Speakers for my computer

R

Rinthe

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
148
I need to get some new speakers for listening to music on my PC. I really want good quality sound, my computer does not have a soundcard, but i'm willing to get one if it will help with the sound quality. my budget.. i would say around $100-200? if that's possible. thanks!

forgot to mention, i also like to have surround sound if possible.
 
There are some pretty standard solutions if you look at a few of the threads on the first page or so and in the stickies. Why don't we start with your reactions to those?
 
For a given budget, the speakers you can get will generally be better if there are fewer to buy.

Also, many 5.1 kits or sets fall into the "computer speaker" category, i.e. they are more or less a pile of crap with some copper wire thrown in.
 
All depends if you want surround sound or not :p If you don't want surround sound, pretty much everyone here will recommend a 2.1 bookshelf + sub setup.
 
leetpyro said:
All depends if you want surround sound or not :p If you don't want surround sound, pretty much everyone here will recommend a 2.1 bookshelf + sub setup.
Click to expand...

say i do want surround sound, what do you recommend?
 
On that budget? We start getting into kit territory, or even just throwing you to Logitech.

You stated that the primary objective is music. Music, for the most part, is stereo - and you will get MUCH better results by just spending the $100-200 on a stereo setup than you would by going surround. This is less by way of trying to push you in that direction, so much as making sure you realize you are making a sacrifice in order to get 5.1 on that budget. (You may be able to work something out if you're a little nonparticular about the quality of the rear speakers, especially with powered stereo & sub speakers...)

Also...rear sats can be a pain in the arse, in that you have to not only find a place for them but also run wires to them. Make sure you consider placement before you commit to that route.

Rinthe said:
hi! i read your thread and a few others here on hard forums. so you recommend the Behringer MS20? what about the Swan M200MkII and Swan D1080MkII? help!
Click to expand...

All good, and it's somewhat a matter of preference.

Physics tends to favor larger diameter drivers for producing lower frequency sounds, though. Since these are typically 2-way speakers with a small tweeter and a larger mid-low driver, the size of the mid-low driver often can provide a direct means of comparison in the absence of more detailed subjective information.
 
so if i get the Swan M200MkII or Swan D1080MkII, do i also need to get a sound card or a sub? thanks for the fast responses!
 
I wouldn't mess with a sound card. A USB DAC might be worth considering, in that it could be useful later even if you replace this stuff. The main thing worth worrying about is the noise floor of your onboard sound - if it's good, you probably don't need to fuss with it without first upgrading from these speakers, although some people might want to. Going from onboard to a card is usually a minor step (provided the onboard solution isn't total crap) compared to moving to a solution outside of your case.

Any way you look at it, you should leave that until after you audition the new speakers. Upgrade one thing at a time unless you're forced to do otherwise so you can better judge what caused what change and whether you feel further improvements are necessary at this time.
 
spaceman, you also said that the M-autio AV40 will sound better with mp3 filse? is that true? then wouldn't this be the best speakers to go with, for me?
 
Rinthe said:
spaceman, you also said that the M-autio AV40 will sound better with mp3 filse? is that true? then wouldn't this be the best speakers to go with, for me?
Click to expand...

Honestly, fark MP3 files. I always hear this annoying high-pitched crackling sound with them, or something like that anyway...sort of like the static buildup on the glass of an old CRT-based TV. 320br files are usually a bit better, apparently depending on the dynamic complexity of the song...but it doesn't really go away unless I use lossless. It's annoying. :p

Fortunately, a lot of the stuff I listen to is pretty old and has a bad enough S/N that I don't have to keep my whole library in FLAC, but still. As soon as I get time and money I'm switching to a portable audio player that can handle FLAC and re-ripping everything to that. Stupid high-end audio gear is giving sufficient resolution and clarity that this stuff is starting to annoy me and thus making me buy even more expensive audio gear. :(
 
ashmedai said:
I wouldn't mess with a sound card. A USB DAC might be worth considering, in that it could be useful later even if you replace this stuff. The main thing worth worrying about is the noise floor of your onboard sound - if it's good, you probably don't need to fuss with it without first upgrading from these speakers, although some people might want to. Going from onboard to a card is usually a minor step (provided the onboard solution isn't total crap) compared to moving to a solution outside of your case.

Any way you look at it, you should leave that until after you audition the new speakers. Upgrade one thing at a time unless you're forced to do otherwise so you can better judge what caused what change and whether you feel further improvements are necessary at this time.
Click to expand...

alright, i have the Gigabyte P35 DS3R motherboard, any idea if that's good enough?
 
Honestly, I haven't bought from Gigabyte in over 5 years because they used to make some seriously crappy stuff and then price it out like it was a holy relic. They've improved a lot, but I still have them blacklisted and they've never had a product tempting enough to get me to go after it in spite of this when I was in purchasing mode. The ALC889A it uses is supposedly pretty good, as computer-based audio solutions go.
 
Yeah...like I said, no reflection on their current stuff. They've really turned the quality around, but that's why I still won't buy from them and have no clue how it works. :D
 
alright then, no sound card for now.

as for the speakers, i'm deciding between Swan M200MkII, SWD1080MkII and m-audio av40. what do you guys think i should go for?

another newbie question, if i get one of these speakers, i don't need to get any additional cables or whatever, right? i can just plug into my pc and play?
 
That depends on what they come with, really. SOMETHING has to move the electrons from A to B, and if they don't come with it and you don't already have it, then you pretty much have to find somewhere to buy it. But I've gotten perfectly good results out of a stripped 18-gauge electrical extension cord. This should not substantially increase your cost, even if you do turn out to need something.

Of the three you listed, the M-Audio have 4" mid drivers, while the Swans both have 5" mid drivers. Looking at the spec sheets, the M200MKII appear to have several nice improvements like improved S/N and reduced THD. But relying on spec sheets can be somewhat uncertain business.
 
Rinthe said:
alright then, no sound card for now.

as for the speakers, i'm deciding between Swan M200MkII, SWD1080MkII and m-audio av40. what do you guys think i should go for?

another newbie question, if i get one of these speakers, i don't need to get any additional cables or whatever, right? i can just plug into my pc and play?
Click to expand...

1080s!! For that price? GO! They will rock your desktop.

Oh wait, you will need to improve the source too. Hmm.

Well, the Av40s have a built in dac. Ok, get the 1080s but also get a soundcard or receiver at some point to improve the sound.
 
spaceman said:
1080s!! For that price? GO! They will rock your desktop.

Oh wait, you will need to improve the source too. Hmm.

Well, the Av40s have a built in dac. Ok, get the 1080s but also get a soundcard or receiver at some point to improve the sound.
Click to expand...

what does a built in dac do? if i get the av40, i don't have to get a soundcard or receiver?

if i do get 1080s, do i need to get both soundcard and receiver? or just one of those?

1080 is $129 at http://www.theaudioinsider.com/product_info.php/p/swan-d1080mkii/products_id/113 good price?
 
Yes, it's a good price.

The DAC (digital to analog converter) is the chip and supporting circuitry which takes all the 1s and 0s your audio is encoded into and turns them back into analog voltage levels that can be used to make your speakers work. After moving to nicer speakers like the Swans, and possibly improving the quality of the source files you're using (*cough* out with low-bitrate MP3s...), a good future upgrade will be to move to an external DAC in the form of a better sound card, or a receiver, or a USB DAC, et cetera. With the deal on the 1080s, you might be able to do it sooner rather than later - but listen to the new speakers FIRST and then make more upgrades.
 
ashmedai said:
Yes, it's a good price.

The DAC (digital to analog converter) is the chip and supporting circuitry which takes all the 1s and 0s your audio is encoded into and turns them back into analog voltage levels that can be used to make your speakers work. After moving to nicer speakers like the Swans, and possibly improving the quality of the source files you're using (*cough* out with low-bitrate MP3s...), a good future upgrade will be to move to an external DAC in the form of a better sound card, or a receiver, or a USB DAC, et cetera. With the deal on the 1080s, you might be able to do it sooner rather than later - but listen to the new speakers FIRST and then make more upgrades.
Click to expand...

sounds good, i've been digging around more and seeing that the Edifier S330D is also pretty good.

so if i get m-audio av40, i don't have to get a sound card?

im sorry about this, i just want to make sure i get the right speaker for myself, now its down to these 3: 1080, av40, and s330


also, most of my mp3 are V0
 
If you get the M-Audio, you have speakers that aren't as good and can't be upgraded later by adding an external DAC of some sort (or even just a better sound card).

With $200, I would be hitting the 1080s and maybe stretching the budget a bit to fit in a Dayton sub from PartsExpress. The subs are $95 and $110 shipped for 8" and 10" respectively, and will be great for a "low-cost but nice" system like this.
 
alright so with the 1080s i can upgrade by getting a better sound card and a sub, correct?
 
The 1080s are the best speakers. More power, larger drivers, better internal crossover and tweets. Yeah, pretty damn good for $129. So, get those and add to your system as you can. Perfect way to a jamming stereo.
 
what sound card would u guys recommend? I just want to see how much it might cost for future upgrades.
 
I'd go with an external device like a receiver or USB DAC, personally. Any way you cut it, it will be in the neighborhood of $100 for many good sound cards...which is the same neighborhood for a cheap external device that should give much better results. I don't see the point of a sound card if your first priority isn't either games or taking audio input, other than to pass a digital signal to an external device...which many motherboards can already do these days.
 
i do play some video games on my pc, so should i get a sound card instead of a reciver or usb dac because of that?
 
Games, only in the sense that hardware sound may require certain technologies to be supported. This is only really a thing if and only if the SOLE priority is gaming and any use of music is purely coincidental and without respect to sound quality. That is, you are willingly giving up sound quality in exchange for supporting the flavor of the month audio standard for games. Since there is a massive trend towards exclusively software-based audio in gaming since this largely eliminates concerns about who is compatible with what standard (and the modern CPU can more than handle the load), this is really a dodgy trade even if gaming is your primary intent.

So...external = win. But a receiver might be the best move once you do upgrade since it can come with 5.1 or 7.1 support and do things like decode some Dolby standards.
 
alright, so what about sub? i'm reading reviews that are saying that the 1080 has good mid range sound quality, but very poor bass.
 
The Daytons at PartsExpress are a good pick, especially low-budget. They'll do a respectable job compared to most other things without spending much more. I'd go with the 10" personally since it's on sale for $110 at the moment (and may end up getting one promptly if the money doesn't go into my portable audio gear or photographic optics or random computer parts...I'm mostly a headphone listener so I haven't gotten around to it. :D).
 
so it sounds like i'll have to get a sub then? many say 1080 doesnt have good bass
 
Have to, no. Will benefit from getting one, yes. But so would most any 2.0 system.
 
the AV40 has better bass than the 1080 tho, some are saying the 1080 has really poor bass :(
 
Yes, but it sucks in comparison. And anyway, that's why 2.0 systems use a sub and grow up to be 2.1 systems. No 2.0 system has "good" bass without one, until you get into expensive and somewhat unusual tower arrangements that functionally have an integrated sub.

The 1080 is definitely the best choice out of the things we've discussed and given the parameters you gave us. But speaker preferences are ultimately subjective, and it's your money, so you're the one who is going to have to decide.
 
To give my two cents, when I was researching pc speakers the Klipsch Pro media was the popular it seemed. That was like a year ago so I don't know what's the new fresh thing that everyone likes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top