Luke122
01-10-2008, 03:17 PM
Ok, before we start, this is not a pitch to buy a new product.
This is a series of tips to help you get the best possible sound from your computer, for little to no cost. Yes, it is in fact a bunch of ways to optimize what you already have.
OK, before we start, I'll assume that you know a bit about computers, and very little about audio. Some of you may be offended, some of you may be flattered. It matters not, simply proceed with an open mind, and if you feel that I've missed something, or have offered incorrect information, please feel free to call me on it. :D
Here we go!
1. The first (and most common) thing we'll address is SPEAKER PLACEMENT.
To get the best possible sound from your speakers, their location is incredibly important. Ideally, they should be an equal distance from your ears.
Yes, that means if you are sitting in front of your computer, and have a speaker on either side of your monitor, you should be able to draw a triangle with your head, and the two speakers as points. All sides of the triangle should be an equal distance! Yay! If the speakers are 24 inches apart, then the distance from each speaker to your head should be 24 inches too.
The speakers should be roughly ear level, and aimed at your ears, rather than firing straight ahead. If you have the distance correct, then go ahead and turn them until they sound the best.
While we are talking about positioning, I'll bring up imaging. This is the ability of your speakers to create the illusion of sounds not just on the left and right, but at all points in between the speakers too. If the speakers are too far apart, it will be difficult to get proper imaging.
Imaging can also be affected by "Phase". A speaker receives audio over the wire plugged into it (speaker wire, duh). Each wire has a positive (+) and negative (-) lead. (Positive or + is usually marked with a red terminal.. if you have typical computer speakers with premade plugs on them, you can pretty much ignore this section.)
If you have trouble locating a sound coming from left or right, then it's possible your speakers are out of phase. If you have speakers with wires that you can switch around, try that. Red = + = Positive. Remember that.
Another trick for positioning is to move them closer to a wall for more bass. If you put a speaker into a corner, WAY more bass. But keep in mind that you want to have both speakers producing equal amounts of sound, or it'll sound out of balance. A subwoofer is safe to put into a corner for a gain in bass, since low frequency sounds from subs are non-directional.
2. Proper wiring to eliminate interference and crosstalk is a must. Try (if possible) to plug your speaker power into a different power bar or outlet than your computer. If you have to cross any power cords with your audio cables, have them cross at a right angle to eliminate noise.
DO NOT COIL UP EXCESS WIRE LENGTH. OMFG, this is a bad one. People think that they are doing something right by tying up excess wire; THEY ARE NOT. They are just creating coils that increase resistance, generate extra EMI, etc. If you have more wire than you need, route the wires differently.. dont bundle them up. (I am of course talking about wiring behind your desk or whatever, not within your PC case, though that doesnt hurt either.)
Basically, try to keep audio and speaker wire away from power and signal wire.
3. Adding a bit of isolation to your speakers can make a big difference also. Some people swear by speaker spikes, others by heavyweight stands. The most common tip I hear is "use bluetak". Also known as funtak, this blue goop is the adhesive that is often used to stick pictures and posters to walls.
Roll it into a little marble sized ball, and stick a ball under each corner of your speaker. Instant dampening, and better bass response. I'm serious, and it's cheap.
If you have separate speakers which can be placed on speaker stands, use the bluetak between the speaker and the stand. Ideally, the stands should be pretty solid so they dont vibrate. If possible, fill the stands with sand (if they are hollow). In a perfect world, sand filled stands with concrete or metal bases would sit on floor spikes, and the speakers would sit on bluetak on the stands.
4. GIGO - Garbage in, garbage out.
The music that you play should be of decent quality, or no matter what speakers you have, or how carefully you set everything up, it'll still sound like crap.
Winamp, Windows Media player, Foobar2000, VLC, whatever you use, there are pros and cons of each.
I personally use Foobar2000 and Winamp for my listening. Winamp for streaming radio, and Foobar2000 for everything else.. it sounds great, but it's a very plain looking app, with a pretty dull interface. Foobar can handle almost all file types too, and did I mention it sounds great?
I dont even keep any audio files that are less than 256k anymore.. even most of the stuff I do have at 256k rarely gets played anymore. I'm almost completely 320k or lossless. FLAC and APE are two of the best for lossless (IMHO), so look into them.
CD or DVD audio still sounds the best, but a good quality lossless rip is about 99% as good.
5. Stuff that costs money..
Upgrading to a better soundcard, better speakers, better wiring, will definitely improve the sound, but as above, GIGO. An X-fi sound card through a set of Z5500's will still sound like garbage playing a 56k mp3 stream, and if the speakers are parked all over the place, forget it.
Before spending money to improve your sound, try the tips above, and see if you still think that $200 soundcard or $500 speakers are necessary.
As I type this, I'm listening to a lossless audio file, from my laptop's headphone out jack, into a pair of 5 year old Sonlab desktop speakers... and it sounds amazing.
This is a series of tips to help you get the best possible sound from your computer, for little to no cost. Yes, it is in fact a bunch of ways to optimize what you already have.
OK, before we start, I'll assume that you know a bit about computers, and very little about audio. Some of you may be offended, some of you may be flattered. It matters not, simply proceed with an open mind, and if you feel that I've missed something, or have offered incorrect information, please feel free to call me on it. :D
Here we go!
1. The first (and most common) thing we'll address is SPEAKER PLACEMENT.
To get the best possible sound from your speakers, their location is incredibly important. Ideally, they should be an equal distance from your ears.
Yes, that means if you are sitting in front of your computer, and have a speaker on either side of your monitor, you should be able to draw a triangle with your head, and the two speakers as points. All sides of the triangle should be an equal distance! Yay! If the speakers are 24 inches apart, then the distance from each speaker to your head should be 24 inches too.
The speakers should be roughly ear level, and aimed at your ears, rather than firing straight ahead. If you have the distance correct, then go ahead and turn them until they sound the best.
While we are talking about positioning, I'll bring up imaging. This is the ability of your speakers to create the illusion of sounds not just on the left and right, but at all points in between the speakers too. If the speakers are too far apart, it will be difficult to get proper imaging.
Imaging can also be affected by "Phase". A speaker receives audio over the wire plugged into it (speaker wire, duh). Each wire has a positive (+) and negative (-) lead. (Positive or + is usually marked with a red terminal.. if you have typical computer speakers with premade plugs on them, you can pretty much ignore this section.)
If you have trouble locating a sound coming from left or right, then it's possible your speakers are out of phase. If you have speakers with wires that you can switch around, try that. Red = + = Positive. Remember that.
Another trick for positioning is to move them closer to a wall for more bass. If you put a speaker into a corner, WAY more bass. But keep in mind that you want to have both speakers producing equal amounts of sound, or it'll sound out of balance. A subwoofer is safe to put into a corner for a gain in bass, since low frequency sounds from subs are non-directional.
2. Proper wiring to eliminate interference and crosstalk is a must. Try (if possible) to plug your speaker power into a different power bar or outlet than your computer. If you have to cross any power cords with your audio cables, have them cross at a right angle to eliminate noise.
DO NOT COIL UP EXCESS WIRE LENGTH. OMFG, this is a bad one. People think that they are doing something right by tying up excess wire; THEY ARE NOT. They are just creating coils that increase resistance, generate extra EMI, etc. If you have more wire than you need, route the wires differently.. dont bundle them up. (I am of course talking about wiring behind your desk or whatever, not within your PC case, though that doesnt hurt either.)
Basically, try to keep audio and speaker wire away from power and signal wire.
3. Adding a bit of isolation to your speakers can make a big difference also. Some people swear by speaker spikes, others by heavyweight stands. The most common tip I hear is "use bluetak". Also known as funtak, this blue goop is the adhesive that is often used to stick pictures and posters to walls.
Roll it into a little marble sized ball, and stick a ball under each corner of your speaker. Instant dampening, and better bass response. I'm serious, and it's cheap.
If you have separate speakers which can be placed on speaker stands, use the bluetak between the speaker and the stand. Ideally, the stands should be pretty solid so they dont vibrate. If possible, fill the stands with sand (if they are hollow). In a perfect world, sand filled stands with concrete or metal bases would sit on floor spikes, and the speakers would sit on bluetak on the stands.
4. GIGO - Garbage in, garbage out.
The music that you play should be of decent quality, or no matter what speakers you have, or how carefully you set everything up, it'll still sound like crap.
Winamp, Windows Media player, Foobar2000, VLC, whatever you use, there are pros and cons of each.
I personally use Foobar2000 and Winamp for my listening. Winamp for streaming radio, and Foobar2000 for everything else.. it sounds great, but it's a very plain looking app, with a pretty dull interface. Foobar can handle almost all file types too, and did I mention it sounds great?
I dont even keep any audio files that are less than 256k anymore.. even most of the stuff I do have at 256k rarely gets played anymore. I'm almost completely 320k or lossless. FLAC and APE are two of the best for lossless (IMHO), so look into them.
CD or DVD audio still sounds the best, but a good quality lossless rip is about 99% as good.
5. Stuff that costs money..
Upgrading to a better soundcard, better speakers, better wiring, will definitely improve the sound, but as above, GIGO. An X-fi sound card through a set of Z5500's will still sound like garbage playing a 56k mp3 stream, and if the speakers are parked all over the place, forget it.
Before spending money to improve your sound, try the tips above, and see if you still think that $200 soundcard or $500 speakers are necessary.
As I type this, I'm listening to a lossless audio file, from my laptop's headphone out jack, into a pair of 5 year old Sonlab desktop speakers... and it sounds amazing.