Computer Speakers/Monitors advice

Creed_Clicks

Hi all, I'm going to look at some speakers for my computer over the next while, and while I don't need anything top of the range, I don't want to get tinny small things either.

I was looking at something along the lines of the Logitech Z623 speakers with subwoofer, which wouldn't break the bank.

A friend of mine uses KRK Rockit 5s through an audio interface, and they sound pretty decent, so in decision between these as well, though I realise these serve a different purpose and would be better for recording tunes etc....

Anyone use the Logitech ones of similar?

A few years back, I used to have a small hifi hooked up to my desktop, and it sounded fine.

Rocker

If listening to music is your main requirement, an old hi-fi system is your best bet.  A small integrated amp and a pair of speakers and you are there.  For music from a computer, there is no need for a sub woofer IMHO.

Jock68

If it is your PC then look for something like  Cambridge Audio DAC using Asio Drivers on the PC with a pair of Monitor Speakers.  You can listen to quality from your PC.   Yes it is a few hundred but well worth it.

Creed_Clicks

Jock68 said:

If it is your PC then look for something like  Cambridge Audio DAC using Asio Drivers on the PC with a pair of Monitor Speakers.  You can listen to quality from your PC.   Yes it is a few hundred but well worth it.

Wasn't aware of this. So, would just be a case of hooking up speakers and computer to it? Would the krks work with this then I wonder....
Hi Fi is also an option, as I have a bunch of CDs, so could kill a few birds with the one stone there....

I should have mentioned that any of the music I'd be producing on a computer would be strictly home demo stuff, nothing professional, it would end up on soundcloud at most.

So maybe something like a cambridge audio DAC or regular computer monitors might do just fine. (hi fi even)

crunchman

Studio monitors should give very accurate reproduction with flat eq, although some are flatter than others, but they might not as pleasing to the ear as a set of consumer speakers.  Consumer speakers are designed to make things sound nice, where good studio monitors are designed to reveal all the flaws in the music.

Creed_Clicks

crunchman said:

Studio monitors should give very accurate reproduction with flat eq, although some are flatter than others, but they might not as pleasing to the ear as a set of consumer speakers.  Consumer speakers are designed to make things sound nice, where good studio monitors are designed to reveal all the flaws in the music.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. As I said, my buddy uses the KRK Rockit 5s connected to his iMac, and to me, they sound pretty decent, plus they double as recording monitors too

I was thinking of the KRK 3s...

Am I correct in saying that a DAC would be set up as: laptop > DAC > hifi or speakers?

Rocker

Creed_Clicks said:

crunchman said:

Studio monitors should give very accurate reproduction with flat eq, although some are flatter than others, but they might not as pleasing to the ear as a set of consumer speakers.  Consumer speakers are designed to make things sound nice, where good studio monitors are designed to reveal all the flaws in the music.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. As I said, my buddy uses the KRK Rockit 5s connected to his iMac, and to me, they sound pretty decent, plus they double as recording monitors too

I was thinking of the KRK 3s...

Am I correct in saying that a DAC would be set up as: laptop > DAC > hifi or speakers?

Yes if you use a USB connection on your laptop.  And your DAC has a USB input.

octatonic

crunchman said:

Studio monitors should give very accurate reproduction with flat eq, although some are flatter than others, but they might not as pleasing to the ear as a set of consumer speakers.  Consumer speakers are designed to make things sound nice, where good studio monitors are designed to reveal all the flaws in the music.

The closer you get to the highest of high end in studio or consumer monitors the closer they get to one another.
High end studio monitors (ATC, Barefoot, PSI, Kii, Genelec 83xx etc) sound fantastic with well recorded albums, but don't tend to hide any bad elements either, which also tends to happen with similarly priced consumer monitors.

The differences are more marked at the £1000-1500 price point- sort of entry level professional monitoring.
Any 'studio monitor' under £500 I tend to assume is badged as a monitor but not actually more useful than a decent hifi speaker.

Also some monitors have very different approaches to how they work- sealed vs ported, DSP vs analogue.
The current trend for DSP enabled speakers means that you might have an analogue input but inside the monitor a DAC converters to digital in order to use a digital crossover to send bass information to the woofer and treble information to the tweeter (so another ADA stage).

This can be done very well (in the case of the Kii, D&D and Genelec 83xx series) or very poorly in the case of some brands I probably should not name.

In the OP's case I'd probably stick with the old hifi.
Computer monitors usually sound crap, even for their price point.
They have a lot of bass when in a 2:1 which massively overwhelms the tinny mids and high end.
It sound impressive but it isn't pleasurable to listen to.

Creed_Clicks

Forgot to mention that my buddy uses an audio interface between the monitors and the iMac .

What about something like the Audioengine A2+ powered speakers? They have a built in DAC.