Audio for Multimedia

If you have more than a passing interest in multimedia, MIDI, or audio on your computer, you’ll probably want to improve upon the audio (in)fidelity produced by the tiny speaker in your computer.

The first item to consider, of course, is the audio hardware itself. Aside from some models preconfigured as "multimedia PCs," most IBM-compatible computers have very poor built-in sound capabilities. PC owners, therefore, have taken to adding SoundBlasters and other audio cards to their computers with great fervor. Now that most games directly support these cards and Windows 3.1 supports sound effects and playback of .WAV and MIDI files through these cards, a sound card can greatly enhances a user’s enjoyment of his or her computer.

Although Macs and Amigas have much better built-in audio hardware than most PCs, they, too, can be improved upon with third-party options. We have discussed details of what to look for in audio cards in the Sound Card section, so I won’t repeat that information at length here. Briefly, though, I recommend a board that is capable of 16-bit "CD quality" audio playback if sound fidelity is important to you.

Of course, you can’t get CD quality audio from a tinny little speaker. Your best bet is a set of powered speakers especially designed for computers. (Computers need powered speakers or an amplifier and speaker combo.)

One thing most such speakers claim is "magnetic shielding." This helps prevent distortion of your monitor’s video display when a speaker is placed in close proximity. Also, shielded speakers should be less harmful to the data on your floppy disks. Nevertheless, it is prudent to never place disks on or near any source of magnetism, including speakers, motors or monitors.

Century has a series of amplified speakers it calls "Composers." These units range from under C$60 to about $200. I tested the $100 and $200 models. Audio quality was good in both cases. One speaker is the "master," with a single audio input and volume, treble and bass controls; the other plugs into it. A stereo minijack-to-RCA cable is included (The speakers have stereo-type RCA jacks on the back). The only trouble with these units is that you need an external mixer if you want to use more than one audio source (say, a sound board and a CD-ROM player).

Alternatively, you could choose a set of "flat panel" speakers, such as those offered in Sonigistix's Monsoon line. This company is based in Canada, and produces powered speakers designed for PC multimedia. Its top-of-the-line MM-1000 model (US$199) provides two audio inputs and a mixer -- ideal for users with a CD-ROM drive and a sound board, or a computer and a VCR, etc. There are, of course, many other brands, too. The Altec Lansing ACS100 system looks like some sort of futuristic biffy with its fold-up tweeter assemblies. These speakers have one extremely nifty feature that may justify their US$180 price tag for computer audio buffs. These speakers include a digital signal processor that simulates stereo from a monaural signal. A high-end model, the ACS300, comes standard with a type of speaker known as a subwoofer. As the name suggests, it produces a big bottom-end. (Shades of Spinal Tap.) A subwoofer is optionally available on the ACS100s.

Of course, there are many other brands of powered speakers not expressly designed for computers. Top-ranked products from the "music world" include Roland’s CS-30 ($250), MA-7 ($320 per pair), MA-12C ($195 each) and MA-20 ($225 each), Thor Mfg.’s MiniBlaster HQ series (US$329 and $429). All of these units have mixers with volume controls for multiple inputs.

In a pinch, you could run a cable from your computer to the auxiliary input on your stereo. Most PC sound boards and all Macintoshes have a minijack-type audio output (check whether you require a stereo plug), while most stereo amplifiers have RCA jacks for audio out. You can obtain a stereo minijack-to-RCA cable at most electronics outlets or stereo stores. Note, however, that "Y" splitters don't work well to combine two or more audio sources into a single input. If you need more inputs than your speaker/amplifier system handles, you'll need a mixer. Radio Shack sells mini-mixers for under $50 that will do the trick.

Apple's recent Macs throw a few twists into the proverbial mix. The (now-discontinued) G4 Cube did not include analog audio outputs, and supported special Apple USB speakers with an external amplifier, requiring Apple's special, proprietary powered USB ports. Apple's newest G4 Desktops (1/2001 and newer) are even more idiosyncratic. They have an oddball proprietary connector designed to accommodate (only) Apple Pro Speakers. Additionally, these new Power Mac G4 have an internal amplifier designed to support the Apple Pro Speakers.

The new LCD iMac (except in its least expensive incarnation) also includes the Apple Pro speakers. The lack of a subwoofer is a bit of a problem, especially considering various reports suggesting that the Harmon-Karden iSub, which added a subwoofer to previous Macs, "sort of" works under the latest Mac OS X 10.1.x that is the default operating system. Users say the USB-interfaced iSub operates differently than it does under OS 9.x. Under OS X, the frequency sorting function that sends only low-frequency sounds to the subwoofer, doesn't seem to work -- it just plays everything, leading to audio quality some users characterize as "blurry." 

A further complication apparently can also lead to sound distortion when certain Mac models' built-in USB ports are used to drive USB speakers. In an Apr. 15, 2002 report at MacFixIt.com, Jonathan Kishina writes: "I have been having horrible audio hissing noise on my G4/867 and HK Sound Sticks Pro under both OS 9.2.2 and OS 10.1.3. The problem would go away if I used headphones or the built-in speaker. After a number of troubleshooting attempts, I finally found that if I plugged the speakers into a PCI USB card instead of the built-in ports, the noise disappeared."

PCs, on the other hand, have essentially standardized on the venerable minijack for both analog and digital audio. Sound cards and PCs with built-in audio adapters alike typically have analog audio connectors for two or four speakers, and, increasingly, an AC3-compatible digital jack for Dolby 5.1-compatible amplifiers and speaker systems. See our review of the Sound Blaster Audigy elsewhere in this section for further details on this trend.