Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500 Specifications
Drivers	4 pieces of satellites (front right, front left, rear right and rear left) 1 unit passive subwoofer 1 piece of center satellite
RMS Power	Satellite : 7W per channel  Subwoofer : 30W Center Satellite : 21W  Total : 79W (7+7+7+7+30+21)
Input	Low-level analog Stereo Audio via 3.5mm stereo jack (front and rear) Digital DIN Dolby Digital (AC-3) / PCM Audio Inputs : Coaxial and Optical
Output	RCA Female speaker output for all 6 channels Subwoofer Line Out via RCA Female
Frequency Response	20Hz - 20kHz
S/N Ratio	70dB
Function Controls	Master Volume Control Subwoofer Volume Control Center Volume Control Rear Volume Control
Dimensions (HxWxD)	Satellites : 89mm x 89mm x 89mm Subwoofer : 204mm x 250mm x 375mm
Other features	Built-in Dobly® Digital Decoder amplifier and high quality 24-bit Digital-In analog converter (DAC) Built-in decoder with auto detection of Dolby Digital signal input via Optical, Coaxial or Digital DIN connections Wireless remote for easy selection of modes and volume control Creative Multi Speaker Surround™ up-mixes stereo sources to 5.1 surround output Optical cable provided for instant connectivity to PlayStation 2 console or other devices Interchangeable horizontal or vertical face plates on the Dolby Digital Decoder amplifier Multiple input connections for various devices including PlayStation 2 console, PC-DVD™, Set-top DVD Player, MD, CD and MP3 players

 

The quest in bringing audio realism to film sound, television audio and music
playback has taken more than 50 years in the making. When cinemas first dabbled
in stereophonic sound in the 1950s, multichannel sound formats were developed to
add a new dimension in movie viewing. Then, cinemas only used stereophonic sound
with at least four channels, and as many as seven. However, when stereo did make
it to home users, it was reduced to only two channels due to the limitation of
the popular LP phonograph record. Home stereo grew popular and manufacturers
began to develop four-channel audio, or better known as quadrophonic audio
format in the early 1970s. Quad audio required two additional speakers placed in
the rear corners of the room. The two additional channels are reproduced using
specially encoded program sources and most of these were based on matrixing
techniques that enabled the folding of extra channels into the two regular
channels by recording the audio with different relative phase. Quad audio was
shortlived due to incompatible encoding/decoding systems which confused
consumers. In addition, no one could agree on how the extra channels could best
be utilised. Quad never made it into the cinemas and "surround sound" was not
known in the film industry.

Only until the mid-1970s did Dolby Laboratories introduced Dolby Stereo in
new 35mm prints. The 35mm prints were based on photographic soundtrack
technology which was used since 1930s to put mono sound on film. Of course,
before that, movie prints used magnetic stripe soundtracks for multichannel
sound. 70mm magnetic prints with up to six audio tracks were used
where three tracks were singled out for left, center and right channels,
another for surround, and two for low-frequency-only "bass extension" channels.
This configuration was proposed by Dolby Laboratories in the late 1970s and has
since been a standard. 70mm magnetic prints were expensive to produce and was soon replaced with the 35mm prints with optical soundtracks. However, only two
channels could be incorporated into the prints using optical methods. Thus, a
way has to be developed to incorporate four channels of information (left,
center, right and surround) into two physical tracks. The solution lied in the
matrixing techniques used in home quad stereos with the addition of new
sophisticated electronic steering techniques. Thus, Dolby Stereo was borned.

In the early 1980s, high-end audio systems became the norm and it expanded
into various storage formats which includes audio cassettes and CDs. Even home
videos carried Dolby encoded soundtracks which could be easily reproduced using
a Dolby Surround decoder. The surround decoder was capable of decoding only the
surround channel at home, but highly sophisticated decoding technology (Dolby
Surround Pro Logic) made it possible to decode the center channel as well.
Unlike the quad, Dolby Surround gained a lot of acceptance from consumers and
have since grown into almost any recorded audio sources which includes TV
broadcasting (remember the little surround sound icon at the start of the Star
Trek : The Next Generation series?), audio CDs, video games and even PC
multimedia applications.

In the late 80s, Dolby Laboratories began developing digital audio technology
for 35mm film prints. The challenge was to incorporate digital audio into
existing 35mm prints while retaining backward compatibility with older cinema
equipments that read only analog audio tracks. Thus, it was decided that the new
Dolby Digital optical track be placed between the sprocket holes where six
discrete sound channels will be provided in the 5.1 configuration. The 5.1
configuration used today comprises of five full-range channels - left, right,
center, left surround and right surround. The sixth ".1" channel is used for
powerful low-frequency effects (LFE) that are usually felt more than heard in
cinemas. The Dolby Digital audio began to appear in laser discs in 1995, which
was then followed by DVD and later into digital TV broadcasts.

Unlike the older Dolby Surround with its single surround channel, Dolby
Digital features two independent surround channels which offers true stereo
surround effects for creating expanded sense of depth, localization and overall
realism. Does that mean Dolby Digital audio sources require 5.1 speaker systems
to playback the encoded audio streams? Well, it would be optimal to have a
5.1 speaker configuration for complete reproduction. However, the decoder can
optimize the sound for particular systems by downmixing the 5.1 digital audio
into a matrixed analog 4-channel Dolby Surround or a conventional
stereo mix. So far, Dolby Digital has been well incorporated into DVD-Video
programmes and I expect this to be the standard in home theatre setups. This
technology has been made affordable and is no longer for the "elite" as we
begin to witness Dolby Digital systems slowly encroaching into the home PC
arena.

These are all the goodies packed inside the product box.

The wires provided with the DTT3500 is enough to keep you busy for a while.

 

Most DVDs available in the market today carries 5.1 Dolby Digital AC-3
encoding and it's a shame if you were to view it in a two-channel stereo system.
It's like driving a fancy Porsche at only 50km/h. With the introduction of the
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 series of sound cards, users can enjoy 5.1 digital audio
not only on DVDs, but with games that carry the Dolby Digital certification.

The decoder unit that comes bundled with the DTT3500 contain inputs for
various sources. If you're using a normal analog sound card that outputs analog
signals to the front and rear speakers, you can connect them via 3.5mm stereo
input jacks located behind the decoder unit. However, if you can afford the
latest Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Platinum audio card, you can make use of
Creative's proprietary Digital DIN input. Digital signals are always cleaner
than conventional analog sources as they don't suffer from signal degradation
due to poor cable quality. The decoder unit also comes with coaxial and
optical digital inputs for sources derived from LD, DVD, DAT and MD players.

The decoder unit is beautifully designed with various controls for
manipulating the audio for various needs. The face plate is interchangeable with
other colour designs to suit your taste. The face plates
also allow you the option to have your decoder unit placed in either the
horizontal or vertical position since the words printed on them are rotated for
these two mounting positions.

The rear of the decoder unit with all inputs and outputs. Oooh.. gold connectors.

Care for a face-lift? Simple, just swap it using one of the six interchangeable lexan films provided in three different colours (champagne gold, silver and light blue).

 

It took me a while to get the entire system hooked up as there were a lot of
assembling to do. The rear speakers come with a sturdy tripod stand that's more
sturdy than what was offered with my old FPS2000 4.1 Digital speakers. It took
Terence and me a while to figure out the exact method of assembling the stand
but once we knew what we needed to do, it was pretty simple. There were six sets of speaker cables provided with the DTT3500. Although they all looked
the same, I was quick to notice that two of them were actually longer and were
meant to be used for the rear satellites. Cambridge supplied 9ft (or 3m) cables
for front and center satellites and subwoofer and 16ft (or 5m) cables for rear
satellites. They are not exactly very long, but it's enough to create a wide
sound stage for Dolby Surround effects in a normal room.

The rear satellite with the tripod stand.

The remote control for the DTT3500 - perfect for lazy bums.

Anyway, here's what you'll get with the entire DTT3500 Desktop Theater 5.1
package :-

• Decoder amplifier with built-in Dolby Digital decoder
  
• Contoured wooden subwoofer
  
• Center satellite with two optional angle stands
  
• Four main statellite speakers with individual stands
  
• Two tripod surround/rear speaker floor stands
  
• Optical, digital DIN and S/PDIF cables
  
• Wall-mounting accessories and cables
  
• Power supply adapter
  
• User manual
  
• Remote control unit
  
• Horizontal and vertical orientation face plates in 3 different colours
  

Playing with the various options and controls available on the DTT3500, I
realised that they were more complicated than they looked. Beginners might find it hard to get the DTT3500 work in the true 5.1 Dolby Digital mode.
The simplest method is to hook the Digital S/PDIF coaxial or Optical output
from your Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 card directly to the decoder unit. Then,
select the CMSS (Creative Multi Speaker Surround) mode to Fourpoint/5.1 DIN and
the Input to either Coaxial or Optical and disable AC-3 decode in the SB Live! 5.1 speaker advance configuration. You should see the Dolby Digital LED
light up to indicate that an AC-3 signal source is detected. The Dolby Digital
LED will only light up if you're playing a DVD. In addition, you have to
indicate in your DVD software (we used Power DVD) to play the movie using the
S/PDIF output option. Otherwise, you will only get two channel audio playback on
the DTT3500. Of course, if you're going to play DVD movies directly from a DVD
player, just connect either the Optical of Coaxial outputs to the respective
inputs on your decoder and you'll instantly get true 5.1 Dolby Digital
audio.

However, if you wish to use your Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 to decode the AC-3
signals, you will have to go to the Advanced configuration in the Speaker mode
selection (from the AudioHQ) and check the AC-3 decode button as well as the Bass Redirection to enhance bass output to the subwoofer unit. Without checking the
AC-3 decode button, you will not be able to enjoy true 5.1 digital Dolby
Surround. In addition, you will have to select only the Multi-channel/Digital
DIN selection on the decoder unit. I have to keep playing around with the input
selection controls to understand how the thing works. I really
hate to say this, but I dislike the way Creative designed the interface on the
decoder unit. I found myself switching from one mode to another very often as
the selections on the decoder unit is not as straightforward as it looks. If you
have problems, a quick way to diagnose your system is to launch the
Speaker configuration utility from the AudioHQ to test if you're getting all 5.1
channels working correctly.

Buttons everywhere... not a very friendly user interface.

Remember to enable AC-3 decoding on your SB Live! 5.1 if you want to make use of your card to do the decoding instead of the DTT3500.

 

I tested the DTT3500 with my standard audio programmes which I've compiled
for testing audio speakers. I also tested the speakers with DVD movies like
Matrix. The testing was performed using Creative's latest and greatest Sound
Blaster Live! 5.1 Platinum sound card and also Cyberlink's Power DVD
software.

The DTT3500 performed beautifully in movie playback with enough clarity and
loudness. Bass was really lacking on the DTT3500 and you will need to increase
the subwoofer volume to the maximum in order to make your movie viewing
experience more exciting. I normally test speakers with all controls set to the
neutral position as it should be the default factory settings. It was
disappointing to find that the subwoofer volume to be flat and lacking the extra punch. The MidiLand S4 8200 performed much better than the DTT3500 in this
area.

Listening to the pod race scene from The Phantom Menace using the Dolby Pro
Logic decoder brought interesting sound effects to light. However, the bass was
again too weak. I was simply not impressed although there were pretty good
surround effects coming from the rear speakers. Sebulba's pod engine sounded
flat and bland as I couldn't feel the bass at all.

I then fired up some jazz and classical pieces on the DTT3500 using only
Stereo mode. The bass quality was again flat and bland. Midrange and treble was
available in abundance and this made the system sound noisy and harsh. Listening
to jazz and classical pieces on the DTT3500 is simply not advisable. I get the
feeling that the power amplifier built inside the decoder unit is incapable of
delivering enough power to the subwoofer. The system sounded bad and out of
balance. Even with pop and rock music, the DTT3500 only made enough noise to
annoy my colleagues. Only when the subwoofer volume was yanked to its maximum
did the DTT3500 sounded much better. Still, the strong midrange output made
listening to the DTT3500 uncomfortable.

Having said all that, there is actually a special Line Out for your subwoofer
audio signal. It simply means that you can re-direct the subwoofer channel to an
active subwoofer to create better bass reproduction. That's probably the only
saving grace for those who bought the DTT3500 and found the bass lacking. Of
course, if you really want to replace the subwoofer, you will need to experiment
around with other subwoofers to get the perfect match between the subwoofer and
the existing satellites.

 

The Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500 Digital speaker system is only good
for its design and promising specifications. Although there is principally
nothing wrong with the operation of the speaker system, it just did not sound as
good as it's supposed to be. Even my older Cambridge Soundworks' FPS2000 sounded a lot better in just normal music playback. The DTT3500 is only good for its Digital DIN interface
with the Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 series and its beautifully designed Dolby
Digital decoding unit. You can still get decent "theatre" quality playback with
Dolby Digital movies, but that is as far as I will go with the
DTT3500.