Yeah I got a soundbar for my TV and I did go relatively cheap but my main reaction was still "I think...that's better? In some ways? Maybe?"
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Show me your gaming setup
- Thread starter Kazin
- Start date
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
I've got a Sony soundbar (with subwoofer) that sounds good enough to me, the only quirk is that the decoder loses audio for a bit after silence when using optical, so I have to use a optical-to-analog adapter with my new TV to avoid the sound loss. One of the frustrations of modern TVs, I guess - no headphone jack!
But yeah, I'm not a massive audiophile, so it's hard for me to really be bothered about too much difference in sound. I'm also not a FLAC guy - I could probably pick out the difference but in practice MP3 is close enough that I'll take it for reduced file sizes.
But yeah, I'm not a massive audiophile, so it's hard for me to really be bothered about too much difference in sound. I'm also not a FLAC guy - I could probably pick out the difference but in practice MP3 is close enough that I'll take it for reduced file sizes.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Yeah, I noticed when we added the soundbar/subwoofer combo because of the bass but basically can't tell any other difference. Ours was maybe $200 so maybe not the best datapoint but I'm happy with our cheap setup and the bass boost is really cool.
Deep audio engineering sigh.
It is complete.
Lights off:
Lights on:
Lights on, shot so you can see the backing my wife and I made:
Those are luan 1/4 inch thick pieces of wood that we painted white and brad nailed to the back of my Kallaxs. There's only the one seam there, behind the Gamecube and RetroUSB AVS - and that's really only there because our car was too small to being the piece of wood we wanted to home that would have not shown any seams lol. And honestly, it doesn't bother me, and even if it eventually did, I could probably cover it up with some white tape or something, make it nearly invisible. As is, who cares. The LEDs are still a glowing, slowly changing RGB set from Ikea, the same as I'd had before, although it's a new set that I took care to install a little better this time.
I'm considering getting some sort of light setup to illuminate the systems from behind, but I basically rewired everything and cut out as many cables and power strips as I could, so I'm basically unable to right now anyway lol.
Lights off:
Lights on:
Lights on, shot so you can see the backing my wife and I made:
Those are luan 1/4 inch thick pieces of wood that we painted white and brad nailed to the back of my Kallaxs. There's only the one seam there, behind the Gamecube and RetroUSB AVS - and that's really only there because our car was too small to being the piece of wood we wanted to home that would have not shown any seams lol. And honestly, it doesn't bother me, and even if it eventually did, I could probably cover it up with some white tape or something, make it nearly invisible. As is, who cares. The LEDs are still a glowing, slowly changing RGB set from Ikea, the same as I'd had before, although it's a new set that I took care to install a little better this time.
I'm considering getting some sort of light setup to illuminate the systems from behind, but I basically rewired everything and cut out as many cables and power strips as I could, so I'm basically unable to right now anyway lol.
Probably temporary because it's a discord link, but oh well.
The drawers beneath the PS5 and switch case are mostly game storage. Switch can be seen hiding in the top-right kallax shelf, and PS5 + Switch controller charging stations are in the top-left behind the amiibo.
Tabletop gaming gets included and so does my comics/manga shelves and a top set of nerd trinkets, just 'cause. That's a Rilakkuma dressed as a plague doctor. (There's a mirrored Kallax shelf to the left of the TV too but none of it is gaming so it got excluded from this photo.) As you can see, I also run a long HDMI across the room so I can computer from my TV as well, so I can watch media or play PC games there instead of at my desk.
Got a couch facing this setup with a coffee table (actually a long TV stand being used as a coffee table), and the center of the couch is feeling compressed already, so I try to sit at either end of it when I can.
A Waluigi hat and amiibo?! o_0
Kidding. Yeah, I wish I could fit a couch in my nerd room - it's a very narrow, long room, with windows or a closet in the places I'd prefer to put a couch and the gaming setup. The orientation I have now is basically the only option, sadly. The chair I use isn't too old, but it is cloth and the dumb cats have tore it up a bit, so it's a bit more raggedy looking than it should be. Comfy, though, thankfully.
Kidding. Yeah, I wish I could fit a couch in my nerd room - it's a very narrow, long room, with windows or a closet in the places I'd prefer to put a couch and the gaming setup. The orientation I have now is basically the only option, sadly. The chair I use isn't too old, but it is cloth and the dumb cats have tore it up a bit, so it's a bit more raggedy looking than it should be. Comfy, though, thankfully.
Oh also
Oh also, to the left of this, there's a lamp and a large picture of 5-year-old me.There's very little for mine. There's a few books and LEGOs on the top shelf, but my trusty laptop can do mostly anything.
I also have a Waluigi plush sitting on top of the shelf behind my couch. Waluigi is my favorite. Waaaaaaah <3
This is the one room in my 1br apartment, so luckily I do have room for the couch, although it's got bookshelves behind it and the space between couch and bookshelves has become a bit of a dumping ground. Which I really need to clean up one of these days... But that's getting beyond gaming setup and into whole living space, so.
Oh technically my computer is kind of a gaming setup, even though I mostly play from my couch these days now. But that's set behind a screen to the left of the couch facing the opposite wall.
This is the one room in my 1br apartment, so luckily I do have room for the couch, although it's got bookshelves behind it and the space between couch and bookshelves has become a bit of a dumping ground. Which I really need to clean up one of these days... But that's getting beyond gaming setup and into whole living space, so.
Oh technically my computer is kind of a gaming setup, even though I mostly play from my couch these days now. But that's set behind a screen to the left of the couch facing the opposite wall.
4-So
Spicy
That's the setup but I have some more and different and better (?) pictures here -> 4-So's Game Space
Not shown is my office with my gaming computer stuff (and some toys and books) because it's far, far messier and not worthy of your eyeballs.
jpfriction
(He, Him)
That gremlin looks like he made himself right at home.
Love your setup, Kazin.
My main console setup is my good ol' TV with the OLED Switch, PS5, Analogue Pocket, PSTV, and Wii U hooked up (as well as an old office PC in the center cabinet that I use for watching movies and TV). I've been wanting a new TV for some time, and I'm short an HDMI port so I need to get a switcher at some point, but I just this week got a 24 outlet surge protector, so I've got everything plugged in including my controller charging docks. The Wii U sees more use than the PS5 or the Analogue Pocket, believe it or not. The Wii U and PSTV are modded, the rest are stock.
Extra controllers and such mostly get squirreled away in a hidden drawer in my coffee table.
Most of my gaming these days is on my PC, which I bought a few years ago when money was a lot less tight, which is why I ran out of budget and ended up continuing to use a monitor and speakers from 2009. I usually play with the same 8bitdo controller I use for the Switch OLED, but the keyboard and mouse are pretty nice, and there's a special mnousepad under the deskmat that continually charges the mouse wirelessly so that I never have to plug it in. I cut a sheet of corkboard so that the rest of the deskmat feels flush, and it's in multiple parts so I can swap the deskmat out with a smaller one if I want to. The tablet is mostly for drawing and video calls.
I keep my Game Boys and related accoutrements in the bedroom. I don't pull these out as often as I'd like anymore.
I still have my little retro cart with the adorable tiny CRT on it, but it's so heavy that it usually stays in a closet. I may need to rethink a lot of things about my setup. There's a mechanical video switcher with satisfying clunky buttons attached to the underside of the top shelf with command strips, and a huge rat's nest of wires that funnels everything into a single composite cable with mono audio. The Gamecube, Wii, and PS2 are all modded but I haven't gotten to touch the Dreamcast or purchased any Everdrives for the other systems.
Unfortunately, I made a very stupid mistake a few months ago and bought this enormous CRT, which is still sitting on a towel on my living room floor, because nobody even makes furniture that can hold one of these things anymore. It has some red-shifting that needs to be fixed too, but it's probably not worth it to do so. As a result I have an enormous 70 pound cube that I dilligently kick on every morning and Mystery Gift another Ice Berry onto my abandoned Pokemon Silver cartridge. Yes that is a second N64.
What really kills me lately is that I have all these handhelds these days that I want to play more than I do, because I just don't know where to put them when I'm not playing with them. I'm very much a "everything needs a dedicated spot" person and I'm not shelling out $100+ on an official PS Vita dock.
My main console setup is my good ol' TV with the OLED Switch, PS5, Analogue Pocket, PSTV, and Wii U hooked up (as well as an old office PC in the center cabinet that I use for watching movies and TV). I've been wanting a new TV for some time, and I'm short an HDMI port so I need to get a switcher at some point, but I just this week got a 24 outlet surge protector, so I've got everything plugged in including my controller charging docks. The Wii U sees more use than the PS5 or the Analogue Pocket, believe it or not. The Wii U and PSTV are modded, the rest are stock.
Extra controllers and such mostly get squirreled away in a hidden drawer in my coffee table.
Most of my gaming these days is on my PC, which I bought a few years ago when money was a lot less tight, which is why I ran out of budget and ended up continuing to use a monitor and speakers from 2009. I usually play with the same 8bitdo controller I use for the Switch OLED, but the keyboard and mouse are pretty nice, and there's a special mnousepad under the deskmat that continually charges the mouse wirelessly so that I never have to plug it in. I cut a sheet of corkboard so that the rest of the deskmat feels flush, and it's in multiple parts so I can swap the deskmat out with a smaller one if I want to. The tablet is mostly for drawing and video calls.
I keep my Game Boys and related accoutrements in the bedroom. I don't pull these out as often as I'd like anymore.
I still have my little retro cart with the adorable tiny CRT on it, but it's so heavy that it usually stays in a closet. I may need to rethink a lot of things about my setup. There's a mechanical video switcher with satisfying clunky buttons attached to the underside of the top shelf with command strips, and a huge rat's nest of wires that funnels everything into a single composite cable with mono audio. The Gamecube, Wii, and PS2 are all modded but I haven't gotten to touch the Dreamcast or purchased any Everdrives for the other systems.
Unfortunately, I made a very stupid mistake a few months ago and bought this enormous CRT, which is still sitting on a towel on my living room floor, because nobody even makes furniture that can hold one of these things anymore. It has some red-shifting that needs to be fixed too, but it's probably not worth it to do so. As a result I have an enormous 70 pound cube that I dilligently kick on every morning and Mystery Gift another Ice Berry onto my abandoned Pokemon Silver cartridge. Yes that is a second N64.
What really kills me lately is that I have all these handhelds these days that I want to play more than I do, because I just don't know where to put them when I'm not playing with them. I'm very much a "everything needs a dedicated spot" person and I'm not shelling out $100+ on an official PS Vita dock.
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omg that main TV setup is clean as absolute heck, wow
I have avoided buying a second CRT... so far. I haven't seen one I desire, it has to at least have s-video on it (I am not going to upgrade, I don't think, to RGB or component since I s-video modded friggin everything), but I wouldn't necessarily mind a slightly bigger CRT... 24 or even, god help me, 32 inches would fit on my new setup.
RE: everything needs a dedicated spot - same here, and I've got handhelds all over the dang place too. Currently my DSs are in a plastic bin in the closet - I need to buy some of those display stands for them, I think, and get them back out. Cost of those adds up though even if they're like $7 each from Rose Colored Gaming, considering how many friggin handhelds I have.
Also, speaking of two N64s... Since I last posted in this thread, I decided what to do with my second Gamecube - I ordered another one of those Kallax inserts (thankfully with shipping it was just under $20, so not bad) and stacked em:
So you know. I can hook up the Gameboy players or whatever and play on each screen lol
EDIT: Oh and I also got a cheap Steam Deck offbrand dock to hook that up to the TV here, not pictured because it's behind my Wii U tablet, and it's only hooked up here if I want to play it on this TV (which I have, of late, but it'll usually be kept downstairs).
I have avoided buying a second CRT... so far. I haven't seen one I desire, it has to at least have s-video on it (I am not going to upgrade, I don't think, to RGB or component since I s-video modded friggin everything), but I wouldn't necessarily mind a slightly bigger CRT... 24 or even, god help me, 32 inches would fit on my new setup.
RE: everything needs a dedicated spot - same here, and I've got handhelds all over the dang place too. Currently my DSs are in a plastic bin in the closet - I need to buy some of those display stands for them, I think, and get them back out. Cost of those adds up though even if they're like $7 each from Rose Colored Gaming, considering how many friggin handhelds I have.
Also, speaking of two N64s... Since I last posted in this thread, I decided what to do with my second Gamecube - I ordered another one of those Kallax inserts (thankfully with shipping it was just under $20, so not bad) and stacked em:
So you know. I can hook up the Gameboy players or whatever and play on each screen lol
EDIT: Oh and I also got a cheap Steam Deck offbrand dock to hook that up to the TV here, not pictured because it's behind my Wii U tablet, and it's only hooked up here if I want to play it on this TV (which I have, of late, but it'll usually be kept downstairs).
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