Topic: SPEAKERS FOR PC- AUDIO SETUP

[mccoy]

Guys, need help.

I'm setting up a pc and I want to use this as my audio center.  I plan to rip all my cd's to high bitrate MP3's or even to FLAC's (lossless audio compression) so I can access all of them in one location with a click of a mouse.

Recommendation please for a good speaker for this set up?  I heard altec lansing's are good, however, I have one connected to one of my pc and the sound left much to be desired...

help guys! 

[masterjericho]

you may want to check out also HTPC enthusiast

for thier recomendations...

http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?board=17.0

[alistair]

Why can't you just hook up your PC's audio outs to a (good) amp's inputs, and then use that to drive better speakers?
(Believe me, I've also come from Altec Lansings and I said goodbye to them the day I got my new amp+speakers.)

You'll also have to consider, of course, that even with lossless (FLAC or Apple Lossless) formats your music is subject to the quality of your PC's audio systems. Internal noise & interference, and the inherent quality of the D/A C come to mind. You ought to be able to get better audio with external sound devices (USB or Firewire, like Creative's Extigy series). Best yet, IMHO, is if you can 'stream' the audio direct digitally (e.g., as PCM data over a digital optical link) to an integrated amp that can do (better) digital-to-analog conversion for you.

My 2c.

[Gubs]

hello,
The idea of using soundcards digital out to a amplifier/reciever with DACs is the best solution.Just make sure your soundcard has bit perfect output to bypass windows kmixer resampling which is not too good sounding because it resamples all 44.1 material to 48. Anyway the only common cards available here with bit perfect digital outputs are the new Audigy 2 value(not zs , audigy 2 or audigy variants) and the expensive audigy 4. I use the a2 value.
The m-audio revolution 5.1/ 7.1 and hda digital mystique I believe have bit perfect and are still available I think,through special order through one of the Pinoydvd members.The M-audio is also availble direct through the local distrb.
Ive gone through several sets of PC speakers from altecs atp3. acs 56 to a cambridge soundworks megaworks 550, none of them sound as good as my reciever/speaker setup.Though the most common locally available altec mx5021 through what ive read are said to be near audiophile quality.Hope this helps
Gubs

[mccoy]

thanks for the info guys, i'll try the altec mx5021 speaker and let you know what happens...

[mattmatt]

Any idea how much the altec lansing mx 5021 is?

[joey]

Heres the price from Villman web site...

Altec Lansing MX5021 2.1 Speaker System
3-Piece Speaker System, Total Power: 90W RMS, THX Certified, Wireless Remote Control Pod, Headphone Jack 

P   10,488

[mccoy]

how bout the Klipsch ProMedia GMX A-2.1, are these better than the altex mx5021?
may available ba nito dito?

[slowhand]

Check out the Boston Acoustics BA635. Everyone who's heard them has been amazed. I even bring them around when I travel locally. About 4k in that car accessories store near the Megamall theaters.

[av_phile1]

Altec Lansing is a legend among theatre cinema audio pioneers.  I am just not so impressed with their powered PC speakers.  But they are definitely head and shoulders over the rest of PC speakers out there.  Boston Accoustics and Klipsch Promedia have created great value among sub-sat products, definitely better than any Bose cubes out there.

If you plan to make your PC your audio center, I suggest you invest in better soundcards like those suggested above.  I also suggest you get at least two(2) 120 Gb hard drives and don't use any form of compression when ripping CDs, even if lossless.  Any kind of digital manipulation should be left to the minimum.  Use the uncompressed wav format.  Just my 2 cents.

[Gubs]

Just saw Chaintech av-710 audiophile grade (Wolfson Dacs)bit perfect output soundcard being sold at tipidpc.com
ubos or reserved na lahat ng first batch 1500 pesos only super bargain. To some the pc makes stand alone cdplayers redundant used with foobar 2000 you almost have complete control over upsampling(some say sounds better) , bit perfect 44.1digital out, clipping prevention,equalizer etc.( I use digital out only for cd )
Gubs

[mccoy]

Check out the Boston Acoustics BA635. Everyone who's heard them has been amazed. I even bring them around when I travel locally. About 4k in that car accessories store near the Megamall theaters.

can't seem to find a detailed review of this speaker...  medyo mas affordable sya kesa yung altec mx5021, however, mas maganda kaya sound nya?

[mccoy]

If you plan to make your PC your audio center, I suggest you invest in better soundcards like those suggested above.  I also suggest you get at least two(2) 120 Gb hard drives and don't use any form of compression when ripping CDs, even if lossless.  Any kind of digital manipulation should be left to the minimum.  Use the uncompressed wav format.  Just my 2 cents.

would there really be any sound loss if even with a lossless compression?

[mm2002]

I have a boston BA635 nabili nung yr 2000 pa for sound clarity and detail very good sya,massolid ang mga housing hindi sya boomy very good stereo separation kahit sa creative vibra soundcard lang nakakabit, try also Creative Inspire T3000 maganda rin tunog nya medyo boomy with volume and bass control.

 

[john5479]

Just saw Chaintech av-710 audiophile grade (Wolfson Dacs)bit perfect output soundcard being sold at tipidpc.com
ubos or reserved na lahat ng first batch 1500 pesos only super bargain. To some the pc makes stand alone cdplayers redundant used with foobar 2000 you almost have complete control over upsampling(some say sounds better) , bit perfect 44.1digital out, clipping prevention,equalizer etc.( I use digital out only for cd )
Gubs

if you'll just use the digital out of the chaintech this is a great card (assuming your dac had an optical in). Yes for those who want "upsampling" foobar is a nice application to use, just make sure your dac is 24 bit 96khz capable

[av_phile1]

would there really be any sound loss if even with a lossless compression?

Nothing really audible.  I am just not convinved that any kind of digital manipulation, compression is one of them, lossless or otherwise, will leave the digital signal intact 100% when recovered or decompressed. 

[alistair]

Nothing really audible.  I am just not convinved that any kind of digital manipulation, compression is one of them, lossless or otherwise, will leave the digital signal intact 100% when recovered or decompressed. 

Nah, if it's lossless compression we're talking about then (I'm hoping) it's similar to lossless compression algorithms they use for data - and we know data is totally unforgiving about any form of information loss.

If you have enough space, though (like, say, a 300GB Firewire external HD) then one argument for uncompressed audio is that your PC won't have to spend CPU cycles decompressing the audio signal. On the other hand, decompression really doesn't take much processing power and won't really tax your PC. I'd just go try it either way and see if there's any audible differenc (lag, 'pops' as the audio takes a while to stream).

I'm not so sure about upsampling, though. When resizing a digital photo to higher resolutions, for instance, seldom does it really improve the quality of the image because you're trying to insert information where there was none. Sometimes, it can even degrade the image quality. A lot of it will depend on the algorithm used. For photos, for instance, the best 'upsampling' algorithm uses fractals. I don't know how they do it with audio...

[mccoy]

this speaker got better reviews than the ALTEC MX 5021:

http://www.behardware.com/art/imprimer/493/

Altec Lansing FX6021


has anyone tried this speaker yet?
it's prized almost the same as the mx 5021

[michbern]

I just got the logitech z-5500 but im not quite impress by it.. maybe its just me or maybe its leaning more to home theater movies being 5.1 and all. Try looking into Bose Companion... I heard it in a demo and its quite amazing how the small speakers perform.

[acg]

oh really...

[av_phile1]

The demo must be in a Bose showroom.  If so, then no wonder it's impressive.   

 

[zakkaz]

how bout the Klipsch ProMedia GMX A-2.1, are these better than the altex mx5021?
may available ba nito dito?

i saw the gmx2.1 @ spectra the other day

[redkoji]

i saw the gmx2.1 @ spectra the other day

Though we don't normally do this, in terms of performance...the GMX A.1 is definitely better than the Bose Cube.
As for the Altec...if the model ( I forgot the exact model) is the THX certified one...walang sinabi ito sa Klipsch Promedia 2.1...kaso lang its no longer available and was sold only for P9,800 to P10,500.00. As for the GMX A2.1 is much better sounding than any ALTEC with the same price level.

[john5479]

I just got the logitech z-5500 but im not quite impress by it.. maybe its just me or maybe its leaning more to home theater movies being 5.1 and all. Try looking into Bose Companion... I heard it in a demo and its quite amazing how the small speakers perform.

those speakers are used in the reception area of our office (bose companion) it has built in sound processing (similar to srs) thats why they sound spacious and with bass even though they are small....but this is just me, they don't sound right...evrything sounds exaggerated. Can't blame people to be initially impressed though since any speaker small in stature sounding big always grabs attention.

[Erymel]

Bumping this topic as this seems to be the closest to my question - would anyone know if PC speakers would generally have an impedance rating in the area of 6 to 8 ohms? I'm thinking of hooking up the speakers in the Creative 5.1 Inspire 5200 package to an AVR but the individual speakers do not have any labels on impedance and I can't seem to find the info in the web.

[av_phile1]

I would hazard a guess these are 4ohm speakers.   The Creative Inspire series has a powered bass module where you connect the satellite speakers.  It sounds ok when connected to a line level audio output of PC sound cards and from DVD players.  But it may be underwhelming when connected to an HT receiver.  You could connect the bass module to the receiver's LFE or sub-out terminal.  But the satellites will sound thin and could be easily overdriven when connected directlly to the 5 channels of the receiver. 

[nonie]

try using an M-Audio Sound Card & a Behringer Monitor Speaker.

http://www.behringer.com/MS40/index.cfm?lang=ENG

http://www.behringer.com/B2031A/index.cfm?lang=ENG

http://www.behringer.com/02_products/ftsearch1.cfm?lang=ENG&SEARCH1=STUDIO%20MONITORS

use for recording. labas lahat ng sound dyan.

[gren]

Well, just sharing.

Was looking for a cheap-o 2 speaker deal that i can use in lieu of my receiver/5.1 speaker setup and i came across this gem:

The Edifier MP 210: http://www.edifier.ca/products/mp210/mp210.html

What attracted me initially is the dual power source feature.  This allows you to use a normal power adaptor as well as use your PC's USB for power (power, mind you, not input).  As i dug deeper (I came across a single review, and it was in another forum at that), i found that the kit used MDF wooden enclosure, as well as an aluminium cone. The piano black finish was something i never really cared for, not on phones, nor on speakers, but it does make give the set a more 'distinguished' appearance.

Soundwise: i'm surprised that the output this thing provides: it has decent highs and lows.  It provides good imaging (assuming you position them right) and projects a good sound stage.  Properly positioned, the speakers almost disappear.   It can get a little loud, especially at high volumes, but seeing i'm so close to my pc when i use them, i don't really pump up the volume to high levels.

for 1895, its not a bad buy.  It can almost be considered a 'portable' speaker set, owing to its compact size, and would make a good partner for your laptop or mp3 player.

Edifier makes a lot of other products readily available at Villman and Octagon (I think).  Haven't really tested the others as I'm not interested in another 2.1 system (I do fancy that Klispch GMX set, sounds really nice ).  Just giving you guys a heads up on a possilble alternative to altec lansing (which i really dislike: cheapo build, expensive price and all).