DevillEars
Dedicated ignorer of fashion
If you're looking for a low-cost desktop audio solution that won't break the bank, this one has surprised me - and pleasantly...
A while back, I built a second desktop PC but left out a soundcard deliberately as the card I wanted was no longer available and I didn't have the time to investigate other options.
This "gap" began to irk, so did some digging for something that would take up less real-estate the Corsair SP2500 on the old PC but - also - would not sound like a 1960s-vintage transistor radio.
I just missed out on a used pair of QUAD 9 mini-monitors...
First step was to find a pair of desktop speakers that were NOT made out of plastic and offered a bit more than the usual 4-5 watts per channel.
Enter a pair of Krator NESO 2 N2-20036 2-way 18wpc speakers:
With reasonably solid-sounding/feeling cabinets made from 9mm MDF and sporting a 1" tweeter and a 4" mid-bass driver, plus an 18wpc amp, these speakers cost the SA equivalent of just over 20 quid.
More info on Neso 2: Computex Spec Sheet for Krator Neso 2
Initial tests using the motherboard audio out were a bit disappointing - largely due to the very limited Windows audio drivers' abilities in EQ.
Next step - always in the plan - was to opt for a half-decent USB soundcard, so snaffled an Asus Xonar U7 Echelon Edition unit for about 80 quid. Added a reasonably-priced pair of single-ended analogue interconnects to hook the speakers to the soundcard.
This card is virtually the same as their basic U7 but comes with a "rubberised camo" finish instead of the gloss black plastic fingerprint-magnet of the base U7.
The Asus U7 Echelon has been reviewed and been well-received - such as the one where the reviewer "focused on pairing up the £80 Xonar U7 Echelon with a pair of £2,000 Grado PS1000 headphones and a raft of 24 bit high definition audio FLAC files".
Review Link: KitGuru Review of Asus Xonar U7 Echelon
(A word of warning: the driver CD contained an old and flawed driver, so logged in to Asus support and downloaded the latest version - which works very nicely thanks).
About 20 minutes of tweaking the Xonar interface's EQ settings and saving the profile has resulted in a surprisingly pleasant-sounding audio setup - and gradually improving as the usage helps with burn-in.
Total cost? The local equivalent of just over 100 quid...
The card & speakers are never going to make me ditch my audio system, but for study-based listening-while-working, they'll do very nicely thanks...
A while back, I built a second desktop PC but left out a soundcard deliberately as the card I wanted was no longer available and I didn't have the time to investigate other options.
This "gap" began to irk, so did some digging for something that would take up less real-estate the Corsair SP2500 on the old PC but - also - would not sound like a 1960s-vintage transistor radio.
I just missed out on a used pair of QUAD 9 mini-monitors...
First step was to find a pair of desktop speakers that were NOT made out of plastic and offered a bit more than the usual 4-5 watts per channel.
Enter a pair of Krator NESO 2 N2-20036 2-way 18wpc speakers:
With reasonably solid-sounding/feeling cabinets made from 9mm MDF and sporting a 1" tweeter and a 4" mid-bass driver, plus an 18wpc amp, these speakers cost the SA equivalent of just over 20 quid.
More info on Neso 2: Computex Spec Sheet for Krator Neso 2
Initial tests using the motherboard audio out were a bit disappointing - largely due to the very limited Windows audio drivers' abilities in EQ.
Next step - always in the plan - was to opt for a half-decent USB soundcard, so snaffled an Asus Xonar U7 Echelon Edition unit for about 80 quid. Added a reasonably-priced pair of single-ended analogue interconnects to hook the speakers to the soundcard.
This card is virtually the same as their basic U7 but comes with a "rubberised camo" finish instead of the gloss black plastic fingerprint-magnet of the base U7.
The Asus U7 Echelon has been reviewed and been well-received - such as the one where the reviewer "focused on pairing up the £80 Xonar U7 Echelon with a pair of £2,000 Grado PS1000 headphones and a raft of 24 bit high definition audio FLAC files".
Review Link: KitGuru Review of Asus Xonar U7 Echelon
(A word of warning: the driver CD contained an old and flawed driver, so logged in to Asus support and downloaded the latest version - which works very nicely thanks).
About 20 minutes of tweaking the Xonar interface's EQ settings and saving the profile has resulted in a surprisingly pleasant-sounding audio setup - and gradually improving as the usage helps with burn-in.
Total cost? The local equivalent of just over 100 quid...
The card & speakers are never going to make me ditch my audio system, but for study-based listening-while-working, they'll do very nicely thanks...