I have an old Logitech 5.1 surround system and one of the speakers has gone bang and the whole system is creaking.
Looking for any suggestions, had a look online but struggling some what.
I used to do the 5.1 thing, but I found it to be too much of a hassle.
I’m happy with a simple 2.1 system for my desktop and Creative Pebble v3 for my laptop.
My recommendation is to buy a pair of studio speakers. I have some from PreSonus, but there are many alternatives. So much better sound than any of my previous Logitech or Creative speaker sets.
I picked up Micca’s 8 years ago and still works nice. They are stereo. ~$99-$120 but currently out of stock so I don’t know what’s going on.
micca PB42X is what you want because they are (P)owered through mains. You don’t need a separate amplifier.
I use the MB42X but they require an amplifier which is… expensive/bad/all come with compromises so I can’t recommend that route.
Apart from Logitech, I don’t think anyone is making 5.1 speaker setups aimed at PC gaming anymore. When my Altec Lansing 641 setup finally started to go, I bought some home theater speakers and a receiver to replace it.
I bought a soundbar a couple of years ago - Creative SoundBlaster Katana. Different form so I can fit it nicely under my monitor and multiple inputs - I’ve used Bluetooth with my Switch and the Aux occasionally with my 3DS. It is an expensive product though and of course, is only a 2.1 system. But I couldn’t be happier with it.
I finally replaced my 15 year old Logitech system with a Phillips TAB7305 nine months ago.
I went for a soundbar as I have multiple monitors and wanted something low-profile that would comfortably sit in front of them.
Sound-wise it’s great (the separate sub really fills things out). No complaints. However, I now have an audio delay of ~170ms which, while fine for music while I’m working, is enough to be annoying when watching youtube (the speaker’s lips moving before they speak) or playing games (clicking the mouse results in the on-screen gun firing, but the gunshot is a fraction of a second later).
Plenty of googling suggests that this might just be an inherent drawback of some soundbars. I know the Yamaha soundbar I have connected to my TV has a smaller delay but I was able to fiddle with some settings on the TV to mostly compensate for it. No such option when outputting from a PC unfortunately.
As a result I’m now in the market for some basic PC speakers again. I either go with ones that are designed to lie on their side (Logitech Z407s) or bite the bullet and make a gap between my main and secondary monitors so that a larger pair of desktop speakers (Edifier 1280DBs) can ‘fire’ through.
Any issues with audio latency/delay (and do you consider yourself sensitive to such things)?
How is it connected to your PC ie which inputs/connection types?
I went from a 5.1 system to bookshelf speakers when my previous Klipsh 5.1 system gave up the ghost and no regrets. If I’m feeling the need for spatial audio, I’ll put on headphones.
Soundbar or a decent set of bookshelf speakers is definitely a better value/better audio than any computer speakers.
I’m using an older version of these Edifiers. Surprising amount of bass considering no subwoofer (and the DBs has a subwoofer port if you want more oomph later), really clear audio, and they have an optical input to simplify wiring from the PC. Love 'em. And no latency to speak of via optical.
Two very good questions:
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Audio Latency/Delay: I’ve not noticed any with my soundbar. I think I would notice if there was delay between what was on screen and the audio coming out. For instance, I once had a dongle attached to my 3DS to transmit sound as a bluetooth signal, and I stopped using it because the delay was annoying me, thus the aux cord now. I’m just looking at a few videos on YouTube now to check but everything seems good there. For example, I watched a quick movie clip and actor lips synced with the audio, and then a quick video game clip/livestream where sound matched nicely with what was happening on screen.
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The connection - USB-A from motherboard IO into the soundbar’s micro-USB port, then the sub has its own connection from the back of that. I have not used Optical, I didn’t see any reason to do so. Going via USB means that Win10 will recognise the soundbar in its native form, and to my understanding, there’s no need for encoding/decoding. There is also an extra DC power connection. There is an added program (Soundblaster Connect) to manipulate the soundcard within the device, and it’s equilizer settings. And turn off the RGB… Also, my motherboard USB is a mix of USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 ports which is a minimum requirement for this device.
Ah, that’s very helpful, thank you.
Sounds like I might need to bump the Katana up the shopping list!
Thanks for all the replies. I replaced the wire to my non functioning speaker and it now works which is good news.
I have a set of Edifiers for my Record Player and they are really nice. This is the view behind my desk (Including Xmas Lights)
I am still tempted to get new but there is not a lot of choice outside of Logitech speakers out there
I just upgraded last week to a DAC/AMP combo unit and some passive speakers.
I got this on Black Friday sale foe $105:
And these from Facebook marketplace barely used with orginal boxes/etc. for $115:
Completely blown away at how much better they sound than standard desktop speakers. Music and gaming both sound fantastic with soo much more depth. I’m trolling marketplace for good deal on a used Sub now but I don’t really need one.
Speakers a little big but I can deal with it.
I have some original Monsoon 2.1 flat speakers from maybe 15 years ago and I love them so much. They still sound great. Are there any good flat PC speakers these days?
For those of you with a multi-monitor setup, how do you deal with speaker placement?
My monitors have about 4 inches of space beneath them, hence why I’m looking at soundbars or something with a low profile eg Z407s horizontally or Creative Pebble Plus.
I have speaker stands that are desk height. I use them next to the desk.
Are headphones an option? I’ve gone from having klipsch and logi 5.1 setups to just using headphones Dice we moved into a smaller house a few years ago
Ah, nice one. Unfortunately I’m using a large L-shaped desk with the PC centred in the corner, so speakers on stands aren’t really an option as they’d almost be behind me. If I did go with larger desktop speakers positioned outside the monitors (but on the desk), even then they’d be almost at right angles to my seating position (my centre monitor is a 34" ultrawide). Which, I guess, is no different than headphones in a way…
I do have headphones, but since I work from home I’m not keen on wearing them for such long periods. I also prefer not to be ‘shut off’ from what’s going on around me (if my wife/kids are home). That said, when I game (and where the delay is problematic ie shooters rather than strategy games) I do chuck them on.
The Logitech speakers I used for the last 15 or so years were great (sound and latency/delay-wise), other than the fact I had them lying on their sides, which they weren’t designed for ie looked like they’d fallen over!
I just have my speakers behind the monitor. The monitor stand for the 49" juts back so far towards the wall that there’s plenty of room for them behind the display.
Some open-backed headphones might be an option for you, if you finds the right ones (that you don’t mind wearing for long periods)