Does a Amp improve sound quality in any way?

[SSL]

1 minute ago, spwath said:

They should put a speaker amp on some motherboards, or a sound card. That would be pretty cool.

 

I suspect that it would take up to much space to be practical. Surround would be out of the question for sure, which wouldn't be so good for their marketing.

[spwath]

2 minutes ago, SSL said:

 

I suspect that it would take up to much space to be practical. Surround would be out of the question for sure, which wouldn't be so good for their marketing.

Yeah, i guess so. I mean, i have a little speaker amp no bigger than a credit card, seems like you could take two, slap in on a pci card, and there, 4 channels.

 

I might actually try that, just stereo...

[SSL]

1 minute ago, HalGameGuru said:

I've run plenty of passive L/R speakers from a PC. It's clunky but the mobo has an AMP and will put out power for volume. I've got a set of Harmon Kardons from HP from back in the day that are passive. 3.5 headphone jacks. Check Realtek's surround software, its expecting passive speakers.

 

The gross mismatch wasn't specifically about headphone, just as the comentary on the "600 Ohm" motherboard amp wasn't directly related to the OP. These responses are in relation to earlier tangential commentary, not the OP.

 

A headphone amp wants a certain impedance, you try to run real speakers with it you will have a bad time. 

 

I call bullshit unless you can provide some proof. I've never heard of a passive speaker that accepts TRS or XLR inputs, ever. I also have never heard of a soundcard or motherboard that is specifically designed to drive passive speakers.

[HalGameGuru]

3 minutes ago, SSL said:

 

I call bullshit unless you can provide some proof. I've never heard of a passive speaker that accepts TRS or XLR inputs, ever. I also have never heard of a soundcard or motherboard that is specifically designed to drive passive speakers.

Who said TRS or XLR? I specifically said 3.5's. They were FOR PC. Have you never owned a PC from before 2005? Back in the day passive is what you GOT with your PC.

[spwath]

3 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

Who said TRS or XLR? I specifically said 3.5's. They were FOR PC. Have you never owned a PC from before 2005? Back in the day passive is what you GOT with your PC.

3.5mm=trs

 

No... They can not be passive...

[HalGameGuru]

Now I'm not saying your mobo is going to put out 100 watts for a banging system, I doubt its more than maybe 5 or 10, at MOST. But it is amplified, and you can get OK volume from it passively, so long as the speakers aren't trash. I had a Compaq back in the day where we ran an ersatz 5.1 off of it with a bunch of passive speakers from its brother and sister machines. Didn't sound good at all but let us play around with a few games that would do surround sound.

[spwath]

3 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

Now I'm not saying your mobo is going to put out 100 watts for a banging system, I doubt its more than maybe 5 or 10, at MOST. But it is amplified, and you can get OK volume from it passively, so long as the speakers aren't trash. I had a Compaq back in the day where we ran an ersatz 5.1 off of it with a bunch of passive speakers from its brother and sister machines. Didn't sound good at all but let us play around with a few games that would do surround sound.

No way a motherboard outputs 5w. Not even close.

I still dont beleive that what you are saying is true.

[Quinnbeast]

20 minutes ago, SSL said:

 

I call bullshit unless you can provide some proof. I've never heard of a passive speaker that accepts TRS or XLR inputs, ever. I also have never heard of a soundcard or motherboard that is specifically designed to drive passive speakers.

Make of it what you will...

[HalGameGuru]

Even between all the outputs? I doubt you get that from a SINGLE output, but together? It would take some maths but we could probably figure out some wattages involved.

 

EDIT: It looks like most Realtek setups are around 2 watts total, but they did not specify if that was for the whole surround setup or just the headphone/speaker jack, Realtek has made use of multiple amps to feed multiple outputs before, but I'm not sure if that is the case across the board, or even the case of THEIR example.

[HalGameGuru]

22 minutes ago, spwath said:

3.5mm=trs

 

No... They can not be passive...

My bad, whenever I hear TRS I think quarter inch. I always forget its the construction

[HalGameGuru]

How OLD are you children that you've never experienced passive PC speaker setups?

[Quinnbeast]

18 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

How OLD are you children that you've never experienced passive PC speaker setups?

 

My first gaming experience was on an Atari 2600 in 1983. I currently use a set of Dali Zensor 1s as my PC speakers. That said, I've never heard of (or thought of) a 3.5mm motherboard/soundcard output as an amp of choice.

[HalGameGuru]

1 minute ago, Quinnbeast said:

 

My first gaming experience was on an Atari 2600 in 1983. I currently use a set of Dali Zensor 1s as my PC speakers. That said, I've never heard of (or thought of) a 3.5mm motherboard/soundcard output as an amp of choice.

Oh its not an AMP of choice, its an AMP of basics and apathy. But, if you don't NEED a hundred watts of power, or you are using a good sensitive set of headphones its perfectly SERVICEABLE. 

 

A good sound card will be all you need, but if you only have onboard, a better DAC is just as important as amplification. Onboard isn't terrible but it isn't Dual Wolfson either.

[Dackzy]

42 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

How OLD are you children that you've never experienced passive PC speaker setups?

I think you are being a bit too much of a jack ass like right now by calling us children. You do know that people still use passive speakers hooked up to a receiver for PC setups right?

[Quinnbeast]

1 minute ago, HalGameGuru said:

Oh its not an AMP of choice, its an AMP of basics and apathy. But, if you don't NEED a hundred watts of power, or you are using a good sensitive set of headphones its perfectly SERVICEABLE. 

 

A good sound card will be all you need, but if you only have onboard, a better DAC is just as important as amplification. Onboard isn't terrible but it isn't Dual Wolfson either.

Oh yeah, it does make perfect sense. Some of the really dinky Tripath amps might only put out about 8W with certain speakers, but it's still potentially enough power to fill a room with an average bookshelf/desktop speaker. So, it follows that you could make use of even lower wattage the right setup. I'm fairly sure I pass as being of sufficient vintage, but it still remains - I've never heard of anyone getting even passable results straight off a 3.5mm jacket. 'Tis a school day.

[Unhelpful]

1 hour ago, HalGameGuru said:

How OLD are you children that you've never experienced passive PC speaker setups?

"And here we witness the bullshitter in his natural habitat. When cornered by people smarter than him, the bullshitter proceeds to hurl unfounded insults in all directions, and pretend that he has experience. So graceful."

[HalGameGuru]

15 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I think you are being a bit too much of a jack ass like right now by calling us children. You do know that people still use passive speakers hooked up to a receiver for PC setups right?

"Children" was meant to be playful rather than derogatory, but if you wish to take it that way, feel free.

 

Receivers weren't a part of the OP or any of the commentary since, had I brought it up you would be admonishing me for leaving the confines of our discussion. No winning for losing. You can also run HDMI and ignore your built in sound card entirely.

 

10 minutes ago, Quinnbeast said:

Oh yeah, it does make perfect sense. Some of the really dinky Tripath amps might only put out about 8W with certain speakers, but it's still potentially enough power to fill a room with an average bookshelf/desktop speaker. So, it follows that you could make use of even lower wattage the right setup. I'm fairly sure I pass as being of sufficient vintage, but it still remains - I've never heard of anyone getting even passable results straight off a 3.5mm jacket. 'Tis a school day.

This being a tech oriented site I expected most of the people here to have had experience with most of this stuff. The built in setups cannot push much power but quality wise, and volume wise to a point, they are as good as you can notice. Back in the day it was an issue, it sounded like garbage, but recently, especially RealTek, the onboard has gotten MUCH better, and most stand alone cards are darn good. Even a lot of the external adapters are as good as you would ever need.

 

The big issue you have with PC speakers is that you can get much better drivers for the money in passive than in powered, for the same price a powered setup will be pretty dinky compared to the drivers you can get in a passive setup. And if they are sensitive enough they will have plenty of volume and sound a lot better than the similarly priced powered speakers.

 

But if you have the money, as the OP does, for a good set of headphones, they should sound just fine with onboard, but the bigger improvement will be with a better DAC than AMP unless he is trying to pull massive volume.

[HalGameGuru]

4 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

"And here we witness the bullshitter in his natural habitat. When cornered by people smarter than him, the bullshitter proceeds to hurl unfounded insults in all directions, and pretend that he has experience. So graceful."

The lack of experience being evinced here is an issue, especially when that lack of experience is being used to ward off new information rather than spur the search for it.

 

Anyone who bought a computer pre-2005 would have likely gotten passive speakers, even more recently for cheaper models from eMachines or Gateway. There also used to be a time when to 3D accelerate you had to run your VGA from your GPU to a separate accelerator card before heading to the display. Statements seeking to be informative need to be accurate or couched as opinion. If they are not I will make comment of the discrepancy. ESPECIALLY where someone's money is being suggested to be spent one way or another.

[Quinnbeast]

2 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

The lack of experience being evinced here is an issue, especially when that lack of experience is being used to ward off new information rather than spur the search for it.

 

Anyone who bought a computer pre-2005 would have likely gotten passive speakers, even more recently for cheaper models from eMachines or Gateway. There also used to be a time when to 3D accelerate you had to run your VGA from your GPU to a separate accelerator card before heading to the display. Statements seeking to be informative need to be accurate or couched as opinion. If they are not I will make comment of the discrepancy. ESPECIALLY where someone's money is being suggested to be spent one way or another.

Here's the thing though - I can't think of a single setup I used (be it mine or anyone else's) during the 90s or early 2000s that had passive speakers unless connected through an Amp; each and every one were powered. I'm not a techy in the strictest sense, but I've certainly been interested in most things electronic since day dot. When you say "would have likely gotten passive speakers", do you mean bundled in with the PC itself or just commandeering some old hi-fi speakers for the task? The video I linked involved splicing the L/R speaker wire in to a 3.5mm jack, which doesn't quite seem like an atypical approach. Were people using adapters of some sort back in the day or have I misunderstood?

 

22 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

"And here we witness the bullshitter in his natural habitat. When cornered by people smarter than him, the bullshitter proceeds to hurl unfounded insults in all directions, and pretend that he has experience. So graceful."

And yet, he's absolutely right. Whoops?

[HalGameGuru]

9 minutes ago, Quinnbeast said:

Here's the thing though - I can't think of a single setup I used (be it mine or anyone else's) during the 90s or early 2000s that had passive speakers unless connected through an Amp; each and every one were powered. I'm not a techy in the strictest sense, but I've certainly been interested in most things electronic since day dot. When you say "would have likely gotten passive speakers", do you mean bundled in with the PC itself or just commandeering some old hi-fi speakers for the task? The video I linked involved splicing the L/R speaker wire in to a 3.5mm jack, which doesn't quite seem like an atypical approach. Were people using adapters of some sort back in the day or have I misunderstood?

 

And yet, he's absolutely right. Whoops?

With the computer, it was the MO of the OEMs, you got passive speakers, or none at all. And passive was the way a lot of people went, and STILL how people go when they have headphones unless they buy a standalone amp, or go USB Headset. I still have a box of OEM branded passive speakers sitting around here somewhere, I pulled them apart, wired a handful together with an amp and had a 4 or 5 driver bookshelf box each for L and R, when you have half and 1 watt, 8 or 16 ohm, speakers doing nothing for a few years you go ahead and tear them up and make use.

 

and yet he's right? Only if I was not accurate before, which I WAS, meaning my commentary was what I said it was, incredulous banter. I know what the PCs I dealt with then came with, I know what options I had to select from when I went looking for speakers, the fact you guys don't recall or never had chance to peruse the passive options of the time does nothing to reduce the veracity of my statements.

[Quinnbeast]

18 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

With the computer, it was the MO of the OEMs, you got passive speakers, or none at all. And passive was the way a lot of people went, and STILL how people go when they have headphones unless they buy a standalone amp, or go USB Headset. I still have a box of OEM branded passive speakers sitting around here somewhere, I pulled them apart, wired a handful together with an amp and had a 4 or 5 driver bookshelf box each for L and R, when you have half and 1 watt, 8 or 16 ohm, speakers doing nothing for a few years you go ahead and tear them up and make use.

 

and yet he's right? Only if I was not accurate before, which I WAS, meaning my commentary was what I said it was, incredulous banter. I know what the PCs I dealt with then came with, I know what options I had to select from when I went looking for speakers, the fact you guys don't recall or never had chance to peruse the passive options of the time does nothing to reduce the veracity of my statements.

Interesting. I'm wondering if this is a US/UK variation of sorts. I had all sorts of shitty beige OEM powered speakers, and never once saw any passives.

 

Also, you'll notice I replied to JoeyDM there; in saying that "he" is right, I mean you (HGG). I'm agreeing with you, and replying to Joey separately. Maybe you're just not experienced enough to know the function of quoting another forum user - that means I am replying to them directly.  

 

*cough*

[HalGameGuru]

From back in the day when they ALSO needed to be shielded to be next to a CRT monitor

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance-SV-717-Mini-Speakers-for-use-with-PC-and-Compatible-New-in-Box-/162053490743?hash=item25bb240837:g:tiMAAOSwdU1W9KpW

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Computer-speakers-stereo-non-powered-standard-3-5mm-jack-new-/172189442860?hash=item28174a632c:g:PPwAAOSwnLdWrUN0

 

 

The brand I used to see most often DOWN HERE was LabTec, apparently there were a million and one brands just like now.

Spoiler

 

Higher end machines had a powered versions of these speakers

[Dackzy]

52 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

The lack of experience being evinced here is an issue, especially when that lack of experience.

 

I think we have more experience than you m8.

[HalGameGuru]

14 minutes ago, Quinnbeast said:

Interesting. I'm wondering if this is a US/UK variation of sorts. I had all sorts of shitty beige OEM powered speakers, and never once saw any passives.

 

Also, you'll notice I replied to JoeyDM there; in saying that "he" is right, I mean you (HGG). I'm agreeing with you, and replying to Joey separately. Maybe you're just not experienced enough to know the function of quoting another forum user - that means I am replying to them directly.  

 

*cough*

You're right that's my fault, whatever I hit closed all quote boxes, my own fault for not refreshing the page when I saw I was quoted. I am properly chastised

 

As for US/UK I could not say, I would wager with the higher prices involved across the pond the powered speakers were an assumed item. 

[HalGameGuru]

8 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I think we have more experience than you m8.

If you claim passive computer speakers weren't a thing you do not