Most computer setups I see at residential homes have either a laptop, outputting sound thru the laptop speakers, or a desktop with tiny desktop speakers. Both are so far from high fidelity that it saddens my heart. I also find that many people equate computer-sourced sound with terrible fidelity and tinny speakers. They are not aware that most computer sound is very hi-fi as long as you have a good sound system with good speakers or headphones. Or maybe they don’t care.
Woops, didn’t realize that you can’t create a poll in this forum. So just tell me – is your computer connected to a good audio output device or not? And if not, do you care?
Me first…all my home/office computers are connected to a good hifi system with good speakers and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It depends on which computer…
My MacBook… No.
My Desktop… No.
My Mac Mini media center controller… Yes. It’s connected via optical S/PDIF to my Yamaha 7-channel Amp.
My MacBook is connected to a tiny Tripath T-amp, which I built from a kit, and a pair of homemade bookshelf speakers. It’s hi-er fi than most computer setups.
If I find the time and inclination I may one day build a version with digital inputs and an active crossover. (And when I say “build”, I mean “assemble components designed by people who actually know what they’re doing”).
My main everyday computer, no. It is a laptop with a mediocre sound card. But I do keep a set of headphones near it just in case.
But… I maintain a separate computer, an old XP desktop, just for audio purposes. It has a great sound card, which I output to an actual stereo with real speakers. The sound is excellent. I also use it for digitizing old LPs, cassettes, and the occasional radio program.
At the computer, my main concern is if the built-in speakers work. (And they do.) It is connected via LAN to an Apple TV, and that is connected to the main system with 5.1 channel surround and a real subwoofer.
Sounds like SDMB-ers aren’t typical computer users, and that’s a good thing!
I can’t think of any of my neighbors or clients that have a good setup, or know that it is even possible, but that is probably not a representative sample, either. It’s skewed towards geezers, not young people, and a knowledgeable user wouldn’t have to call me for support!
I have a fairly decent Logitech 5.1 speaker system here in the office, about 10% for games and 90% to do DVD soundtrack editing. It’s not audiophile grade but it’s way, way up on the computer speaker spectrum.
I have the computer at home hooked up to the TV via hdmi and use that as a monitor and general entertainment system. The TV is plugged in to the home theater amplifier via RCA cables and all the sound comes through that to my 20-year-old floor speakers. You can pry my old Fisher studio setup from my cold, dead hands, and stay off my lawn!
Three computers into a MOTU UltraliteMK3, into a home theater receiver, into 5.1 speakers. Obviously only one of those computers can do surround, the others are stereo (well, 2.1). Are we good?
My desktop PC has an RCA S-P/DIF connection to my 5.1 channel receiver, and my Mini Mac has a mind-bogglingly stupid mini-headphone jack optical RCA S-P/DIF connector that goes to a different input on the same receiver. Only someone as demented as Steve Jobs would have thought it was a good idea to use the bottom of a headphone jack as an optical digital audio connector. I’ve managed to break two of the things.
As long as you’re coming out of a computer digitally, you can have excellent sound. Just don’t expect to get clean analog audio out of one.