A regular audio 2.0 solution wio a sub-woofer only draws a few watts which the USB bus on a laptop can handle (along with the two or three other things that might also be connected).
^ A typical low cost USB speaker set has no voltage boost circuit in it so being 5V from USB substantially limits output power. While they claim 2W it's probably at something like 10% THD.
At one point I had a 2.0 setup driven by a 15W/ch Sonic T-Amp and found that a little limiting too. Granted, the speakers had 6" woofers with a fair amount of travel unlike these.
Whatever they can do at say 0.1% THD may be enough for near-field use with a laptop, but is going to be quite limiting if you're not sitting right next to them.
Then again a higher powered version with its own PSU wouldn't cost only $9 unless a lot of corners were cut to get there (generic junk).
Not to mention that if you are not sitting next to your laptop, you are doing it wrong :)
Seriously though, I have a cheap pair of 2.0 speakers for my laptop while mobile. At home I plug into a much nicer 2.1 solution with a sub-woofer and it's own power supply.
Is the audio from the cheap speakers pretty good? I wouldn't go that far, but it beats the hell out of the laptop's internal speaker.
^ What if you just wanted to listen to music while traveling? You could use a phone with powered speakers instead but that still requires powered, speakers.
^ What if you just wanted to listen to music while traveling? You could use a phone with powered speakers instead but that still requires powered, speakers.
I have two Sandisk mp3 players both with arm straps and separate noise reduction ear buds. One for exercise/yardwork, the other with mp4 capability for when I want mobile movies. I also have a pair of expensive Boise headphones with heavy noise reduction my ex bought me a long time ago for when I'm out on the garden tractor cutting the 6 or so acres of grass/weeds.
I always prefer amp'd speakers over headphones, so long as everyone else hearing it doesn't cause a problem... which it certainly could in some situations.
Comments & Reviews (9)
A regular audio 2.0 solution wio a sub-woofer only draws a few watts which the USB bus on a laptop can handle (along with the two or three other things that might also be connected).
That is how I have mine set-up.
At one point I had a 2.0 setup driven by a 15W/ch Sonic T-Amp and found that a little limiting too. Granted, the speakers had 6" woofers with a fair amount of travel unlike these.
Whatever they can do at say 0.1% THD may be enough for near-field use with a laptop, but is going to be quite limiting if you're not sitting right next to them.
Then again a higher powered version with its own PSU wouldn't cost only $9 unless a lot of corners were cut to get there (generic junk).
Seriously though, I have a cheap pair of 2.0 speakers for my laptop while mobile. At home I plug into a much nicer 2.1 solution with a sub-woofer and it's own power supply.
Is the audio from the cheap speakers pretty good? I wouldn't go that far, but it beats the hell out of the laptop's internal speaker.
I have two Sandisk mp3 players both with arm straps and separate noise reduction ear buds. One for exercise/yardwork, the other with mp4 capability for when I want mobile movies. I also have a pair of expensive Boise headphones with heavy noise reduction my ex bought me a long time ago for when I'm out on the garden tractor cutting the 6 or so acres of grass/weeds.
Thank you!