Speaker Upgrade choice
 

Well, it's that time, to upgrade my speakers for monitoring. I currently have my speakers coming out of my soundcard via regular 1/8 inch plug. So I was flipping through my 5lbs BH catalog and saw something like this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation
I was trying to find the ones that are better quality but still connect usb. I am not sure what the difference is. I do however need to connect a new pair of speakers.

So my options;

Connect USB.

Connect normally, out of my sound card.

Connect off of my JVC production monitor

I have a pretty good ear, I just need that clean anadulterated sound.


Steven

What role will these speakers play in your setup? Are they to be used as your serious working monitors for editing and mastering your sound mix or just as preview monitors, say during field recording on your laptop or some such?

I don't mean to sound negative, but typical computer 'multimedia' speakers such as these are very unlikely to be suitable for any serious work beyond confirming that indeed you have sound. Sometimes that's all you need, but for real monitors you need to set your sights (and budget) quite a bit higher.

Thanks Steve. These will be my editing monitors. I'll use these on my desk to edit with. I doubt they would travel with me much.

Yeah, that link above is a cheapo pair, but it was the only example I could find of a usb connector. I am looking to upgrade my speakers. I currently deal with that delay to my monitor via firewire, so I was exploring my speaker connection options.

What soundcard do you have? Does it have digital SP/DIF outputs? Will you replacing it in the foreseeable future? Any special reason you want USB speakers in particular?

Hmm, the sound card I have doesn't have SP/DIF outputs, But my mother board does.

Not really interested in USB, I just noticed them.

Your motherboard has S/PDIF?!?!?! I asked because there are a number of quality monitors that have digital audio as well as analog inputs but I'm not aware of any with USB connections. That's not to say they don't exist, just I can't think of any off the top of my head. Those that I do know about all fall into the category of 'computer speakers,' okay for entertainment but not a substitute for real monitors.

I asked about your soundcard because if you're trying to upgrade your system to higher quality sound in general you might want to consider your audio interface at the same time you think about the monitors. With the exception of a couple of top of the line cards, most conventional PC soundcards aren't really up to par for professional work and even the best would be considered only marginally adequate. Since you mentioned you were interested in USB connectivity, an external USB audio interface to drive the monitors and also to provide inputs for recording rather than looking for monitors that have USB connections themselves might be something to consider.

Thanks Steve, my motherboard listed here http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...M800PMD-775-RH
lists one 1 x SPDIF IN/OUT so I'm assuming that I can use it for my new speakers. I like your idea of having both analog and digital.

Now to find a good pair.

I'd be very very cautious using the integrated soundcard on the motherboard, they are rarely (if ever!) really suitable. What sort of productions are you planning - serious work or home movies/hobby sorts of things?

I have an maudio audiophile card in my machine. While its converters don't sound as good as much more expensive interfaces, and not as good as my pioneer universal player (I use this as my defacto cd player), this card definitely sounds better than any integrated audio from a motherboard and kicks my friends expensive soundblaster card.

I think it would be around $100 upgrade and would be well worth the money.

As for the speakers that you suggested, I would look a little higher up on the food chain. Even if you were willing to invest an extra $100, the edirol monitors at that price would be much much better. Editing on cheap computer speakers sucks no matter how you cut it.

Greg,

Yeah, I don't mind getting another sound card and speakers. I'm just trying to find a good combination.

I was trying to confirm what the best type of out put will be, spdif analog etc. Greg do you have a link for your sound card?

I'm very happy with my Echo Audiofire firewire interface ... www.echoaudio.com

Thanks Steve, I was reading some of your other posts on audio stuff. It's good information.

Speakers
 

Steve, I just bought this set to hook up USB to my MBPro. http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...ontentid=12263

They are not bad. They sound great for everyday listening and short of getting reference monitors to do serious work, I think you'll like these. They're heavy duty.

Jeff

If your budget is limited, give the M-Audio line of speakers a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.
I got them for my home theater, cause they sound really good and honest.

In my studio, I use reference monitors by ATC and Focal, but these are rather expensive.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Arthur

Thanks, I'm still looking around. I definatly need to consider a card/speaker combo. These are great suggestions.