PC Speaker recommendation

[MGeaR356]

Thanks to your useful info. Hope to hear from you letting members know how your music plays using
optical connection from onboard sound to edifier s350b.

oh I got the S351DB. Coming from Creative FPS2000 > Creative T3 > Logitech Z625, this is the best speaker so far. For $273, really super value for money. Been listening music whole day and cant stop. Even my wife is so impressed with sound and bass.

I tried to love my Z625 and played music on it yesterday. End up switch off after 30mins as could not endure the piecing mids and overbearing bass. Pretty much explains why i dont play any music since my T3s died and replaced with Z625.

Very different with the S351DB, the mids are quite similiar to my office's gigaworks T40 SII, warm but yet not missing out any details. Would say is as good or slightly better than the T40 SII. Woofer Bass is very natural at 0 default and goes well with the music.

So far to nitpick, optical only supports 48000hz and 24bit. anything higher cannot. Just realised that S360DB can support 192000hz

Its a regret that SG dont carry S360DB - Saw in taobao, they call it S301 instead. Cost around $320 but need to pay shipping + GST.

Actually that onboard sound is using a rather good DAC so sound quality should be comparable
with dedicated sound card.
Do install latest version of audio driver if you are using drivers mainly from Windows update.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X470-AORUS-GAMING-7-WIFI-rev-10/support#support-dl-driver-audio

I am using the optical input so from wat I learnt yesterday its no difference and totally relying on my S351DB's inbuild DAC.

 

[MGeaR356]

If I currently have the r1280dbs, worthwhile to upgrade to the s351db or just get the t5 woofer and plug to the r1280dbs?

Do go down to Endless passion showroom, the boys there are nice and friendly and u can test the various Edifer speakers there.

 

[Forestraintree]

Anyone suspended your woofer like what i did? I tried this method and felt the bass is more rounded and sounds much fuller than when it was resting on the floor.

Can give your feedback if u do try? I interested to know if everyone felt the same or it's just my bias after all the effort.

 

[Outramkia]

oh I got the S351DB. Coming from Creative FPS2000 > Creative T3 > Logitech Z625, this is the best speaker so far. For $273, really super value for money. Been listening music whole day and cant stop. Even my wife is so impressed with sound and bass.

I tried to love my Z625 and played music on it yesterday. End up switch off after 30mins as could not endure the piecing mids and overbearing bass. Pretty much explains why i dont play any music since my T3s died and replaced with Z625.

Very different with the S351DB, the mids are quite similiar to my office's gigaworks T40 SII, warm but yet not missing out any details. Would say is as good or slightly better than the T40 SII. Woofer Bass is very natural at 0 default and goes well with the music.

So far to nitpick, optical only supports 48000hz and 24bit. anything higher cannot. Just realised that S360DB can support 192000hz

Its a regret that SG dont carry S360DB - Saw in taobao, they call it S301 instead. Cost around $320 but need to pay shipping + GST.



I am using the optical input so from wat I learnt yesterday its no difference and totally relying on my S351DB's inbuild DAC.

Glad u enjoy the speakers. They are good speakers. It's cheaper these days. I bought mine at $300+ two years back.

The reason why i use optical is because i can't be bothered to install more accessories to my pc. . Just plain simple mobo optical out will do

 

[hyperfuse]

Do go down to Endless passion showroom, the boys there are nice and friendly and u can test the various Edifer speakers there.

Lazy to go down haha...

Just thinking whether adding a t5 subwoofer to the r1280dbs will give the same audio quality like the s351db

I like the tonality of the r1280dbs.

Buying a t5 subwoofer should be around $140 after platform coupon discounts vs $273 for the s351db like u mention

 

[wwenze]

S351DB should sound better than R1280DBs + T5

R1280DBs sits at an awkward price and performance point where it has the right tonality / frequency response but the smoothness of the response falls short of a proper speaker due to insufficient $$$ to buy all the parts required for a proper speaker. BTW things like z623 are not even close to being a proper speaker. T20/T40 however are pretty close.

So R1280DBs + T5 combo gives you the bass of T5, but the treble of R1280DBs remains imperfect.

The advantage of R1280DBs + T5 is that you can eventually buy a proper L/R speakers and use the T5 with it.

 

[RockaRolla]

I am using the optical input so from wat I learnt yesterday its no difference and totally relying on my S351DB's inbuild DAC.

thank goodness you didnt waste money buying dac or extra soundcard
the way all these kind of AIO integrated speakers work, is they always use their own dac with their own dsp

the digital signal is all the same regardless you use optical out from mobo or from soundcard
even if you get a good dac to feed it analog, the adc inside the speaker will reconvert back to digital then back to analog again

 

[tsteo77]

Anyone suspended your woofer like what i did? I tried this method and felt the bass is more rounded and sounds much fuller than when it was resting on the floor.

Can give your feedback if u do try? I interested to know if everyone felt the same or it's just my bias after all the effort.

Last time i used to have subwoofer. Good and expensive subwoofer should sound Fast, sharp and transparent.
Siting directly in front of subwoofer is harmful to your little brother/sister. Best is to place on the floor next to your desktop.

 

[tsteo77]

thank goodness you didnt waste money buying dac or extra soundcard
the way all these kind of AIO integrated speakers work, is they always use their own dac with their own dsp

the digital signal is all the same regardless you use optical out from mobo or from soundcard
even if you get a good dac to feed it analog, the adc inside the speaker will reconvert back to digital then back to analog again

Human can only listen to analog audio/sound. Machine read digital signal. A good DAC will play better due to good chipset/circuit design/power supply unit weather analog or digital. Else DAC maker closed down already.

 

[hyperfuse]

S351DB should sound better than R1280DBs + T5

R1280DBs sits at an awkward price and performance point where it has the right tonality / frequency response but the smoothness of the response falls short of a proper speaker due to insufficient $$$ to buy all the parts required for a proper speaker. BTW things like z623 are not even close to being a proper speaker. T20/T40 however are pretty close.

So R1280DBs + T5 combo gives you the bass of T5, but the treble of R1280DBs remains imperfect.

The advantage of R1280DBs + T5 is that you can eventually buy a proper L/R speakers and use the T5 with it.

R1280DBs sits at an awkward price and performance point where it has the right tonality / frequency response but the smoothness of the response falls short of a proper speaker due to insufficient $$$ to buy all the parts required for a proper speaker

Haha don't understand the part about insufficient money to buy all the parts required. U mean the speaker cost cheap in which they are missing some parts?

For me currently I use the r1280dbs, it sounds decent to my ears as sound is subjective. The treble is okay too since the speaker itself had a treble knob that I can adjust and it's decent to my ears. Only thing lacking is the bass.

 

[wwenze]

Haha don't understand the part about insufficient money to buy all the parts required. U mean the speaker cost cheap in which they are missing some parts?

A proper speaker needs the following parts:
- A good woofer and a good tweeter to cover the whole frequency range
- A crossover to minimize interference between woofer and tweeter
- Waveguide or some form of directivity control
etc

And needless to say, all these cost money

And most cheap computer speakers don't even have the budget to buy a tweeter. So Edifier having tweeters from R1010BT pricepoint onwards is a godsend. Altho to be fair, if you look beyond things like Logitech, the ~SGD$100 price point is typically when you start finding bookshelf speakers with a tweeter. Most of these tweeters aren't even "good" tweeters - You can see a distinct appearance difference between these retro 70's design compared to the smoother designs found in proper speakers today. But these cheaper tweeters are still way better than having no tweeters at all.

Then after you can afford a tweeter, the next part to buy is the crossover, which usually gets omitted if there is not enough budget. Because even with just the tweeter, the overall tonality is there, which makes the sound acceptable. Most people can't really hear the uneven frequency response or phase issues from a bad crossover.

For Edifier, a proper crossover + tweeter happens at the R1700 / R1850 onwards, while the cheaper speakers like R1280 and R1010 have a cheaper tweeter and no proper crossover.

And Edifier is not alone in this - Other brands also do this at similar price range. M-Audio BX3, Mackie CR3 etc also don't have a proper crossover.

 

[MGeaR356]

thank goodness you didnt waste money buying dac or extra soundcard
the way all these kind of AIO integrated speakers work, is they always use their own dac with their own dsp

the digital signal is all the same regardless you use optical out from mobo or from soundcard
even if you get a good dac to feed it analog, the adc inside the speaker will reconvert back to digital then back to analog again

this is very interesting.. so the most ideal way its just optical direct to speakers and let the DAC + DSP to do its magic

No point Analog out to speaker analog in since the ADC > DAC + DSP? I guess this part is edifer believes its DSP is more superior or to optimise the sound for the speakers from the input it receives?

 

[hyperfuse]

A proper speaker needs the following parts:
- A good woofer and a good tweeter to cover the whole frequency range
- A crossover to minimize interference between woofer and tweeter
- Waveguide or some form of directivity control
etc

And needless to say, all these cost money

And most cheap computer speakers don't even have the budget to buy a tweeter. So Edifier having tweeters from R1010BT pricepoint onwards is a godsend. Altho to be fair, if you look beyond things like Logitech, the ~SGD$100 price point is typically when you start finding bookshelf speakers with a tweeter. Most of these tweeters aren't even "good" tweeters - You can see a distinct appearance difference between these retro 70's design compared to the smoother designs found in proper speakers today. But these cheaper tweeters are still way better than having no tweeters at all.

Then after you can afford a tweeter, the next part to buy is the crossover, which usually gets omitted if there is not enough budget. Because even with just the tweeter, the overall tonality is there, which makes the sound acceptable. Most people can't really hear the uneven frequency response or phase issues from a bad crossover.

For Edifier, a proper crossover + tweeter happens at the R1700 / R1850 onwards, while the cheaper speakers like R1280 and R1010 have a cheaper tweeter and no proper crossover.

And Edifier is not alone in this - Other brands also do this at similar price range. M-Audio BX3, Mackie CR3 etc also don't have a proper crossover.

Icic...so u mean for my case, it's better I dump the r1280dbs which is working fine, and get the s351db and that will have significant audio difference than using the r1280dbs with the t5 sub woofer?

Money is not an issue but just want to make my money well spent for the value.

1) If r1280dbs + t5 subwoofer vs the s351db has a clear audible difference, I won't mind buying the s351db

2) So the speakers found in the s351db has better tweeters as compared to the tweeters found in s351db?

 

[wwenze]

Icic...so u mean for my case, it's better I dump the r1280dbs which is working fine, and get the s351db and that will have significant audio difference than using the r1280dbs with the t5 sub woofer?

Money is not an issue but just want to make my money well spent for the value.

1) If r1280dbs + t5 subwoofer vs the s351db has a clear audible difference, I won't mind buying the s351db

2) So the speakers found in the s351db has better tweeters as compared to the tweeters found in s351db?

I wouldn't say dump, I would say relegate it to secondary or spare duty. In terms of price and performance it works well as a standalone $100+ speaker.

The price paid for having separate subwoofer and speaker has its own value which may or may not be appreciated depending on the person and his upgrade path. The ability to control the subwoofer/speaker crossover is another benefit - S350DB has a typical crossover value for computer speaker at around 150Hz to 200Hz but I find a lower frequency like 80-100Hz gives more margin against localizing the subwoofer.

Plus, if you're a newcomer and looking for a 2.1 setup that you will never be changing, I don't know where to find $273 for S351DB because most places I see is ~$350, whatever the price the S351DB is what it is, a 2.1 system that is as close to a proper system as it gets for the size and price range. But if you already have the R1280DBs, then you'll be spending less to buy just a subwoofer that you can reuse in the future, even if the treble performance is worse, and here's the problem - Whether that difference is audible or worth paying $300 instead of $150 depends on people.

In short:

Budget $150 - R1280DBs (but TBH if you can find a R1700 or R1850 at a small price upgrade just go for those instead)
Budget $300 - S351DB (if you want 2.1, because there are also 2.0 available which may be preferred by some)
Budget $300 but future upgrade plans - R1280DBs + T5 <--- This path I will not recommend for long usage or if you're starting from scratch and going to dump any speaker at the end
Budget R1280DBs + $150 - T5 or just don't care. TBH the benefit from adding T5 to R1280DBs is just a bit more bass extension (you do get a lot more bass volume tho) at the cost of more than doubling the total cost
Budget R1280DBs + $300 - Use R1280DBs for another family member, S351DB for main
Budget $500 - Heaps of proper bookshelves available and the better ones make the benefits of adding T5 very minimal
Budget even higher - Proper bookshelves + subwoofer

 

[hyperfuse]

I also saw your review about the r1280dbs.

U mentioned sound wise, it's good out of the box etc and using it without the grill, makes the treble abit better.

I am using without the grill from the first day. And yea out of the box, it sounds decent to me. i adjusted the bass and treble.knobs abit to my liking and acoustic songs sounds good

Of course if one is to use measurements, I am sure it can't fight with way more expensive studio monitors. As audio is subjective, what sounds good might not sound good to another person. I don't really bother to look at measurements as I am not an audiophile. Basically using my ears as a laymen to judge the audio quality. Prefer not to look at numbers, charts and measurements as I leave that to professionals in the audio industry that need those sort of pin point accuracy. But speaking as a majority of common folks, seems the audio from the r1280dbs sounds already decent for acoustic songs. Only lack the oomph from the bass since there is no physical sub woofer.

So just wondering if I upgrade to the s351db instead of buying a t5 sub, will I get that audible audio difference that a common folk will straight away notice?

As mention, t5 woofer just cost $130 to $140 vs buying a new s351db at 273 to 300.

Money is no issue to be honest as I constantly change my hardware be it monitors, headsets etc. But that's because I buy den sell to upgrade.

For this instance, selling the r1280dbs won't be much anyway, guess no one will buy a 2nd hand at a decent price since the r1280dbs is cheap to begin with.

 

[hyperfuse]

I wouldn't say dump, I would say relegate it to secondary or spare duty. In terms of price and performance it works well as a standalone $100+ speaker.

The price paid for having separate subwoofer and speaker has its own value which may or may not be appreciated depending on the person and his upgrade path. The ability to control the subwoofer/speaker crossover is another benefit - S350DB has a typical crossover value for computer speaker at around 150Hz to 200Hz but I find a lower frequency like 80-100Hz gives more margin against localizing the subwoofer.

Plus, if you're a newcomer and looking for a 2.1 setup that you will never be changing, I don't know where to find $273 for S351DB because most places I see is ~$350, whatever the price the S351DB is what it is, a 2.1 system that is as close to a proper system as it gets for the size and price range. But if you already have the R1280DBs, then you'll be spending less to buy just a subwoofer that you can reuse in the future, even if the treble performance is worse, and here's the problem - Whether that difference is audible or worth paying $300 instead of $150 depends on people.

In short:

Budget $150 - R1280DBs (but TBH if you can find a R1700 or R1850 at a small price upgrade just go for those instead)
Budget $300 - S351DB
Budget $300 but future upgrade plans - R1280DBs + T5 <--- This path I will not recommend for long usage or if you're starting from scratch and going to dump any speaker at the end
Budget R1280DBs + $150 - T5 or just don't care. TBH the benefit from adding T5 to R1280DBs is just a bit more bass extension (you do get a lot more bass volume tho) at the cost of more than doubling the total cost
Budget R1280DBs + $300 - Use R1280DBs for another family member, S351DB for main
Budget $500 - Heaps of proper bookshelves available and the better ones make the benefits of adding T5 very minimal
Budget even higher - Proper bookshelves + subwoofer

Thanks for the response.

I am more of a casual user for speakers. I work from home and generally use headset for work calls and I do play csgo so I generally use headsets.

My speakers is just when it's getting hot on the head from headsets that I turn on speakers to play music on YouTube. I only game with headsets. Currently using the audeze maxwell. ( it's an awesome headset with planar magnetic driver and best of all its wireless, audio quality beats any headset at the moment esp gaming headsets from other brands)

Since 4.4 coming, will check out prices of s351db and t5 woofer online.

The other guy mentioned endlessnpassion selling for 273 if I not wrong by walking in.

 

[wwenze]

this is very interesting.. so the most ideal way its just optical direct to speakers and let the DAC + DSP to do its magic

No point Analog out to speaker analog in since the ADC > DAC + DSP? I guess this part is edifer believes its DSP is more superior or to optimise the sound for the speakers from the input it receives?

Not just Edifier, lots of high-end companies do that, and they usually have much better frequency response accuracy than those who don't.

And it's not like its DSP is superior or DAC / ADC is good/bad or anything. The DAC / ADC these speakers use inside are the entry-level stuff comparable to computer soundcard. (And there are things way worse than computer soundcards btw, like those $20 dongles from China) These electronics provide "good-enough" performance that people don't observe any performance degradation, and the proof of the pudding is that even those power-cable-buying audiophiles didn't know that there is an ADC/DAC step inside these speakers.

The reason why more and more speakers are using DSP is because it is a cheap way of implementing EQ, which allows higher frequency response accuracy at a lower price. EQ need not be implemented via DSP - Audioengine A5 and A2 achieve it via analog methods. Even z623 has EQ for its satellites, also implemented via analog. Heck, the crossover in speakers is a form of EQ, expensive models do use complicated crossovers with >20 components to correct the frequency response, and these crossovers for passive speakers can cost $500 or more. In DSP speakers, it costs just the chip. Small price for big performance, basically.

 

[mimimipo]

Hi guys,
I also plan to upgrade from Z625 but prefer a 2.0 due to no space for a subwoofer. Can recommend a bookshelf speaker for a budget of around $300? Or is a budget of $500 will have more options?

Will use for everything on desktop (music, drama, game)

Thanks!

 

[wwenze]

I also saw your review about the r1280dbs.

U mentioned sound wise, it's good out of the box etc and using it without the grill, makes the treble abit better.

I am using without the grill from the first day. And yea out of the box, it sounds decent to me. i adjusted the bass and treble.knobs abit to my liking and acoustic songs sounds good

Of course if one is to use measurements, I am sure it can't fight with way more expensive studio monitors. As audio is subjective, what sounds good might not sound good to another person. I don't really bother to look at measurements as I am not an audiophile. Basically using my ears as a laymen to judge the audio quality. Prefer not to look at numbers, charts and measurements as I leave that to professionals in the audio industry that need those sort of pin point accuracy. But speaking as a majority of common folks, seems the audio from the r1280dbs sounds already decent for acoustic songs. Only lack the oomph from the bass since there is no physical sub woofer.

So just wondering if I upgrade to the s351db instead of buying a t5 sub, will I get that audible audio difference that a common folk will straight away notice?

As mention, t5 woofer just cost $130 to $140 vs buying a new s351db at 273 to 300.

Money is no issue to be honest as I constantly change my hardware be it monitors, headsets etc. But that's because I buy den sell to upgrade.

For this instance, selling the r1280dbs won't be much anyway, guess no one will buy a 2nd hand at a decent price since the r1280dbs is cheap to begin with.

Money no issue then just buy Elac Debut Reference DBR62 ($750 now) and a China amp capable of at least clean 10-20W, add +10dB of bass EQ, and you won't even need a T5 or S351DB subwoofer.

See, money is an issue after all.

If you buy T5, there is definitely a big bass boost compared to just R1280DBs.
If you buy S351DB, you can also feel that bass boost.
If you compare T5 + R1280DBs and S351DB, the difference is more complicated. On initial listening, you can't really decide which is better, the weird treble of R1280DBs that is audible to veteran listeners isn't present on S351DB, but the bigger cabinet of R1280DBs results in its in-room response to be more similar to other bookshelves (i.e. more midrange bass). This can be either good or bad depending on how much boundary gain you have and how much you want, which is a personal preference. S351DB, or in my review S350DB needs EQ to sound like bigger speakers. Which leads to the most important point - Any sound dissatisfaction (apart from high subwoofer crossover) of S350DB/S351DB can be fixed easily via EQ. The problems of R1280DBs cannot. Even if R1280DBs may sound better at stock settings.

 

[wwenze]

Hi guys,
I also plan to upgrade from Z625 but prefer a 2.0 due to no space for a subwoofer. Can recommend a bookshelf speaker for a budget of around $300? Or is a budget of $500 will have more options?

Will use for everything on desktop (music, drama, game)

Thanks!

Even $200 bookshelves are an upgrade from the z625 lol... So there are lots of options, just how much you want to spend and how much desk space you have.

Stock bookshelves will have quite a bit less bass than the z625, so if you need similar bass, you need a good pair of passive bookshelves with a good amount of EQ. (This trick does not work with most active speakers because the internal amp cuts the bass at around 50Hz so there is no way to boost it back)