How to use a AMP in a Pc's Sound System.

revolutionrock · 26 May 2008 at 19:56

Right, I am soon to build a new rig, and don't have any speakers.

But what I do have is a Ibanez Guitar Amp which I don't use. Now I have just been browsing the "Post Your Desk Thread" And have seen this

Now later on the poster said he had a amp underneath the desk. But I don't understand how this could be connected to the computer.

I am eager to know as it would be a quality sound system and would save me a bit of cash which could go to a better monitor etc

MikeHunt79 · 26 May 2008 at 20:08

soundcard -> amp -> speakers...

It's not rocket surgery you know!

revolutionrock · 26 May 2008 at 20:10

Wasn't planning on buying a soundcard .

How much Am i looking at?

And also, I still don't understand fully how it would work. I thought the amp could act as a speaker alone>

Ender · 26 May 2008 at 20:24

skeeny said:
Wasn't planning on buying a soundcard .

How much Am i looking at?

And also, I still don't understand fully how it would work. I thought the amp could act as a speaker alone>

Haha, well i suppose it could, if you like the sound of static....
Your pc should have on its back a 3.5mm jack for connecting headphones too, all you need is a 3.5mm cable to RCA like this - http://www.cablesdirect.com/prodimages/CC399-12_LR.jpg, then simply plug it into your amp
Obviously though, the amp's job is to power and control the speakers, not to make sounds- so your need attach speakers to the amp

revolutionrock · 26 May 2008 at 20:26

Thanks.

Thats helped a lot. Now to find some nice speakers

Are there any specific things I should look out for?

james.miller · 26 May 2008 at 20:29

ok. skeeny.

a guitar amp will not work. they are designed to reproduce a limited range of frequencies and normally with heaps of distortion as well. the speaker in that guitar amp is also designed for that limited frequency range. those facts, and being monaural (only 1 channel of amplification) its useless for music reproduction.

you will need and the very least a stereo amplifier and a pair of bookshelf speakers.

this: http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-A1MK3SE is an example of a stereo amplifer. and these: http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=ELTA-MONITOR3BCH are a respectable pair of bookshelf speakers for the price.

Ender · 26 May 2008 at 20:30

If you give a budget i could offer you some advice on what to buy
*Edit - didnt read the guitar part, your need a proper amp sorry

revolutionrock · 26 May 2008 at 20:32

Well thats that then

Well , my budget is £750. I can budge a bit on it, but that will then eat into my secondary budget for my 40" tv

But this includes everything , PC(Q9450,4gb ram etc) , Monitor(22" £175-200

), Speakers.

Its very tight at the minute and was hoping I wouldn't have to spend loads on a speaker system. But I need a really good one as I always listen to music and want it loud

Damn.

james.miller · 26 May 2008 at 20:38

re-jig your specs then. lay off the 40" tv for a while. get a cheaper quad core (do you NEED that cpu?) it can be done. if you want sound, you're going to have to budget for it

revolutionrock · 26 May 2008 at 20:42

Yeh I could get a Q6600 i suppose.

I have just added you on MSN, please accept !! Need some help

Edit.

Just priced everything up , and bar the processor it has come to £563(Monitor at £165)

revolutionrock · 27 May 2008 at 10:02

Well, I could do with some help. Possible anyone could add me on MSN?

Or if not, just post some prices for a amp etc

MikeHunt79 · 27 May 2008 at 12:40

Don't have MSN right now but you could get a nice stereo amp for £50ish?

revolutionrock · 27 May 2008 at 12:44

What exactly does the amp do?

I don't understand fully

revolutionrock · 27 May 2008 at 13:02

And do i need a soundcard?

james.miller · 27 May 2008 at 13:09

ok a very simple explanation.

a soundcard will output what we call a 'line-level' signal. this signal is too low to drive speakers, it is only intended to be passed on to an amplifier.

an amplifier amplifies this line-level signal and makes it loud enough to drive speakers with. a stereo amplifier will have two channels for driving two speakers, while an amplifier intended for home cinema use will have more channels for driving more speakers to create a surround sound experience (typically anywhere from 5 to 7 channels of amplification)

that's really as simple as it can be explained. you definitely need an amplifier. you dont need a soundcard, your motherboard will have its own soundcard built in, but chances are even a cheap proper soundcard will be a big improvement over it.

p4radox · 27 May 2008 at 13:11

skeeny said:
What exactly does the amp do?

I don't understand fully

It amplifies the signal from the soundcard. If you were to just plug speakers directly into the sound card, the signal wouldn't be powerful enough to drive them. The amp boosts the signal.

With most computer speakers the amp is built in, ie: they are "active", so you never realise you have one.

A sound card would be a good idea, the motherboard's onboard sound will most likely be pretty poor. A decent sound setup like the one you're planning would benefit greatly from one.

/edit, beaten by james.

revolutionrock · 27 May 2008 at 13:27

Any chance you could spec me a CHEAP soundcard?

james.miller · 27 May 2008 at 13:31

i was going to say the asus xonar DX. i swear thats gone up in price since i last looked. Anyway thats the only sound card you need to consider. in all honesty. anything more expensive does little more for what you want, and anything cheaper is below pointless moving from onboard sound and dont compare to the dx's sound quality

revolutionrock · 27 May 2008 at 14:04

Well , with a monitor , my rig comes to £714. (with a Q6600)

So I am just over budget(£14) But i never included anything to do with speakers, and thought of just picking up some £20-£30 Pound ones.

But the more i think of it, the more I want to do this.

Also, is there any way I could use the amp and speakers for my 40" tv. That would be good also.

Netvyper · 27 May 2008 at 16:28

skeeny said:
Well , with a monitor , my rig comes to £714. (with a Q6600)

So I am just over budget(£14) But i never included anything to do with speakers, and thought of just picking up some £20-£30 Pound ones.

But the more i think of it, the more I want to do this.

Also, is there any way I could use the amp and speakers for my 40" tv. That would be good also.

If you make sure that your source (TV? or Sky Box? DVD Player?), has a line output; then yeah, you can run the audio through an amplifier & speakers. This is really simple, and provides much better sounds than you'd get using your TVs built in speakers.

This is a slippery slope though; I started off looking for a 5.1 setup for ~£200 and ended up Spending ~£1000 on an AV Reciever (Onkyo TX-SR606), which goes up to 7.1, and has HDMI inputs; and some 5.1 Speakers (Quad L-ite).