What Do I Need To Use Powered Monitors

[Bookhugger]

Hello folks,

Recently I've been looking to grab myself a pair of speakers for my desktop. I'm very ignorant to the world of audio equipment am seeking advice.  After doing some research I decided to go with a pair of powered monitors so I don't have to deal with cumbersome receivers. However I don't know what I would need to use them. The pair I have been looking at is the KRK Rokits, what would I need to run two of these from my desktop computer? I only have the on board audio currently from my MOBO. Thanks for any and all advice, feel free to ask questions!

[themctipers]

Plug it into your motherboard. 

 

Powered means there's an amp built in 

[Bookhugger]

5 minutes ago, themctipers said:

Plug it into your motherboard. 

 

Powered means there's an amp built in 

How do I split the signal into Left and Right channels? They don't have a normal 1/8th inch plug, what kind of adapter do I need?

 

[seduce_me]

It appears to have unbalanced RCA inputs so a cheap DAC with RCA outputs would do. 

[themctipers]

5 minutes ago, Bookhugger said:

How do I split the signal into Left and Right channels? They don't have a normal 1/8th inch plug, what kind of adapter do I need?

 

From this picture on the newegg website

it seems that you're able to use RCA

 

buy a 3.5mm to RCA adapter like this:

red = right

white = left

 

plug the white one to your left speaker and the red one to your right speaker. You'll need a regular two male RCA cable (or just use a composite 3 male cable  )

 

if confused:

edit edit:

male RCA ^^

^^ female RCA

[seduce_me]

2 minutes ago, themctipers said:

SNIP

 

If you're doing this connect it to the line out of your PC, not the audio jack.

[themctipers]

Just now, seduce_me said:

If you're doing this connect it to the line out of your PC, not the audio jack.

the line out of your PC is your 'headphone' jack on front panel or motherboard ..?

[Bookhugger]

5 minutes ago, themctipers said:

the line out of your PC is your 'headphone' jack on front panel or motherboard ..?

Thanks for the solution! Would I need a DAC? My MSI MOBO has Audioboost, I'm not sure if that's any better or is just some marketing BS.

[seduce_me]

No, it should be somewhere at the back of your mobo. if you connect it to the front panel audio jack, theoretically you're double amping and introducing noise to your system.

[themctipers]

Just now, Bookhugger said:

Thanks for the solution! Would I need a DAC? My MSI MOBO has Audioboost, I'm not sure if that's any better or is just some marketing BS.

Probably marketing BS 

 

onboard should be fine for most instances. Get a DAC if you have static or interference

[themctipers]

Just now, seduce_me said:

No, it should be somewhere at the back of your mobo. if you connect it to the front panel audio jack, theoretically you're double amping and introducing noise to your system.

That's not how it works

 

motherboard -> dac -> amp (still on motherboard) -> both the HD audio header on your motherboard and the 3.5mm output at the back

 

unless your front panel is shit and doesn't have good insulation, it should be about the same (let's complain about a few mv lost due to longer length of copper!)

 

there isn't two audio processing chipsets on your motherboard, one for back panel and front panel. That would be inefficient and waste space. 

[seduce_me]

Front panel:
Mobo DAC > Mobo Amp > Amp in speakers (Powered monitors)

 

Line out:

Mobo DAC> Amp in speakers

[Pomfinator]

1 hour ago, seduce_me said:

Front panel:
Mobo DAC > Mobo Amp > Amp in speakers (Powered monitors)

 

Line out:

Mobo DAC> Amp in speakers

While some motherboards have a seperate op-amp that they activate when using the front panel jacks, the vast majority just run off the stock codec which sends amped signal out of both ends. If this weren't the case, you wouldn't be able to use headphones in the back panel jacks. So either way, you're going to be double amping.