Speaker and soundcard....need some opinions please

Hello, I want to setup an audio system when I get a refreshed mac-pro, the audio mostly for just personal use. I enjoy listening to music and have taken a college course on audio editing, used pro-tools, etc.. but was for an elective, so i'm not really into the audio technicalities so much but am a perfectionist by nature and really like high quality audio thats crisp and clean.

Which brings me to the point, Which speaker set should I purchase for my use? I'm not sure how a studio reference monitor would be best and tweak the software mixer or should I get a more "consumer" oriented monitor like the M-Audio AV 40 ?

Some thoughts

M-Audio StudioPro 3 ($80)
M-Audio Studiophile DX4 ($150)
M-Audio BX5a , little over budget ($266)
M-Audio AV 40 ($155)


And then the audio card, I have an 24bit Audigy 2 on my old PC and it trumps my macbook pro internal soundcard by quite a bit, a lot crisper, and obviously more powerful. Made my cheap creative speakers sound great with DVD-Audio samples.

From what I can pull up the Audigy cant and wont be supported in OS X so I was wondering how the on board Mac-Pro sound is compared to that? Would I just run a minijack to TRS cable to the speakers or is there a Toslink to RCA converter that would make a big difference? (M-Audio has an $80 one but kinda expensive for what I need)


Also quick question, the AV 40 mentions it accepts balanced 1/4" TRS plugs...this means theres no ring on the plug and uses separate plugs for left and right channels correct?

Thanks Chris,

The room is aprox. 10x12, computer in the corner, L shapped desk. Using the Mac Pro for graphic design and photo retouching, audio's just going to be used to listen to tunes while I work. I don't know if the flatter studio reference monitors would be to flat for what I need. Any audio editing would prob. be just for a hobby, or maybe for family video's etc.. so i'm not worried about it sounding technically correct....wish I could hear the BX5a or the DX4's to see exactly what they sound like. My budget for speakers is about $200 and under, $150 would be nice.

Thanks, that what I was thinking. So would the M-Audio AV 40's be a good choice? they are aimed at being desktop speakers and not a reference monitor.


Also hows the onboard sound card, would the analog mini jack be good enough?