How to Choose PC Gaming Speakers

August 8th, 2008 admin Posted in Gaming PC's, Sound Cards |

If you are an avid PC gamer, getting a good speakers is a must. One of the biggest mistakes people make when building a gaming computer is to underestimate the critical importance of sound reproduction. The following advice will hopefully help you in your decision to choose good computer speakers.

RMS Power output
RMS power refers to the average power output of the speaker over a long period of time. Generally, the higher the RMS power, the louder the speaker system. It isn’t worthwhile to look at the total peak power as that doesn’t give a good indication of the power output. If you want to blast you and your speakers away while playing your game, get speakers with high RMS power.

Frequency Response
The effect of the speaker will depend on the range of frequency it can run at. Humans hearing range is between 20 Hz to 20 kHz, which covers from low frequency to high frequency. Which means the bigger the frequency range speakers can operate, the better sound effects they can produce. A good 6.1 Ch surround sound speaker system usually can operate between 35 Hz to 20 kHz.

Signal to noise ratio (SNR)
Signal to noise ratio (SNR) refers to the noise interference of the input signal. Simply: the higher the SNR, the better the sound quality. Higher SNR is noticeable as its cleaner with less noise during playback. In order to optimize games that have a broad dynamic range, you have to ensure that the SNR is larger than that range, otherwise you’ll experience sound clipping, distortion and/or signal loss.

Number of speakers
The number of speakers in a speaker system will give a good gauge on the quality of sound it can produce. The more speakers the better as they can be tailored to fit particular sound spectrums, since each component handles just part of the frequency range.

A 5.1 channel speaker system will actually consist of six components: right and left front satellites, right and left surround satellites, a center speaker and a subwoofer. A 6.1 channel system adds a rear center speaker and a 7.1 channel system adds left and right rear speakers.

Normally a 5.1 channel speaker system should suffice ; however, depending on your budget and listening expectation, you might want to upgrade to a 7.1 channel system or downgrade to a standard 2.1 system (stereo + subwoofer).

Surround Sound
Surround sound technology is mainly a hardware decoder that can distinguish the sound sources and frequency and output to various speaker satellites to create a surrounded environment. Here are the various surround sound technology available in the market:

* Dolby Digital

* DTS

* A3D (Aureal 3-Dimensional)

* Creative Labs EAX

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
This is a measurement of the purity of the audio signal. A 0.1% THD is decent, though a lower value would mean a better speaker. Any speaker that generates more than 1-2% THD will produce distorted sound and may be unpleasant to your hearing. For gaming, a speakers with low value THD is what you’re looking for.

Magnetic shield
Your speakers will more than likely be in close proximity to your video monitor, so it’s essential that the cabinets be magnetically shielded; otherwise they’ll damage your monitor.

Recap
In general, good PC gaming speakers should have a high RMS power, Signal to noise ratio, low THD, support surround sound technology and a 5.1 channel system.

Though keep in mind, there is no hard rule when it comes to choosing the speaker. Let your ears make the decision. Listen to the sound quality first before you make your purchase. Make sure that the highs are warm and crisp, the lows are present, and everything seems balanced. With all that in mind, you should be able to choose the best speakers for your needs.