Looks interesting
- Thread starter Tman72
- Start date
No, I haven't heard the audioengines or the various others mentioned in this thread. I've heard mackies, which I also considered buying, but without doing a direct comparison I can't say much there.
Yeah I've got a DAC but it's part of my headphone rig. I could probably try it at some point, I think my computer has optical out that I could use with it, I bet that would help with the noise floor issue. Even a fairly cheap usb dac might do the trick... but again my computer room is so noisy it's not really relevant for this system so I probably won't bother right now, though I may try it just to see how much noise is coming from the speakers themselves vs. the computer. There is a little hiss if I put my ear right up to it even when the speakers are on with nothing's plugged into them, though, so maybe that's just a given with an active speaker. Hell even my main HT speakers (active crossover but not active speakers per se) have a tiny hiss when there's no signal.
Yeah I've got a DAC but it's part of my headphone rig. I could probably try it at some point, I think my computer has optical out that I could use with it, I bet that would help with the noise floor issue. Even a fairly cheap usb dac might do the trick... but again my computer room is so noisy it's not really relevant for this system so I probably won't bother right now, though I may try it just to see how much noise is coming from the speakers themselves vs. the computer. There is a little hiss if I put my ear right up to it even when the speakers are on with nothing's plugged into them, though, so maybe that's just a given with an active speaker. Hell even my main HT speakers (active crossover but not active speakers per se) have a tiny hiss when there's no signal.
I also notice these paradigms work in "auto" power mode, where they at least partly shut down (the little blue light on the front goes off) when there's no signal for a while, which is kinda cool. But in playing with them just now (checking hiss), I again had the issue where one speaker wouldn't sound even when turned back on; another power cycle fixed it, but it seems they're a little finicky sometimes about "locking on" to an input signal, dunno if it's their internal software or what.
Before you go changing anything, just turn up your PC sound and turn down the monitors.
Most people run their sound cards WAY too quietly for proper line level operation. In fact, I recommend you play some music as loud as you will ever really listen with the audio level on the PC set to max. Then turn down the PC levels to the levels you like to listen at most of the time. See if that doesn't make a difference.
It get's back to the old "gain level adjustment" discussion I used to drive on the old forum.
Most people run their sound cards WAY too quietly for proper line level operation. In fact, I recommend you play some music as loud as you will ever really listen with the audio level on the PC set to max. Then turn down the PC levels to the levels you like to listen at most of the time. See if that doesn't make a difference.
It get's back to the old "gain level adjustment" discussion I used to drive on the old forum.
I know, and in fact that's exactly what I did - the gain on the speakers is less than half, so when the computer's at 100% I'm not totally blown away, though of course different music has very different average levels... some of my classical stuff even at 100 is on the quiet side. But yes, most of the time I have the computer volume most of the way up. But there are so many volume controls... speakers, computer main mixer level, volume slider in MediaMonkey, etc. There's a lot of variability.
malsackj
Well-Known Member
There was an article on the prosoundweb site that showed the sound from various sound cards will output sound for 0 db at different volume settings. So you might not want to use the full volume setting on the card. As long as your not getting clipped or distorted output you should be good. I run my laptop at 80 percent output and allow the pre/pro bring the remainder of the amplification to the main amps.
Ok that makes sense. So far I haven't noticed any clipping... I think it probably depends a lot on the apps too, some things are definitely louder than others. And then you throw different mastering/compression levels on different CDs, and it's quite a mixed bag.
Well again, this isn't a critical listening thing. I'll set it as nearly optimally as I can without obsessing over it
and that'll be good enough! Mostly I want it so my kids don't accidentally run some game and end up blasting the windows out.
Well again, this isn't a critical listening thing. I'll set it as nearly optimally as I can without obsessing over it
and that'll be good enough! Mostly I want it so my kids don't accidentally run some game and end up blasting the windows out.
Most sound cards will have around 3dBV of headroom above the 0dB/D input. You should not hear any clipping unless there is some issue with the OS/application mixers boosting the digital levels above 0dB/D. That can happen, but it shouldn't. With Windows 7, Windows 8, and OSX, the audio engines are very difficult to clip with the native tools.
The goal is to get the sound card running the highest output voltage you can get and still have headroom. I usually turn the levels all to 100% when I setup a standard PC with a default sound card to use in high fidelity output sound situations.
The goal is to get the sound card running the highest output voltage you can get and still have headroom. I usually turn the levels all to 100% when I setup a standard PC with a default sound card to use in high fidelity output sound situations.