Need to upgrade my PC setups audio

[Ratchet7989]

Right now my monitor is hooked up through AUX to an old old iHome sound bar and its really starting to show its age. When building my PC this year i didn't really look into audio as much as i should have and am not really sure what is good or what i want (honestly feel like anything would be better). Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated. thank you

[Ratchet7989]

actually its not even an iHome its an iLive whoever they are lmao

[rice guru]

whats your budget and usecase? if for music what genres do you listen to?

[Ratchet7989]

1 minute ago, rice guru said:

whats your budget and usecase? if for music what genres do you listen to?

This will be for my everyday use PC so it'll primarily be doing game audio. As far as music goes I listen to just about all but country a lot of hard/punk rock and EDM lately though.

I'm unsure of even a budget but for the sake of a number maybe around $250? (USD)

My experience in audio has only ever been some car audio, home audio is something i'm just now getting into so i apologize if i don't have a lot of information to go on.

[rice guru]

1 minute ago, Ratchet7989 said:

This will be for my everyday use PC so it'll primarily be doing game audio. As far as music goes I listen to just about all but country a lot of hard/punk rock and EDM lately though.

I'm unsure of even a budget but for the sake of a number maybe around $250? (USD)

My experience in audio has only ever been some car audio, home audio is something i'm just now getting into so i apologize if i don't have a lot of information to go on.

do you want speakers or headphones?

[Ratchet7989]

Just now, rice guru said:

do you want speakers or headphones?

Speakers

[rice guru]

1 minute ago, Ratchet7989 said:

Speakers

ah ok so for $250 you would be looking at the budget side of things. there are definitely some ways to go you can get some decent active speakers for $250 or some $150 speakers paired with a $100 speaker amp like I do

[Ratchet7989]

2 minutes ago, rice guru said:

ah ok so for $250 you would be looking at the budget side of things. there are definitely some ways to go you can get some decent active speakers for $250 or some $150 speakers paired with a $100 speaker amp like I do

Sounds good do you have any suggestions?

[rice guru]

for gaming I persoonally reccomendd headphones but a nice set of nearfields postioned optimally will do pretty decently in gaming. 

For active speakers some I would look into are the iLoud Microugly but can get ll0oud and pretty great sounding, Edifier S350db,JBL306P

 

Passive speakers need an amp to drive thenm I personally use a topping PA3 @80Wper channel it should be able to drive most bookshelf speakers at this price range  to a  deafening level, I use a micca Rb42 a small set of speakers with a V shaped sound signature. for their small size ,tthey have a impressive amount of bass and treble is a little booste, other speakers to look at are Jamo s801 , sony ssCS5

 

@Derkoli is our resident speaker guy though so he might have more ideas. 

[Ratchet7989]

7 minutes ago, rice guru said:

for gaming I persoonally reccomendd headphones but a nice set of nearfields postioned optimally will do pretty decently in gaming. 

For active speakers some I would look into are the iLoud Microugly but can get ll0oud and pretty great sounding, Edifier S350db,JBL306P

 

Passive speakers need an amp to drive thenm I personally use a topping PA3 @80Wper channel it should be able to drive most bookshelf speakers at this price range  to a  deafening level, I use a micca Rb42 a small set of speakers with a V shaped sound signature for their small size they have a impressive amount of bass and treble, other speakers to look at are Jamo s801 , sony ssCS5

I will certainly look into these things, thank you.

[Derkoli]

For that sort of price range, I would look at a pair of JBL 305P MkII with an interface to act as a DAC/Pre-amp.

 

A Behringer UMC22 would be ideal to feed them. I've ran a pair of 308P MkII off this interface before, and it sounds pretty damn good for the price.

 

2 of these (one per channel):

 

https://www.amazon.com/TISINO-Balanced-Quarter-Stereo-Interconnect/dp/B083R4CDT2/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=trs+to+xlr&qid=1599060550&sr=8-8

 

2 of these (they come singles so you can make a 5/7 channel system up):

 

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Professional-Next-Generation-Powered-305PMKII/dp/B077N2GQXC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=305p+MkII&qid=1599060626&sr=8-2

 

The 305p's do actually measure quite well:

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-305p-mkii-and-control-1-pro-monitors-review.10811/

[HM-2]

I'd look at a standalone set of active speakers like the Steljes NS3s as a fit and forget option.

 

Failing that if you want something a bit more iimpressive I'd probably look to a smaller passive desktop/bookshelf like the Q Acoustic 2010i or 3010i depending on available space and pair it with a £100 Class D amplifier. I had some £250 AudioEngine actives and replaced them with a pair of 2010is and a Sabaj A4 and the latter setup is much better.

[Ratchet7989]

8 hours ago, Derkoli said:

For that sort of price range, I would look at a pair of JBL 305P MkII with an interface to act as a DAC/Pre-amp.

 

A Behringer UMC22 would be ideal to feed them. I've ran a pair of 308P MkII off this interface before, and it sounds pretty damn good for the price.

 

2 of these (one per channel):

 

https://www.amazon.com/TISINO-Balanced-Quarter-Stereo-Interconnect/dp/B083R4CDT2/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=trs+to+xlr&qid=1599060550&sr=8-8

 

2 of these (they come singles so you can make a 5/7 channel system up):

 

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Professional-Next-Generation-Powered-305PMKII/dp/B077N2GQXC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=305p+MkII&qid=1599060626&sr=8-2

 

The 305p's do actually measure quite well:

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-305p-mkii-and-control-1-pro-monitors-review.10811/

Gotta say, those things would make for quite an impressive part of my set up. thank you for the recommendations

[Derkoli]

Just now, Ratchet7989 said:

Gotta say, those things would make for quite an impressive part of my set up. thank you for the recommendations

They are a great little speaker. Measure well, balanced inputs, DSP/EQ, look pretty good and obviously they're JBL so the speaker is torture tested for 100 hours before you buy it, so it's gonna last a fair old while.