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Headphones or Speakers?


lemmingllama

Headphones or Speakers?  

33 members have voted

  1. 1. Headphones or Speakers?

    • Headphones
      12
    • Speakers
      6
    • Depends on situation
      15


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I use my headphones most of the time, because my speakers are kinda crappy, and buying speakers with the same quality as my headphones would be very expensive, and I don't really have the place for a 5.1 system where my computer is.


The only time I use speakers, is when I'm on the ps3 which is hooked up to a 1080p projector and a 7.1 system, watching anime or playing.


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My speakers are Harman Kardon SoundSticks III. My headphones are Sennheiser HD518s. I honestly can't tell the difference sometimes. Once I didn't plug my headphones in well and so the sound kept coming from the speakers, and it took me like 30 minutes to notice x_x. I use headphones when I need to be quiet, but because it takes extra effort to set up, I default to speakers which don't require anything be plugged in or put on my head.

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My speakers are Harman Kardon SoundSticks III. My headphones are Sennheiser HD518s. I honestly can't tell the difference sometimes. Once I didn't plug my headphones in well and so the sound kept coming from the speakers, and it took me like 30 minutes to notice x_x. I use headphones when I need to be quiet, but because it takes extra effort to set up, I default to speakers which don't require anything be plugged in or put on my head.

Get a soundcard~ Problem solved. Switching between speakers and headphones is no longer a pain in the arse, and I can leave everything plugged in.

Then again, judging from your setup, and your comments about headphones sounding the same as said setup, I guess you aren't an audiophile that would benefit from a dedicated soundcard >_>

My setup stems from an Asus Xonar Essence STX soundcard to an Audioengine S8 sub, which then goes to a pair of M-Audio AV40's. A decent 2.1 setup, perfect for desktop gaming/music/movie watching.

For late night listening, I have a pair of Sennheiser HD650's (amped by the soundcard, of course).

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Yes, not an audiophile. I notice small differences only if I'm listening closely, and most of the time I have 85% of my attention on visual (gaming). I chose my stuff on the fringes of high-end equipment because it was a nice price point and gave me nice sound quality without breaking into audiophile territory where I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

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Get a soundcard~ Problem solved. Switching between speakers and headphones is no longer a pain in the arse

Can you substantiate your claim a bit for me because I use front panel audio ports for the headphones even though I know I shouldn't because it's just so darn annoying to switch the speaker/heaphone plug in the back of my computer. I looked into buying 3.5mm switch, but I couldn't find any x_x. Evidently nobody has 2 audio devices they want to switch between anymore.

If I really can switch the outputs at will (preferably with some kind of physical key) I would really consider getting a cheap entry level sound card.

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3URNs.png

That is the options I have to switch between. The front panel connectors connect directly to the soundcard, so I can disable HD-Audio completely.

The 'Headphones' option you see is an AUX port on the soundcard, while the 2 speakers are the RCA ports (left and right channels, could do virtual 7.1 if you wanted or purchase the Xonar ST with the optional H6 PCB).

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You should be able to chose the sound output with windows, you don't need a seperate soundcard for that (imo with the quality of integrated soundcards in mobos, it's not really worth it anymore).

Just go in the sound options and make the output you wish the default one.

You're right. Soundcards are really aimed at either the audiophile or the rich with nothing better to spend their money on. On-board sound, while the quality is less than what a new soundcard produces, would be perfectly acceptable to 95% of the PC users out there.

Soundcards do offer other features besides higher quality sound (arguably 64x 'better', but it varies from person to person). They come with a nice software interface (Windows only!), which has a few features that would require several programs to achieve the same result. Some even have built-in headphone amps, which is great for people with high-end headphones.

Granted, these advantages mean nothing without decent speakers. There isn't much point in getting a soundcard when all you have is a cheap set of Logitechs. High end sound is expensive, and is normally only reserved for the audiophiles and the rich~

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