Hi there, I wondered if anyone with some knowledge of PC speakers could give me some advice. I have some old Altec Lansing 221 2.1 speakers that I really don't like; the bass is nasty and overall it just sounds very muddy. I was wondering if I bought some new speakers, would they probably sound better? I was considering either Logitech X-540 5.1 (~£50) or Logitech Z-4 2.1 at just under £40. I don't have any proper outputs for 5.1 though, so it would just be through a single minijack and wouldn't be true 5.1, hence I'm edging towards just getting 2.1, not really having enough room for a 5.1 anyway. Secondly, I have an Analog Devices Integrated HD audio card so I wondered truthfully how much difference does it make to get a better sound card, and what would be recommended? I've only ever had integrated sound. I am slightly cautious about changing anything in my PC, never done it before. If someone could give me some advice about either of these two points, and tell me if either would be the way forward or suggest some alternative advice I would be very grateful. Thanks in advance.
You have to understand where I am comming from. I am an old dinosaur who has listened to music on an extream sound system for 40 years or so. I suspect you have not been so tainted. Forget the sound card. They do make some difference but your money will be far better spent buying good audio equipment. Expensive sound cards have better features such as dolby ect and output a bit more power. It is the extra power that makes the better sound. Remember, great sound costs. It is not the creation of the sound that is expensive it is the amplification and quality speakers that cost. Other than ear buds, good sound requires power especially bass. Speakers actually move the air in the room and can shake a house. That requires power. Nix the computer speakers if you want good sound. Your best buy is real audio equipment. High end computer speakers will not sound as good as fairly low end cheaper sterio speakers + amp for less money. You need to figure how much money you can spend. Do some research to learn what is out there then shop at a high end audio store or two. Keep in mind that the most important stats are watts and the speaker range. The lower the bass the more power you will need to run them. I would bring an mp3 player with a jumper cable along. You can test the sound system with the mp3 player. Mp3 players output less power than a sound card but are both very weak. The computer will sound better than the mp3 player. Tell the salesman your price range and explain you are going to input your computer/mp3. Listen to the advice and insist to hear your mp3 player get amplified. That way you can test the equipment in different stores fairly. If they want you to listen to something already set up say no thanks. They will have the most powerful (expensive) sound card set up. Later, you might want to use the mp3 player as your music source. They can be problematic because of the low power output. I almost forgot... You can swap out audio cards with a screw driver if you wish to go that route.
