I Poked Your Buttons, Please Make Some Sounds! Creative's DTT3500
Written: May 13 '01 (Updated Aug 25 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Impressive 5.1 Home Theater system about $100 less than the lowest priced full size systems
Cons: Lower mid-range weak, not really for a living room. Takes practice to control
The Bottom Line: Although small, the DTT3500 is a high end sound system considering that it was designed for a PC or a Sony Playstation 2. Mine is connected simultaneously to both.
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| Yarborough's Full Review: Creative Technology DeskTop Theater DTT3500 5 Spea... |
Title 2: OK, So It's Not a $3000 Bose
Title 3: Do you need a $3000 Bose System on your PC?
What It Is
Manufactured by Cambridge Sound Works and sold under the Creative name, the DTT3500 is a 79 watt RMS Dolby Digital amplifier, packaged with 6 speakers and a remote control. Seven watts each are sent to 4 equal size speaker cubes with 2.5" drivers, used for front and rear, left and right. Twenty-one watts are sent to the slightly larger 3" center channel and the 8 x 10 x 15" passive sub woofer is supplied with 30 watts. When 6 speakers are configured this way, it is referred to as 5.1 point sound. Remove the center channel and it is 4 point sound.
A Small Home Theater System
As you can see, this is not a 100+ watt per channel living room "Home Theater" system. This combination will give you a small yet functional "Home Theater" setup for a small room, or a PC or a game console and is best suited for one person or two people that like to sit close. In fact, it would make an excellent bedroom surround system. Other than the amplifier and the sub woofer that can be hidden, this system is hardly noticeable in a room.
It does not decode DTS but there are few sources of it currently.
With the introduction of the DTT3500, there is really no good reason to purchase the DTT2500, its predecessor. The DTT2500 has 10 watts less power, a smaller sub woofer and center channel speaker and lacks the remote control.
The newer, more pleasing to the eye, DTT3500 has a few more bells and whistles on the amplifier and the difference in price is only $40 to $50.
What You Get
Creative supplies you with all the speaker wire for connection. (longer wires for the rear) They also supply an assortment of inter-connecting cables and adapters, including a proprietary 1/8" mini plug for connecting to the Analog/Digital output jack located on their SoundBlaster Live MP3 +5.1 PC sound card. It is very unique to get all this good stuff with a speaker system. Each speaker comes with 1 or 2 different mounting stand choices and a tripod kit is provided for use on the rear speakers, if so desired. Since the amplifier can be used in either a horizontal or vertical (PS2) position, they supply two different face plates and stands. The power supply is in the line cord which reduces internal heat within the amplifier and does not require hogging two positions on your power strip. The amplifier is 10" tall, 3" wide and 6" deep. I preferred the vertical installation that occupies a very small footprint on the desk. The installation process takes about an hour but getting familiar with the operation may take me a lifetime.
The Sound
When used in the intended environment, as stated above, the 79 watts is surprisingly adequate. There is enough volume to get in trouble with. I get yelled at all the time. There was no noticeable distortion at high volumes although I can't say the same for the wife.
This system easily outperformed a pair of mini Advent two-way bookshelf speakers ($160), connected to a 100 watt receiver that was in the same room. They will also, most likely, outperform just about anything you ever connected to your PC. Then add the 5.1 sound to the good sound and you have a very pleasant listening experience.
Highs and upper mid-range are great and the sub woofer has plenty of punch. I run the sub at 1/2 throttle on its manual volume control knob. The only noticeable area where the system lacks is in lower mid-range, most likely due to the single 2.5" drivers in each speaker cube. A demo of thunder from a crack of lightning almost knocked me out of my seat.
The DTT3500 does Digital Dolby, Dolby Pro Logic, 5.1 point, 4 point and Stereo. A great feature is its ability to create 4 or 5.1 point sound out of a stereo source. It can do this in two ways, one mode is for music and the other is for movies. The results is very good.
Sources for true Dolby Digital sound can be from the DVD player in your PC, a SoundBlaster Live, or the DVD within a Playstation 2. A full size DVD player could also be connected. An optical cable is supplied.
Many Playstation 2 games seem to have at least 4 point sound which is interesting when you hear things coming up behind you. I have not encountered a game, as of yet, that actually has Digital Dolby, but perhaps in the near future.
Control
If your wife is like mine, keep this unit away from her or you might end up with it cracked over your skull. This is not and easy sound system to use. The amplifier has 15 indicators and 11 buttons or knobs to tinker with. Set one wrong and you are doomed to either no sound or the wrong sound. I have to admit that it is complicated to use. It can be a source of embarrassment when you go to demo it to a friend and as you say, "now listen to this", and then there is silence. You then poke aimlessly at the buttons for about 5 minutes until you unlock the secret combination that makes the sound come out of all 6 speakers at once. I have solved this problem by keeping a small chart of which indicator lights that need to be on vs. the input device that I am using, such as, CD music, DVD, PS2, SB live, and whether the source is coming from the PS2 or the PC. Even with my indicator cheat notes, I still have to poke at the buttons a bit to get the correct indicators on.
This is because many of the selection buttons do a 3 or 4 position ring counter, that is, it steps through a series of indicators. You may need to push the same button 3 times to get to the indicator you want. To make matters worse the next button you use might have an impact on what you just set with the previous button. Which means, it may have turn off an indicator you just turned on.
To understand the confusion I will give you an example. Do you want the Digital Din or the Digital In or the other Digital Din or the Line In or the Analog In or maybe the Coaxial In? Yes, there are two Digital Din indicator lights. Or maybe you want the Optical In. Sometimes you need the Optical In indicator on, even though you are not using the optical input jack as the source. Only Creative would know why. Hence, I have cheat notes.
Additional indicators are music, movie, stereo, LL, RR, and Dolby Digital. A small 4 1/4" remote control has enough buttons to adjust all of the indicators mentioned above, plus power, mute, volume and a test button. There are 4 manual volume controls on the amplifier for adjusting the level or balance, one being the master volume. Rear surround, center and sub woofer each have there own level control. There is no treble, bass or equalizer unless your PC sound card output provides it.
Inputs
There are connections for 6 speakers.
Digital Inputs - Coaxial, Optical and Din
Analog Inputs - Front, Rear, and Din
(The single Din connector senses for either an analog or digital source)
Input cables and connectors for each of the input jacks above, are supplied with the unit. By connecting different sources through different input jacks, you can select each device either by the remote or by the front panel buttons.
Special Note: Creative's SoundBlaster Live 5.1 PC sound card, is the perfect match (figure that) for getting the most out of this surround system.
I did it, I ran out and bought one of those too.
Now for the short review:
(In the spirit of many 1st time game reviews)
This speaker system is really awesome and I love it. Go out and buy one.
The DTT3500 has a 1 year warranty.
The price included shipping.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Yarborough
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Member: Herb Yarborough
Location: Coventry, Rhode Island, USA
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 37 members
About Me:
Hey! Where did all the Fun go? :(
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