Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with computer and audio

Open Back Headphones On A Budget.

nam3d — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:54:35 -0800

Could someone please reccomend me some comfortable open back headphones with decent enough sound for under £40? Prefebly they should have a short cable (as I keep triping over my Sennheiser's). I'll be using them in conjunction with my mac, mostly listening to a lot of spoken word audio (tv shows, etc) and for light music listening.

Here's hoping you can help.

PC speakers

ObscureReferenceMan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:13:07 -0800

New speakers for computer (PC). And a few questions. The Altec Lansing speakers (and sub-woofer) that came with my previous Dell computer that I am using on my Dell XPS-400 are in need of replacing. The left speaker crapped out. So what to do now? Checking an older AskMe question, I saw something referring to "2.0 speakers". What does that mean? I assumed I just needed a pair of speakers and sub-woofer. Was I wrong?

I was hoping to spend less than $100. Is that unreasonable? There are many options at Best Buy, for example.

I have nothing planned to do more intricate than listening to music, and watching videos.

Thanks!

The sound from a movie download comes out of two speakers, but what about 5.1?

skylar — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:29:35 -0800

These days a lot of movie viewing takes place from digital files sitting on a computer and downloaded from BitTorrent. In this environment, is it worth having a 5.1 type surround sound audio decoder? Do most of the movie files on BitTorrent come encoded as multi-channel surround sound these days? And to output 5.1 digital surround from a computer what does one need? A special sound card? Some kind of surround sound decoder separate attached to the computer via its optical out?

How do I get my files from Point A to Point B?

reenum — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:10:14 -0800

I need to move several gigs of music files from one external hard drive to another. But, there are a few problems... I have a 250GB WD HD in an enclosure and recently bought a WD Elements 640GB drive. I now want to back up all my music files from the 250GB to the 640GB drive. They total about 33GB.

Problem is, my computers do not have USB 2.0 drives. Every time I begin the backup process, it goes for a while, and then terminates due to an error in writing from the 250GB drive.

Is there an easy way to do this backup?

Do I really need two or three separate boxes for just-OK computer audio?

amtho — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:53:33 -0800

Do I really need two or three separate boxes for just-OK computer audio? I need some kind of speaker to hook up to my laptop-used-as-a-desktop, but having three or even two separate components is cumbersome. I also don't think I really need an expensive, fancy system. The sound from this JBL Creature system has been fine, but now I need to use it for another purpose. It was always kind of a pain, anyway, because the sub woofer wouldn't fit on my crowded desk, and it houses the on/off control, so I'd have to crawl under my desk to turn off the power. (the power brick gets alarmingly warm, too, but that's another issue). I always kept the two little "stereo" speakers right next to each other, anyway -- I'm not looking for a "you are there" sound experience from my computer.

I'd love something smallish that will fit on my desk, ideally with a flat surface on top so I can stack something on it. I don't think I need a whole bunch of bass, but enough sound quality for movies and the occasional foray into music (I'm enjoying Admira's classical guitar tracks, thanks!) would be nice.

The speaker built into my tiny Thinkpad is too quiet to even hear most movies, so I need _something_.

I've tried shopping in a couple of local stores, but it seems like everything comes in sets of two, three, or even five separate speakers. Apparently, marketing departments everywhere think that all purchasing decisions are made by teenage boys.

I'd like to spend maybe $50 for something, or maybe a little more if necessary, but it seems like I should be able to find something for less -- used would be OK, even. Is this realistic?

Brand/model recommendations would be extremely welcome.

Accessible playlists

miss_scarlett — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:46:22 -0800

How would one go about creating a playlist akin to a mixtape (ie with specifically ordered songs), to share with a friend via thumb drive/zip file? I know this is possible using iTunes, but what if the recipient doesn't use iTunes?

I want to make a universally accessible playlist, which can be 'zipped' together with notes and images...Is there a software program that will do this for me? Some way I can attach data or formatting to a list of individual files?

How can I listen to DSS audio files on my Mac?

toomuchkatherine — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:44:22 -0800

How can I listen to DSS audio files on my Mac? I have an Olympus DM-10 voice recorder that I use to record interviews. It's a nice little machine. The problem is, I lost the CD that came with it, which had a program to play the files that the recorder makes, which are DSS files.

There's a free "lite" version of the software on Olympus's website, but it comes in .sit format. I tried to download Stuffit Expander, but that initiated a process which seemed to have to end in my signing up for some annoying 'free offers' before getting the software.

Is there an easier way, either a free alternative way to play DSS, or another way to open a .sit file?

How setup the most perfect, affordable computer sound system?

wigglin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:39:27 -0800

Would it be possible to replace the satellite speakers in this Logitech system, with these professional reference speakers, and then connect all this to a PC? After searching around to find the best price with the best possible sound quality, that is the solution I've come up with. The problem is, I know very little about connecting speakers together and in to computers, so I don't know if this setup is physically possible and what sort of special cords or converters I'll need if it is.

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for a possibly better setup than this, at around the same price (<$200), that would be great.

Is ther an easier way to switch audio output?

Kraki — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:56:36 -0800

On my computer, is there an easier way to switch between two output sources? I have an onboard soundcard, a soundblaster soundcard, and a USB headset. I would like an easy way to switch my system's audio between these three outputs.

If I'm going to watch a movie or a TV show, I like to watch with headphones on, but if i'm playing a game at the same time, i'd prefer if the game audio goes through my speakers. The only way I know to accomplish this, is to open up the system audio properties, change the output to my headst, start the video, then change it back to my soundcard of choice... there has to be a better way.

for the record, if i could get Media Player Classic to default to my headset, I would be happy, but if i have my soudblaster set as the system default, I can't figure out how to get MPC to default to my headst.

Thanks in advance

Why does Skype not want to take calls?

arniec — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:15:11 -0800

Important Skype Issue! I primarily use Skype for voicemails, however I am getting lots of complaints that Skype's line is busy. Every time I open Skype the preferences are set to only allow calls from people in my contact list. I keep setting them to allow calls from anyone and they keep going back to only accepting calls from people in my contacts list. Sometimes these settings reset while Skype is still open. I have not yet been able to determine a pattern. I know that every time I open Skype it's set to only take calls from people on my contact list, and I think that when I make calls it resets as well.

I have contacted Skype's technical support 10 days ago and they have not responded at all... I've Googled to no avail. This is extremely frustrating as I am a recent convert to Mac and I took Skype with me, but I never had these problems on my PC.

I do have Ecamm's Call Recorder for Skype installed, but I can't find any reason why it would be changing my settings.

Help! Please!

Easiest way to swap left/right audio channels?

FrostBite795 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:18:16 -0800

What is the easiest way to readily swap the left/right audio channels on my PC? I'm moving back to school in a few weeks and am very excited about my bedroom layout. My desk will be lined up along the foot of my bed such that I'll be able to turn around my monitor and speakers to face my bed (for movies, TV shows, etc...). However, the little audiophile in me recognizes that this will also swap the left/right audio channels, and this bothers me.

I have a Dell Inspiron e1505, running Windows XP Pro with a Sigmatel audio codec. I would think there would be a tiny freeware application that sits in your system tray and allows you to readily activate/deactivate a channel swap. Is anyone familiar with such a solution?

I have done a good deal of research and found similar questions asked on other forums. The answer is invariably, "Just swap your left and right speaker." As often as I plan on watching from bed, this is not an option I'm considering.

Note, I am an electrical engineering student and would probably be capable of creating my own physical switch. If you have schematics, I'd love to see those too, but I'm really hoping for a free software solution.

PS: My first question!

Can I wirelessly have audio from my laptop play on another computer?

Ookseer — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:59:09 -0800

Can I wirelessly have audio from my laptop play on another computer? I have an XP laptop and media center PC also with XP. They are both connected to the same local network and both have Bluetooth. Is there a reasonably simple way (without new hardware) to have the audio from my laptop play on the much nicer speakers of my media center without several dozen feet of cable?

_{Just to clarify: Not looking to share my audio library, I want to redirect the live audio out from my laptop.

Changing operating systems is not an option.}

I am an Audio/Video/Graphics designer looking for the proper machine for multi-media production. Please help me find the right components I need. ANYTHING BUT DELL!

bostonhill — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:39:45 -0800

I am an Audio/Video/Graphics designer looking for the proper machine for multi-media production. Please help me find the right components I need. ANYTHING BUT DELL please! My second Dell machine recently crapped out on me (XPS 600) so needless to say I'd like to battle Michael Dell till death but I'll spare you with my hatred for anything Dell related.

These are my primary tools I use on daily basis for various productions:

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Audition
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Lightroom
Propellerheads Reason 4.0

As you can see, I spend a lot of time rendering various footage material from my clients along with Premiere and After Effects along with audio creation which requires a high-quality audio card intended for musicians.

I don't know much about customizing machines and which brand to trust but I do know that I need at least 4 gigs of memory, a fast processor and a high quality audio card for music production. (I also know that I have to get Vista whether I want to or not, and since most programs I use only support 32-bit, I can't really go for a 64 bit Vista)

Given the programs I listed and my desire for fast rendering and high quality audio production, which audio cards/processors would you recommend?

I am leaning toward HP m9200t series

Much thanks in advance to all!

Creating Non-Downloadable Audio Files

panboi — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:39:08 -0800

How can I create non-downloadable audio files for a website? I've recently been tasked with putting audio files on a website. The brief includes making sure the files are unable to be downloaded.

Has anyone got suggestions for methods or experience with securing web-based audio files?

What audio visual equipment is required for a modern office ?

matholio — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:25:49 -0800

Help needed, designing an AV facility for the future. The organisation I work for, together with a local univercity, are constructing a new five floor building.

Part of the fit-out involves AV equipment for a large lecture auditorium, board rooms, and smaller meetings rooms.

I've been asked (as IT Manager) to represent our interests on the AV committee.

I'm a little out of touch regarding AV developments, what equipment should I ask for ?

I will consult our staff members (end-users), but I'd like to hear about any awsome/awful equipment to take into consideration.

This is an opportunity to provide great facilities, and I want to embrace that, at the same time I know complex systems need more support.

I'm just as interested in the operational aspects of modern AV. For instance, will we require a dedicated AV resource ?

Thanks

Matt

Audio help...

Aanidaani — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:12:57 -0800

So I procured an HD copy of "300" in 720p matroska (.mkv) format, but the 5.1 audio track won't play on my 2.1 speakers. Is there any way I can configure VLC or another media player to convert the audio to 2.1 format? Any help would be much appreciated. Just FYI I'm using an integrated 2.1 soundcard, which is what is causing the trouble. Thanks!

Drivers for OrangeUSB USB 2 PCMCIA?

wheat — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:55:19 -0800

Where can I find drivers for an OrangeUSB USB 2 PCMCIA card? I own an Orange Micro OrangeUSB PCMCIA card. It has four USB 2 ports (they also made a FireWire version and a combo version). I used to use it with an old Windows 2000 laptop that only had USB 1 ports, so I could hook up a USB 2 hard drive. It's powered by an adapter, which I also have. I'd like to use it with my current, WinXP laptop, but I don't have drivers for it. The CD that came with the card just links to the now defunct orangemicro.com site (I tried exploring the disc, but the drivers aren't on it). The Wayback Machine shows the last "real" version of the site was archived on May 12, 2005. I can find links to the drivers, but they are not in the archive, and I haven't had any luck turning them up with Google.

If no one can point me to the drivers, would anyone care to suggest a decent replacement/alternative? Right now I'm using the two USB 2 ports on my laptop for an external hard drive and a Line6 TonePort audio interface. I also have a USB-powered MIDI controller I'd like to use (and maybe more stuff down the road).

Soundcard interference but only over KVM?

cyrusdogstar — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:12:31 -0800

I need help figuring out a strange audio interference issue with my computer setup, involving headphones, a KVM, and an apparent contradiction. The setup: iMac, custom-built gaming PC, nice pair of headphones, plenty of cables. Until today, I had speakers hooked up to the iMac and the headphone jacked into the PC, and everything was fine. Today, wanting to use the headphones on both machines, I bought an ioGear KVM which includes audio switching, hooked it up, and now the PC - and only the PC - is generating irritating background noise.

So, with headphones on, I have the KVM set to the iMac. The connection goes headphones -> KVM -> KVM cable -> iMac. The sound is perfect. I then switch the KVM to the PC's port, and get a decently loud background hum/buzz noise, including various additional sounds when the mouse moves, hard disk spins up, network activity, etc.

Plugging the headphones straight into the PC results in perfect quality, as before. So if it's not the sound card (or the problem would exist with the direct connection) or the KVM cabling (or the problem would exist with both machines) then what is it?

Additional caveats: I think I can rule out nearby cable interference and the sound card, as both KVM connections have other cables nearby, and the issue happens with both my onboard and expansion sound cards (but to a lesser extent with the onboard). I also recall a similar issue with other KVMs in the past.

G5 audio solution

selfsck — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:41:49 -0800

Just bought a new loft and will be using my G5 as the main audio source for entertainment. the comp has optical digital audio output (mini jack) and a built in 12watt amp. I would like to find an affordable (~250$) solution where my music would fill the place. I used to have a Creative set with 4 satellite and a sub but they are dead... I own the place and can drill holes or mount speakers in the corners, it's a large rectangle shaped 25x40 feet space. what are my options here ? thanks everyone Selfsck

PC Audio Feedback 4 Life?

hermitosis — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:38:31 -0800

Can you help me with my PC audio woes? This high-pitched whine isn't just coming from me... I loaned my computer to a friend for a couple of months, and having just gotten it back, I've noticed something is wrong with my sound. When my speakers are plugged in, I get a high-pitched frequency whistle, and when anything plays it's all crackly.

I tried plugging the speaker jack into both different audio outlets (there's one on the front, one on the back), to no avail. Then, in case it was a problem with speakers or their jack, I tried a pair of headphones-- exact same problem. So apparently no matter what device I plug in, or which outlet, the sound persists.

No new software has been installed, everthing seems just as it was when I last had the computer in my possession. It's a Gateway PC. Is there anything I can try, or is a connection inside knocked loose or something, possibly in transport?

Hope someone can help. Thanks!

How do I "start" an enabled driver in XP SP2?

padjet1 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:19:06 -0800

My audio device is giving me the following message: "Driver is enabled but has not been started." Please help. Long version: All of a sudden yesterday I had no sound on my three-year-old Thinkpad X40 (XP Pro SP2). In the Control Panel under "Sounds and Audio Devices," all of the devices and options are grayed out, and when I play an audio file I get this message: "Windows Media Player cannot play the file because there is a problem with your sound device. There might not be a sound device installed on your computer, it might be in use by another program, or it might not be functioning properly."

I've reinstalled the driver for my SoundMAX sound card, updated the BIOS, and tried everything in the Windows and Lenovo troubleshooters, including disabling/enabling every relevant audio device. The Device Manager is showing no conflicts.

Now, the device properties window is showing the message above, and my question is this: how do I "start" the audio driver once it's been enabled?

My own research has revealed that apparently I'm not alone with this problem. One common solution appears to be a reinstallation of the Plug and Play Software Enumerator. I tried that. I've also discovered using the Thinkpad utilities that the Microsoft Kernel Wave Mixer (kmixer.sys) is showing "Status: Stopped" as compared with the previous "Running" status.

I'm reaching the limits of my own knowledge, and I'd really like to avoid this guy's solution of reinstalling Windows. I'd very much appreciate any help.

How to connect PC sound card to an LCD TV?

titans13 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:42:55 -0800

I have a Gateway desktop with a standard sound card in it. The video is connected to a Vizio 42" LCD TV via VGA cable. We would like to connect the sound to the TV as well. There is no PC Audio input on the TV...just red and white RCA jacks. I looked for an adapter cable or sound card that had RCA jacks out, but got confused really quickly. All help is appreciated!

Cables cables everywhere, and not a stereo 1/4" to dual mono 1/8" to be found

Eothele — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 16:24:08 -0800

Solutions for organizing lots of different kinds of cables (xlr, 1/8 in, 1/4 in, rca, usb, firewire, ac) for easy access where space is at a severe premium?

Deadly Speaker Whine Driving Me Bonkers

Jilder — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 04:32:25 -0800

I've just hooked up an oldish minsystem to my PC, and lo! Speaker whine that was once a few metres from the nearest thing with ears is now glaringly obvious when I'm at my desk. The system itself is a older Luminaria setup I inherited from an outgoing flatmate, so I have no idea exactly how old it is, or what model. The AV cable hooking the PC to the minisystem is brand new, and the speakers themselves seem to be in good shape. The CD player in the system is defective, and won't read discs (hence its move onto the desk, away from the living space), but I suspect that's a problem that stems from another previous housemate playing discs that had thick layers of crap on them than any sort of wiring problem inside the system. It's probably worth mentioning too that our house receives the odd power spike strong enough to turn the system on if its left in standby; I can think of two occasions in the last month that this has happened.

My more scientifically inclined boyfriend describes the whine itself as an erratic 16KHz, and I hear a crackle in it too. It's generally not present when the minisystem is switched on, but it then cranks up with a vengance after about ten or fifteen seconds.

I've been playing music with droning qualities that drown it out, but trust me, there are only so many times you can listen to a playlist where the defining characteristic is "droning". I've also tried playing with the equaliser in my sound manager to smother the whine with other sound, but to no good effect.

So, Hivemind, what to do? Is there some audiophile trick that'll have the speakers squeaky clean without too much hassle? Should I just bite the bullet and buy myself a new set of speakers? Or should I just resign myself to the whine?

Best inexpensive receiver to use with computer

lsemel — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:47:52 -0800

I have a pair of stereo speakers that I want to use with my computer. My old receiver broke, so unless there's some way to hook stereo speakers directly up to a computer, I'll need a new one. I want to find an inexpensive receiver that can turn on automatically when it gets a signal. I don't want to have to walk over and turn it on every time I want to play an MP3 or have to remember to turn it off. (I think my old one broke because I'd just leave it on all the time.) The only other thing I'd use it for is playing DVD audio, so it should work with that as well. What's the best receiver to use for computer audio that will detect a signal and turn on by itself? Or should I just lose the stereo speakers and get a pair of computer speakers?