Speaker knowledge

Five key points for speaker purchase

With the rapid development of multimedia technology, from the previous PC SPEAKER to today's multi-channel digital speakers, we should have some understanding of related technologies when we feel the change of sound quality. This article gives a more detailed introduction to some speaker technology, I hope you can be aware of it in the process of use and purchase, so as to better enjoy the wonderful sound.

?? What is a digital speaker

?? The digital-to-analog conversion of the sound card is done by the CODEC chip, but because of the electromagnetic waves in the computer case, this will cause serious interference to the digital / analog and analog / digital conversion. The external method is to make the digital / analog conversion part and various external ports separately into an external box to improve the sound quality. However, this design will greatly increase the cost, so some speaker manufacturers have come up with a plan to transfer the digital / analog conversion work from the sound card to the speaker, that is, the digital multimedia speaker. The basic principle of digital multimedia speakers is to transfer the sound signal to the digital speaker in a pure digital manner through the SPDIF OUT port of the sound card in PCM format without the conversion processing of the sound card CODEC chip, and then through the built-in digital / analog converter of the speaker Perform the analysis and then amplify the output, thereby reducing interference and improving the signal-to-noise ratio.

?? The advantages and disadvantages of USB speakers

?? What are the advantages of USB speakers? First, because the USB speaker directly sends digital signals from the USB port to the speaker, it can effectively improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the sound signal; second, because the signal received by the ordinary speaker is transmitted by the sound card Analog signal, so it is extremely susceptible to interference, and the USB speaker can protect the analog signal output by the sound card from electromagnetic interference from the chassis, so that the sound is more pure and clear; third, USB audio equipment can also be processed by the CPU , Thereby taking advantage of its bandwidth to achieve sound playback of multi-channel surround sound systems (but only if the USB 2.0 specification is used).
?? Let's talk about the disadvantages of USB speakers. First, because there are no USB ports on many old motherboards, many users cannot use USB speakers; second, USB speakers cannot support games under DOS and can only support Direct Sound 3D sound effects; third, for A3D, EAX, etc. need to use a hardware chip to synthesize the sound effects, and USB speakers ca n’t support it. This is undoubtedly a great regret for game fans; Fourth, USB speakers cannot realize hardware wavetable synthesis, so users ca n’t use it to listen MIDI; Fifth, when there are multiple tasks in the system and occupy a large amount of data bus, the USB speaker will not sound normally.

?? Identification of subwoofers

?? The quality of the subwoofer directly determines the frequency response range of the speaker and the quality of the bass effect. From the point of view of the paper cone design of the speaker, there are mainly materials such as "dialysis paper cone", "glued paper cone", "ballistic material woven basin", "wool woven basin" and "CD film" on the market. The advantage of "dialysis paper cone" is low cost, the disadvantage is that the bass sounds dull when the power is too large, and the durability is poor; the "glue paper cone" also has the advantage of low price, the durability is slightly better, and it is also not suitable Used for high power; these two types of products are okay for general enthusiasts, but they are definitely not professional enough. The advantage of "bullet-proof fabric fiber braided basin" is that the bass is strong and powerful, and it is quite outstanding for rock music and percussion. It is suitable for use as the main speaker in high-power amplifiers. The disadvantage is that the production process is complicated and the price is naturally not cheap; The advantage of "basin" is that it is ideal for soft music and other soft music. It is suitable for positioning in the mid-bass range. The disadvantage is that the bass performance is not strong enough and the sense of strength is also inferior; "CD film" is a new product on the market as a comparison Excellent woofer material, its performance in all aspects is obvious to all, but because it has not yet been accepted by many manufacturers, so the speakers made of this speaker are rare.

Influence of cabinet material on speaker quality

?? At present, the materials used in the speakers are mainly divided into plastic boxes and wooden boxes. Material thickness and quality are directly related to the cost of the speaker, and also affect the performance of the speaker. The greater the material density of the speaker shell, the smaller the vibration generated by the box when making sound, especially for active speakers with high-power amplifiers, and the thickness of the plate is a strong guarantee for the realization of subwoofer effects to a certain extent. Therefore, the bass effect of plastic speakers can not be complimented. Obviously, the low-end audio products must be molded. But is the mid-range speaker definitely wooden? The answer is no. The speakers of this grade have both wooden and plastic shell imitation wood, but some imitations have completely reached the level of falsification. The mid-to-high-end products are definitely made of wood, but the use of medium-density boards or multi-layer boards also has different effects on sound quality. Even if the selected plates are the same, the output power is the same. With different design structures and different cabinet sizes, the sound quality may still be very different. However, although some speakers use a plastic box, they are also outstanding. For example, CREATIVE's Sound works speakers not only use a plastic shell, but also have a small size. There is nothing special about the first impression, but it is only after a trial comparison. I feel that the shot is really extraordinary, both the timbre and the sound quality have reached the professional level, the bass also has a strong impact, and of course the price is not cheap.

?? What to pay attention to when selecting speakers

?? First, pay attention to whether the sound output of the speaker is uniform. Since the sound source of multimedia music is mainly games and general music, the proportion of high-pitched sounds is large, and the proportion of bass is small.
Second, pay attention to the localization ability of the sound field. The positioning ability of the speaker is directly related to the live effect of users playing games and watching DVD movies.
Third, attention should be paid to the dynamic amplification limit of the speaker frequency domain, that is, when the user turns up the speaker volume and exceeds a certain limit, whether the speaker can still maintain a uniform and clear sound source signal amplification capability in the entire sound range.
Fourth, pay special attention to whether the speaker cabinet has resonance. Generally, when the sound box with a thin box or a plastic shell is output at a large volume in the low frequency band below 200Hz, resonance will occur. The occurrence of cabinet resonance will seriously affect the sound quality of the output, so users should try to choose a wooden shell speaker when choosing a speaker.
Fifth, pay attention to whether the chassis is anti-magnetic. Because the display is very sensitive to the surrounding magnetic field, if the magnetic field of the speaker is large, the image on the screen will be affected, and even the life of the display will be reduced, so pay special attention when selecting.
Sixth, pay attention to the airtightness of the speaker box. Because the better the soundproofness of the speaker, the better the output sound quality. The airtightness check method is very simple. The user can put his hand outside the inverted hole of the speaker. If it feels that there is obvious air rushing out or sucking in, it means that the airtightness of the speaker is good. var check_allow = "/d/Api/iscantalk.html"; var add_url = '/ d / article / write /'; function CheckLogin () {now_uid = ''; var ElecfansApi_checklogin = '/ webapi / passport / checklogin'; var logout_url = "{: U ('Login / logout')}"; var logout_url = 'http://bbs.elecfans.com/member.php?mod=logging&action=logout&refer=front'; $ .get (ElecfansApi_checklogin, function (data, textStatus) {if (data! = "") {EchoLoginInfo (data); CheckEmailInfo (data); data = $ .parseJSON (data); now_uid = data.uid; / * var login_content = 'write an article