AboutBobbert Expertise I can answer questions regarding computer audio both speakers and sound cards, and their interactions with one another. In addition to being able to answer questions regarding the purchase and maintinence of such devices.
Experience Roughly a decade of experience with PC hardware and audio applications. Avid computer and audio enthusiast.
Education/Credentials Computer and audio enthusiast
Question QUESTION: I moved house and bought a new computer with new speakers (Creative T10). I picked these because I respected the Creative Brand and they had the option of altering the volume through headphones using the volume control on the speakers. However I was disappointed that the volume was a lot less than my previous speakers (Creative SBS 260, no longer manufactured). This is especially noticeable through headphones - I used to only put the volume knob a quarter of the way round before it would be too loud for me, now at full volume it's sort of average.
I bought a Creative Audigy SE soundcard hoping that would increase the volume - it improved the quality but not the volume substantially. This is a problem since a listen to a lot of quiet music e.g. classical music, certain youtube videos, so being able to put the volume up high is quite important to me.
What determines the volume through headphones? Is it the speakers, the sound-card or whether the headphones 'match' (not sure what this means, something about impedance, currently using a 24 ohm impedance headphone)? E.g. if I was to buy new speakers to help the situation, what specifications should I look for to determine the volume output through headphones?
PS I've got the system volume at maximum and checked the connections the sound-card, and the drivers are up-to-date.
If you need more specific information such as any hardware specifications before you can help I'd be happy to provide.
ANSWER: The output level is determined by a number of factors, although most generally, the power of the amplifier driving the load (e.g: headphones) will have the largest influence. Try connecting the headphones directly to the soundcard's output, does this fix your issue?
As far as the speakers themselves not getting very loud, the T10 aren't exactly the largest speakers available, nor are they Creative's top of the line, the T40 would likely be considerably louder, so would other, non-Creative, solutions, such as AudioEngine or M-Audio active monitors.
Alternately, I would consider returning the Audigy SE, and purchasing a Creative board with the front bay (which includes a headphone amplifier and separate volume control).
-bob
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for the well-explained reply.
Just brought my old speakers to my new house to compare - found that the volume through the speakers for both are about the same, but my older SBS 260's had a much larger HEADPHONE volume than the T10's.
I've plugged my headphones into the soundcard output - it's about same volume as if I put them through the speakers with full volume. Except the sound wasn't as good quality and I couldn't change the volume on these - I bought Creative speakers specifically because you can control the volume output through headphones using the main speaker volume control.
Two questions:
1. If I was to buy new speakers, what specifications tell me the headphone output - since the T10's had about double wattage output I thought it could get twice as loud through my headphones but I was wrong.
2. Can you explain a bit more about a soundcard with a front bay, e.g. give me a specific model name? I don't know anything about them so I can't find any examples on google to look at! It doesn't need to be Creative.
Answer Ah, an example of a soundcard with a front-bay unit would be the X-Fi Platinum series, or the X-Fi Elite Pro (which likely has far more features than you need, so the price may be somewhat absurd for your needs based on this). There are a number of other cards which offer headphone amplifiers built in, such as the HT Omega Claro Halo or Auzentech X-Fi Forte. Honestly, as far as the headphone output of PC speakers go, there generally isn't published information, the amplifier ratings are usually published for the speakers themselves, but little else is published regarding their headphone output. Based on this, it is somewhat hard to really judge what you're getting into, without just trying it out on a case by case basis.
