Sound card suggestion Dell Dimension 3000

Hi,

I know very little about P/C audio. Got some real weak sound from Dell Dimension 3000 with integral ADI 198X SoundMax digital audio, using a pair of small Aiwa desktop speakers.

Then bought a pair of used small home stereo speakers, wired one each of those together with one each Aiwa desktop, those connected to a mono plug. Then connected both those pair's on mono plugs into a Radio Shack stereo splitter plug. So 2 speakers per side, wired together into a mono plug, those plugged into a stereo splitter.

That setup is still weak, if not worse, but all 4 are working. Disconnected the larger home stereo speakers, used just the Aiwas, still very weak. Checked drivers and apparently I have the latest driver, 5.12.1.5246 for the ADI 198X integrated.

Would a soundcard improve matters?

Seems to me I simply need more wattage to speakers somehow, don't know if a soundcard does that. I saw this at New Egg, dunno if it or something similar would help. Price shown reflects my general budget for this, maybe a bit more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118012

Thanks for any advice!

 

It might but new speakers have about the same chance of increasing speaker output. Most sound volume type issues i find are with smaller cheaper speakers.

 

I looked again and found this one too, maybe the same card but OEM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118103

I do have a DVD player and would like to get some at least decent sound in a very small room, but that's about it.

Thanks again for any advice!

 

Have you tried the speakers in another system? To see if its the speakers or the pc's audio that is causing the issues?

 

Thanks, Colemanguy!

I've now tried every combination available here: all 4 wired/connected as described, then larger shelf speaker dico's, then disco 1 of the 2 remaining Aiwa, and all's the same. So regardless of speakers it's still pathetic for sound output.

I had been using the same Aiwa's on my older Dell and they worked fine, even had to adjust volume to medium because it was too loud. Seems to be the onboard that's the problem.

I guess I need to read up on sound cards & see what it is they do.

Thanks!

 

Now wait! I think there's some major confusion here. You can buy the best sound card in the world and you are not going to get anything but "weak" sound out of it. Sound cards, by design only put out at most, about 4 watts of power so they can drive a decent set of headphones! That's it. And that's how it should be! Otherwise, motherboards would have to channel 50, 100 or even more watts of power, in many cases to 6 or even 8 speakers and computer power supplies would have to weigh 50 pounds - and computer cases would have to have I-beam supports in them. That's why ALL "computer" speakers (except little tiny ones) have built-in amplifiers in them and must be plugged into the wall, while stereo speakers get power from a receiver.

All a sound card (or integrated audio) should do is provide a "line-level" output to an external amplifier, such as that found in "computer" speakers (usually the sub-woofer) or home theater/stereo receiver. Sounds cards are not designed to drive speakers directly.

So, if your sound is weak using "computer" speakers, first, make sure Windows' volume control is not turned down. If it is not, then perhaps your computer speakers are bad and you should try them on another computer, or another set of computer speakers on your system.

 

Hi Digerati,

That's not really what I wanted to hear [pun intended] but it's exactly what I asked. No misunderstanding here [pun intended] but rather almost no understanding at all. I never got around to learning about audio newer than maybe 70's vintage or so, a real dummy on the related tech.

That's just what I couldn't figure out: how the heck a little semi-c PCI card could give fantastic fabulous gigantic sound like you've never heard before, according to sound card mfgr's, without some kind of AMP!?? Thanks, that solved a mystery for me: all speakers are not created equal, got it.

Can a fella pick up an old home stereo unit and feed the soundcard signal into that, to boost the signal to home stereo type speakers? Or maybe just yank out the amplifier section and wire it into the soundcard's output? For me that's a lot cheaper than buying powered speakers.

 

And, my .02¢ - remember Ohm's Law and impedance matching. If you splice an 8-ohm speaker into another 8-ohm, you've just mismatched the load, which can seriously degrade sound if carried to an extreme.

Old audiophile's mantra: spend half of your budget on speakers. Not saying you should spend any more on your system, but make sure that your speakers are not the weak link.

 

Hey, Watt's the big deal?? Ohm my, seems I'll have to very careful to get it right. Nothing to get all hysterisis about though. Like they say, 'Volt early and volt often', right?

Actually I think I'll cheat. Just so happens the young fella that works at a second hand store here is quite the audiophile, megadeath sounds in his ride, so he'll probably have some tips too.

Maybe shop for a beater amplifier in town this morning. Thanks for the help!

 

Haha - I need to drop back and pun.t.

Certainly - I've got the audio #1 output from my SB Live! to a 3-way Boston Acoustics set, but for the head-bangin' stuff, I've got audio #2 feeding into a vintage Pioneer SX-780 receiver, which in turn feeds a pair of Cerwin Vega C-1s.

 

Ahhh, there we go! Just what I needed bud!

Great 2nd hand store in town, on my way there this morning. Might even think about using a car stereo amplifier powered on 12V, but an old home stereo would do the trick too.

Thanks for the pin-outs too!

 

No problem - good luck, and keep us posted. :major

 

Will do!

 

Yes you can use the line out to feed a regular amp.

Also, as far as Ohm's Law, note that 8 Ohms in parallel with 8 Ohms equals 4 Ohms. And Ohms Law says that when resistance goes down current goes up, and when current goes up, heat goes up. So lousy sound is not the only potential risk, burning up the amp is a risk too.

 

Thanks much for the further info!

I'm soooo rusty on all this stuff of electronics/computers etc. plus much of what I learned was in the dark ages of PC's, or before.

Thanks again, guys, I appreciate the help!

 

hehe - you have no idea - I cut my teeth on tube radios, Heathkit projects, Tandy, etc. - can remember the first time I saw Pong and Moon Lander.

 

Ah, yes, the good Mr. Marconi was a fascinating man indeed, to talk to. As for Alexander Bell, a bit peevish and petty to say the least, far too abrupt. All in all, real fun times though... :~ )