocals firmly anchored on the center channel and the sub being given a workout by all the explosions occurring during the action scenes in the movie.

Final Thoughts

I have no hesitation in recommending the Z-5500 to those looking for a top notch PC speaker system. I would even recommend it as an alternative to all in one home theater systems. The flexibility of the Control Center (multiple inputs and built-in digital signal processing), plus the overall great sound (for a PC system) I get from the speakers whether playing games, listening to music or watching movies, all for less than 300 bucks sounds almost too good to be true.

Update Oct 02, 2006 - Activating the Z-5500's hidden features

The more I use and play with this unit the better it gets... after sleuthing on the web I found you could set the Control Panel to display a "second skin" plus more.

1. Activating the Second Skin

Basically this changes the level display for the volume control to a "stepped" type display instead of the default "bar" display. It also changes the color of the LED when in standby mode from red to purple... how cool is that?

To toggle between the first and second skins, first set the unit to standby mode, then press Input + Effect + Settings + Mute simultaneously for 6 seconds. Once you see the LED flash for 2 seconds, you would have toggled to a new "skin". The only downside to this "second skin" is that the volume is about half as loud as the main skin's.

2. Enabling volume offset for Analog sources

Okay so you noticed Direct 6 Channel analog mode is lower in volume compared to Optical and Coaxial digital. If you want to "normalize" the level here is how you do it:

While in 6 Channel Direct mode, hold down the Mute button and start rotating the volume knob while keeping the Mute button down. Note that the display now shows "offset" values.

3. Displaying firmware version and resetting to factory settings

Set the unit to standby mode then press Input + Settings simultaneously for 6 seconds. This will display the firmware version for a few seconds and will also reset the settings to their original factory values.

4. Displaying the digital stream type/mode

Set the unit to standby mode then press Input + Effect simultaneously for 6 seconds. This will put the Control Center in "Diagnostic Mode". Now everytime you the Z-5500 is fed a digital stream (DTS, DD, etc.), it will display the stream information (format, bitrate, etc.) for 5 seconds in place of the DD or DTS logo before returning to the standard display.

Update Oct 22, 2006 - Popping sounds

Recently I started noticing that the Z-5500 satellites speakers would emit a pop (not loud but audible) whenever certain lights / appliances are turned on in the house. To be honest I also heard popping sounds on my old Z-560 everytime someone rang the doorbell.

I frequent the Logitech forums and it appears this problem has finally been acknowledged by Logitech after numerous complaints from users that they are willing to repair the units sent back by those bothered enough by it. This apparently is caused by a shielding issue. Here is a link to the thread which includes the email address to contact for those who are bothered enough by the popping sound: http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/board/message?board.id=51_speakers&message.id=811

Am I bothered enough to send it back? I figured I can live with, IMHO, this minor albeit somewhat annoying problem. If the Z-5500 cost twice or thrice the amount then maybe I would have sent it back.