Buying new speakers, not enough audio i/o

HenkDeGamer · May 11, 2017

Hello there,

Since I bought some cheap Logitech speakers I'm looking for a better set around the 80 euro mark. I was personally looking at the Edifier M3200 2.1 set (still open to other suggestions).
Now, the problem is that my ASrock H61M-DG4 only has 3 audio outputs, 2 of which are being used by my HyperX headset.

So now my question: do I but an extra internal soundcard? An external soundcard? A USB soundcard? Yeah I'm not really into home audio at the moment >

If you have a suggestion for what to buy I would love you forever if you could use this site since I'm from the Netherlands: http

/
(link cuts off, I don't know why, it still works though)

Thanks in advance.

clarkjd · May 11, 2017

You might check to see if the speakers that you want include a headphone connection. Then you just hook up the speakers and only plug your headphones into the speaker system when you need to.

HenkDeGamer · May 11, 2017

clarkjd :

With headphone connection I'm guessing you mean a 3.5mm audiojack? And the speakers do have this this headphone adapter thingy on the bottom left of the image: http

/ would this make it so that I can have them connected simultaneously?

clarkjd · May 11, 2017

HenkDeGamer :

Usually, when the headphones are plugged in, the speakers are disconnected, so sound only comes through the headphones.

ssddx · May 12, 2017

generally you would connect your headset mic+headphone plug into the front of your pc tower. in this way your rear ports are still open for using a sound system. it seems like your onboard is rather limited but should still have this functionality. if you wanted to upgrade to 5.1 in the future or just wanted something a little better than what you have now, the xonar dg/dgx or another budget level soundcard might be a slight upgrade.

you can only use on at a time. with headphones plugged in it will auto-default to them but in windows sound settings you can manually change the default device to be speakers or headphones at will. doing this you could leave both plugged in. or, just plug in the headset whenever you need it and let it auto default.

the headphone jack on the front of speakers will bypass the speakers and just use the headphones. keep in mind the microphone would still need to be connected to the pc tower not the speaker (only the headphone cable portion would use the speaker). using the front of your pc case is likely more convenient.

it is also possible to use an A/B 3.5mm switch box to control which device sound is sent to. push a button and sound comes out the headphones, push the other and it switches over to the speakers. only one device at once though. technically its possible to get both at once if you use a splitter but you can do something similar as well if you use the virtual-audio-cable software (or similar software set)

as far as better speakers are concerned, some edifier speakers are okay while some arent much different than other pc speaker systems. logitech tends to be fairly boomy with bass and average on sound quality but still good for the money spent. creative has some decent speaker systems available but many are comparable to logitech. jbl's creature III and hk's soundsticks III are considered one of the better sounding pc systems. the creative t20 and t40 is recognized as good quality but due to having no subwoofer will lack on bass.

another option is going with a nice pair of hifi 2.0 powered speakers. the mackie cr3/cr4, audioengine a2, m-audio av30/av40/av32/av42, mica pb42x , etc are good options. technically you could also make a mini system out of some small bookshelf speakers and a budget speaker amplifier. you arent just tied down to pc speakers.

your call..

HenkDeGamer · May 12, 2017

ssddx :

It's probably my fault for not being clear enough, but I don't need sound from two different sources at the same time, I just want to be able to have them plugged in at the same time. ''Then why don't you just use your front audio ports?'' Because they are pretty low quality and I hear quite some static and crackling when there is no sound coming from my headphones, with the crackling also being there with sound.
Is it possible to use the light blue (line-in) audio port in the rear as a line-out audio output, so that I can put my headphone/speaker jack in there? What other use does it even have?

About the speakers, I actually bough a set of HK Soundstick III so that is good I guess?

ssddx · May 12, 2017

crackling on the front jack?
probably a poor connection or unshielded wires. you could replace this with a front bay device that has headphone jacks and connect that to a soundcard or onboard and fix this issue likely.. if you cared to.

line in as an output?
generally, no, unless your onboard is set up to do so. i know some motherboards support swapping functions but normally this is to allow 5.1 by disabling mic and aux input and requires the onboard audio to be wired in a specific way as well as having the software to support it. tldr: dont count on it.

line in is generally for low level sound input. for instance if you wanted to record the audio from a cellphone, game system, etc on your pc. or, listen to an external analog sound source using your pc or connected speakers.

even if you bought a soundcard, you would still only be able to connect up one at a time to the rear i/o. you would need to use the front case ports, the jack on speakers or an a/b switch if you want to connect multiples. a splitter would work as well, but would not allow picking one or the other as both would play all the time.

hk soundsticks iii are considered one of the better pc sound systems so i would say you are fine. while they might not be as good as some hifi options, they do come with a subwoofer for that price and are certainly well respected. they should be better than the logitech speakers at a bare minimum.

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Buying new speakers, not enough audio i/o

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