PC speakers & headphones recommendations

[Deleted member 234478]

I stopped pussyfooting around with "pc" speakers and all those "desktops" garbage kind. only floor standing for rich sound and a good 10"+ sub is a must. the sub that does such a short range makes the system so sweet. and not for the boom boom sound but for the rich hum sound.

depends also what standard is "good enough" for you. otoh, once you ge the bug for hi fi, the rabbit hole gets really deep. once you taste good speakers (not even audiophile level), youre screwed.

its why everytime I feel I want "better", I play a few songs at higher levels to remind me that what I have is excellent and it will hurt my wallet more then my ears if I look for more

$100 speakers would not satisfy...AT ALL.

 

[AleXXX666]

Hello everyone,

I would like some advice about some PC speakers and also some headphones.

The budget I would say around 100 € for each.

The motherboard I'm going to get will almost certainly have the Realtek ALC1220 codec (or possibly ALC4080) and I will use the onboard solution.
Maybe in the future I will bother adding a USB DAC or something if it's worth it, so I am aiming that the speakers and headphones are a notch above the onboard audio to have headroom for possible future upgrades.
Also the motherboard will almost certainly have the austere Line out, Mic In, SPDIF config on the rear I/O. And WiFi 7 + Bluetooth.

Usage: Everyday work on the PC, viewing YT, video editing, also listening to music and also from time to time I will watch some movies.
The video editing requirements are regarding my YT channel, I will need to narrate my videos and then listen to the recorded audio and other effects to make sure it sounds right (at least to me), so the quality of the speakers needs to be at least adequate for this task.
About the music, I listen predominantly to death metal if that has any relevance, the vast majority of my collection is 320 mp3 but I have no problem upgrading some stuff (I suppose I can't upgrade everything I have to lossless) to flac or other lossless formats.
About watching movies I don't have any home cinema demands, I just want something basic for when I need to download and watch a movie on my PC.

Okay from my research I found some options, I imagine there are more which are worthy so please share them, here they are:

Edifier R1700BTs - 108 €
M-Audio BX4 BT - 105 €
Creative GigaWorks T40 S2 - 101 €
Edifier R1700BT - 91 €
PreSonus Eris 3.5 2nd Gen - 80 €

These are the lowest prices I can get them at right now. I looked for the actual MSRPs and it seems that all of them are below that, some more some less.
About the quality from what I've gathered the Edifiers appear to be best (generally speaking not sure if they're ideal for me) and also price-wise they are pretty good compared to their own MSRPs and to the competition.
Now a small problem is that from this video it appears that there is an actual sound difference between the BT and the BTs and not just the sub-out connector.
So I'm not sure if the BT is a better choice or if the BTs is?
Anyway regarding format I like the Creative T40 the most for being taller and slimmer and with the top port it means that they can be placed close to a wall and be fine.
However I will not sacrifice performance for compactness, and it seems the T40 lose to the Edifiers, also being very close in price I guess it's no contest.

So that's about it if you have any other recommendations please share, and if perhaps one of these above is a no-brainer choice let me know.

About the headphones, the usage is exactly the same as the speakers with perhaps more focus on the music aspect because I highly dislike having any ambient noise when I'm focused on listening music.
But apart from that the headphones are secondary to the speakers because of the comfort aspect, I will mainly use them when the ambient noise is high enough to warrant their usage and when I don't want to bother others in the house (especially at night).
From what I've gathered I need closed-back ones.

Here's what I found:

Audio-Technica ATH-M40X - 100 €
Sony MDR-7506 - 98 €
Sennheiser HD-280 Pro - 82 €
Audio-Technica ATH-M30X - 72 €

Based on the price history in my country (Romania) and their $ MSRPs it looks like the only ones with a discount are the Sennheiser HD-280 Pros.
A bit dissapointing to be honest, but if one of these is a good choice I have no problem waiting for a BF discount or something like that.

And of course if you have other recommendations please let me know, I'll check and see if they're available in my country.

Thank you!

creative for speakers from this list, sennheiser for headphones. don't know if creative are same sh*t now as logitech is - comment here - modern logis automatically turn off signal like "power saving". so if you turn some sound on your pc after some time, you got good few secs DELAY then sound comes. no fkin switch off this stupid "feature". but for sound i always liked logi the most.

 

[Rafi2022]

For Music:
As for DAC get budget one example: Apple USB-C DAC(Its 10$ stuff but its good enaugh unless u are one of those with "Golden Ears" i can link u "Blind Test" with people picked it as better then 20.0000$ DACs), but get international version(NOT EU).

I prefer a bit higher sensitivity and less impendance headphones, any of those listed by u will work (for me at least), they are easy to drive and u can use them on any phone no problem, without DAC/Amp.

For Movies:
That onboard audio isnt really bad, u can connect some 5.1 or whatever u like setup. Thats cheapest option.

U can go for external Amp with digital input, but thats another story, and will cost u a lot more.
Only question here: How deep are your pockets

 

[Sol_Badguy]

@jarablue

Thank you!
They'll sit on my desk so just speaker pads, no stands.
I'll look around. On amazon I see plenty of options under 20 euros, I'll check the dimensions.

depends also what standard is "good enough" for you.

The one I can afford.
If I could get better stuff that's expectedly more expensive I would, but as I've said previously I have a fixed budget and I have to fit them all.
Once the build is complete I will post a detailed list with the prices for each component and everyone will be able to see that even with a different build approach and some changes the budget for audio would probably be the same.

But no worries, this is not set in stone, with time I can upgrade, with more experience I will be able to make more informed decisions for my particular tastes and needs, and of course with time I can put money aside for better stuff.

To go further into detail regarding better equipment, it's not only the gear but also the room that needs to be optimized for the best aural experience that the gear can provide. So on top of audio equipment there are other expenses regarding accesories and modifications for the room in question.
Currently I'm using my bedroom so you can understand that even audiophile equipment would be partially wasted in such conditions.

@AlexXXX666

Thanks, but the R1700BTs are already ordered and I'd rather not modify the order as it contains other stuff. I figured they're fine for what they are.
The headphones are still up for debate, a discount could make me decide, plenty of the options that were discussed are valid, so relative to the price I'm not making mistakes regardless of choice.

@Rafi2022

Thank you.
I'll see what money I can spare for a USB DAC but it's low priority for me.
With headphones I'm waiting for a discount, honestly I think I'd pull the trigger on Sony MDR-7506 if that goddamn price would drop to 90 maybe 85 euros, which is currently the price for Sennheiser HD 280 Pro on amazon.de.

Sometime in the future I plan on upgrading everything, even my new PC that is soon to be built. When that happens everything will be a notch or two above what I get now -> audio interface, XLR mic, better headphones and speakers etc.
I have a good several years to put money aside and to gain experience using this stuff so I'm not anxious about it.
Right now I have other expenses too so I had to cap the budget somewhere, and this is what I'm working with.

 

[Deleted member 234478]

>

depends also what standard is "good enough" for you.

>The one I can afford.

you will not get anything great for $100. guess it depends who you ask. I bought MINT KEF Q55 for $120. used. I will never go back to shetty desktop/pc speakers. maybe desktop monitors like from elac, but you can find excellent used speakers that will destroy any $100 new speaker. $100 for speakers....well... not even $100 sound $50 of that is their profit and not sound quality.

but could be in Romania things are more expensive then other regions perhaps?

check used and see what you can find. paradigm atom or titan. are u looking for active speakers, or do you have a receiver/amp? try also microlab. solo 6 , 7 8 . not less like 5 or so. tons of used edifier on marketplace. must be a reason.

I had logitechs I had klipsch promedia 4.1. decent. but when you step up, its a different level. try used. some people sell for a fair price. I bought a denon receiver from a widow for peanuts.

 

[Sol_Badguy]

@inquisitor1

Active speakers.

Well, prices in my country aren't bad but certainly not Microcenter level. Those offers are sometimes surreal.

I would have LOVED some Microlab SOLO 7C New. Unfortunately I came to the party a few years too late.

Never bothered looking at the used market, I felt like playing it safe. True that with this approach I'm getting an inferior product, but at least it's new and less risky.
Looking now for those Microlabs and nothing...

 

[AleXXX666]

@AlexXXX666

Thanks, but the R1700BTs are already ordered and I'd rather not modify the order as it contains other stuff. I figured they're fine for what they are.
The headphones are still up for debate, a discount could make me decide, plenty of the options that were discussed are valid, so relative to the price I'm not making mistakes regardless of choice.

well, it could be "me", but I've seen Edifier speakers on others houses.. do the job, so..

 

[junglist724]

As someone with several headphones/IEMs worth $2000+, DAC/AMPs over $1000, and a 6.1 KEF LS50 + Q Concerto Meta speaker setup at my desk, If I had to limit myself to a budget lower than even $500, I would go with a dongle DAC/AMP that supports EQ and an IEM every time. Then use dolby atmos/dts-x for headphones to simulate a speaker setup or get 3d audio from supported games. Of course the ergonomics of IEMs just won't work for some people.

 

[remixedcat]

Check places like rtings for comparisons of frequency curves or this https://graph.hangout.audio/headpho...0)_(fresh_pads)&bass=4&tilt=-1&treble=0&ear=0

 

[Sol_Badguy]

You can get cheaper speaker pads than from my crutchfield link. Look on amazon for desktop speaker pads.

I think I'm settling for these:

Amazon.de

If the dimensions (in the image not the written product specs) are accurate, relative to the R1700BTs they'll be 4cm wider and 8cm longer.

I would go with a dongle DAC/AMP that supports EQ and an IEM every time.

Well considering I paid 800€ for MB + CPU + RAM I'm in a completely different league.
I would pay 500-600€ for speakers + headphones + audio interface. But it'll have to be next time.

Check places like rtings for comparisons of frequency curves or this https://graph.hangout.audio/headpho...0)_(fresh_pads)&bass=4&tilt=-1&treble=0&ear=0

Thanks.
I've also looked here:

DIY-Audio-Heaven

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com