My Alienware computer has a creative XFi soundcard (sorry don't know exact specs). The computer is about 3 months old. For Christmas, I got Bose Companion 5 speakers that connect through a USB.
The Bose people said I don't need the card ( and I could use the audio in jack on the speakers to connect to the card but I will probably lose sound quality)
Alienware said the card is more important and I should return my beautiful speakers.
What's the deal? Should I just sell the soundcard?
2006-12-27 06:42:41 · 9 answers · asked by coolnatkat 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
Speakers don't matter if you have a bad sound card. If you are happy with your sound card with normal speakers, then adding great speakers will improve your experience. If you are NOT happy with your sound card with normal speakers, don't waste money on expensive speakers, get a new sound card.
Do the USB speakers have their own sound card, built in? I've never tried USB speakers.
2006-12-27 06:50:51 · answer #1 · answered by c.s. 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
USB digital speakers will not have problems like interference from the cable. Also your audio will have to be processed by your PC, which may (if it was noticable) reduce your frame rates in games over a dedicated soundcard. This is probably why Alienware says your sound card is more important, since they wouldn't want someone to run benchmarks on their machine and have it perform less than optimal.
If I were to chose, I would probably keep the speakers and leave the soundcard in there anyway, just set your speakers as your primary playback device and leave your soundcards inputs as your primary recording in case you needed it for something someday. What if you want to plug in a mic and do video conferencing or voice chat while playing games?
2006-12-27 06:50:09 · answer #2 · answered by traciatim 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
whats more important depends on how loud the sound you want to play.
a soundcard will let u play very loud sounds using independently powered speakers (speakers with their own AC power source) as well as low-powered headfones (no AC power source).
a USB speaker gets its power from ur PC, and is thus less powerful. the bose peope are right, u dont need a card, coz their speaker actually has a built in sound card inside.
if u think the bose speakers seem right for ur needs, soft, low sounds, where u dont need to play loud music as in a party, do sell the sound card.
2006-12-27 07:07:02 · answer #3 · answered by IslandTech 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those speakers connect directly through your USB port and don't need a sound card...it is built into the device that plugs into your computer. I would say to try both ways and see which sounds better. I would imagine that the internal sound card would, but I am not sure.
2006-12-27 06:46:23 · answer #4 · answered by Yoi_55 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask a computer tech, not a bunch of anonymous people on the web. But, if you have a good sound card and crappy speakers, why have a good sound card? Likewise, why have great speakers but not a sound card? I don't think you can have one without the other. However, you might want speakers that are compatible with your sound card and vice versa.
2006-12-27 06:53:04 · answer #5 · answered by BLAIR C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keep both. If your speakers connect through USB then use that. If for some reason your speakers go belly-up you always have the sound card to use for other speakers.
2006-12-27 06:46:05 · answer #6 · answered by Ian T 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Actually they are both equally important, cheap speakers will sound cheap even with the most expesive sound card, get good sound cards and speakers.
2006-12-27 06:46:51 · answer #7 · answered by Lilith's Daughter 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although, some pcs have a soundcard built in there motherboard, it only offers basic sound capabilities. If you want kick butt sound then one should just go and buy a better soundcard.
2006-12-27 06:47:48 · answer #8 · answered by DeCaying_Roses 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not sure, but you sure are spending alot of money on stuff you know nothing about.
2006-12-27 06:45:46 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋