Skip to Main Content
PC Hardware in a Nutshell, Second Edition
book

PC Hardware in a Nutshell, Second Edition

by Robert Bruce Thompson, Barbara Fritchman Thompson
June 2002
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
816 pages
32h 59m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from PC Hardware in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Chapter 18. Speakers and Headphones

No matter how good your sound card is, it’s useless unless you have speakers or headphones to listen to the audio it produces. Extreme high fidelity is usually unnecessary in PC speakers, both because system fans and other ambient noise tends to overwhelm minor differences in sound quality, and because most PC sound applications do not use or require high fidelity. That said, inexpensive PC speakers, with their 3” drivers and low-power amplifiers, often provide surprisingly satisfactory sound, and inexpensive headphones can produce sound rivaling the best consumer-grade audio equipment.

Speaker and Headphone Characteristics

Here are the important characteristics of speakers:

Number

Computer speakers are sold in sets. Two-piece sets include two small speakers intended to sit on your desk or attach to your monitor. Three-piece sets add a subwoofer, which resides under the desk and provides enhanced bass response. Four-piece sets include four small speakers, and are useful primarily to gamers who have a 3D-capable sound card installed. Five-piece sets add a subwoofer to that arrangement. Six-piece sets include a subwoofer, a center-channel speaker, and four satellites, and are intended for PC-based home-theatre applications. Most headphones use only two speakers, one per ear, but some use two horizontally offset speakers per ear to provide true four-channel support.

Frequency response

Frequency response is the range of sound frequencies that the ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Robert Bruce Thompson, Barbara Fritchman Thompson
PC Hardware Annoyances

PC Hardware Annoyances

Stephen J. Bigelow

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596003536Catalog PageErrata