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These days I think the best route for high quality computer speakers are powered near field studio monitors. for example you can get a pair of JBL 305 powered

These days I think the best route for high quality computer speakers are powered near field studio monitors. for example you can get a pair of JBL 305 powered monitors for $200 and they will blow the pants off “audiophile” computer speakers 4x the price. Just need to sort out finding a sound card with trs outs (bonus is you get a physical volume knob and xlr mic inputs as well), another $50-100 or so.

m463 6y ago
I've gone analog out and it's always trouble. There's a hiss or a hum or a full-on ground loop. I enjoy optical spdif and think it should be more prevalent. The other possibility is USB-audio but then you have to deal with drivers.
- fpgaminer 6y ago
  Yeah, I was looking into a sound card for different reasons and the "modern" sound cards are all garbage. Terrible CODECs and OpAmps, combined with poor circuit design that drives them out-of-spec. SPDIF out of the computer and into even a half-way decent DAC seems to be the way to go. Plus if you have more than one source you save money, since you only need to buy the DAC once.
  - m463 6y ago
    I have a schiit dac and it has optical, spdif a and usb. Honestly it would be cool if it had two of each.
- neolog 6y ago
  > then you have to deal with drivers. I've been using USB DAC on Linux for years, always worked out of the box.
  - wilsonfiifi 6y ago
    Quick question, does the DAC still work when connected to hdmi monitors? I keep having to fiddle with pulse audio at every login to get the headphone jack on my NUC to work.
    - neolog 6y ago
      Dunno, never connected it to HDMI. I recently switched from pulse/alsa to Pipewire with the Pulse shim, working pretty well so far. I don't have any reason in particular to think that Pipewire would help, ... but sometimes changing random stuff solves the problem without needing to get into diagnosis.
    - morsch 6y ago
      Works fine for me. As in, I set it to usb audio and it keeps the setting after I restart the computer or resume from suspend. Sometimes I want HDMI audio and then I switch the output using the Gnome volume app and that works as well. If it's a PulseAudio issue, it's very likely that you can change something in a config file somewhere to change the behaviour to whatever you want.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- deeblering4 6y ago
  When I say sound card I’m talking about an “audio interface” which is indeed digitally connected via usb or similar (see focusrite, zoom, tascam, behringer for lower cost interfaces) and provides a balanced TRS output for a powered monitor. Also have a look at “class compliant” audio interfaces. I haven't needed drivers in the better part of a decade, and most interfaces now are even compatible with iOS using a camera connection kit.
- cable 6y ago
  An audio interface (preferably external) + speakers that support balanced cables should eliminate group loops / hum.
starky 6y ago
Yeah, I'd steer far clear of anything labelled as a "computer" speaker. Studio monitors have long existed for that exact configuration. Plenty of inexpensive audio interfaces out there to connect the speakers to your computer. My "computer" speakers are my Paradigm tower speakers attached to my A/V receiver.
- fatnoah 6y ago
  I spent a lot of time on the topic earlier this year, and settled on a pair of KEF R3s, a combo DAC/headphone amp, and a power amp. It's by no means a budget or discrete setup, but it meets my needs for high quality audio in my "workplace" and, like an A/V receiver and towers, can be used elsewhere. ;)
tcpekin 6y ago
I did this with a pair of Focal Alpha 65s (albeit ~2.5 as expensive as the JBLs, and larger too), but I am not sure I can ever go back to smaller computer speakers again. The sound is so so so much better.
viklove 6y ago
I'm curious what you consider to be "audiophile" computer speakers. Amongst all the hi-fi communities I frequent, the JBL 305 are a common recommendation for entry-level speakers. In fact, I bought my gf exactly those when she started med school.

m463 6y ago

I've gone analog out and it's always trouble. There's a hiss or a hum or a full-on ground loop. I enjoy optical spdif and think it should be more prevalent. The other possibility is USB-audio but then you have to deal with drivers.

fpgaminer 6y ago
Yeah, I was looking into a sound card for different reasons and the "modern" sound cards are all garbage. Terrible CODECs and OpAmps, combined with poor circuit design that drives them out-of-spec. SPDIF out of the computer and into even a half-way decent DAC seems to be the way to go. Plus if you have more than one source you save money, since you only need to buy the DAC once.
- m463 6y ago
  I have a schiit dac and it has optical, spdif a and usb. Honestly it would be cool if it had two of each.
neolog 6y ago
> then you have to deal with drivers. I've been using USB DAC on Linux for years, always worked out of the box.
- wilsonfiifi 6y ago
  Quick question, does the DAC still work when connected to hdmi monitors? I keep having to fiddle with pulse audio at every login to get the headphone jack on my NUC to work.
  - neolog 6y ago
    Dunno, never connected it to HDMI. I recently switched from pulse/alsa to Pipewire with the Pulse shim, working pretty well so far. I don't have any reason in particular to think that Pipewire would help, ... but sometimes changing random stuff solves the problem without needing to get into diagnosis.
  - morsch 6y ago
    Works fine for me. As in, I set it to usb audio and it keeps the setting after I restart the computer or resume from suspend. Sometimes I want HDMI audio and then I switch the output using the Gnome volume app and that works as well. If it's a PulseAudio issue, it's very likely that you can change something in a config file somewhere to change the behaviour to whatever you want.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
deeblering4 6y ago
When I say sound card I’m talking about an “audio interface” which is indeed digitally connected via usb or similar (see focusrite, zoom, tascam, behringer for lower cost interfaces) and provides a balanced TRS output for a powered monitor. Also have a look at “class compliant” audio interfaces. I haven't needed drivers in the better part of a decade, and most interfaces now are even compatible with iOS using a camera connection kit.
cable 6y ago
An audio interface (preferably external) + speakers that support balanced cables should eliminate group loops / hum.

starky 6y ago

Yeah, I'd steer far clear of anything labelled as a "computer" speaker. Studio monitors have long existed for that exact configuration. Plenty of inexpensive audio interfaces out there to connect the speakers to your computer. My "computer" speakers are my Paradigm tower speakers attached to my A/V receiver.

fatnoah 6y ago
I spent a lot of time on the topic earlier this year, and settled on a pair of KEF R3s, a combo DAC/headphone amp, and a power amp. It's by no means a budget or discrete setup, but it meets my needs for high quality audio in my "workplace" and, like an A/V receiver and towers, can be used elsewhere. ;)

tcpekin 6y ago

I did this with a pair of Focal Alpha 65s (albeit ~2.5 as expensive as the JBLs, and larger too), but I am not sure I can ever go back to smaller computer speakers again. The sound is so so so much better.

viklove 6y ago

I'm curious what you consider to be "audiophile" computer speakers. Amongst all the hi-fi communities I frequent, the JBL 305 are a common recommendation for entry-level speakers. In fact, I bought my gf exactly those when she started med school.