Information added 1/15/02
As one of the early adopters for this product, I and other end-users noticed a lot of things that the reviewers either didn't notice or didn't have in their test units. I know the Logitech Z-680 is a popular product that a lot of people are looking forwards to, but do be aware of these issues.
The biggest problem is the hissing that comes through the speakers in any input mode, even if there is nothing connected. You can even have it on mute and the speakers will still hiss. You can actually hear the hiss even when you're about 3 feet away (So with the speakers on your desk, you should be able to hear the hissing). This hissing can be heard through music played back at low volume and can overwhelm classical pieces at low volume. Quite annoying. The hissing is unaffected by how high or lwo the volume control is set.
The second problem is the clicks and pops that you get when you're switching modes between the different inputs. Whether you're in digital or analog mode doesn't matter as the decoder tries to figure out what sort of stream you're feeding it and will in turn click and pop as it's switching modes. When you switch modes, you can actually hear the hissing get louder for a second as the decoder gets ready for the new stream.
The clicks and pops are especially bad when you are watching a DVD and the menus keep cycling; the clicks and pops occur everytime the audio stream (whether it's DD5.1 or ProLogic II or simply Stereo) refreshes. So if you're watching a bonus feature DVD and are navigating the menus to get to the deleted scenes (for example) it will click and pop loudly everytime you hit "enter" and navigate one level deeper (or up).
Lastly, the volume control knob is digital and senses your turns; sometimes this is very inaccurate, allowing your speakers to jump up in volume even when you're trying to turn it down. It's never consistent how many notches each turn will bring down the volume. Sometimes you can hear soft clicks and pops as the volume is adjusted.
Exchanging these for another set doesn't matter. The other two people I've talked to are both on the East coast and they have the same problems as me. One guy exchanged his three times at two different stores, I exchanged mine twice (at two different stores), and one other guy is still hanging on to his pending a solution from Logitech.
Here are some threads on two other forums that have a discussion on this. I am a participant in both discussions, but I thought I'd bring this information over to this forum too:
Thread on ExtremeTech forum
Thread on Klipsch forum
Thread on 3D Sound Surge forums
Thread on Neoseeker forums
My sources at Logitech tells me that the hissing is a result of an unshielded part of the control pod. They said that the shielding was removed in order to meet some European certification, which sounds odd because usually you have to shield MORE to receive certifications, not LESS!
Anyway, here's some more good info:
Logitech's Tech Support Doc
This webpage acknowledges the problem but blames it on the user's configuration...
==News 1/15/02==
I've been reading from other forums that there is a control pod replacement out so you can get a pod with revision 1.1 instead of the original 1.3. Supposedly this will reduce hissing dramatically, but this is only in the European market so far. My Logitech source told me this morning that there has not been a definitive strategy for the US market, but they're working on it.
==News 1/2/02==
I just got email from my contact at Logitech. According to him, there will be a fix for the hissing problem soon. He does not have any more details at this time but will share them with me when he has some. Further, the specifications on their website are INCORRECT, the speakers are still a 450 watt RMS unit. He says he's contacted the web team to get that fixed.
If you're waiting to pick these up, I'd suggest you wait a bit so that Logitech can work through these problems before grabbing them!
As one of the early adopters for this product, I and other end-users noticed a lot of things that the reviewers either didn't notice or didn't have in their test units. I know the Logitech Z-680 is a popular product that a lot of people are looking forwards to, but do be aware of these issues.
The biggest problem is the hissing that comes through the speakers in any input mode, even if there is nothing connected. You can even have it on mute and the speakers will still hiss. You can actually hear the hiss even when you're about 3 feet away (So with the speakers on your desk, you should be able to hear the hissing). This hissing can be heard through music played back at low volume and can overwhelm classical pieces at low volume. Quite annoying. The hissing is unaffected by how high or lwo the volume control is set.
The second problem is the clicks and pops that you get when you're switching modes between the different inputs. Whether you're in digital or analog mode doesn't matter as the decoder tries to figure out what sort of stream you're feeding it and will in turn click and pop as it's switching modes. When you switch modes, you can actually hear the hissing get louder for a second as the decoder gets ready for the new stream.
The clicks and pops are especially bad when you are watching a DVD and the menus keep cycling; the clicks and pops occur everytime the audio stream (whether it's DD5.1 or ProLogic II or simply Stereo) refreshes. So if you're watching a bonus feature DVD and are navigating the menus to get to the deleted scenes (for example) it will click and pop loudly everytime you hit "enter" and navigate one level deeper (or up).
Lastly, the volume control knob is digital and senses your turns; sometimes this is very inaccurate, allowing your speakers to jump up in volume even when you're trying to turn it down. It's never consistent how many notches each turn will bring down the volume. Sometimes you can hear soft clicks and pops as the volume is adjusted.
Exchanging these for another set doesn't matter. The other two people I've talked to are both on the East coast and they have the same problems as me. One guy exchanged his three times at two different stores, I exchanged mine twice (at two different stores), and one other guy is still hanging on to his pending a solution from Logitech.
Here are some threads on two other forums that have a discussion on this. I am a participant in both discussions, but I thought I'd bring this information over to this forum too:
Thread on ExtremeTech forum
Thread on Klipsch forum
Thread on 3D Sound Surge forums
Thread on Neoseeker forums
My sources at Logitech tells me that the hissing is a result of an unshielded part of the control pod. They said that the shielding was removed in order to meet some European certification, which sounds odd because usually you have to shield MORE to receive certifications, not LESS!
Anyway, here's some more good info:
Logitech's Tech Support Doc
This webpage acknowledges the problem but blames it on the user's configuration...
==News 1/15/02==
I've been reading from other forums that there is a control pod replacement out so you can get a pod with revision 1.1 instead of the original 1.3. Supposedly this will reduce hissing dramatically, but this is only in the European market so far. My Logitech source told me this morning that there has not been a definitive strategy for the US market, but they're working on it.
==News 1/2/02==
I just got email from my contact at Logitech. According to him, there will be a fix for the hissing problem soon. He does not have any more details at this time but will share them with me when he has some. Further, the specifications on their website are INCORRECT, the speakers are still a 450 watt RMS unit. He says he's contacted the web team to get that fixed.
If you're waiting to pick these up, I'd suggest you wait a bit so that Logitech can work through these problems before grabbing them!