I have rigged my eMac up with an amplifier plugged into the headphone port. The amplifier is powering a pair of 17" Polk Audio monitor series speakers. Best sound I have ever heard coming out of a computer. iTunes sound great and UT and Red Faction sound incredible.
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Computer Speaker Set-ups
- Thread starter Durandal7
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i have my powermac running a 20ft monster cable to my sony 5.1 stereo. i really only use two channels when it's set to the computer because i listen to music constantly. i've thought about getting a 5.1 sound card, but i really just don't think i would need it, especially for around $100.
I used to have my iMac plugged into my home theater system, sounded really good. Since then, I've gotten a Power Mac and have moved it into the bedroom. I picked up a set of Logitech Z-560's (4.1). They are awesome. While they aren't "audiophile" grade, the bass is remarkable. I'm going to pickup an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI card so I can have true surround sound. I'd say the most difficult part in setting up a sound system, for home theater or computer, is placing the subwoofer. You have to put it in that "sweet spot" to get the optimal reverberation and depth. If you put it in the wrong place, you can barely hear it at all sometimes.
I have my basic Audiovox stereo hooked up via the audio out or whatever (red and white connectors) which connect to my desktop.
I have my Quicksilver G4 800 wired through the Griffin iMic USB audio device to my Sony STR-GX808 ES Hi Fi receiver. It works well, the receiver is from like 1996 or 1997, I got it on ebay for 120 bucks because it had no remote.. It was originally 799 when it came out, has support for Dolby Surround I and II and Pro Logic. It is pretty solid, better than anything you would get from Target or K Mart that is for sure. It has three video, two tape, one CD, one DAT, Phono and Tuner inputs. Good stuff.
When I want to hear my music through my PowerBook with more juice, I just run a monster cable Y-adapter to extra thick gold plated monster cables to my 600 watt Pioneer EX series 6.1 system. Currently I have the stock speakers, which sound pretty impressive, but once I blow my cash on a new PowerBook, my next budgeting project will be for speaker upgrades (looking into new Infinity speakers after being blown away by the Infinity Kappa series speakers I put in my car).
i have an 1/8" to RCA plug adaptor going to my tape-1 input on my onkyo tx-8211 stereo receiver, which has bose shelf speakers hooked up to it (lay off, i got them 1/2 off, i wouldn't pay full price for bose 
)... i can plug it into my Tibook, but i usually just plug it into my ipod and listen to music with that.
)... i can plug it into my Tibook, but i usually just plug it into my ipod and listen to music with that.A friend of mine bought a very nice, clean sounding system for about $1000. We did some tests through it. A cd coming from a QS tower sounded OK, but was the worst overall. Same cd played digitally on a home built Athlon PC with an Audigy card sounded marginally better. Then the difference when the CD was played through a real CD player was night and day. Makes me want to never listen to music on a computer again.
Yeah, there is no substitute for a real stand alone system. I'm not sure how much better the G5 will sound with its new optical out and 5.1 audio capability, but the older units will never sound as good since they don't have the ability to give your system its full potential. The thing that matters for me the most, though, is the fact that it really doesn't matter whether I am listening to music on my Mac or my stereo with headphones, because it sounds the same, and that's when it's nice using my PowerBook to listen to music while my roommates are asleep.
Maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't need my music so high in quality that I can justify the expense & hassle of anything beyond my JBL Creatures.
Then again, I grew up listening to music on AM radio.
Then again, I grew up listening to music on AM radio.
Speakers, and RED FACTION
On my G4, I have my the audio port split into 2 audio ports. I have my logitech speakers hooked up, and a pair of JBLs on an amp. Sounds great
But, Durandal, you play red faction? Its a cool game, but on a frickin mac? The most FPS I can pump out on that game is like 45, and a review in some mac magazine with a Dual 1.25 and Radeon 9700, they only got like 78FPS max!
Good game, crappy port.
Anyways, I am in clan OS, and I play on rail servers....
On my G4, I have my the audio port split into 2 audio ports. I have my logitech speakers hooked up, and a pair of JBLs on an amp. Sounds great
But, Durandal, you play red faction? Its a cool game, but on a frickin mac? The most FPS I can pump out on that game is like 45, and a review in some mac magazine with a Dual 1.25 and Radeon 9700, they only got like 78FPS max!
Good game, crappy port.
Anyways, I am in clan OS, and I play on rail servers....
Emagic emi2|6 feeding Event Studio 8s on the tower. Backup system is as Boston Acoustics with satelites and a sub. iSticks on the iBook. Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones between the two.
Dan
Dan
4 little Creative speakers and a sub woofer into my Ti PB via a Sonica audio card. In non audiophile surround sound heaven it´s big booming rock music, or cringing and ducking as the helicopters from Apocalypse now whir around the room. 180.
i use a RME Hammerfall 24/96 Firewire audio card into a Parasound or TEAC Reference series amp powering Blueroom minipods in a 3.1 setup as below. only mine are white, not silver. i may add 2 more to make it a 5.1 once Panther is released. right now i use this setup for everything from games to iTunes to Logic work. for normal music production i use just 2 speakers for reference. when editing or scoring/composing for video i go with 3.1 mode.
I've never found a need for anything other than my JBL Creature setup, mostly because I live in a dorm 8 months out of the year and you can't blast music without pissing off your next door neighbor anyway. Or wait, is that a requirement for college? Waking up your neighbor with a midnight rendition of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"?
Reminds me of freshman year...it was practically war of the amps in our resident hall. Guys are on the third floor and girls on the bottom...we had the girls come up pissed that we were shaking their walls.
Currently have Klipsch's Promedia 4.2(2x2.1) and two Klipsch SWS subs, totaling 4 subwoofers. Klipsch just released their new 5.1 Ultra delivering even more impressive sound and bass. Have been considering buying one of their high end subwoofers or continue buying their SWS subwoofers to daisy chain since you are able to connect up to 16 of them to create a pretty formidable wall of bass.
SoundSticks.
I have karmen soundsticks hooked to a Dual 867 Mhz...and while I am no Sound Engineer it sounds pretty amazing for a Computer.....
I have karmen soundsticks hooked to a Dual 867 Mhz...and while I am no Sound Engineer it sounds pretty amazing for a Computer.....
I've been using headphones or earbuds more and more lately because my hand-me-down stereo (Optonica amp from the 80s, Cerwin-Vega speakers) is not working very well anymore.
I generally use the Sony MDR-EX71 earbuds.
I generally use the Sony MDR-EX71 earbuds.
Originally posted by Powerbook G5
Reminds me of freshman year...it was practically war of the amps in our resident hall. Guys are on the third floor and girls on the bottom...we had the girls come up pissed that we were shaking their walls.
Lol, we had that same war at the University of Hawaii Manoa my sophomore year. A favorite with me and my friend and roommate was to play the same song at the same time, Creed's "Higher", and crank everything. At the time I had Klipsch's Promedia 4.1 and he had some HK that came with his Dell. Needless to say, we shook some major plaster off the girls floor ceiling. Btw, my Promedia whooped his Harman Kardon hands down. Muhaha.
I have soundsticks hooked up to my Dual 867 and they sound pretty awesome. My only major gripe about them is that the audio sometimes stutters out when I'm doing things that do uploading through the airport card. (Like playing online games...etc.) . I'm thinking about selling them for the harman/kardon Encounter speakers when they come out. It depends on the price and how good they sound.
Sort of off topic, but can anyone who has panther and has soundsticks tell me if apple has fixed the usb audio stutter out bug that I described??? Pleeeaaaseeee! They said they were working on it...
. I'm thinking about selling them for the harman/kardon Encounter speakers when they come out. It depends on the price and how good they sound.Sort of off topic, but can anyone who has panther and has soundsticks tell me if apple has fixed the usb audio stutter out bug that I described??? Pleeeaaaseeee! They said they were working on it...