Do USB input speakers NEVER have external power ?

[St. Phatty]

My old speakers that use a stereo connector, have a grounding problem which occasionally locks up the computer.

But they have one advantage: VOLUME. They get nice and LOUD.

I bought some USB speakers, and they are about as loud as Headphones.

I looked at a bunch more USB speakers ... it seems like none of them uses external power so they can get LOUD.

Is this some sort of trade-off imposed by the laws of Physics ? If you give extra power to a USB speaker it messes things up ?

Does ANYONE have USB speakers with an external power connection ?

Please, help me boost the volume of my USB loudspeakers, so my neighbors 1/4 mile away can hear Ron Paul webcasts when I play them.

Or Breaking Bad re-runs, as the case may be.


usb input speaker with external power - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?q=usb+input+speaker+wit h+external+power

Amazon.com : Loudest USB Speaker
https://www.amazon.com/Loudest-USB-Speaker/s?k=Loudest+USB+Speaker

Amazon.com : usb input speaker
https://www.amazon.com/usb-input-speaker/s?k=usb+input+speaker&page=2

PC Speaker | 2.1 | 33 W | Connection input: 1x 3.5 mm | USB Powered | Volume control
https://nedis.com/en-us/product/com...ion-input-1x-35-mm-usb-powered-volume-control

 

[Lester Beans]

If you want loud, don't pussy foot around lol

 

[tobedetermined]

Does ANYONE have USB speakers with an external power connection ?

Yes. Studio monitors typically have a USB input and they are mostly self-powered. Make sure you look for models with a volume control for convenience.

See Sweetwater or Sam Ash or B&H etc etc - look for Presonus for cheap, Focal (my old employer) for much, much better and louder.

 

[tobedetermined]

I actually lied in my post above. My apologies. I should have said . . . lower end crossover monitors have a USB input. They are aimed at gamers and poor musicians. The better ones only have XLR and they require an interface of some description . . .

I guess I am getting rusty since I have been out of the industry . . . . . . or maybe I just smoke too much weed . . .

 

[f-e]

Big pic, huh. It's inline with the 2.5$ price. Gives you your old speakers back, and a spare 3.5 jack for another set. Result.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1240011190...Lh5GjVoFhGxyLonF|clp:2499334|tkp:BFBMpt3w9bRf

 

[BadTicket]

USB isn´t usually the go to way for audio stuff that uses external power, that 3,5mm audio jack is. If you can´t use it, I´d say go with Bluetooth speakers rather than look for USB stuff. If your computer has Bluetooth that is..

I recently bought one, Harman Kardon Studio 4 I think it´s called. Got it from old stuff sale cause they are up to Studio 7 now or something. Apparently they went for 300-400 bucks when new, but they reduced to 99 smackers, so I got one for me summer cabin. You can hook that to mains, and portable it has battery life for about 8 hours. And you can daisy chain em sumbitches wirelessly up to a 100 speakers. Not the best audio I´ve ever heard, but all around not bad. Like a jack of all trades, master of none thing. Not worth 300, but 99 I´m cool with.

And yea it does get loud enough for my taste. Haul that thing to your porch and blast Ron Paul at your neighbours just fine with it.. Thing is about the size of an LP record tho (diameter), so easy target if your neighbour doesn´t wanna hear Ron Paul and has a rifle.

https://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B074P79X9C?th=1

 

[exploziv]

Just get an usb sound card an use your jack speakers with it. Even cheap ones are ok.

 

[exploziv]

Big pic, huh. It's inline with the 2.5$ price. Gives you your old speakers back, and a spare 3.5 jack for another set. Result.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1240011190...Lh5GjVoFhGxyLonF|clp:2499334|tkp:BFBMpt3w9bRf

I have a couple of those and one jack is audio out (heaphones), and one is for the microphone. I also have other models that have 2 jacks x each, if more devices need to be connected. Also, jack splitters are cheap if more outputs are needed, and your device has only one.

 

[IntheCountyWeed]

Yes they have them and I have some bluethooth speakers that indoors have some volume to them, decent outside too but you're not blowing anyone away. So you do have options out there. Having said that those USB w/ jacks are the option I would try first. I have about at least half dozen of them, had an install we didn't need the adapters.

 

[St. Phatty]

My guess is, there is a problem with my speakers that use the 3.5 mm connector.

When I used the Harmon Kardon speakers, the lock-up + Buzz problem didn't happen.

of course that was with older systems; the newer systems use a lower voltage for the digital.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

I have a USB card to install but it's general USB.


One other problem - the USB speakers interfere with my mouse sometimes. I lose the mouse cursor & have to re-boot.

Maybe I should use the older connector type mouse.

 

[f-e]

I have a couple of those and one jack is audio out (heaphones), and one is for the microphone. I also have other models that have 2 jacks x each, if more devices need to be connected. Also, jack splitters are cheap if more outputs are needed, and your device has only one.

I looked it over from every angle, and that's all the connectivity I could see. They claim it's 7.1 though, and others claim 5.1 which is hurting my head. I know you can typically choose what comes out of sockets, and have run rear surrounds from my mic socket for a while.

My mind goes to the 3.5mm jacks that have extra rings. One extra is quite common now, so you can have left/right/ground and mic. Many headsets are like that. Still, between two jacks it's just 6 channels. Even then, I'm yet to notice a 3 channel male conversion lead, to enable splitting of the channels. It's always headphones with mics or data added, such as pause.

I glad you replied. It will still work for this job, but it's misleading when it says 7.1



I leave my PC via USB to use an external DAC. The miniDSP. A device I use for room correction. From there it's into my 16 kilogram hi-fi amp. Floor standers. It's alright.

 

[exploziv]

It's virtual 7.1, and even then, just the original that has been copied by the chinese had it, the copies are like 1-2 usd, from china, just rebranded under varios brands. You can't chose what each jack does. There is no app, and windows will only read it as generic usb stereo output and microphone in. They won't even work with a jack that has stereo plus microphone, which is very used today, the one with 3 rings + tip for ground. I had to buy an adapter to use headphones with mic on that model.
But for what our friend needs, they are great!

 

[exploziv]

My guess is, there is a problem with my speakers that use the 3.5 mm connector.

When I used the Harmon Kardon speakers, the lock-up + Buzz problem didn't happen.

of course that was with older systems; the newer systems use a lower voltage for the digital.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

I have a USB card to install but it's general USB.


One other problem - the USB speakers interfere with my mouse sometimes. I lose the mouse cursor & have to re-boot.

Maybe I should use the older connector type mouse.

Maybe the jack of those speakers is fked. Usually the wire near the jack breaks inside and the connection is lost sometimes. See if gently moving the wire around the jack changes anything. If that's the problem, any technical inclined guy you may know (or any repair shop) can probably shorten the wire a bit and add a new jack closer to the speakers, cutting away the problem part of the wire.
The fact that you have problems with usb and mouse tells me there is some problem with your pc or laptop as well, tho.

 

[St. Phatty]

Maybe the jack of those speakers is fked. Usually the wire near the jack breaks inside and the connection is lost sometimes. See if gently moving the wire around the jack changes anything. If that's the problem, any technical inclined guy you may know (or any repair shop) can probably shorten the wire a bit and add a new jack closer to the speakers, cutting away the problem part of the wire.
The fact that you have problems with usb and mouse tells me there is some problem with your pc or laptop as well, tho.

That's a good idea.

I was thinking that there is an obvious voltage buildup that may be related to a charge buildup.

That may be related to Crappy grounding.

So if I had time to study it, I might tie a high impedance resistor from each circuit node in the external speaker small amplification circuit, to ground.

Enough to drain excessive current/ voltage, without changing the basic operation.

e.g. a 10K resistor from each circuit node to ground.

But my multimeter is 1/2 broken so I can't even measure voltage.

Plus there's a big pile of chicken manure to process.

 

[St. Phatty]

UPDATE - in some media players, like VLC media player, there are 2 on-screen volume displays.

One seems to max out at 125% Volume.

But there is another where you can use the mouse to turn the Volume up to 200% setting.

So basically a video played with VLC has a higher volume output than Netflix streaming.

I would guess that some browsers allow customization via scripts etc. to turn up the volume when you use a browser to watch Netflix streaming.

https://www.google.com/search?q=chrome+turn+up+volume+on+netflix

How do I make Netflix louder on my computer?
You can increase the volume level by checking the Loudness Equalization check box (turning it on) in the Sound Panel. 3) Uncheck ALL sound effects but Check Loudness Equalization. Check the option "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device." 4) Click Apply and OK.