Logitech Z323 slight hissing from headphone port

Craig321 · 20 Mar 2011 at 01:47

With these new speakers I have noticed a hissing through the headphone port.

It goes away completely if the volume is about half way up, and is not noticeable when something's playing so it's not a particularly big issue.

I have tested them separate from the PC, so it's nothing to do with my on-board sound.

Just wondering if this is normal for Z323s?

Thanks.

MikeHunt79 · 20 Mar 2011 at 01:58

Test the speakers with the inputs shorted to ground, if you're still getting a hissing sound then yes it's normal... Computer speakers usually have a prtty poor signal to noise ratio I'm afraid...

Craig321 · 20 Mar 2011 at 10:38

Ok, I'll give it a go. It's just not something I expected them to do as my ancient (10+ years) IBM 2.1 speakers didn't make a whisper through the headphone port.

I'm going to get some headphones at some point with a decent length cord, so I guess I can just use the port on the front of my PC.

Marsman · 20 Mar 2011 at 13:27

The headphone socket on PC speakers is usually crap. As your older IBM speakers show, it's possible to create a pretty decent headphone socket on PC speakers, but most of the time manufacturers just include them for convenience really. Low quality components, ensures by the time the audio comes from the sound card/on-board audio, through the speakers, the quality is degraded quite significantly.

Craig321 · 20 Mar 2011 at 18:05

Would it be better if I got a sound card, plugged that into the audio on the front of my case and then used that port instead?

Would getting one of those little FiiO E5 £15 amps make things better in terms of sound quality if I did plug it into the front of my PC as well?

Thanks.

MikeHunt79 · 20 Mar 2011 at 22:50

Marsman said:
The headphone socket on PC speakers is usually crap. As your older IBM speakers show, it's possible to create a pretty decent headphone socket on PC speakers, but most of the time manufacturers just include them for convenience really. Low quality components, ensures by the time the audio comes from the sound card/on-board audio, through the speakers, the quality is degraded quite significantly.

Agreed, most cheap computer speakers are a case of 'Take something bad and make it worse'...

Craig321 said:
Would it be better if I got a sound card, plugged that into the audio on the front of my case and then used that port instead?

Would getting one of those little FiiO E5 £15 amps make things better in terms of sound quality if I did plug it into the front of my PC as well?

Thanks.

A headphone amp won't help here, but a soundcard may help.

Another option would be a simple 2 way pre-amp which would allow you to switch the onboard output between your speakers and headphones...

Marsman · 20 Mar 2011 at 23:19

Why not connect the case audio sockets to the motherboard, rather than buying a sound card to do it? Depending on your case, you might get EMI issues.

MikeHunt79 · 20 Mar 2011 at 23:28

Marsman said:
Why not connect the case audio sockets to the motherboard, rather than buying a sound card to do it? Depending on your case, you might get EMI issues.

Yep front panel connectors usually result in worse quality audio compared to using the ones at the back.

Something like an external USB soundcard would give you a better signal to noise ratio.

Craig321 · 21 Mar 2011 at 18:00

A pre-amp sounds good.

Would it plug into the back of my PC, then my speakers and headphones plug into that?

Can anyone recommend one? Something cheap of course, don't really want to spend too much on this, if it's going to be too much then I'd rather just put up with the hissing

Need to be convenient as well, don't want to go to the back of my PC just to switch between headphones and speakers!

MikeHunt79 said:
Yep front panel connectors usually result in worse quality audio compared to using the ones at the back.

Something like an external USB soundcard would give you a better signal to noise ratio.

I'll give them a go, might be better than the port on my speakers, might be worse, but worth a go I think.

USB soundcard might do the trick, but I would like to be able to plug the headphones in and for them to cut off the speakers, a USB soundcard wouldn't do that unless I made it my primary sound output, would it?

Thanks.

[Edit]
Front ports out of the question until I get my new PC. Cable doesn't reach from front to the pins on the board. I knew there was a reason it wasn't plugged in! :rolleyes: