What desktop speakers are you using?

if I get a pair of active speakers what cable do I need to buy to connect them to the pc? probably eris 4.5

nevermind. figured it out. was using my pc with logitech 5.1 speakers where the front left channel didnt work for like a year due to a broken cable to the centre speaker lol

not because I couldn't afford to buy new speakers just because I couldnt be faffed reorganised all my wires
 
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been looking at the edifer r1850db will they be any better than my current speakers or would they be a much of muchness. got the bose speakers on bid for £35 at the bay a few year ago.
 
wow these eris 4.5 blow my old logicrap 5.1 out the window.

not getting any hum from them either which I was a slight worried about since I'm using the unbalanced rca inputs
had to put +5 dba on the right speaker in windows so they both sound equally loud, not sure if its because one speaker is near the corner of the room or if my soundcard just sux

classical piano music sounds totally dope exactly like pianos sound in real life
 
Currently running my old trusty Logitech X530 5.1 speakers but am moving the pc into our spare bedroom soon and will have to lose the rear speakers. I tried the X530's in 2.0/2.1 mode the other day and the reduction in sound while listening to music and gaming was terrible so I will be getting a proper set of 2.1 speakers. The Edifier S350DB is my current top pick but my search is still in progress. I was looking at Swans M20W 2.1 setup but got put off by the many tales of them failing before a year is up which is a shame as they seem to have a great sound.
 
Schiit Bifrost --> Yamaha A-S500 --> Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 + SW150
Absolutely love this budget setup, the A-S500 was added last year, killer amp, really picked it up a notch. I've tried to replace the 9.1s but in this combination they're just great and will take the likes of £350+ to swap out with something worthwhile. If I change I will go the monitor path with Dynaudio anyway.

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LoadsaMoney said:
Well, ive retired my Logi X-530s, as ive just snagged a set of the Z906s, for £150 :p
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the real price of those speakers isn't 300 or whatever they are listed at on most sites.

I was watching them for around a year considering replacing my crappy speakers, they were on offer for 150 more often than not.

glad I didn't bite the bullet on them and picked up some monitor speakers for the same price.
directional sound placement? is that even a term? is soo damn good.
like your playing an fps you can tell exactly where the sound originates from in the game very clearly.

its weird how good it is. I know its only 2.0 but the width of sound coming from each speaker is crazy good and soo precise.

I'd never use speakers aimed at pc like the logitech/creative sets ever again, so many options around these days which blow them out of the water for the same price or less.
even if its less speakers the quality of the sound coming from is just epic.


the sound its like hearing it first hand actually being there ,not a recording.
 
i was actually looking at them logi speakers at one point too they were about £130 around xmas with the bluetooth adaptor.
 
Spamalot said:
Out of interested how come very few of you are running soundbars?

Everyone’s using Soundbars with their TV’s, how come it’s not the same for PC speakers?
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Could be that soundbars are used for general audio, rather than music. I imagine those with proper speakers at PC desk are used for music listening.

Another factor could be poster's other halves. You know what many women are like when it comes to having proper speakers in the lounge. ;) :p Soundbars are minimal, so are acceptable. At the PC desk, the women have no say. :p

Some do use soundbars on PC desk, but I think they are the ones who either have no space or larger speakers, or just aren't bothered about having anything better than a soundbar.
 
Tephnos said:
Power is power. Wattage literally doesn't matter unless you use it. How much am I using at my desk before I blow my hearing? Probably a few watts at most. Why would I need hundreds of watts? It's an insane misunderstanding of what an amp does.
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Wattage doesn’t directly translate to dB, nor does it dictate how well something can drive speakers. Speakers are quoted to have a typical resistance, but that can vary drastically. Your amp is a class D amp, and doesn’t provide enough current for the LS50s during complex and demanding sequences. You mentioned that with content with very complex treble can make the LS50s sound a bit muddy - this sounds, to me, like your amp is clipping. If it cannot enough current to move the transducers quickly enough during a complex rhythm, the amp will clip, which is perceived by us as distortion :-)

This is why having a 150W power amplifier for a pair of LS50s doesn’t mean it’ll be louder, but rather that the movement of transducers carry more energy and inertia when playing a track.

As a near field monitor, however, you typically wouldn’t notice a difference at lower volumes :-)



I don’t use speakers personally, and have opted for a pair of P9s with a V90 HPA.
 
MrRockliffe said:
Wattage doesn’t directly translate to dB, nor does it dictate how well something can drive speakers. Speakers are quoted to have a typical resistance, but that can vary drastically. Your amp is a class D amp, and doesn’t provide enough current for the LS50s during complex and demanding sequences. You mentioned that with content with very complex treble can make the LS50s sound a bit muddy - this sounds, to me, like your amp is clipping. If it cannot enough current to move the transducers quickly enough during a complex rhythm, the amp will clip, which is perceived by us as distortion :)

This is why having a 150W power amplifier for a pair of LS50s doesn’t mean it’ll be louder, but rather that the movement of transducers carry more energy and inertia when playing a track.

As a near field monitor, however, you typically wouldn’t notice a difference at lower volumes :)



I don’t use speakers personally, and have opted for a pair of P9s with a V90 HPA.
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Speakers are pretty standardized these days in terms of Ohm ratings. You might have a valid argument with mismatch when it comes to headphones, but that argument is much weaker with speakers and modern amps. Unless you can quote how much current the LS50s are actually drawing then it seems like you're just shooting in the dark.

Furthermore, I believe I already mentioned in this thread (might not, it was some time ago) that I tried the LS50w's as well. There was no perceptible difference at any volume levels, and the same muddying I had noticed occurred regardless.

I have yet to hear credible engineers say that you need those massively beefy amps, it is only ever audiophiles.
 
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Perhaps the most important component of a PC / desk audio is speaker stands and speaker isolation.

For a speaker to sound correct it has to be positioned, for example you have to get the tweeters in the area of your hearing. The other thing is when you lift a speaker from the desk it changes the bass and how the speaker fills the room.

There is also optimum positioning of the left right speakers from each other. If you widen the gap between two speakers it increases bass, close the distance between the left right speakers it will highlight higher frequencies. You should be positioning speakers so the vocal is central and sounding back behind your monitor. After this you should toe speakers in so the sonics of the overall sound is balanced.

Another thing to discover is the minimum distance a speaker can be from the wall. Generally you want the speakers as far back as possible (i'm assuming your desk is against a wall), however there is tipping point where the sound quality will suddenly drop off, so normally you would place the speakers just ahead of that point.

I'm referring above to under 1 cm adjustments in distances and height, and small 5 degree changes in toe angle. These small changes are all it takes to adjust the sound. This is why you need proper deskstands you can adjust and lock in place.

If you have a sub, that needs placing so it's sonics are working with the main left / right speakers. Again it's positioning of the sub, how far forward / back to the wall. Lifting a sub on a isolation platform again helps tighten sound.

The other thing important is speaker isolation foam as it stops resonance into your desk that will muddy the sound. To help understand resonance place your hand flat on your desk with music playing, if you can feel vibration that is resonance that's reducing your sound quality.

And regardless if you have a £100 setup or a £1000 or more setup the above all applies. This is why a budget system that's setup correct can sound better then a incorrectly setup more expensive setup.

And none of this is expensive, speaker isolation foam can be as little as £10. Adjustable desks speaker stands there £20 upwards. Subwoofer isolation stands are more money, however you can at first use polystyrene foam to lift and isolate a subwoofer. After this it's just your own time to set everything up.
 
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