# Help with computer system setup



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

hey guys, i figured with the amount of speakers i have laying around i should make a little system for my computer since this is where i am 50% of my day and am using 15 year old blown harmon kardon computer speakers. im thinking of using exodus anarchies and hybrid audio L3se's and maybe scan r2904 if i cant use the L3 as a fullrange. all i really need is an amp of some sort. this is where im lost. i have no idea about home audio or what i would need. computer is custom built but doesnt have a sound card. i was thinking i can use a 3.5mm to rca adapter. so what will i need


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Onboard audio usually sucks. 

You have 2 options. 

1. If the motherboard has optical out, You can go digital to a receiver and let that do all the conversions. 

2. Get a sound card + A small amp to power the bookshelfs


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

do i NEED a soundcard if i dont have optical? i dont see why i cant run the 3.5mm to rca to an amp.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

OOOH the hours ive spent dealing with buzzing on board audio.

The problem I have run into is that anything under $100 isnt any better than most on board audio chips. Edzyy is right if you have optical out that is the way to go.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

SkizeR said:


> do i NEED a soundcard if i dont have optical? i dont see why i cant run the 3.5mm to rca to an amp.


Yes

The motherboard has a little 5 cent chip doing all the digtal to analog conversion

it sucks ass


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

The issue with a lot of mobo's sound cards is the ground sucks balls.

EDIT: if you are using the 3.5mm


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

good news. it has optical out. now what


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

There are a few out there that do pretty well in the onboard sound department. What motherboard do you have?

edit: too late, optical would be the way to go. Tho i have never touched a home audio amp that took optical input. Ive got a billion year old marantz that does me good.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

SkizeR said:


> good news. it has optical out. now what


Get a cheapo onkyo, yamaha, harmon receiver


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

gigabyte z77x-ud3h. it has S/PDIF out


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Yeah ive had buzz issues with gigabyte mobos before, not that I can make a blanket statement like that. There are a couple out there that tout pretty decent on board sound. I agree with Edzyy if you have optical out(and it looks like you do)you can get a pretty decent reciever for pretty cheap these days.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

any recommendations that has 3 channels? sub and 2 fullrange? i dont even know where to begin looking for this stuff


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I have to bow out on that last question so i dont reveal how little I know about modern receivers....


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

REGULARCAB said:


> I have to bow out on that last question so i dont reveal how little I know about modern receivers....


you know more than me, so shoot lol


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Im not sure you can get like a 2.1. You can get a cheap stereo receiver and a plate amp for the sub. But someone will prove me wrong.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Is the subwoofer powered?

Just look on craigslist for a 5.1 receiver


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

just go down to the goodwill and pick out a receiver that has Dolby Digital and optical input, 5.1 channels is not going to be wasted if you run it in 2.1 mode.

You're not trying to re-invent the wheel here, right?

Most of the decent receivers that have an optical input over the last 20 years, are going to have plenty of power for a computer system.

Now if you're wanting something less sizable, I'd try out one of the Topping or Lepai amps, as 20W/ch is pretty good for nearfield use and doesn't eat up desk space.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

cajunner said:


> just go down to the goodwill and pick out a receiver that has Dolby Digital and optical input, 5.1 channels is not going to be wasted if you run it in 2.1 mode.
> 
> You're not trying to re-invent the wheel here, right?
> 
> ...


bro, i dont even know what 5.1 means lol. this is like an alien world to me. i need step by step instructions haha


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

5 channels of amplifier power + 1 input for a powered subwoofer.

In home theatre talk it would be

Front left, Front right
Rear left, Rear right
Center Channel


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

can someone just link me to the cheapest setup i could use for this


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

cajunner said:


> 5.1 channels is not going to be wasted if you run it in 2.1 mode


That is what I was wondering.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

edzyy said:


> Is the subwoofer powered?
> 
> ^^^^^^


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

edzyy said:


> edzyy said:
> 
> 
> > Is the subwoofer powered?
> ...


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

SkizeR said:


> bro, i dont even know what 5.1 means lol. this is like an alien world to me. i need step by step instructions haha


you could set up as a 2 channel, or stereo only option, but not many receivers like that have the optical inputs.

optical inputs came into vogue the same time surround sound came around, and the receivers that have optical inputs sometimes only use that input with surround sound sources.

so, it's possible that you will need to have motherboard support for 5.1 conversion, to use an old receiver with optical input.

which would suck. 

you might be better off with a cheap imported amp with optical input and built-in DAC's, just to try things out. 


or this:

Digital to Analog Audio Converter Optical / Coaxial | 180-997

to go with... this:


Lepai LP7498E 200W Class D Digital Amplifier with Bluetooth | 310-298


but that's just silly..


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

To be honest if we are just talking about cheap. You really could run the 3.5mm to rca of a 2channel amp (whatever 120v you want). You just run the risk of HISS prolly a 50% chance in my experience.

EDIT: not really sure why hiss got capitalized... but im leaving it


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

i have the optical out though


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Amazon.com: Sherwood RD-5405 350 Watt 5.1 Receiver with HDMI Switching and AM/FM Stereo (Black): Electronics

Something cheap like that would work. Any 5.1 receiver (they are marketed like that it will say 5.1) with an optical input would work for you. Pawn shops are overrun with them. Im thinking 50 bucks out the door. I have used a 5.1 on a pair of bookshelves before but it seemed like a waste to me.

The issue you are going to have is you will obviously need crossovers. Also im not sure if any home receiver is going to like anything under 6ohms (but that i have not researched)


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Of course your best bet is i send you THIS and you send me the intimid8ters and the L3's :laugh:


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

in your "I'm broke" thread you have plenty to trade for, maybe someone can ship you a decent receiver or an amp and DAC, so you don't have to spend any money?


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Or if you really want to go cheap, buy the 30 dollar dac, grab an old battery, a trickle charger and a 2 channel 12v amp you may have laying around. Its what I had in my garage.


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

Forget the receivers, you won't need any more than 20 watts per channel and 50 watts on a sub to get painfully loud with a nearfield computer system. 

All you need is a decent USB DAC (~$50) and this:

Lepai 2.1 2x40W Amplifier + 1x68W Sub Output | 310-308

At my old house, I had a 6.5" Alpine Type E component set in some generic sealed bookshelf enclosures running off of a similar mini-amp and a little custom 8 I built running off of a 50 watt plate amp for my computer system and it got so loud that my neighbors could hear it.


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## Justin Zazzi (May 28, 2012)

To make the process easier (and avoid all the home theater stuff you don't know anything about), why not sell the extra L3SE or Anarchy and buy a set of computer speakers off craigslist? You can find a decent 2.1 system with digital input for less than $100 used, or get a good set for $150+ used. If you really really need the help, I'm pretty sure some of us would be willing to look at your local craigslist for some ideas for you.


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

so I looked at the motherboard specs.

just get a break-out cable that you can use to convert the 3.5mm jacks to RCA outputs.

your board is a pretty feature packed unit, and if you didn't hear noise before with the blown computer speakers, it's likely your new amp/receiver is going to be quiet too.

All you would need for mostly mild listening levels is a 20 dollar Lepai and build the Anarchy woofers into some fourth-order bandpass so you don't need crossovers.

maybe just a cap on the widebander and tweets.


then you can upgrade, haha...


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## santiagodraco (Feb 9, 2012)

*What video card are you running in your PC?*

Chances are if you do decide to go the receiver route (a good option since you already have home theater speakers ready to go) you can simply use HDMI from your video card to the receiver then from there to your monitor (HDMI or HDMI-DVI) and speakers from the receiver's speaker outputs. The Sherwood that was linked previously is an excellent option for the price and will work direct from the HDMI output on your video card with no need to use the crap sound chip on the motherboard.

I'll even offer to help walk you through the setup if you decide to go this route. 

As others have said the simplest route would be to buy a set of computer speakers, like Logitech's or Klipsch or others (which will have a powered sub). Or go the receiver route which will give you expansion options in the future such as going full surround sound (just by adding speakers, ala 5.1 as stated previously).

The receiver route using HDMI and decent speakers will sound better than most any computer speaker setup you are likely to find.


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## santiagodraco (Feb 9, 2012)

Just checked your motherboard and it looks like you have HDMI but it's not clear which video chipset the board is using, so, you may not have audio over HDMI support.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I have often wondered if those HDMI receiver will pass video through. It sounds like they wich would be awesome for my setup.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

REGULARCAB said:


> I have often wondered if those HDMI receiver will pass video through. It sounds like they wich would be awesome for my setup.


They do.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

SkizeR said:


> do i NEED a soundcard if i dont have optical? i dont see why i cant run the 3.5mm to rca to an amp.


It depends, some sound decent, I`d use something like audioquest dragonfly to nice tube preamp ( hint I make one inexpensively). to power amp of 100 W if you planning to use speakers you described. Nice choice of speakers btw.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Victor_inox said:


> It depends, some sound decent, I`d use something like audioquest dragonfly to nice tube preamp ( hint I make one inexpensively). to power amp of 100 W if you planning to use speakers you described. Nice choice of speakers btw.


a tube preamp would be pretty dope..


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

SkizeR said:


> a tube preamp would be pretty dope..


IMHO it`s a must have using with lifeless computer files. With carefully selected tubes that thing is so dope.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Victor_inox said:


> IMHO it`s a must have using with lifeless computer files. With carefully selected tubes that thing is so dope.


so dope bro... lol. so how much do those run?


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## Wy2quiet (Jun 29, 2010)

I would just run a Tripath chip amp. One for each side and you can run them active off the internal sound card. The differences in sound are almost always going to be limited by speakers rather than the level technology is at these days with 24 bit dacs becoming standard.

The other good thing about the tripath amps is you can run them off of your power supply.

Here is a picture of what I built out of 1 tripath amp last year. Plays for 50 hours on a single charge and will play to about 113db outdoors (pretty damn loud) based on a bipole design from Denmark. It runs 4 10's and 4 piezos tuned to about 75hz. 

To be fair the drivers are about 97db efficient.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

SkizeR said:


> so dope bro... lol. so how much do those run?


$150 with matched tubes. 2 double triodes, Russian NOS or US made tubes not Chinese crapola. 
power supply included. I`m in development of car version now, prototype works well but power supply for tubes is tricky business not quiet ready for primetime.


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## Barnaby (Aug 25, 2009)

I just went through this exact decision earlier this week. I was torn between a Carot One Ernestolo and Maverick Audio DAC/integrated amp combo. I ended up with the Maverick set up. It should be here next week, I'll update when I give it a listen.


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