Discussion
Afternoon all, I find myself, not by choice, spending more time on PC. I have decent hifi kit throughout the house but what's my options on desktop PC if the budget was around 250 shamoleon. Not a huge amount I know but anyone recommend kit to make my listening a little easier on the ears? TIA guys.
A lot of PCs have fairly decent DACs in.
You could just try feeding that to any hifi amp and speakers.
Other options include a BlueTooth DAC, USB DAC maybe.
I had a PC with an optical out from the MoBo, that was OK with a cheap DAC.
Going optical out can be useful if you get noise or grounding issues.
Sometimes it's nice to have an alternative source,so you can listen to music while waiting for the 'puter to reboot.
If you want new kit, there are some cheap small amps like Lepai which are surprisingly good, so you could prioritise spending on some nice bookshelf speakers.
You could just try feeding that to any hifi amp and speakers.
Other options include a BlueTooth DAC, USB DAC maybe.
I had a PC with an optical out from the MoBo, that was OK with a cheap DAC.
Going optical out can be useful if you get noise or grounding issues.
Sometimes it's nice to have an alternative source,so you can listen to music while waiting for the 'puter to reboot.
If you want new kit, there are some cheap small amps like Lepai which are surprisingly good, so you could prioritise spending on some nice bookshelf speakers.
thegingerone said:
Afternoon all, I find myself, not by choice, spending more time on PC. I have decent hifi kit throughout the house but what's my options on desktop PC if the budget was around 250 shamoleon. Not a huge amount I know but anyone recommend kit to make my listening a little easier on the ears? TIA guys.
I've recently bought some Kali LP-UNF active monitors for the PC. Very happy with them.https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kali...
If headphones I have gone . . .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SHP9500-00-Headph...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEN-DAC-V3-Desktop-Conver...
Or some budget Active speakers such as . . .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PreSonus-Eris-3-5-Gen-Stu...
I also have these but you have a budget . . .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/IK-Multimedia-iLoud-Monit...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SHP9500-00-Headph...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEN-DAC-V3-Desktop-Conver...
Or some budget Active speakers such as . . .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PreSonus-Eris-3-5-Gen-Stu...
I also have these but you have a budget . . .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/IK-Multimedia-iLoud-Monit...
thegingerone said:
Afternoon all, I find myself, not by choice, spending more time on PC. I have decent hifi kit throughout the house but what's my options on desktop PC if the budget was around 250 shamoleon. Not a huge amount I know but anyone recommend kit to make my listening a little easier on the ears? TIA guys.
For plug n play (USB C etc); I'd be looking at these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ADAM-Audio-D3V-Monitoring...Absolutely belting speakers by a fantastic speaker maker - they kick out some sound too with those side firing passive radiators...
What not play your computer music via your Hi-Fi system ?
I use the Wiim system as per :-
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5C9XXD5
Cheers,
Dougie.
Thanks all, apologies I was a bit vague. My desktop has a pair of creative speakers, 20 quid jobs plugged into the destop soundcard. Far from the expert but would a small dac and some powered speakers be the simplest solution and decent bang for buck ratio?, narrowing down the options. TIA guys
In my home office.
Using my laptop as a source, I have an SMSL SU-1 DAC plugged into the USB port, a Douk G3 amp and a pair of early 2000s Mission bookshelf speakers (bought used).
It sounds very good to me when using Spotify lossless.
It cost very little.
Using my laptop as a source, I have an SMSL SU-1 DAC plugged into the USB port, a Douk G3 amp and a pair of early 2000s Mission bookshelf speakers (bought used).
It sounds very good to me when using Spotify lossless.
It cost very little.
Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 26th January 08:59
So your desktop has a discrete sound card? What outputs does that have? Mini-jack stereo (often coloured green)? mini-jack surround? Full-size speaker jacks? XLR? Does the PC have digital out? If so, is that TOSLink optical, digital coax or digital mini-jack? Do you have a spare USB port?
thegingerone said:
Thanks all, apologies I was a bit vague. My desktop has a pair of creative speakers, 20 quid jobs plugged into the destop soundcard. Far from the expert but would a small dac and some powered speakers be the simplest solution and decent bang for buck ratio?, narrowing down the options. TIA guys
Yup; a small footprint amp, with a built in DAC and then speakers of your choice...SMSL amp/DAC: https://www.amazon.co.uk/S-M-S-L-Infineons-technol...
Speakers (as an example): Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s (great speakers): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wharfedale-Diamond-Speake...
Or; as I linked to above, plug n play active speakers like the ADAM D3Vs; or have a look at the Edifier examples on Amazon; they're getting better and better and I've a few sets myself in various rooms in the house and a set in the garage
I have these Edifier's in my garage: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1700BT-Bluetooth...
I've got these MR4s in one of our spare rooms upstairs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-MR4-Powered-Speak... with this Bluetooth receiver: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Bluetooth-Amplifie...
Or you could go something like:
Scarlett Solo USB interface: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Focusrite-Scarlett-Solo-A...
M-Audio active monitors: https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-Audio-BX5-D3-Production...
TRS cables: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TISINO-Cable-6-35mm-Stere...
Speaker isolation pads: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anpro-Monitor-Acoustic-Is...
I was using a Tangent Ampster BT amp connected to my main PC using an optical connection to the amp, and a pair of Cambridge Audio Minx 22 speakers and their X201 Subwoofer (the Ampster has a sub out). Sounded great, but the amp has a VERY annoying habit of going into standby mode after several minutes if there was no audio from the PC. Might sound trivial, but when using a headset on conference calls it almost always went into standby, and you'd be surprised how often you can work on a PC without it making any sounds, and then my amp powers off. You really need to make sure any 'advanced' solution has power saving features that can be disabled.
In the end I replaced it with some cheaper M-Audio AV42 "Compact Active Desktop Reference Speakers" (they have replaced by the BX4). They sound surprisingly good, and have a built in amp. I also added a 2nd hand 3 channel stereo mixer (Shure SCM262), it's all analogue but it meant I could connect my personal PC, and work laptop to the same speakers (and a 3rd monitor that is connected to a FireTV Stick).
Wound up being a much better solution (and much cheaper) partly because the amp/speakers are 'dumb' enough not to switch off when it goes quiet.
To each their own, but I found PC -> DAC option over complicated. I'm sure my solution isn't sonically the greatest, but it sounds pretty good, has proved very flexiable, and wasn't that expensive (£90 for speakers, £50 on eBay for the mixer).
In the end I replaced it with some cheaper M-Audio AV42 "Compact Active Desktop Reference Speakers" (they have replaced by the BX4). They sound surprisingly good, and have a built in amp. I also added a 2nd hand 3 channel stereo mixer (Shure SCM262), it's all analogue but it meant I could connect my personal PC, and work laptop to the same speakers (and a 3rd monitor that is connected to a FireTV Stick).
Wound up being a much better solution (and much cheaper) partly because the amp/speakers are 'dumb' enough not to switch off when it goes quiet.
To each their own, but I found PC -> DAC option over complicated. I'm sure my solution isn't sonically the greatest, but it sounds pretty good, has proved very flexiable, and wasn't that expensive (£90 for speakers, £50 on eBay for the mixer).
I have my PC plugged into a Cambridge Audio amp, then a pair of desktop speakers. Sounds great, better than my ears etc, but it is a bit annoying that I have a volume knob on the amp and a volume control on my PC. The one on my PC responds to the dial on my Stream Deck and the one on my keyboard, while the amp just ignores all that obviously..
I don't need access to the amp at all, I just want a box tucked out of the way in the back of my desk that will make good sounds, are there things out there that take a line-in signal from my PC and are volume controlled with the PC controls?
I don't need access to the amp at all, I just want a box tucked out of the way in the back of my desk that will make good sounds, are there things out there that take a line-in signal from my PC and are volume controlled with the PC controls?
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff