Peripherals Speaker advice? Need to buy a soundcard or not?

Hiya guys...

I'm thinking about buying a new set of speakers.. currently have some 5.1 crappy logitech cheap ones and my sound is getting a bit distorted like you can hear almost squeaky vibrations when a sound gets too high or too low.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cors...-speaker-system-232watts-rms-wired-controller

The abover speakers are the ones I'm going to buy.

However my question is do you think they will work okay on onboard sound?

I've got a MSI p67a-gd55 motherboard, its very new... (bought last week ), obviously it will sound probably better on a sound card but will it be somewhat decent on the onboard?

Also if I really do need to buy a sound card to get the speakers to be worth it... how much am I looking to spend on a card? I don't know much about sound cards to be honest.

Thanks.

James

 

I think it depends on what your going to do with it and what are your exygencies.

I've always used seperated card since the diff is really noticeable. But I am hard with sound quality .

I think it will be ok, but kind of a shame considering the price tag of those speakers. You still can invest in a decent sound card later

 

Well whats a decent sound card that isnt going to cost the world? That will actually be decent... I mean I don't mind having to spend £100 if its a good deal difference over a £40 one.. but obviously the cheaper the better

I just want good quality sound.... I'm not particularly an audiophile but I do want good quality sound for games, music, movies etc as its my blu-ray player.

 

bah, buy a decent second hand amp and bookshelf speakers. much, much, much better bang for buck (and i can tell you right now they will sound beefier and better than those speakers you're linking to)

For example: I found my Mordaunt Short Avant 902i speakers for £50 as open box specials, and an old Yamaha rxv359 AV amp for £50 from a mate, which works out pretty well as it has a built in DAC so i don't have to have a crazy awesome soundcard with excellent analog out, and dolby decoding for consoles. £100 total. win. It has blown away everyone I've shown the system to (in fact, musically it compares pretty damned favourably to the £2000 system in my living room), and when I tell them how much it set me back, they don't believe me.

Even buying new, I can throw something together that's much more compelling than a poncy overpriced rebranded 2.1 system from a company that sells memory:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/wharfedale/diamond-9.0/whar-9.0-blk
http://www.richersounds.com/product.../cambridge-audio/topaz-am1/camb-topaz-am1-blk

that isn't an AV amp sure, but you get the picture. Proper gear.

 

+1 .... but takes more space .... but still +1

I'd get a pair of floor standing speaker when only listening to music .... and for DvD bookshlef as surround speaker and a central channel. A sub is really optional IMHO .... but that's my personnal case and my very own taste

But if you stick with a PC speaker kit .... there're cheap sound card (Asus xonar D1 / DX)

 

+1 again. Buy proper speakers, not "computer speakers." Something that's 30 years old at a bargain basement price will still sound fantastic today if you can find the room. I have two systems, both running 3-way B&Ws, and both rigs cost about the same as the little computer speakers. Plus you can keep the legroom under your desk

 

I have SP2500's, got them last week and I love them!!!! I run mine off a Xonar DS, and they're beautiful Just be sure you have space for the sub

And to people who say 'buy proper speakers' these are, they're monitor levels of quality!!! My mate runs studio monitors but is thinking about moving to these instead...

And honestly, just that these speakers are compared to monitors shows how good they are, I'm very very happy with them

 

My Aego M's take a whole lot of beating

 

"Monitors" really doesn't mean anything at all. That's just a pair of speakers the manufacturer has decided to target to studios, and can be much worse than a set of computer speakers. If they're decent ones, then the design goal of a monitor is to show up flaws in audio, and more so to translate to other systems. It doesn't matter at all whether or not they "sound good." They typically don't go super-low and dramatic sounding, they have very small sweet spots, and are fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time. I was talking about hi-fi speakers, which are design to fill the opposite functions - to sound impressive, and flatter any audio signal as much as possible. To say "these are monitors" is just a pair of speakers the manufacturer has decided to target to studios, and can be much worse than a set of comparably priced computer speakers. When I say "proper speakers" I'm really making two points:

When I say "proper speakers" I'm really making two points:

The idea of a ".1" system with a subwoofer is designed for a mono sub to put out the really really low rumbles that aren't directional and need a tuned port to express. The typical PC speaker setup instead uses a much, much higher crossover point, leaving information that should be spread out in stereo summed to a mono driver. This causes information down there to sound muddy, so in turn it often gets left out, leaving a scooped out, lifeless sound. Equally, to force such low rumble out of a small box like these use, they have to use very highly tuned resonant ports, which give you very artificial, faked bass. It works alright for sound effects, but sounds unnatural on voice and unattached on music.

Secondly, that while speakers depreciate in value just as fast as a PC, they don't depreciate in performance the same way - if at all. A bit like musical instruments, for the most part they're a question of manufacturing cost and build quality vs. ideal design, but it's also a horribly fashion led market. So for your money you can buy something which was made a long time ago to very high standards and sounds absolutely breathtaking, for the same money as a modern, cost-cutting plastic set.

/excessive rant in answer to a simple point, apologies.

Of course, if you want a warranty and don't have much room on your desk, you have very little choice in your approach and as 2.1 computer systems go, those Corsairs get a very good rep. I would imagine the AEs are very good also - I use their monitors in my studio, but their support and service has been very mixed in my experience. Always friendly and a pleasure to deal with, but the quality of the work not always great.

 

The SP2500's are made differently though. The sub is huge, so the bass does the fullrange, from soft and crisp to full and heavy and deep I lidten to lots of DnB, electro and psytrance to bass is important to me

And the specs are insane, the way it has an amp per driver and 2 for the sub to minimise distortion and so forth...

 

Monitor are only close range flat response speaker. They do not "ear candy" the signal. They just deliver it exactly like it is. Plus over 1m away from them, them sound that you ear is pretty altered.

Nice setup to me is a floor stander with at least 3 driver (1 woofer with a low pass, 1 not filtered full range and 1 super tweeter with a high-pass.

Another solution if you are a bass lover .... Jensen type speaker with a front loaded horn + a 1" compression



(the 2-way speakers on the back are open baffle type speakers. Those are very nice too, but doesn't fit every "ears").

Spec are one things .... real life is another. You can have 10 amp per channel, if they are entry level one this won't change a thing. If you want a great amp .... go the A-class route and take dual mono bloc with a proper PSU stage, less component as possible and great transformer, self, cap, etc.... but the cost will be $$$$

 

You miss the point. An actual subwoofer should only be making actual sub-bass sounds, which is mostly below 80hz (and I'm being generously high). As a test, try turning your sub off. Your speakers should sound much the same, just with the deepest bass missing (it's hard to describe - it's like someone has taken the floor out of the music). In every 2.1 system I've listened to, the opposite happens - the music becomes exceptionally tinny, like listening to music coming from a pair of headphones left on the table.

If that's happening, then all of the meat of your music is coming from the sub, and even worse, will sound like it too. Gunshots and explosions in movies, and heavy bass lines in songs all sound like they're coming from the sub. That's mostly Ok if you're positioning the sub between the speakers, but it's usually better to position them in a corner for maximum response.

 

I'd say that you are the most generous person I know

Nom nom nom, that lovely metal sounding speaker, like a cheap headphones inside a soda can

This is all about bass nowaday . My ears are bleeding.

 

Have you actually had the SP2500-set? It sounds pretty bloody good, the tiny satellites are easy to place properly and you don't need to think where to hide the separate amplifier.

I'm all in for quality audio and personally have two bookshelf speakers and what even you would call a real subwoofer, but really I'm just so fed up with people bashing the SP2500's (without ever even owning a set), because they are actually good speakers.

And to OP: if I were you, I'd test the speakers with the integrated sound card first. It's a shame Corsair didn't add a digital input to that set..

Oh floor standing speakers + amplifier at £170? Yeah good luck getting better sound quality with that. Sure, with luck you can get second hand deals and audio gear doesn't really get old in the same way as other electronics, but still you'll end up spending lots of time trying to find the best deal...

 

Those speakers will be good enough that you will hear a difference with a decent soundcard

 

Despite my above essay which may seem to the contrary, I think the Corsair's would be ideal. I was more reacting to "they sound better than monitors" which, no offence to the poster, is very misleading. While not wanting to go down that horribly patronising "your ears aren't good enough to hear the difference" or "you just don't appreciate good sound" audiophile babble route, the reality is more that while the day to day computer user or gamer could easily hear the A/B difference between a sub/satellite set and full range speakers, they're probably just not that fussed about the minor difference that it is. Just like I'm more than happy with my £150 TN panel while other people would say it looked horrible, I'm sure most people would be happy with
Oh floor standing speakers + amplifier at £170? Yeah good luck getting better sound quality with that. Sure, with luck you can get second hand deals and audio gear doesn't really get old in the same way as other electronics, but still you'll end up spending lots of time trying to find the best deal...convenient small satellite speakers.

£170 without a ton of space - my recommendations - NAD 3020/Cyrus One, B&W DM5s, and a Xonar DX/DG depending on the deals you get.

 

That's why on my first post I asked him about his exigency and the use he will have.

For pure music listening, nothing can beat a 2.0 system. But again, the price tag is not the same. I'm not into multi channel and just gave my humble opinion. I will never listen to music on a home cinema speaker set.

But again PC speaker are only good multi purpose set for an affordable price .... but my exigency is a little high about sound quality. I had Altec set (ATP3, ADA 890, MX5021), Klipsch 4.1 PROMEDIA. They were all good for their price tag .... but sound like crap for pure music listening compared to speaker made for music (just do the turn sub off thing to notice that). But price tag again and used space.

For his use the corsair is nice (but I'll had a Xonar D1 / DX).

For my use I prefer My AKG K701 headphone for both movie, music or game.

As always before buying, set your needs ! And for audio stuff, once you know your requirement .... listening test

I'm not saying that the Corsair isn't good for his use ... just that it will never be an "audiophile" equipement and as Neil said, this is not pejorative and doesn't mean that they "thing bad". That was just my advise, no offense intended . I turned back to HIFI speaker / headphone because I was tired playing with the equalizer depending on what I was listening to because Sub and sat didn't reacte the same way (mainly bass / treble adjusment). With my K701, the equalizer is always flat as well as with my open baffle 3 way speakers ..... but price price price again

Go for it if you listened to them and if it fits your need . Nothing can beat a real life listening test.

EDIT : SOWWY, but I'm a very passionate person and sometimes my feeling just lead my words. No offense, was just trying to seperate PC speakers, home cinema speakers and HIFI speakers

 

Admittedly, no, but I'm going on my fairly extensive experience with even hifi oriented subsat systems. They never sound quite as cohesive as a pair of even cheap bookshelves. Sure they might boom and bang along with the rest of them, but there's always this odd disconnect between the satellite and sub.

 

Yeah maybe I over-reacted as well/read your original post a bit wrong.

QED.. The thing is, they aren't like most 2.1-sets. While the 100 Hz crossover is still a bit high for a "real" subwoofer, it's low enough not to sound all wrong. Switch the sub off and the two-way satellites are pretty damn far from "headphones on the desk".

And I did go around the local hifi-stores with a friend of mine as he was looking for speakers for a 5.1-set and that included listening to speaker pairs between 150-500 €/pair and frankly the Corsair satellites have nothing to shame when compared to the cheaper end bookshelf speakers.

 

And monitors :-D

So to summarise - if you have the space to use full range speakers, it's the way to go if you can be bothered to hunt for a vintage bargain (I actually expect the corsairs to sound a lot better than most of the nasty little bookshelf things richer sounds or somewhere will sell you for that money) but if you don't have the space, the corsair's seem to be the way to go in desktop subsats