Best 2.1 setup for under $750?

[TridenT]

Why has no one mentioned the Yamaha HS80 at this point? It's $500 for 2. ($450 at guitar center) Only downside is that there is no direct way to connect them to my computer... same for many of these speakers. >_> How would I go along connecting these to a computer? Most of these have 1/4" or XLR.

 

[fralexandr]

in the link for the blue sky exo2 review, the reviewer liked it more than the HS50 + sub. A lot of people seem to think the HS50 + sub > HS80, since there's a dedicated "midrange" woofer (though there are many that prefer the hs80). For your uses, the HS50 might be a better choice since:
The HS80s are huge, LxWxH: 13"x10"x15" (I don't think those will fit easily on a normal desk)
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/speakers/hs_series/hs80m/

As for connecting an HS50/80 to your PC, just use an rca -> 3.5mm cable.
otherwise, you'd probably need to buy a DAC that has an XLR out or buy the HS10W (paired subwoofer for the HS50/80; or any other sub that happens to have XLR, fairly uncommon since it's not found on typical home theater equipment) if you wanted to use the XLR connection.
http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=7262
see page 6 for available connections and page 13 for hs10w subwoofer (typically runs ~$300 from quick google)

http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=rca+to+3.5mm
rca to 3.5mm is probably the best solution (~$3) since that's pretty much the only way other than optical or hdmi to connect audio to a pc (and what's the point in going the DAC route if you didn't want to go the receiver route anyway :S, though DACs are smaller than receivers since they don't require the amplifier, and the DAC's probably redundant since you probably have a nice sound card if you're looking at $750 speakers)

I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record or something, [repeat: blue sky exo2].
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...G&A=details&Q=
it comes with a 3.5mm input, making it easy (just a bit easier than rca->3.5mm anyway) to connect to your PC and comes with a subwoofer.

 

[TridenT]

in the link for the blue sky exo2 review, the reviewer liked it more than the HS50 + sub. A lot of people seem to think the HS50 + sub > HS80, since there's a dedicated "midrange" woofer (though there are many that prefer the hs80). For your uses, the HS50 might be a better choice since:
The HS80s are huge, LxWxH: 13"x10"x15" (I don't think those will fit easily on a normal desk)
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/speakers/hs_series/hs80m/

As for connecting an HS50/80 to your PC, just use an rca -> 3.5mm cable.
otherwise, you'd probably need to buy a DAC that has an XLR out or buy the HS10W (paired subwoofer for the HS50/80; or any other sub that happens to have XLR, fairly uncommon since it's not found on typical home theater equipment) if you wanted to use the XLR connection.
http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=7262
see page 6 for available connections and page 13 for hs10w subwoofer (typically runs ~$300 from quick google)

http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=rca+to+3.5mm
rca to 3.5mm is probably the best solution (~$3) since that's pretty much the only way other than optical or hdmi to connect audio to a pc (and what's the point in going the DAC route if you didn't want to go the receiver route anyway :S, though DACs are smaller than receivers since they don't require the amplifier, and the DAC's probably redundant since you probably have a nice sound card if you're looking at $750 speakers)

I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record or something, [repeat: blue sky exo2].
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...G&A=details&Q=
it comes with a 3.5mm input, making it easy (just a bit easier than rca->3.5mm anyway) to connect to your PC and comes with a subwoofer.

Good thing I came back later to see your edit. Anyway, I just ordered the Yamaha HS80M's. I know I ignored your advice, but I like the look of them a lot compared to those Blue Sky's (Which I think are fucking hideous). I also think the Yamaha's are going to be good speakers and fit the bill well. Maybe they won't, but then I'll have a learning experience. I think these speakers will hold resell value better than the Blue Sky Exo2's, if I do happen to sell them down the line. And, I kept hearing how these speakers are the replacements for NS10s and those are supposedly highly regarded... So, I feel they might be a good fit.

They'll arrive at a guitar center in Portland next week. I'll pick them up on the following weekend. I'm going to buy this cable to connect them to my computer (Hopefully it separates left and right channels for panning): http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-CMP159-St...osa+10ft+3.5mm

Oh and yeah, the Hs80m's are huge. However, I don't mind looking for a larger desk. I currently have a ikea galant left corner desk. It's relatively large, but not in the right ways. One thing about it is if I have two 24" monitors between the speakers then my distance to be away from the speakers is going to be pretty far... Which means I need to have these speakers pretty far back on my desk and I have to start sitting far from the desk. Heh. :|

 

[fralexandr]

yeah the exo2 doesn't really look that nice >.< why couldn't they look more like the media desks

edit: also, if the desk is up against a wall, make sure to keep the speakers a decent distance from the walls, lots of speakers seem to do better with some space.

 

[TridenT]

yeah the exo2 doesn't really look that nice >.< why couldn't they look more like the media desks

edit: also, if the desk is up against a wall, make sure to keep the speakers a decent distance from the walls, lots of speakers seem to do better with some space.

I'm going to be moving my desk away from the wall. Fortunately I live in a situation where I am able to do that even with a larger desk.

EDIT: And I bought the premium version of that cable above. I didn't have amazon prime and couldn't find anything I wanted. So, I bought the premium one with shipping for $13. (Which is actually CHEAPER than that one with paying for shipping. Crazy!)

 

[TridenT]

Omfg... I hooked these up to an older Macbook Pro and an iPhone when I was down in Portland, no problems with the cable I had.

Come home to Seattle, had to get a different cable because I left the ones I had back in Portland (Can pick them up again in 2 weeks)... Hook them up to my computer (3.5mm to dual 1/4") and I'm getting buzzing, hissing, and whenever I do anything on the computer it makes terrible noises.

Anyone know why? I was reading that it might be a grounding issue... Technically, I don't have a ground in the place I live in. I'm so annoyed.

FML.

EDIT: Tried it with my laptop and with my iPhone. Both my laptop and my iPhone don't produce any funky noises (Funny because my desktop is supposed to have a nicer built-in/sort-of-add-on-pcie soundcard). There is a slight hissing/that-I'm-running-with-electricity-hiss sound from the tweeters at all times (even when audio is disconnected), but I think I can adjust to that. It's not that loud.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

If you've got an old school hdd in your computer and its close(physically or electronically) to the sound card then every time it spins it can effect your sound. I would suggest getting an external sound card. Echo Audiofire 2 if you want to go firewire or the focusrite scarlett 2i2 for USB connectivity. I would always go with an external sound card, they are easily moved from one PC to another, and they eliminate alot of the noise from the PC.

 

[TridenT]

If you've got an old school hdd in your computer and its close(physically or electronically) to the sound card then every time it spins it can effect your sound. I would suggest getting an external sound card. Echo Audiofire 2 if you want to go firewire or the focusrite scarlett 2i2 for USB connectivity. I would always go with an external sound card, they are easily moved from one PC to another, and they eliminate alot of the noise from the PC.

Yeah, I was looking at the focusrite and at an audiobox by presonus. However, I've heard this might not alleviate the issue.

However, another $150... for this... is just... killing me. I've recently incurred a lot of expenses that I did not see coming and this is just bludgeoning me to death.

 

[TridenT]

If you've got an old school hdd in your computer and its close(physically or electronically) to the sound card then every time it spins it can effect your sound. I would suggest getting an external sound card. Echo Audiofire 2 if you want to go firewire or the focusrite scarlett 2i2 for USB connectivity. I would always go with an external sound card, they are easily moved from one PC to another, and they eliminate alot of the noise from the PC.

Took out the HDD of the case. Moved it out of the case and is at least a foot away from the thing.

Unless the cables are doing the interference (Sata and power)... It shouldn't be causing it.

Maybe the videocard? I can move that down one more slot, probably... But I don't know if one more slot will cut it. I'd go out and get the focusrite scarlett right now but the shop that has in my area won't take it back if it's opened.

 

[TridenT]

Cable wasn't balanced. That was probably the culprit.

Either way, bought a focusrite scarlett 2i2 and a couple balanced 1/4" cables. I'll be making a big order to monoprice soon and return all the cables. (It probably won't save me anything because I'll be buying a lot of new cables... but I'll have more cables with more length for the same price)

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

So do you have it hooked up with the Focusrite? Did it fix your issues? And to have a true 'balanced' signal then your source, cable, and destination all has to be 'balanced' for it to work properly.

 

[TridenT]

So do you have it hooked up with the Focusrite? Did it fix your issues? And to have a true 'balanced' signal then your source, cable, and destination all has to be 'balanced' for it to work properly.

Yeah, it's hooked up with the Focusrite. It works fine. I have 1/4" TRS cables going from the focusrite to the speakers. Computer->USB->Focusrite->1/4" TRS->Speaker.

 

[TridenT]

Well, I bought the HS10W sub to go along with the HS80M's. It was $320.

I'll let you guys know how it goes. It might be excessive for the lows, but that's how I roll.

 

[TridenT]

Guys, I'm getting a bit of grounding or interference issues.

I ran two 1/4" TRS cables from my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to my HS10W sub and then two XLR cables from my sub to my two HS80Ms speakers... I'm getting some grounding issue sounds. Very minor but the fuzz sound you hear when speakers are on is louder and not only that but when I'm not playing music... I can sometimes hear things when I do something on the computer.

I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy because I wouldn't have suspected this in a million years since I have a USB dac. I thought I WAS CURED OF THIS GOD DAMN FUCKING PROBLEM WITH IT

FUCK THIS NOISE

It's driving me nuts! It's the same ground loop problems as I was having before. THE FUCK!

 

[Anubis]

have you tried a cheater plug on stuff yet?

really easy way to test to see if you have a ground loop issue

 

[TridenT]

have you tried a cheater plug on stuff yet?

really easy way to test to see if you have a ground loop issue

I think my entire apartment is a "cheater plug". It isn't technically wired for ground. There are only 2 wires that come in at the main plug in from the wall. Yet, all my electrical sockets are 3-prong.

This could be part of the issue. But, honestly, whatever. I'm probably just going to not use my sub since I can't without getting a severe hum/hiss and some distortions.

 

[TridenT]

It's just whenever I pass my cables through the sub that I experience this problem. I hooked one up to the sub and the other straight to the box. Running FurMark I get a very high pitched noise coming out of the right speaker(hooked up to sub) and out of the left I get nothing.

 

[Howard]

I think my entire apartment is a "cheater plug". It isn't technically wired for ground. There are only 2 wires that come in at the main plug in from the wall. Yet, all my electrical sockets are 3-prong.

This could be part of the issue. But, honestly, whatever. I'm probably just going to not use my sub since I can't without getting a severe hum/hiss and some distortions.

How are you living in an apartment that doesn't meet electrical code?

 

[TridenT]

How are you living in an apartment that doesn't meet electrical code?

Cheaply, apparently. I guess those few hundred dollars I save a month over comparable apartments is made up in cutting corners... not surprised. :/

Hmm.. reading online I might be wired for ground. It's just weird. They're using the metal bracket that goes around my place as a conductor of ground. I'm not sure if that's actually legitimately hooked up to ground. I'd have to get a multimeter to find out, most likely. I don't know... I was still getting many issues before. (Getting shocked from touching my toaster oven and the kitchen sink(it's grounded). Removing a certain power strip seemed to make that disappear a bit, but should it have ever occurred on a proper circuit? It still happens but it's far less than it was...)

 

[Anubis]

yes you can get the groun loop hum on a properly grounded circuit, most often it comes from the cable COAX connection used for TV which can generally be solved with one of these
http://www.amazon.com/TII-220-Ground...+loop+isolator

its what i used for a bit until it started interfering with my cable itself. stupid box was having issues. now i run the coax through a large panamax power conditioner which seems to also do the trick

 

[Excelsior]

You don't need the .1 part, just a great pair of two-way speakers (monitors, bookshelfs, whatever you want to call them).

 

[TridenT]

yes you can get the groun loop hum on a properly grounded circuit, most often it comes from the cable COAX connection used for TV which can generally be solved with one of these
http://www.amazon.com/TII-220-Ground...+loop+isolator

its what i used for a bit until it started interfering with my cable itself. stupid box was having issues. now i run the coax through a large panamax power conditioner which seems to also do the trick

But I don't use use cable TV? I have a cable modem but that's it...

I'll be getting the 3 prong checker, a cheater plug or two, and maybe a multimeter today to test this stuff out... Been curious for a long time.

 

[TridenT]

Bought two cheater plugs for $2.17 combined after tax (I know they aren't worth that but 1st world problems). (Sold out of those electrical socket testers)
Put first cheater plug on my PC. It didn't work. Left it on.
Put second cheater plug on my Sub. It didn't work. Took it off.

Put second cheater plug on my left speaker. Hmmmm...? Don't hear the wine/hum/stronger-hiss/wacky-sounds anymore on either side.

Seems to have been a minor fix. Still buying a 3 prong tester and a multimeter. I need them anyway...

 

[TridenT]

So, this is a thing that I've just realized:

I use my subwoofer as a pass-through with the low-frequencies cut out to the 2 bookshelf speakers. When my subwoofer is off, it still passes the sound through a bit (Not all the way, it's quiet). I suspect this could be an issue? Or is this normal? I find it troubling. So many issues with this whole system.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I have a pair of Altec Voice of the Theater A-7 Speakers....