Some years ago, I gave up on PC speakers in favor of headphones, for reasons. Now, for other reasons, I’m maybe interested in speakers again. I’m hoping for something a little unusual, maybe. I’ve looked at several online sites reviewing/recommending speakers, but I have no confidence in their disinterestedness or their judgment.
I’m not a demanding user, I’m not a gamer, and I don’t want to blast music. In fact, I want something that sounds good at low levels, for classical music, jazz, and spoken things like radio plays.
My other need is to minimize the real estate requirement. I just don’t have room on my desk for speakers. I thought about hanging a shelf on the wall. I also thought, or rather wondered, about flat speakers – are there such things for PCs? (Windows 10 at present, probably Windows 11 at some point).
Bonus Round: PC software sound equalizers – are these a good idea? Recommend one that is good and also easy* to set up?
*I’m not stupid (at least I don’t think so) but I am lazy. So fewer steps and fewer complications is fine. I just want to be able to adjust the sound for each type of listening, and if I can set up some presets for them I would be so happy.
Y’all have been kind to me in the past. Here’s hoping I haven’t gone to the well once too often.
What’s your budget? For classical music and jazz, I think there are some great speakers out there that would be good on a small shelf, but knowing your budget would help narrow things down.
For the last 20 years I’ve plugged jacks into the sound out port of my computer and the other end went into an amp which could select sound source, and which had real blow-your-brains-outta-yer-skull speakers on the other end. With other sources being the TV/cable box or whatever. (CDROM player once upon a time; tape deck way back when; turntable also; except for Netflix and whatnot it’s all throug the computer these days)
I’m older, I don’t blast music as often, but I still now and then switch to “headphones” (that’s how my computer thinks of it) and crank the amp.
For the software, I’d suggest looking at foobar2000. It’s free and does basically everything you might want, including very good equalization.
As far as your speakers, you may want to consider a soundbar (as used with many TVs). Many of them have brackets or screw holes in the back that allow you to wall mount or suspend them. Much easier to work with than individual speakers, though the bass may be a bit weak. They typically have multiple signal input types and you can decide how you want to interconnect your PC to it.
“Flat” speakers have not been a good choice for me in the past, if you don’t count my Maggies
If not on the desk surface, realistic options include:
On the monitor,
On the wall,
Floor stands.
I’d skip the monitor mount, the speakers would be too close and you’d be restricted to small models. A shelf probably makes the most sense unless ‘off-the-wall’ is meant literally.
Perhaps I should have explained that most of what I would be playing through these speakers comes from YouTube, one way and another. Foobar2000 appears to be a player, and that’s not what I need.
OK, that makes sense. I can’t say that I have any good suggestions for that type of application. I’ve been pretty disappointed in Equalizer APO and some of the other free equalizer apps. I tried Equalizer Pro for a few days for free, but it gave me problems. I think the license costs $30, if it works well for you.
I personally use an external USB DAC and TOSLink for external audio, but most soundbars work with HDMI. I tried a Yamaha soundbar using HDMI/ARC with my laptop and it did some weird things. I ended up switching to TOSLink. The sound quality was pretty good. I was not using an external monitor…just ran from my HDMI to the soundbar. The soundbar would mount directly to the wall above my desk.
I know nothing about speakers. I know even less about how to connect them to a computer.
But I do know one thing about speakers which is vitally important to me : KNOBS !!! (to control the volume).
I have really cheap $20 speakers attached to my desktop PC. And to me, it is critical that they have a physical knob which I can twist quickly and easily to adjust the volume.
YouTube clips seem to have no standardization regarding volume. Sometimes a click on a new clip causes a massive jump in loudness
I just looked this up as I’m also looking for a (better) software EQ.
AFAICT, Foobar doesn’t come with an EQ but maybe you can get a plug-in or script or whatever. But that’s getting a bit more involved than the OP suggested they want to get.
If you look for EQ apps on the web a lot of them will rely on Equalizer APO as their engine. Similar to ZonexandScout, I have had a lot of trouble with EQ APO. I need something easier that doesn’t need two different programs, each of which is hard to configure .
ETA: I just saw that the OP already noted that Foobar is just a player.
I have settled on a sound bar that comes with wall mounting and a sub-woofer which can be on the floor.
I found out by research that there are potential difficulties connecting with my HP all-in-one through the aux 3.5 mm cable connection, as there are two kinds of plugs and some speakers don’t come with the right one. The unit I found also can connect via USB (and Bluetooth, although I’m not a fan of wireless connections for sound). So I’m hoping for the best. Thanks for all the input.
