Topic: Help me choose computer speakers.

[Eric]

I know, with 25+ years as an I.T Professional I should be able to do this alone but here's the catch, I'm a business analyst and software developer, not a tech expert. 

This will be in my office and will be used seldomly for listening to music while programming or relaxing.  It may be used for gaming now and then and watch streaming television through my slingbox.  I figured that the gamers here would be able to help me answer these questions. 

My budget is about 100$CAD for this.

1: I want a good sound quality, obviously it doesn't have to be top quality because it's not my main system for watching movies but I still want it to sound good at a low or moderate level.  Do I need a quality sound card or will my onboard sound (realtek AD1986A) do the job ?

2: Is it worth it to buy digital speakers or would good analog speakers do the job ?

3: Should I invest into 5.1 ?  Go with 2.1 or even just good quality 2.0 speakers ?  I suppose that high quality stereo speakers is better than cheap 5.1.

[Jimmy]

Sorry can't help you... The two times I bought one it was the technician who told me what I need and what I can have with the ammount available

We can buy a computer for 100$ now
Mine cost me 900$ 5 years ago and I don't count the upgrading since than

[Jimmy]

Just realize that I'm an idiot... what else is new
It's not a computer you want but a set of speaker... your price make more sense

[Eric]

Don't feel bad Jimmy.........nowadays you CAN buy a computer for just about the same as my speaker budget

And thank you...................that's the best non-help I've ever got on a forum

[Eric]

I like this.  The price is good, maybe for once in my life I will actually buy something within my set budget.  Sub-woofer is always usefull when the neighbors piss you off and it has a remote.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/logitech-2-1-channel-computer-speaker-system-z313/10129934.aspx?path=29374a6150358493b23242dea9d75311en02

[Jimmy]

They seem fine, at least the review are positive, and for the price it isn't a big deal if you aren't satisfied to replace them.

[RossRoy]

I've got an older model of Logitech. The Z680 I think. Unless you are really lucky, they'll probably be over your budget .. BUT, the point is, it's my third Logitech set and I've always been happy with them. Be it a simple 2.0 set, my first 5.1 (don't remember the model) or my 5.1 I have right now, I've always been happy.

One thing - do get a set with a subwoofer. That's the main problem of small PC speakers, no matter the brand. You need a subwoofer to get halfway decent bass response on these small speakers.

That Logitech set you posted looks quite alright.

[Eric]

Thanks for the advice Seb, I had not thought about this but you're right, small pc speakers almost always sound "canny".  I don't I'm gonna get the ones I showed above though, I found the remote control very appealing but reading the detailed specs I found out it's not a remote control, it's a wired control pod.

I wouldn't use it so I think I'd rather put the money on better speakers with no remote/pod control at all if I can't have a wireless control pad.

[RossRoy]

Considering they are PC speakers, chances are you'd be within reach of the controls (pod or whatever else) so a remote is pretty much useless. Actually, I've lost the remote ages ago on my current set, and I haven't missed it a single time since

And you know, I always find it a good idea to put the budget on better quality speakers and amplifier, than on gadgets (digital speakers when analog will sound just as good, remote, flashy LCD, whatever).

Oh and to answer your question about sound card: the integrated sound card on you PC should do the job. There's 2 scenarios where a separate sound card would be necessary.

The first is obviously moot - which is if you are a full on geek audiophile. Obviously you aren't, seeing as you are looking for 100$ speakers

The second, which could very well affect you, is interference in the sound system from all the electrical currents in your PC. My home computer doesn't suffer from it. I can plug the speakers in and crank up the volume and it's still silent while there's no sound playing. On my PC at work, if I crank up the volume, I can actually hear the network card working, the hard drive reading, my video card drawing on screen, etc. How would you test that? Best way I can think of would be a good pair of headphones plugged into the speaker port and crank the volume in Windows and see if your hear the PC "working" in the headphones. If not, you should be fine. If you do hear interference, do yourself a favor and get a separate sound card, and try to plug it as far away as possible from the "core" of the PC. There are very affordable cards from M-Audio that are "audiophile" level and sound really awesome. As long as you don't need all the fancy 3d techno-mumbo sound localization for games, it will meet your needs.

Also, is it worth it to go Digital over Analog .. not really. Digital would probably easily get rid of the interference in the audio I speak about, but unless your PC can do real time AC3 encoding before relaying to your speakers, it's a moot point, because you'd end up with a simple stereo stream. Just make sure you don't run your analog cables parallel to power cables, and you should be fine. Anyways, we're talking, 10 feet of cable? Chances are it's not going to pick up much interference in 10 feet.

[Eric]

Although I'm no Edgar Fruitier, I do want good sound.................or better say I don't want bad sound.  I've been looking at 2.0 vs 2.1 options and I don't think I can get good sound with 2.0 speakers in the same price range as the 2.1 above.  Not because of quality because obviously, same price but with only 2 speakers should be better but I think I'd need better speakers to compensate for not having a sub-woofer.

So if I go 2.0, I believe this would be my best option.


http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/creative-lab-creative-gigaworks-2-0-channel-computer-speakers-t20-51mf1610aa002/10144691.aspx?path=b662a3002ac3b5303a292885a84a0df8en02

As I said in my first post, this isn't for movie watching, I just want good sound for my music when I work or relax with a cigar and a scotch so I really don't care about 2.1 or 5.1.  If I can have good sound with 2.0 I'm happy, that's one thing less on my floor that needs to be moved when I vacuum.

My opinion is that those Creative Gigaworks would give me a better sound than the Logitech z313 which is really on their low-end products and I don't really mind spending more if it's really worth it.

What do you thin ?  Gigaworks T20 or Logitech Z313 ?

[RossRoy]

Well, spec wise they are pretty much the same. Frequency response has a difference of 2Hz

Power is 25W vs 28W .. again

So basically, it boils down to "do you want/need a subwoofer".

There's also the whole 120$ for 2.0 vs 60$ for a 2.1 system. This would tend to mean that the speaker themselves are better quality on the Creative set. And a summary web search tends to confirm it.

Without having heard them? I'd say either should give you decent audio for the price. I don't think you can really go wrong with either of those.

[Najemikon]

Creative have a fantastic history in audio for PCs and they took over a little company called Cambridge Soundworks who made the Creative 5.1 set I have. It's incredible quality and even if the Cambridge name has been assimilated into Creative by now, that's a fantastic base to consider the new stuff from.

[Eric]

There's nothing like a good night sleep to help make a decision. 

So I've been thinking lately about cancelling my TV subscription because there's just nothing good on it anymore.  I spend all my evenings watching stupid shows that I don't even really like.  I'm not that interested in F1 anymore because it's got boring and I'm tired of waiting for them to figure out how to make it good again.  That leaves me with only one show I really like and I can get it on Blu Ray when the season ends.

I want to go back to playing guitar which I should never have stopped, I want to listen to music more and I also have a new job now that will allow me to work from home when I want to.

That's it, a decision has been made, I'm gonna cancel my TV sub today and since I will spend more time in my office than I thought I do want good sound and 5.1 now which changes everything.

So what am I gonna buy ?    Well..............most probably nothing.  I will reorganize my office, install my good old Pioneer VSX-D458 A/V Receiver and properly wire it.  For sound quality, this is gonna beat any 100$ or less PC speakers I could buy   I'll just have to figure out how to connect it to get 5.1 because it's really not obvious.

I was going to apologize for having wasted your time but it wasn't wasted actually, discussing it here prevented me from rushing to the store making expenses I would have regretted.

[RossRoy]

No problem! It's actually a good decision

Depending on what your receiver has as far inputs it may be real easy to connect, or outright impossible. You might want to consider using that 100$ you were going to invest in speakers, but instead use it to match a sound card to your receiver (that's assuming your receiver doesn't have 5.1 analog inputs and/or your PC doesn't have digital output) ..

Again I go back to M-Audio, but they have a model line, Audiophile I think, which has all the outputs and inputs (guitar ) you could possible ever need! And if the card itself doesn't have it, there are expansion bay you can buy for them. The card itself is pretty cheap, but the sound fidelity on those is top notch!

I personally dislike Creative, ever since my last 5.1 speaker set died on me after 12 months, exactly 3 days after warranty. And because of all the driver woes I had with my Audigy 2. But like I always say, your mileage may vary.

[Eric]

I made some big decisions finally this morning.  My digital life is about to take quite a turn.


I cancelled my TV Subscription, my phone line (keeping only the cell phone) and I'm changing my cable broadband internet for a high speed mobile internet .  The customer service tried everything to convince me to keep the tv and the phone with basic service but I said no.  In a few minutes I will no longer have TV service.

Now back to my speaker setup, the receiver is not DTS or DD, it's only Pro Logic but since I won't use it for movies it's not a problem anyway.   It has two sets of speaker connections, A and B and I can choose to have sound in A, B or both so I think I'll stick to stereo.  I wil just have the front speakers on A, the rear speakers on B and then I can choose between either pair or have all 4 speakers working.