Cheap Computer Speakers

There’s a bit of an ongoing debate on whether it actually makes a difference when using the onboard sound card from your motherboard or an actual separate sound card plugged in (whether external or internal). Times have changed since the old days of onboard cards being hopelessly obsolete, but that’s not to say that dedicated cards aren’t worth getting either. The decision isn’t as clear cut as, say, video cards, where getting one is absolutely imperative if you’re using your computer for more than browsing e-mails.

To most budget computer users, it seems like a plausible point that spending extra on a sound card is unnecessary, when the onboard one works just fine. The use of a good pair of headphones or speakers should bring out the sound quality just fine, and it’s more econominal to just spend on these rather than on a product that adds only a marginal, if any, discernable difference to sound. In fact, any improvements in sound are even deemed by many to be a placebo, a self-assuring justification of the money spent.

An audio output is an audio output regardless of whether it comes from a separate card or from the motherboard. People who already use dedicated sound cards, of course, say that the difference is night and day. The added functionality of supporting multiple speaker setups and 3D effects aside, there usually is an improvement in fidelity and clarity to the audio.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous entry though, it’s a matter of personal requirements and taste. The main difference is that dedicated cards, being dedicated as such, serve only one purpose: to produce audio. This means that rather than the single chip on a motherboard full of other processes, the entire card functions independently, with its own internal CPU to produce your audio. In effect, they tend to perform better both in terms of your computer’s CPU usage and (arguably) sound quality, with less stuttering, hissing and quality dips during CPU-intensive sessions and lower latency (lag time between when the sound is meant to be produced and when it is actually produced). Not everyone experiences these problems however, and certainly not all the time. Plenty of people using onboard cards get by just fine with no issues and see no reason to upgrade, just like most people who use dedicated cards are unlikely to be able to go back.

I’m not going to go into detail about what you should get if you want a full-on system with a digital-to-analog converter etcetera because this site is all about CHEAP computer speakers, so not only is this not explicitly related to speakers, it’s not exactly a cheap route. If you do end up buying an expensive fancy speaker setup though, it certainly is worth spending a little on your sound card lest your investment go to waste. At the very least, you need to have a sound card to support your setup; not all onboard cards support more than a simple 2-speaker stereo system.

Personally, in the spirit of the site, I use a cheap Creative sound card – good enough that I don’t get the disadvantages of onboard audio, but I don’t need the flashy effects of a $200 gadget either. I feel that unless you work with audio professionally on your computer or are a hardcore gamer who needs that full immersion, you don’t need something beyond a basic sound card supporting the speaker set up you need. I in fact do both these activities but only partially, and with my setup I have not encountered major issues yet. I know for a fact, however, that I could not function in these areas using my onboard output.

Just something to think about when setting up your sound system.