USB Speakers what's the deal?

[Robert J. Chewey]

I am looking at buying new speakers (& a sound card). Do USB speakers need a sound card? What's their deal?

Thanks,
B

[KillerBug]

USB speekers require no sound card, so you can take $50 right off the top of any pair for a very high quality sound card. Also, they have super-high quality audio, it is all digital, never alanlog. They also do not require you a PCI slot, but if you have USB dissabled for the extra IRQ, you will have to turn it back on.

[Vampiel]

The only drawback to USB Sound is that when you want to use another USB device, you can hear the sound of the device working alot of times, also they may conflict easily, I wouldnt recommend them. They are good/but have a bad drawback.

[daveleau]

I just traded for a set of Altec Lansing ada70's (USB 3 piece set) and they have really surprised me with their sound quality. It is great! There is no need for a sound card as stated above. AL is great but there are alot of different companies and models out there so prices vary.

[daveleau]

That may explain my problems with my USB camera. I haven't had a chance to talk with their respective tech supports.

[Andre]

You all seem to forget that when you don´t have a soundcard the CPU has to make up for it. That way you will loose performance.

[KillerBug]

Many of the better soundcards have requirements higher than their counterpart USB speekers, what does that tell you about what will slow down your system? The USB is cloers to the CPU than the PCI slot, and therefore will require less CPU power to access it, and therefor possibly increase your performance vs. a traditional sound card and speeker combo.

[BBA]

Well, I just picked up 2 pair of Altec Lansing USB speakers for very,very,very cheap. They are actually powered from the USB ports. I think I got them because someont didn't know how to make them work.

I just plugged the 1/8" connectors into the sound cards front and rear speaker connectors and then plugged the USB plugs in for power. They sound amazing! Not very powerful so I have my sub still connected but sound detail is wonderful!

I don't evev have to use another power plug!

I could use them as stand alone without a sound card at all if I loaded the drivers for the USB operation, but the 4 channel SB-Live sound would be lost.

I kinda like these things plugged into my SB-LIVE!

BBA

[Vampiel]

What are you talking about killerbug? Just because the device is closer to the CPU doesnt mean it will take that much more power, the point andre was trying to make is that the SC has the neccessary chips on it to proccess the sound that in any other onboard case the CPU would have to proccess it rather than the SC. That would be like saying if I put my STB128 in the closest PCI slot to the CPU it will give it a performance boost/take less CPU power? And yes USB speakers do sound great, but like I said earlier they could cause problems when you try to install other USB devices. As in many cases you can hear the device humming that is using USB, through your USB sound/or cause conflictions. Other than that there GREAT! So if ya dont plan on using any other USB devices then they make for exellent sound.

[KillerBug]

Don't think that being close to the CPU matters? The ISA is only one step further from the CPU than the PCI, the hard drive is on PCI, it can go fast, but you try to access a disket (ISA), and your CPU just about freezes up.

[Vampiel]

hhehe, come one man, we all now PCI goes faster than ISA |) my AGP slot is alot further than the PCI slots but it sure does go alot faster than PCI (tnt agp is better than tnt pci, etc...). Not to mention floppy drive doesnt hook up to ISA, it hooks up to a floppy disk controller on the MB or I/O card, comparing a HD to a floppy makes no sence, of course a HD would be faster LOL
So you are saying that if I switch my pci video card from the one that it is currently at to a pci slot that is closer to the CPU then I will see a performance increase? BTW A hard drive is hooked up to an IDE SLOT on the MB not PCI were did you get your computer from a box of cracker jacks? The only exeption is if you have your HD's hooked up to an Input/Output card (I/O card) witch is still hooked up to an IDE Slot in this case it still wouldnt be hooked up to your PCI, it would go through the ISA slot, also if you have SCSI.

[Andre]

Killerbug? Are you serious? That is the most stupid thing i have ever EVER EVER heard!

[rl]

killerbug, so you are saying the shorter the span of the signal, the slower it is, so with your theory if i had my processor on a seprate board and had it a mile away from my house, i would have a faster computer????? LOL, use the "think before you type" theory, its alot better /forum/smile.gif

[Vampiel]

Do the read before you type RL |) he was saying that if it is *CLOSER* to the cpu then it goes faster, witch is true but the PCI/ISA slots are such a little distance further than the CPU thats it is pretty much insignificant otherwise it would only make sence to put the agp slot RIGHT next to the CPU since you normally dont neccessarily need the best performance with the other slots exept the video card. Dont flame the guy, he oviously didnt know, look on the MB I guarentee you it doesnt hook up to an ISA slot and neither does the HD hook up to PCI, the only time it is, when you have an I/O card then the HD hooks up to an IDE slot on the I/O and the I/O card is hooked up to an ISA slot not PCI.

[This message has been edited by Vampiel (edited 10-16-99).]

[Andre]

We have all known Killerbug for a while now, and he DOES know. Sometimes I think he just says things like this to have fun.

[seti]

"Well, we're talking about digital audio here, and of course the subject of USB has to come up. How does the FPS2K differ and compare to that recent PC audio fad? Well, you can already tell what we feel about USB audio. As described further in the review, the digital nature of USB moves the DAC to the actual output unit, rather than converting the signal on the sound card.
The big problem with USB isn't quality, it's bandwidth. USB's 12Mbps (and that's bit, not byte) isn't all that much, especially when dealing with other potential signals aside from a digital audio stream. Even if there was no contention for the bus, USB still relies on the CPU, and certain interrupts or operations can cause halts and stutters in the sound. Anyone who now uses a USB mouse probably remembers how the cursor stops and freezes momentarily (for example when the CD tray is opened) - much more frequently than was ever the case with serial or PS/2."


June 28, 1999 - Alexis Dang, of Thresh's FiringSquad


My Cambridge DTT2500 Digital System should be hear on monday. (yay, dolby digital) I'll get digital sound, well...no sound is digital, but anyway...I get a digital stream and still get all the features of my Live x-gamer. I'd rather have a good soundcard and good analog speakers than loose features.

[This message has been edited by seti (edited 10-16-99).]

[LordLocksley]

HEY...Distance has NOTHING to do with speed at all...My CPU is closest to my ISA slots and AGP is most distant(memory even more distant)...It all has to do with the type of interface with the CPU...yes you MAY get better quality out of usb because the CPU is driving the speakers directly and that is what causes a CPU load but the better quality. If you are using a sound card it takes the load off of the CPU, but may not have the quality but thats where sound card quality comes in to play...

[rl]

hey vamp, not to sound rude, but i wasnt talking about youre post, i was refering to killer bugs post (hence at the begining i wrote "killer bug,.....")

[Nathan]

Interesting thread here. Kind of reminds me of some users wanting to tweak their system to get every ounce of speed out of it for performance sakes. And now were hooking up devices that drain power from the CPU. I find it interesting.

[Andre]

He he...
Nice thinking there Nathan!

[Vampiel]

rl, this is killerbugs post and I quote
"The USB is cloers to the CPU than the PCI slot, and therefore will require less CPU power to access it"
He said its shorter so it will be FASTER. Not the shorter the slower like you said that he said.
"killerbug, so you are saying the shorter the span of the signal, the slower it is"
clear now |)
And LordLocksley is right as far as looking at it from the small MB terms to a certian degree. Although signals do have a speed that they travel at, but the size of the MB it would be pretty much be insignificant by the .0000quad-trillionths that you wouldnt see any difference whatsoever, but if your MB was as big as the universe it would really matter were you put the card, but its not so....

[LittleKing]

If I understand it correctly when you have a sound card it takes the load off the cpu and thus makes the cpu handle its other responsiblies faster. Does this sound right?

LK

[deep_sky]

Who the heck cares what the distance the slots are from the cpu? It does not make a difference outside of the processor because the board is relatively small and the speed of signals relatively huge in comparison. The ONLY place distance matters is inside the processor. The larger a processor is, then the larger the time lag is the further you are from the system clock. As processors get bigger, there will be the need for more signal repeaters to synchronize the entire processor. But that is the only place it matters. Otherwise it is the type slot/bus you are on that makes a speed difference.

[Vampiel]

Agreed. BTW about the USB speakers, yes they do require a bit more cpu power to operate because of there interface as well as a chance of conflicting with other USB devices, but you only need a special pair of speakers for them so theres pro's/con's.

[daveleau]

Check my bandwith post about USB speakers.

[socalgal]

daveleau's bandwith post about USB speakers

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/002067.html /forum/wink.gif