With the cost of building a PC continuing to go up, you start to look elsewhere for ways to upgrade your setup. One of the best ways you can do that is with a high-quality pair of the best PC speakers, and some of our favorite options are on sale with deep discounts for Prime Day.

Regardless of whether you want to finally stop using your monitor's junky built-in speakers or an open-space alternative to headphones, a solid pair of speakers can elevate your setup, for games, movies, and of course, music. We have a handful of options here that are on sale for Prime Day, ranging from budget 2.0 setups to 7.1 surround sound systems.

• Check out all the PC speaker deals on Amazon

Starting on the budget end, the Creative Pebble V2 speakers are just $26 for Prime Day. We've looked at the higher-powered Pebble Pro set, which also features some modern trimmings like Bluetooth at a much higher price of $60. The Pebble V2 speakers feature an older driver, but they're the same size.

Sound quality isn't the best, but it's far better than what you get out of monitor speakers, which is the most you can ask for out of a $26 pair of speakers.

Stepping up in price and quality, we have the Edifier G2000 speakers, which currently rank as our best 2.0 speaker set for gaming. You get just the two satellite speakers, but they include a connection for a subwoofer to fill out the low-end down the line.

The speakers are mainly tuned for gaming, emphasizing the lows and deprioritizing the mids, so they aren't the best for listening to music. Still, Edifier offers a lot to like with the G2000, especially below $100, including 3.5mm and Bluetooth connections, along with a generous 32W peak power rating.

Edifier's M60 speakers turn everything up compared to the G2000, sporting a larger 3-inch driver along with a 1-inch tweeter to round out the high-end. Combined with a higher 66W power rating, the M60s are a more well-rounded set of speakers, with tuning that works better for movies and music.

The speakers also feature 3.5mm and Bluetooth connectivity, along with USB-C. We've linked the white color above, but the black and oak finishes are on sale for Prime Day, as well.

For a slightly higher-end sound all around, you can go with the Onkyo GX-30ARC speakers, which feature larger 4-inch woofers. We gave the speakers high marks in our Onkyo GX-30ARC review on the back of excellent sound quality for the price, not to mention plentiful connection options.

In addition to USB-C, Bluetooth, and 3.5mm analog connections, the speakers support optical, RCA, and even HDMI connection with ARC. Onkyo includes some plastic stands in the box, as well, angling the speakers up toward your ears for the most direct sound.

The edifier M60s are a clone of the Audioengine A2+ speakers. If you want the real thing, you're in luck because the white color is on sale for $223, while the red version is down to just $209.

Audioengine comes out ahead with more premium build quality, including real wood cabinets and a 24-bit DAC (digital-to-analog converter) built into the speakers. You get plenty of connection options, as well, including Bluetooth, RCA, 3.5mm, and USB-C, along with a subwoofer expansion port.

If you want to go all-out, you can save on the SteelSeries Area 9 surround kit. The set currently ranks as our best 5.1 surround speakers, combining a center channel with four satellite speakers and a 6.5-inch down-firing subwoofer. The subwoofer helps fill out the sound a lot, especially compared to the cheaper options above.

This is a true surround sound system, so it naturally pairs best with true surround sound sources. A lot of games only feature stereo sound, but thankfully, the Arena 9s can convert stereo audio into faux surround sound.

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Passengers on United Airlines flight UA236 on Saturday were subjected to deplaning, TSA rescreening, and over 10 hours of delays thanks to a foolish teen’s Bluetooth speaker name. Air Traveler Club (ATC) says that a passenger on the jet between Newark and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, spotted a Bluetooth device named ‘BOMB’ and reported it to a flight attendant, sparking the emergency bomb threat protocol. Authorities are investigating whether the teen's Bluetooth speaker naming was a prank or a deliberate provocation.

After the member of the air crew was alerted to the 'BMB' device on board, FAA security protocols were enacted, with the pilots squawking the 7700 emergency transponder code to air traffic control. This happened approximately two hours after departure, with the plane at roughly 32,000 feet, over the Atlantic at a longitude coinciding with Nova Scotia. The plane with 200 passengers onboard was turned around to return to Newark airport.

Law enforcement investigators would find that the Bluetooth ‘BOMB’ was merely a portable speaker that belonged to a 16-year-old on the flight. No doubt renamed by the owner after purchase, it hasn’t been determined whether this was a deliberate act to disrupt fellow passengers on the flight.

Passengers on UA236 were very unfortunate with their booking. Their flight had already been delayed two hours on the Newark tarmac due to technical issues ahead of takeoff. As the 7700 code was squawked, the passengers weren’t initially informed about the U-turn. Once back on the Newark tarmac, everyone had to deplane, were ferried around on a bus for about an hour, then had to go back through TSA screening with all luggage before reboarding. No actual bombs or explosives of any kind were found. The whole process meant the weary passengers were more than 10 hours late to begin their Mallorca plans, with the inevitable missed connections and disrupted hotel and transport bookings.

If you plan any air travel with your children, then it may be a good idea to check all their Bluetooth device names as part of your preparations.

The best PC speakers aren't necessarily the newest PC speakers. In fact, many PC speakers have been around for years (just look at all of Logitech's lineup) — but just because audio technology can keep going for decades, that doesn't mean there isn't other technology we'd like to see in our favorites, even if they're otherwise classics.

Klipsch first introduced its ProMedia PC speaker lineup back in 1999 with the THX-certified ProMedia v2-400 4.1 system, and quickly followed up with the ProMedia 2.1 system a couple of years later. The ProMedia 2.1 has seen a handful of updates since then, such as the addition of Bluetooth connectivity, but the design has stayed mostly the same — until now. The new Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 features a brand-new design, with a significantly slimmer subwoofer and boxy, angular speakers with customizable backlighting and a classy-looking faux-woodgrain finish.

The speakers are available now in one color — black — and retail for $380, though they're currently on sale at Crutchfield for $319.99.

Design of the ProMedia Lumina

The Klipsch ProMedia Lumina 2.1 is a 2.1 speaker system, which means it has two primary speakers (left and right) and a standalone subwoofer. Like most PC speaker systems (and most speaker systems in general), it's a wired system — both primary speakers plug directly into the subwoofer via dedicated DB9 ports, and the subwoofer plugs into the wall.

The ProMedia Lumina 2.1 looks different from its predecessors immediately, thanks to the primary speakers' cabinet redesigns. The primary speakers are large and rectangular, with rounded corners and matte black drivers surrounded by light silver trim. The speakers are wrapped in a black woodgrain-finish vinyl, which makes them look refined and premium (and like they belong on an actual bookshelf, not your desk). I am a little concerned that this woodgrain finish might not hold up, however — especially not for decades like the original ProMedia system did.

On the back of each satellite you'll find a lighting block of six LEDs measuring approximately 3 x 2.5 inches (76.2 x 63.5 mm). These are designed to give off a bright, diffused glow that can be customized (to some extent) to match your overall setup. This type of backward-facing lighting is pretty common in PC speakers, and you'll see it designed to give off a bright, diffused glow that can be customized (to some extent) to match your overall setup. Each satellite comes with a built-in plastic stand, which features non-stick rubber coating on the bottom and lets you tilt the speaker back about 18 degrees — which is good if you, like many PC speaker buyers, plan to place these speakers on your desk.

The right satellite is the "primary" primary speaker, and it's where you'll find the controls and indicator light. There's a trio of rubber buttons on the top of the right satellite — volume up/down with a multifunction button in the middle. They're about as satisfying to use as they look, which is to say... not very. But since you can also control the ProMedia Lumina speakers with Klipsch's companion PC / mobile app, this isn't too much of a concern. Pressing the center button turns the system on (holding it down for five seconds turns it off), and tapping it once the system is turned on cycles through the backlighting brightness settings. Holding the center button for about a second lets you cycle through five lighting presets (six if you include "off").

The right satellite also has a small rubber "utility" button on the back, as well as a 3.5mm headset passthrough jack. The utility button is for switching between connections — tapping it cycles you through the speakers' connections: Bluetooth, AUX, USB-C, and the headset passthrough. The indicator LED, which is located on the front of the right satellite under the drivers, changes color to correspond with each connection. Pressing and holding the utility button will put the speakers in Bluetooth pairing mode.

The left satellite has no controls, but it does have a USB-C charging passthrough port so you can plug in your phone (or whatever device you have that needs to be charged).

Both satellites feature 1-inch mylar tweeters stacked on 3-inch midrange drivers and have thick, 6.5-feet (2m) cables that plug into the subwoofer via a proprietary DB9 connector. This length is probably enough for most setups, but the thickness of the cables makes for difficult cable organization. The subwoofer does have cable clips at the top for wire routing, but it's not much help when it comes to placing the speakers.

The subwoofer's slim, side-firing design is a big change from the cube-shaped subwoofer of the original ProMedia system. The new subwoofer measures approximately 14 inches (355.6mm) tall by 13.88 inches (354.2mm) wide (or deep, depending on how you set it up), and is about 6 inches (152.5mm) deep (or wide), and it's definitely slimmer than the subwoofers we've seen from other flagship gaming PC speakers. It's also relatively light, at just 11 pounds (4.99kg).

The subwoofer has the same black woodgrain vinyl on its sides, though the top is a pretty standard matte black (with Klipsch's jarringly whimsical new logo printed in shiny black-on-black). On the back of the subwoofer you'll find the two DB9 connectors for the right and left satellite speakers above the AC-in port. A little higher up, there's a USB-C port and a 3.5mm AUX port, as well as a gain adjustment knob.

The system comes with the two main speakers, the subwoofer, a 6.5-foot (2m) rubber USB-C to USB-C cable, and a 6.5-foot (2m) power cable.

Specs

Performance of the ProMedia Lumina

The ProMedia Lumina is a 2.1 system with left and right satellite speakers and a slim subwoofer for that extra 'oomph'. Each satellite speaker has a 1-inch tweeter on top of a 3-inch midrange driver, and the subwoofer has a 6.5-inch side-firing woofer. The speakers have a frequency response of 40 - 20,000 Hz -6dB and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 98dB.

The speakers sound good — but not great. They're especially strong in the midrange: mids are solid, present, and well-rounded, and songs such as K-391's Lonely World sound vibrant and dynamic. The highs are also fairly strong without being too bright. Songs with easily painful highs, such as Britney Spears' Toxic, were no problem on these speakers. The strong mids and highs also means these speakers were very good for gaming — gunshots and footsteps were definitely a little easier to hear, but they weren't so in my ear that I started feeling jumpy (well, not until the enemy was actually on top of me, anyway).

The disappointing part was the bass — while the subwoofer was definitely pumping out something, it wasn't much. Even turned up all the way, the ProMedia Lumina system definitely lacked the power and oomph I expect from a 2.1 system — especially a 2.1 system aimed at gamers (while these are, I suppose, marketed as PC speakers and not gaming-specific PC speakers, I think the flashy LED lighting definitely makes them more gamer-oriented than not). Even when I cranked the volume and the subwoofer up, the bass still felt lackluster. The speakers' strong lower midrange meant that most media still sounded pretty good, but I definitely felt like we could have gotten rid of the subwoofer and not much would change. And on top of that, since the speakers connect to the subwoofer via proprietary connectors, you can't swap in a third-party subwoofer.

Features and Software of the ProMedia Lumina

The ProMedia Lumina speakers can be controlled in a few different ways — through the physical controls on the right satellite speaker, using Klipsch's mobile remote app, or with Klipsch Control on your PC (PC only).

You can use Klipsch Control to further customize the built-in lighting presets — it's definitely not the most customizable lighting you'll find in PC speakers, but most of the presets can be tweaked a little. You can also set the lighting to "screen react," which reflects your screen (sort of) for a more immersive experience. If you're looking for something that will perfectly mirror your setup's colors or react in time with gunshots in various games (or whatever), however, you probably want a lighting setup more along the lines of Razer's Nommo V2 Pro.

Klipsch Control also features virtual surround, a 6-band EQ with several built-in presets, and a few settings you can't access with the on-speaker controls, such as "night mode," which turns the bass down by 50%, and lets you toggle and adjust things like auto standby and function sounds.

Bottom Line

The Klipsch ProMedia line is a classic in PC speakers, and the ProMedia Lumina is pretty good, but I'm not sure it's worth the nearly $400 price tag. The new speakers look nice, even if I'm not sure how well this woodgrain vinyl wrap will stand the test of time, and the slimmer subwoofer redesign is definitely more convenient. However, while the speakers sounded very good for most media, including gaming, music, and movies, they would have sounded even better had there been a solid bass response. Instead, I wasn't even sure what the subwoofer was doing — perhaps Klipsch should've just gotten rid of the subwoofer altogether.

With a retail price of $380, the ProMedia Lumina 2.1 isn't exactly a budget-friendly system, especially when you might as well just get a cheaper 2.0 system (and maybe pick up a third-party subwoofer, if you feel like it). While systems like Razer's Nommo V2 Pro are even pricier, the Razer Nommo V2 is a closer equivalent to the ProMedia Lumina, and costs $299.99.

A moderator on diyAudio set up an experiment to determine whether listeners could differentiate between audio run through pro audio copper wire, a banana, and wet mud. Spoiler alert: the results indicated that users were unable to accurately distinguish between these different 'interfaces.'

Pano, the moderator who built the experiment, invited other members on the forum to listen to various sound clips with four different versions: one taken from the original CD file, with the three others recorded through 180cm of pro audio copper wire, via 20cm of wet mud, through 120cm of old microphone cable soldered to US pennies, and via a 13cm banana, and 120cm of the same setup as earlier.

Initial test results showed that it’s extremely difficult for listeners to correctly pick out which audio track used which wiring setup. “The amazing thing is how much alike these files sound. The mud should sound perfectly awful, but it doesn't," Pano said. "All of the re-recordings should be obvious, but they aren't."

This is quite surprising, especially as we often don’t think of bananas, or even wet mud, as great conductors. However, the tester surmised that introducing the materials into the circuit is just like adding a resistor in series, and they’re unlikely to distort the audio too much, except by lowering the signal level.

After waiting a month for testers to submit their results, the following results were tabulated:

As we can see in the image above, there are only six correct answers out of 43 guesses. We put these numbers in a spreadsheet, which showed that only 13.95% of the answers were correct. Furthermore, we used the binomial distribution formula and determined there’s a 6.12% chance that we’d get the same or fewer correct answers if the listeners were randomly guessing — slightly above the 5% significance threshold many statisticians use, meaning the results are consistent with randomness. This goes in line with Pano's conclusion that "listeners can't reliably pick out the original from the looped versions," suggesting that they cannot detect any changes introduced by the loop — whether it's pro-grade copper wire or wet mud from somebody's backyard.

Pano came up with this idea after they watched a documentary, Amigo, where the U.S. Army was setting up a singular telegraph wire in the Philippines. They thought that it wouldn’t work as “you need two wires to complete the circuit.” However, it turns out that the telegraph system used the earth as a return, even through long distances. This got them thinking that if you could send telegraphy signals across the ground, what would an audio signal using the same medium sound like? They then tried various materials like mud and banana, which, although they’re pretty poor conductors, still seemed to introduce imperceptible changes to the signal, at least for the average person.

A Japanese startup has announced that it has developed a portable fabric speaker which emits sound across its entire surface (machine translation). The device from Sensia Technology relies on flexible electronics, and can facilitate a wide variety of new audio applications and experiences. It is the first practical application of this new thin, light, and flexible fabric technology that was originally developed at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in 2018.

We’ve already mentioned that flexible electronics are one of the key innovations behind the new ‘Fabric Speaker Portable’ product. The press release goes on to explain that the whole of the fabric surface can emit sound, as it is woven from flexible conductive fibers arranged in a capacitor-like structure.

Such electrostatic speakers work using two conductive layers separated by a thin dielectric film, to form a large thin capacitor. An audio signal can then modulate the electrical field between the conductive layers, resulting in vibration, pushing and pulling air to produce audible sound waves. All this technology gets an added quality in this new ‘Fabric Speaker Portable’ product due to the flexible materials it uses.

No lumpy speakers or dead spots

If you’ve tested pillow, cushion, or other hidden speaker products before, they will have very likely relied on an enclosed traditional speaker apparatus. Such products therefore have physical lumps where the speaker(s) is located, and the listening experience would rely on the user positioning their ear/device correctly. That’s quite different to the new ‘Fabric Speaker Portable.’

Sensia Technology doesn’t just pitch the new fabric speaker at hidden listening devices, either. The main promotional picture from the firm shows a soft and thin fabric device which it says is good for hanging on the wall like a tapestry, or under a pillow or sheet for enjoying music while relaxing.

The plastic bump you can see attached to one edge includes a compact drive circuit with wireless connectivity and power. Check out the machine translated specifications table for more information, but we’d also like to highlight that the compact device shown is capable of sound levels of 68dB. A pair of them (for 71dB) would approach the volume level of a nearby vacuum cleaner or a washing machine on spin.

We have a few tech specs to hand, but one big thing missing is any kind of description of the audio quality users can expect. However, even if these are as good as the best speakers we have tested, or even offer audiophile quality, that perception will certainly be diminished if you shove the Fabric Speaker Portable under a pillow, or in a hooded jacket, etc.

Edifier has introduced a new speaker that could easily be mistaken for a compact gaming PC. The Huazai New Cyber resembles a high-end system from the dual-GPU setup to imitation liquid cooling, making it a fascinating (or befuddling) blend of design and functionality.

With dimensions of 11.6 x 5.9 x 8.4 inches (293.6 x 150.7 x 213.6 mm), the Huazai New Cyber is comparable in size to a small-form-factor (SFF) case. The speaker, available in Aurora White or Phantom Night Black colors, is divided into two sections. The upper section is purely for looks, while the lower section hides the speakers.

The RGB lighting on the imitations of the cooling fans and memory modules is fully functional. Edifier has also incorporated a 2.8-inch display into the liquid cooler to emulate contemporary high-end liquid cooling systems. This screen effectively displays animations, lyrics for songs, or various graphics. It can provide somewhat more compelling functionality when the Huazai New Cyber is connected to your PC. Upon establishing communication, the display can show the processor's load, the graphics card's load, and memory utilization.

The Huazai New Cyber features a 2.1 audio configuration comprising a pair of 2-inch (52 mm) drivers. A 4-inch (100 mm) subwoofer enhances the overall sound output with depth and bass. Edifier also added two passive radiators to improve the bass reproduction. A 60W power amplifier drives the two 10W drivers and the 40W subwoofer.

The rear of the speaker features a USB Type-A port alongside a USB Type-C port, each capable of delivering up to 35W of charging power. Consequently, the Huazai New Cyber can double as a USB hub and charging station. Users may connect their PC or smartphone via a standard USB connection or 3.5mm audio jack, or connect wirelessly with Bluetooth 6.

Edifier has commenced sales of the Huazai New Cyber speaker within the Chinese market at a price of 1,499 yuan, or approximately $210. The company has not made any announcements regarding the availability of the speaker outside of China.

Sony took the wraps off its Pulse Elevate wireless speakers during its State of Play event a few hours ago. With this 2.0 speaker system, the firm says it will be introducing its “first wireless speakers for desktop gaming.” Obviously, Sony has a long legacy of wired speakers for PCs, dating back to its VAIO multimedia PC days.

The new PC, Mac, and PS5-compatible Sony Pulse Elevate speakers use PlayStation Link wireless connectivity, which promises lossless audio with ultra-low latency. Other key features are the inclusion of a microphone with AI noise cancellation, an easy-access volume knob, and battery power for portability.

This launch will expand the Pulse audio family, which Sony already established with the Pulse Elite wireless headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds.

In terms of audio performance, a technology highlight of the Pulse Elevate speakers is the use of Planar magnetic speaker drivers. In each speaker, these are situated above woofers, which extend the bass response so you can “feel every impact” when gaming.

Different platforms, different speaker features

Tempest 3D AudioTech is supported on the PS5 platform, in compatible titles, for positioning audio. Both PS5 and PC have software controls that allow for adjustments of the speaker EQ, sidetone volume, and mic mute settings. It seems like Mac users will miss out on this extra configurability.

The speakers are easy to position and detach from their charging docks, upon which they sit on your desk. The PlayStation Link USB-C wireless dongle and associated software are also said to make it easy to switch input sources. That may be welcome if you have multiple systems sharing a desk space, for example.

We also note that the Pulse Elevate works with the PlayStation Portal Remote Player, if you are one of the ~2 million people who own one of these handhelds. The design offers “simultaneous Bluetooth and PlayStation Link connectivity.” And thanks to Bluetooth, you will also be able to pair them with your smartphone.

Wait until next year for availability and pricing

Amazon has confirmed to Tom’s Hardware that a bug in select Echo Show devices has been causing the device to use up data, and that the company has since resolved the issue. “…there was a bug impacting widgets caching large images on select Echo Show devices,” Amazon spokesperson Lauren Raemhild said in an email. However, she also mentioned that it has since been fixed, so users no longer have to worry about their Amazon smart home gear using up a ton of data. It follows former Microsoft engineer Dave W. Plummer sharing on X last week that his Amazon Echo Show device, which he claims he never uses, burned through more than 4 GB of data in less than a day.

While plenty of commenters suggested to Plummer that his Echo device was spying on him, causing the excessive data usage, he disagreed and postulated a couple of other reasons, which Amazon has now confirmed.

“Odds are it’s (a) a bug, or (b) they both took big updates that day, or (c) it’s cached video content,” Plummer said on his X profile. “The Echo Show does video, so for all I know, it’s downloading trailers of movies. But it ain’t spying, I’d put money on that.”

Yes, it’s true that smart devices are always listening for the trigger command. In fact, some smart speakers (like Google Nest) would activate when called, even when they’re not online, which shows that they’re always waiting for your command. However, these devices are not supposed to record and send anything unless you specifically give a command that requires processing on the manufacturer’s servers.

Amazon’s statement confirms that the massive amount of data used by Plummer’s Echo Show devices was a bug caused by an app downloading unnecessarily large photos. Although these smart displays download images for use as screensavers or backgrounds, they don’t need high-resolution photographs. Even the largest 15-inch Amazon Echo Show only has a 1080p resolution, meaning the file size of the downloaded images does not need to exceed 4 MB (and can even be less than 1 MB for web-optimized JPGs).

But if you really don’t want to risk your privacy but still want to enjoy the convenience of a smart speaker or display, most of these devices often come with a physical mute switch. That way, it will stop their always-listening function, ensuring that they won’t be triggered, even accidentally.

09/11/2025 update: After publication, an Amazon representative reached out and confirmed there was a bug in "select Echo Show devices" that was "caching large images," and that it has now been fixed. The original article follows below.

An Amazon Echo owner has taken to social media to complain about their smart speakers, saying that the hardware is using too much data even when it's mostly unused. Dave W. Plummer, who helped develop the Windows Task Manager and ported Space Cadet Pinball to Windows, posted on X saying that his two Amazon Echo Show devices, which he said he "never" uses, exceeded 4 GB of data usage in 24 hours.

According to the image Plummer shared, he has two Amazon Echo Show devices, which are smart speakers with a touchscreen interface designed to serve as a hub for smart homes. However, these devices are more than just digital switches; they also connect to the internet to send you notifications, install updates, and potentially sync with your cloud storage to display your pictures. With the screen, Echo Shows also update often to show traffic reports, news stories, and photos.

Plummer doesn't seem to think that Alexa is always listening to him. In a follow-up post, he wrote that "Odds are it's (a) a bug, or (b) they both took big updates that day, or (c) it's cached video content. The Echo Show does video, so for all I know, it's downloading trailers of movies. But it ain't spying, I'd put money on that."

One commenter on Plummer’s post speculated that if the smart speaker hears the activation command, such as “Hey, Google” or “Alexa,” it will record an audio clip of the environment and send it to its servers for processing. So, even if you didn’t call the device, but hear something similar, it will still send information for analysis and recording, which will use up your data.

Other users also pointed to Amazon Sidewalk as the culprit. Sidewalk is a wide mesh network that allows Amazon devices to communicate with each other, even if they’re on the edge of your network, by piggybacking on other Sidewalk-enabled devices. Amazon says that this is a low-bandwidth service and should have a 500 MB cap per account per month, but some commenters recommended turning it off to save on data.

As for the amount of data used by the Amazon Echo, it appears to average out, especially when running a firmware update and syncing files. The only way to know is to check the history of the devices, but if the risk (of both privacy and data usage) is not worth it for you, you can just unplug them to ensure they won’t be listening at all.

There aren't a ton of gaming soundbars on the market, but we've seen more and more pop up recently — and it's not surprising, as soundbars make a lot of sense as an alternative to typical desktop PC speakers. They fit nicely under your monitor and can deliver excellent sound, especially for gaming, and you may not even have to give up flashy RGB lighting or surround sound (sort of) if you pick up something like OXS' Thunder Pro+.

The Thunder Pro+ is a large 7.1 gaming soundbar with built-in RGB lighting, support for Dolby Atmos, and, according to the company, the "world's first satellite neck speaker." It comes with a separate neck pillow with two built-in speakers for a more immersive surround sound experience. It's a nice...thought, I suppose, but I'm not sure a neck pillow with built-in speakers can really do justice to a true surround sound system. And it's not cheap, either — the setup costs a whopping $700.

Okay, the neck speaker is actually optional — you can get the Thunder Pro+ alone, for $599.99, or bundled with the neck speaker for $699.99. We tested the $699.99 set, but you don't need to buy it together (you can also purchase the neck speaker separately, if you decide you want it later, but it will cost you $149.99 alone).

Design of the OXS Thunder Pro+

The Thunder Pro+ has an interesting, somewhat futuristic sci-fi design — it's definitely more eye-catching than the typical boxy, black home theater soundbar. The Thunder Pro+ has a gunmetal gray plastic chassis, rounded edges, and a gunmetal gray metal grille that hides the forward-firing drivers and an LCD display that tells you which input you're currently connected to (as well as other settings-related info). There's RGB lighting in the two round woofers on the top, in the side-facing, angled drivers, and in the two forward-facing drivers on either side of the soundbar.

The soundbar measures 23.9 inches (608mm) wide by 4.8 inches (122mm) deep, and is 3 inches (78mm) high with the lower set of rubber feet. If you need more space underneath, you can swap out the feet for a set that adds about a quarter of an inch, giving you about one inch under the bar and making the total height around 3.25 inches (82.55mm). The soundbar alone weighs almost six pounds (5.94lbs / 2,694.3g).

The soundbar comes with a desktop "toggle" controller — similar to the desktop controllers we've seen with systems like the SteelSeries Arena 9 and Razer's Nommo V2 — that lets you easily control the volume (wheel), mute (wheel press), and switch between EQ presets (button) and device inputs (button).

The toggle control is wired and weighted, with anti-slip rubber on the bottom to keep it from slipping around on your desk. While I didn't find it particularly necessary, as I don't switch between a lot of devices and have volume controls on my mouse and keyboard, it does make sense for a PC gaming-oriented soundbar to have some sort of desktop control option. The toggle control also has RGB lighting, because why not. The soundbar also comes with a wireless remote, in the event you'd like to set it up as part of the more traditional home theater system.

The Thunder Pro+ has several inputs and ports on the back — DC-in, AUX, separate headset and mic inputs, a connector for the desktop controller, a USB-A port for the neck speaker's dongle, USB-C, and HDMI and HDMI eARC. It also features Bluetooth, so it's pretty solid when it comes to input options — though it would be nice to see a headset port, perhaps on the toggle controller for easy access like we saw on the SteelSeries Arena 9 controller.

The Thunder Pro+ comes with several accessories in the box, but not quite as many as you might expect given the number of inputs. It comes with a two-part power adapter/cable, a USB-C to USB-A cable, and an HDMI cable — you'll need to bring your own AUX cable. It also comes with a desktop toggle controller and a wireless remote (plus batteries), as well as two sets of rubber feet for changing the height of the soundbar.

The satellite neck speaker comes in a separate box, with a USB-C charging cable and a USB-A dongle that plugs into the back of the soundbar. While I understand that the neck speaker is a separate accessory, it's still a little annoying to have to plug in a separate dongle.

OXS Thunder Pro+ Specifications

Performance of the OXS Thunder Pro+

The Thunder Pro+ is a 7.1.2 setup (the extra "2" is the neck speaker) with two 0.75-inch tweeters, two 2.5-inch full-range drivers, and four 1.5-inch full range drivers, as well as two 20W woofers and four passive radiators for bass. It has two upward-firing speakers, four forward-firing speakers, and two on each side, angled toward the front, for a "wider, richer soundstage."

Audio on the Thunder Pro+ is very good — but I'm not sure it's $700 (or $600, without the neck speaker) good. The soundbar has well-balanced mids and highs, but it lacked a powerful bass response. While this isn't too surprising on a soundbar, it also doesn't have a subwoofer input for plugging in a separate subwoofer, so there's no real option to pump up the bass.

Mid-heavy songs like Enya's Orinoco Flow sounded good, with excellent separation of details and layers — the soundstage was fairly wide on this soundbar, which made for a more immersive listening experience overall. But bass-heavy songs were underwhelming, and even songs like Lorde's Royals, which doesn't need powerful bass but rather detailed lows, sort of highlighted the Thunder Pro+'s less-than-impressive bass response.

Games did sound very good on the Thunder Pro+ — the wider soundstage and crisp, detailed audio sounded great in RPGs like God of War: Ragnarok and Uncharted 4. Voices also sounded good — crisp and clear and easily audible even at lower volumes, so you could also use this in a home theater setup. Directional audio was also excellent, and high-pitched audio cues like gunshots and footsteps were easy to hear and almost eerily accurate. The soundbar supports Dolby Atmos, though you will need to connect via HDMI eARC for this.

The world's first satellite neck speaker

Perhaps the most unique feature of the Thunder Pro+ is its optional satellite neck speaker, which is a plush, memory foam-padded neck pillow that attaches to your headrest and has two 1.75-inch full-range drivers on either side.

As far as neck pillows go, this is a pretty high-quality neck pillow. Not one I'd pay $100 for, but definitely more premium than what you'll find included with a gaming chair like the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 (and we liked that neck pillow). It has a removable fabric cover, with some sort of smooth, cool-touch gray fabric on the part your head touches.

On the back, there's an adjustable elastic strap with a snap that's large enough to go around the wider parts of standard bucket-style gaming chairs, so you can place it where you please. It has a nice, contoured shape and is fairly weighty — it weighs around 1.9 pounds (865g), and it feels very expensive. The neck pillow measures 11.6 inches (294mm) wide by 6.7 inches (171mm) tall, and is 4.4 inches (112mm) thick.

On either side of the pillow are two round speakers; on the right side you'll also find a USB-C charging port, a power button, and a link button for connecting the pillow to the soundbar.

Performance-wise, the neck speaker is... just okay. On the plus side, there's very little latency between the soundbar and the neck speaker thanks to that USB dongle connection. But audio definitely sounds much more compressed and a little muffled on the neck speaker — in general and especially compared to the soundbar. OXS claims the neck speaker has a 12-hour battery life, but I found this to be significantly less — likely because I was playing sound at a higher volume. Even so, 12 hours isn't great for something like this, when the best wireless headsets offer anywhere from 40 to over 300 hours.

The soundbar works with OXS' app, which lets you customize the lighting (somewhat — there are only a handful of options, including audio sync, color mode, and scene mode, which lets you sync the lighting with a visual part of your screen — but you can't customize it in detail like you can with something like Razer's Chroma). You can also change the EQ to one of the four presets — but you can't edit these presets or add custom presets — and adjust the gain of individual speakers.

Bottom Line

The Thunder Pro+ is an interesting concept — the soundbar itself sounds great, even with a less-than-impressive bass response, and if it had the option to plug in a separate subwoofer it would be one of the best gaming soundbars we've tested, audio-wise. It features an impressively wide soundstage and crisp, detailed audio with Dolby Atmos support, and it sounds especially good in games.

The neck speaker is... not amazing. While it does offer additional immersion for games and movies, audio quality and battery life are lacking. (That said, it is a very good neck pillow, speaker notwithstanding.)

Back at CES in early January, the Onkyo brand had a bit of a re-launch with two new creator and consumer-focused speaker models, the GX-10DB ($199) and GX-30ARC ($299). The speakers look great and promise lots of features – Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C connectivity, a built-in phono preamp, and HDMI ARC on the higher-end model, to name a few. As someone who remembers Japan's Onkyo brand fondly for its 80s- and 90s-era Hi-Fi equipment, I was curious whether or not these new speakers could live up to the brand's legacy and earn a spot on our Best PC Speakers list.

I put the speakers through some testing and lots of listening to say for sure so find out where they stand. There's little doubt that these speakers are loaded with features and look great, at least from afar. But the design could use a bit more attention to detail.

Onkyo Creator Series GX-30ARC, GX-10DB specs

Exterior design

Both the Creator GX-10DB (6.81 x 4.68 x 5.51inches, $199) and the larger Creator GX-30ARC (8.66 x 4.75 x 6.69 inches, $299) have removable cloth front covers, with the larger models' held in place by magnets, while the smaller set just has pins that push into four holes around the enclosure. Both models are also offered in white or black and ship with a set of included stands that nicely angle the speakers up 10%, toward your ears.

The latter is a nice inclusion, considering competing models like the AudioEngine A2+ sell their speaker stands separately. That said, the stands here, while sturdy enough to limit vibration and wrapped in a wood-grain finish, are plastic. I'd prefer metal or solid foam stands– particularly for the larger, pricier GX-30ARC. But hey, it's hard to argue with free speaker stands.

With the cloth fronts removed, you can see the woofer (3 inches on the GX-10DB, 4 inches on the GX-30ARC, as well as the tweeters (3/4 inch for each model). Also visible are the three LEDs. One color-changing light indicates input, the LED below it is a "Flat sound mode" indicator, and the infrared light for the remote.

With the cover off, it's also easy to see one of the few issues I have with the speakers' build quality. It's more noticeable on the white speakers than the black models, but the corner seams of the four speaker enclosures are visible (front and back, but the back is much less of an issue), and in at least one corner on our review units, there is a noticeable gap.

The seams aren't super noticeable unless you're up close, and they are partially covered by the cloth speaker grilles. But given the cost of these speakers and how good competitors from companies like AudioEngine and Kanto look (while also sounding good) for around $250, the seams feel like an oversight that would have been simple to fix. A sticker or a dab of paint that's exactly the right color would be an improvement.

Connectivity aplenty

Neither of the new Onkyo Creator speakers can be said to be lacking in connectivity. Both offer Bluetooth 5.3 LE for wireless connections, as well as USB-C, RCA (with a built-in Phono stage for vinyl record players), optical, as well as a subwoofer connector.

The larger, pricier GX-30ARC adds a 3.5 mm aux jack, as well as ARC, which lets you pull audio directly from an HDMI cable. Both also have ground connectors, a knob at the back for switching between inputs and powering the speakers on or off. The GX-30ARC also has a switch so you can set the primary speaker (the one with the connections) as left or right.

But oddly, while the GX-10DB uses standard speaker wire and red/black terminal tabs, the GX-30ARC uses a proprietary four-pin, screw-on DIN-like connector and includes a 2-meter cable to run between the speakers.

While this certainly makes the connection between speakers much more secure, it also effectively limits how far apart you place the speakers. I wanted to set them up in my living room, connected to my Fluance record player, but I couldn't place the speakers in the corners of my room like my primary speakers are now.

A company representative did tell me that Onkyo plans to offer a longer cable as a separate purchase. But I'd prefer to see a 3-meter cable included as standard (for those non-PC use cases, at least), or to see standard speaker wire used, as the company does with the GX-10DB.

Both models also come with slim plastic remotes that use AAA batteries (included) and let you do most of what you'd want with the speakers from afar. I prefer the remote that comes with Flaunce's Ai41 speakers, though, because it lets you adjust bass and treble, and also lets you dim or turn off the power/input LED. The latter is great for those times when you're streaming a movie or TV show in a dark room.

Performance of the Onkyo Creator speakers

I listened to both sets of Onkyo speakers off and on for weeks, both connected to my PC via USB-C and to my ceiling-mounted 4K projector via Bluetooth. As noted earlier, I also tried to connect the larger GX-30ARC to my turntable to compare them to my larger, more-expensive AudioEngine A5+ speakers (and check out the built-in phono preamp). But the proprietary cable wasn't long enough to place the speakers on either side of my living room.

I did briefly listen to them connected to my turntable, but as they were about five feet closer together than my primary speakers, I wasn't really able to compare the two, other than to confirm that the GX-30ARC doesn't really get loud enough to fill my entire living room (at least without a subwoofer) the way I'm used to with my A5+ speakers. But that's not particularly surprising, given the AudioEngine speakers are larger and cost about $100 more.

Specifically, I found the smaller GX-10DB to be a decent pairing for streaming movies on my projector (I'm not exactly into recreating the booming audio experience of a modern theater), and a nice solution for listening to music close up at my standing desk. The larger GX-30ARC speakers get noticeably louder, which I liked when listening to music and playing games at my main sit-down desk (also in my living room) where I'm often not as close to the speakers.

That said, my living room desk is fairly small, which doesn't leave enough room for the 5.75 x 6.7-inch footprint of the larger Onkyo speakers. They are, though, smaller than the 6.5 x 7.6-inch dimensions of the Fluance Ai41 speakers, which didn't get as loud as the Onkyo GX-30ARC in our testing. In short, make sure to check your free desk space before considering these bulkier speakers for PC use.

In our sound level measurements from one meter away from the speakers, the GX-1-DB was slightly louder than the excellent AudioEngine A2+ speakers, which cost about $50 more (when they aren't on sale). But the Onkyo speakers are also larger and, thanks largely to the visible corner seams, don't look as polished and premium as the A2+ (although that's subjective).

The $299 Onkyo GX-30ARC looked better in our volume testing, nudging just over the 99 dBA mark, making them easily the loudest speakers here. BlueAnt's Soundblade gets even louder (we measured 104.7 dBA), while taking up less space and costing just $199. But it's a compact 2.1 soundbar that won't give you the same kind of stereo separation as speakers and isn't as versatile in terms of connections.

In short, both Onkyo speakers sound very good for most typical PC speaker tasks, and both have connections to add a subwoofer more added bass. The GX-30ARC kicks out significantly more volume for high-volume listening when you aren't sitting right in front of the speakers. But they also will require a larger desk (or at least a desk with less clutter).

Conclusion

I hope the Onkyo Creator Series GX-10DB and GX-30ARC are a first sign of great things to come for a resurgent Onkyo brand. They sound very good, look nice (apart from a few oddly visible seams), and are absolutely packed with connectivity, making them extremely versatile, whether you're planning on connecting them to a gaming PC, a console, or your home AV setup – which is particularly handy for setups like my small apartment, where all three are in the same place.

That said, the plethora of connections (and if you can make use of them, the phono stage and the ARC support for the GX-30ARC) are the stand-out features of these speakers. The design, while attractive, has visible seams at the front. And the sound output, while quite good (particularly on the larger, higher-end model), doesn't stand out from the plethora of similarly priced competition in the mid-sized powered speaker space. The GX-30ARC does get quite loud, though, if that's important for you and you don't have space for larger speakers.

The popular Pebble range of speakers from Creative has been around for a while and is still a popular choice for small computer desktop setups, and with good reason. They are small, stylish, and don't take up much room on your desk but still provide decent audio for the price. You can pick up an original pair of Pebbles for around $18-25; that low price is part of the appeal. The speakers on sale today, though, are the full-fat Pro-version of the Pebble with the same size and style but fully upgraded internals and power with an overall increase in sound quality.

Available at Amazon, the Creative Pebble Pro stereo speakers are reduced to $49. This is a slight discount from the MSRP price of $59. This isn't the lowest-ever price for these speakers - $44 in October 2024's Prime Day sales.

The Pebble Pro also has a higher power output of 10W RMS (20W peak), with the option to boost the power up to 30W RMS (60W peak) by connecting it to a 30W USB-PD power adapter. The original Pebble only had 4.4W RMS power, with the Pebble V2, Pebble V3, and Pebble Plus sporting 8W RMS, so as you can see, the Pebble Pro has stepped up considerably - especially with the adapter.

We had a chance to test and review the Creative Pebble Pro speakers back in June 2023 and awarded them an Editors Choice mark for their design, improved audio and bass, and optional power output. The added RGB may not be for everyone, and there is no added subwoofer or subwoofer port like the Creative Pebble Plus 2.1 stereo speakers.

Don't forget to look at our Amazon coupon codes for January 2025 and see if you can save on today's deal or other products at Amazon.

Black Friday is still a few weeks away, but that hasn't stopped the early deals from piling up ahead of time. Today, we spotted an amazing discount of over 50% on Audioengine's A1-MR desktop speakers. We're fans of Audioengine and rate their A2+ 2.0 speakers as the best premium speakers to buy on our best PC speakers list.

Today's deal can be found at Amazon, where the Audioengine A1-MR desktop speakers are just $99 - reduced by 57% from their original $229 MSRP. This price discount matches the lowest-ever price recorded on the Camelizer price-watch extension. Compact and powerful for their size, the Audioengine A1-MR speakers can be used for your desktop PC or laptop, or as bookshelf speakers around your home. Easily connect to WiFi and stream lossless audio music between rooms from the accompanying mobile app.

The Audioengine A1-MR speakers are gray and have prominent open drivers on display as part of the aesthetic. The main speaker is a 2.75-inch, aramid fiber woofer with a 0.75-inch silk dome tweeter positioned above. The frequency range of the A1-MR is 65Hz to 22kHz. You can easily add a subwoofer to the mix for extra bass, just connect up to the included subwoofer port, or add an Audioengine W3 wireless transmitter and make your subwoofer wireless.

Contained in the box for these speakers is a pair of A1-MR PC speakers, a 6.5 ft speaker wire, power supply & cord, 5 ft USB cable, 5 ft mini-jack audio cable, microfiber speaker and cable bags, and a setup guide to get you up and running.

Wood accents on PC accessories (like the Fractal North case or the Keychron K2 HE Special Edition) are a fairly new trend — and one that I personally love. But companies have been using wood cabinets to enclose loudspeakers since before the invention of stereo sound. And speakers with wood veneer exteriors — usually atop manufactured wood shells — remain popular, though more so in the bookshelf category than in typical PC speakers.

But as a pair of powered 5-inch powered speakers with RCA, Bluetooth 5.0, and optical connectivity, Fluance's Ai41 speakers can do double duty as a partner for the Canadian company's popular turntables, and / or for use with a PC if you want something more substantial than, say, the AudioEngine A2+. And they're available in one of three wood varieties, with black or white face plates. After testing them for a few weeks, I found Fluance's speakers to be pleasant, if not ground-breaking, with their 90W continuous (2x 45W) Class D amplifier able to drive the speakers effortlessly — even at max volume.

Also of note for those who like to frequently adjust bass and treble to dial in the best sound for music or gaming: The included remote has separate volume, bass, and treble controls. That's a handy feature that my Audioengine A5+ speakers lack, despite costing more than twice as much as the Fluance Ai41's $249. Just make sure you have a good amount of desk space for these (or any 5-inch bookshelf speakers), because at 10.9 x 6.5 x 7.6 inches (HWD), they're quite a bit bigger than most traditional 2.0 desktop speaker setups.

Design and features of the Fluance Ai41

Fluance sells its Ai41 Powered 5-inch Stereo Bookshelf Speakers in three wood species shades: walnut (brown), ash (black), or bamboo, with walnut offered with either a black or white front plate, ash available just with a black front, and bamboo only available with a white front. The 5-inch main drivers are made of a glass fiber composite, while the 1-inch neodymium tweeters are soft dome silk. The speakers ship without any kind of protective grille, so they probably aren't the best choice for homes with young children or rambunctious pets, unless you plan on placing them well out of easy reach. And that can be tough to do, since you want speakers to be more or less in line with your head for the best listening experience. 

Fluance shipped us the striking walnut / white color combo, and I appreciate that all color options are the same $249 price. I had to pay extra for the bamboo cabinet on my Audioengine speakers (have I mentioned I like wood accents?). I also think the Fluance speakers in this color look better than my Audioengine speakers.

That said, our review unit arrived during a rainy few days, with a big hole in the side of the box and a small dent on the front of the right speaker cabinet. It's not that noticeable from a few feet away, but it's prominent up close. Hopefully this is a fluke and not an issue with the packaging itself. However, the speakers shipped in their retail box, and a larger outer box may have prevented this issue.

Those unfamiliar with traditional speakers may be a bit surprised to see that these speakers connect to each other via ordinary 18-gauge speaker wire, but the screw-down connectors feel solid and substantial, and there's eight feet of included cable, which should be more than enough for proper separation. (If you want your speakers further apart than this, you should probably be buying larger speakers.)

As for other connectivity, there's a sub output for turning this into a 2.1 system with more bass thump, RCA jacks and optical inputs for physically connecting to equipment or a PC, and Bluetooth 5.0. There's no mention of AptX for higher-quality, lower-latency audio streaming, but I connected the speakers to my 4K projector via Bluetooth and noticed no audio sync issues over days of use while watching various streaming services. And I had the speakers in the front of the room and the projector on the ceiling at the back — about 14 feet away.

Also on the back of the right speaker is a power cable for the internal power supply, a reset switch for Bluetooth control, a power switch, and a cute little Canadian flag tag. Up front, there's a single volume knob that can also be pressed to switch between wired and wireless connection modes.

Then there's the slim Amazon Fire TV-like remote that has more functionality and fine controls than remotes that ship with most speakers that cost considerably more. You get the usual power and mute buttons, track controls, and volume buttons in a circular pattern. Below that is a source button as well as a brightness control for the connectivity-indicating LED that sits next to the volume wheel on the speaker (super handy to keep the glow under control when watching movies or sleeping), as well as separate controls for volume and bass.

I found the out-of-the-box balance of the speakers to be good for movies and most music. I imagine the bass and treble controls will be a lot more useful if you also have a subwoofer connected. Still, this is a very nice remote for a $250 set of speakers.

The only thing that really feels missing out of the box is any kind of RCA cable for wired connectivity — I had to supply this myself to do our PC-based testing. Fluance's turntables come with RCA cables, so you won't need a set if you're pairing the Ai41s with a record player setup. But for PC and other uses, it would be nice to see an RCA-to-3.5mm cable included.

AptX support would have also been nice, but I honestly didn't miss it when using the speakers with my projector, connected over Bluetooth. The sound was never out of sync with people talking on the screen. And the sound quality and separation were much better than when using my $200 Yamaha YAS-108 soundbar.

Specs

Performance of the Fluance Ai41

Music and movies played through the Fluance Ai41s sounded very good for speakers in the $250 price range, if not quite as loud as I expected, given their size.

Don't get me wrong. We measured Fluance's speakers at 89.2 dBA at just 50% volume. That's louder halfway up than the excellent (but much smaller) Audioengine A2+'s maximum measured output of 85.6 dBA. And at max volume, the Ai41s 94 dBA is more than enough for anyone sitting at a desk (unless they have some kind of profound hearing loss). That said, we measured the Blueant Soundblade at up to 104 dBA (which, as we said in the review, is arguably too loud for desktop speakers).

Measurements aside, the first word that comes to mind about the Fluance Ai41's sound output is "effortless." At whatever volume level you prefer, these speakers pump out pleasing sound, with no discernable evidence that the 90W (total) amplifier hardware is struggling to keep up. There's also a good amount of bass, thanks in part to ports on the back of the cabinets.

If you really love bass, consider adding a subwoofer. And, if you like your music loud and will be listening to your speakers from across the room, you may want to consider the larger $299 Fluance Ai61. You'd need even more desk space (or speaker stands) for those 6.5-inch speaker cabinets, making them more or less beyond the reasonable realm of desktop speakers – unless, perhaps, you have a very large desk.

Bottom Line

If you like how they look and can make room for them in your desk setup, Flance's Ai41s make for a great desk audio setup that can also elevate your workspace aesthetic. Audio output is a cut above most smaller desktop speakers in terms of quality and volume, and sounds clean and effortless at any volume level.

You also get a versatile remote with separate bass and treble controls, and even the ability to adjust the brightness of (or turn off) the status LED. A subwoofer port will let you add more bass, but I didn't find that lacking for desk-based listening. 

At $249 standard (and just $212 on Amazon when I was finishing up this review), Fluance's Ai41s are a great step-up in sound and looks from more traditional PC speakers, and are a good value for all they deliver. 

Today's deal is on a budget set of speakers to perhaps enhance the sound from a small laptop and give a little more volume or clarity to a small room. These speakers from Lenovo certainly aren't going to burst any eardrums or provide Hi-Res audiophile sound quality, but what they are going to do is offer you a small sound solution for only ten bucks.  

You can find today's deal at Amazon, where the Lenovo Speakers M0520 are available for only $10. Originally priced at $29, the price of these speakers has fluctuated in the past with what looks like an average of $20 when you check the Camelizer price checker plugin. 

The Lenovo Speakers M0520 consists of 2x speaker units that feature a wired USB 2.0 connection, 2-inch drivers, and built-in volume control on the speaker itself. The color of the unit is black with a shiny gloss-black finish. With a frequency range of 20 Hz - 20 KHz the Lenovo M0520s are more than capable of playing music or enhancing the audio of whatever media you're consuming.

The big takeaway with today's deal is the price. For the price of a couple of coffees, you can grab yourself a cheap speaker setup for a low-cost audio setup that is ideal for a small space or an area where you don't want to be making too much noise. This is a 2.0 stereo speaker setup and doesn't come with a bass speaker, so you won't be getting any noise complaints if you're using these speakers in a dorm room for example.

Soundbars are usually aimed at home entertainment systems — not PCs, which is why we don't typically review them. But not everyone has the desk space for a pair of desktop PC speakers (let alone something like a 5.1 surround system), and so a soundbar that sits nicely under your monitor actually makes a lot of sense – assuming it fits under your monitor, of course. 

And the BlueAnt Soundblade, at just 2.13 inches high, is designed to do just that. This under-monitor soundbar has a low, flat profile designed to sit over your monitor stand and wow all your friends/colleagues/family members with its sleek, sexy premium looks. It's a 2.1 soundbar with two full-range drivers and an 80mm down-firing subwoofer, and three input options (USB-C, Bluetooth, AUX). And it gets very, very (seriously, it's kind of shocking) loud. It also looks good — it has a fairly attractive faux brushed-metal finish and it comes in several colors (gray, white, light pink, light blue, and light green), and is otherwise just kind of pretty to look at. But are looks and loudness alone worth the $200 retail price?

Design of the Soundblade 

The Soundblade is a slim, flat, stylish under-monitor 2.1 soundbar designed to sit over — not under — your monitor stand. It features a textured plastic top that looks a little like brushed aluminum from afar (but definitely looks and feels like plastic from close up), fabric-covered forward-facing stereo drivers, and an 80mm down-firing center subwoofer. It comes in five colors that look like they're designed to match a Samsung Smart Monitor or an Apple iMac: light blue, light green, light pink, white, or charcoal gray (the color of our review unit).

The Soundblade doesn't look like most soundbars. And, let's face it: most soundbars look very, very similar, especially if they're designed for the living room — long, boxy black rectangles with minimal controls, a logo-branded grille, and some sort of mounting hardware. Even soundbars that are aimed at PC users and gamers don't deviate much from this generic design, except to add RGB lighting (a lot of RGB lighting).

The Soundblade does a decent job of breaking out of that mold, however: It's not a long, black rectangle, it's a flat, wide... shelf? It's 23 inches (584mm) wide, which means it will fit neatly under a 27-inch monitor, and it's 8.58 inches (218mm) deep. It stands 2.13 inches (54mm) tall, which makes it pretty low-profile for a soundbar. For comparison, Razer's Leviathan V2 Pro is similar in length at 23.6 inches (600 mm) wide, but is more than twice the height at 4.5 inches (113.7mm) tall. The Leviathan V2 Pro is significantly shallower, however, measuring just 3.5 inches (90.1mm) deep. But because the Soundblade is designed to sit over your monitor stand, the 8.58-inch depth isn't quite as imposing as it sounds.

Speaking of the Soundblade's under-monitor (but over-monitor-stand) design, let's get into that: The Soundblade sits on eight short, rubber-tipped legs, which give you about half an inch of clearance between the bottom of the speaker and the desktop. If you happen to have a chunkier monitor stand, don't worry. The Soundblade comes with eight swappable riser feet, which offer an extra 0.75 inches (19mm) of clearance, for a total of 1.25 inches (32mm). The legs are spaced out evenly under the Soundblade, and it seems pretty likely that the soundbar will be able to accommodate most monitor stands. The Soundblade is fairly lightweight at just 3.75 pounds (1.7kg), and as long as you're not using it as a load-bearing shelf, you probably don't need all eight feet to be touching the desktop. 

I will now point out that while the Soundblade looks like it could double as a monitor stand, BlueAnt has told me repeatedly that the Soundblade is an under-monitor soundbar and is not designed to be used as a monitor stand/riser. I know — it's the perfect size, shape, and flatness for a monitor stand. That's why I keep asking if I can put a monitor on it, and why BlueAnt has to keep telling me not to do that. 

After having spent some time with the Soundblade, however, I understand why BlueAnt insists it's not a monitor stand: It's very lightweight (it's almost a pound lighter than most generic, budget-priced wood/metal monitor risers you'll find online), and while it feels like it could hold a smaller, lighter task monitor pretty easily, I probably wouldn't trust it with a pricey gaming monitor.

It also feels much less stable if you swap in the riser feet, which are pure rubber and just kind of slip into the slots on the bottom of the soundbar (they slip out as easily as they slip in — I nearly lost a couple of them just from moving the Soundblade between desks). 

BlueAnt did confirm that the Soundblade can hold up to 66 pounds (30kg) of weight without affecting performance/sound, however. So you can pile other things on top of it, just not monitors. 

Of course, this does make the top feel a little wasted — aesthetics aside. You can't really pile things on top of it because it's supposed to sit under your monitor. You might be able to store a slim keyboard on top of it, but none of my (admittedly, not-so-slim) keyboards could fit on the Soundblade and under my monitor. So it's essentially just a pretty cover for your monitor stand (and also a soundbar), but it would be nice if the top at least had a wireless phone charging pad, or something.

Along the right side of the Soundblade are three touch-sensitive controls: Power/input, volume up, and volume down. They work exactly as described — tapping the power button turns the Soundblade on; tapping it again cycles through the three input options (USB, Bluetooth, AUX). 

Each time you change the input, a voice announces the change and the indicator LED changes colors to correspond with the current source (purple for USB, blue for Bluetooth, and green for analog). Tapping and holding the power button turns the Soundblade off, and the volume buttons control the volume. Connections are found on the back right corner: DC-in, USB-C, and 3.5mm AUX.

The Soundblade comes with a handful of cables and accessories in the box. There's a 6.5-foot (2m) power cord, a 3.5-foot (1m) USB-C to USB-C cable, a 3.5-foot (1m) USB-C to USB-A cable, and a 3.5-foot (1m) 3.5mm AUX cable. It also comes with eight rubber riser feet, which are easy to install — they just pop in. Finally, there's a remote (including two AAA batteries), which is where you'll find the majority of the Soundblade's controls. A remote is not my favorite option for a desktop soundbar, but it's not surprising considering soundbars (even desktop soundbars) are often paired with TVs. The Soundblade's remote isn't strictly necessary for operation, but it does let you switch between EQ settings (game, music, and movie), which you can't do on the device. 

Minor inconveniences aside, the Soundblade is an attractive soundbar. If your goal is to hide an unattractive monitor stand (and/or a mess of cables at the back of your desk), the Soundblade is a sleek, pretty solution.

Specs

Performance of the Soundblade 

The Soundblade is a soundbar with a 2.1 configuration, which means it has dual-channel (stereo) sound in the form of two forward-facing dual voice coils, and a bass via a built-in 80mm down-firing subwoofer in the center. BlueAnt doesn't offer much detail on the configuration beyond this, but the company says the Soundblade is designed for a variety of content — including "YouTube videos, Netflix series, immersive gaming sessions, and streaming music." 

It also says the Soundblade has "advanced technology for handling complex soundscapes in AI-generated media," whatever that means. When I asked what that meant, a representative offered me this nebulous statement: "In an era where AI shapes the landscape of content creation, producing intricate and sophisticated audiovisual media, the Soundblade stands ready. It brings out the richness and depth in AI-generated content, offering sound quality that truly complements the complexity and intricacies of modern media." Uh... sure. 

BlueAnt doesn't provide too many specs aside from the Soundblade's peak power rating (120W), and I can confirm that this soundbar gets surprisingly loud – a little too loud, in fact, considering it's supposed to be a desktop speaker. In our volume testing, the Soundblade hit 88.5dBA at 50% volume, and maxed out at 104.7dBA at maximum volume — which is probably too loud for a speaker that's 20 feet away from you, let alone two. For reference, most of the best PC speakers don't hit 88.5dBA at maximum volume, and they're plenty loud enough for listening to music, watching shows, and gaming at your desk. 

Music on the Soundblade sounded... just okay, assuming the volume was cranked way down. Lows and mids were decently strong, especially for the size, and highs were present if a little clipped. The built-in subwoofer can't replace a larger, separate subwoofer (and the Soundblade has no port for plugging in a separate subwoofer), but it delivered sufficiently powerful bass. However, some of the nuance was lost in tracks such as Lorde's Royals or Hans Zimmer's Time.

This was also the case with the midrange: instruments and vocals started to blend together in Enya's Orinoco Flow, and even my all-time favorite mid-heavy Lonely World by K-391 sounded muddled and compressed at its peaks. Highs were a little restrained on the Soundblade, but perhaps that's a good thing as the strings in the beginning of Britney Spears' Toxic were veering toward painfully hissy before being clipped.

Music isn't the Soundblade's forte, but it handled other types of media much better. Movies, shows, and TikTok sounded especially good — voices were dynamic and full, and dialogue was clear and well-separated from any background noise, even when the Soundblade was at lower volumes (which, well, it always was). Games also sounded good, though the Soundblade did have the expected limitations of a 2.1 soundbar. The multi-layered soundscapes of Uncharted 4 and God of War: Ragnarok sounded a little compressed and narrow, but at least dialogue and non-environmental noises (e.g. gunshots, footsteps) were clear.

I didn't test any AI-generated media, because I don't know what that is (unless you count those AI-generated voice captions on TikTok). However, I'm fairly confident that the Soundblade will handle any future AI-generated media as well as it handles any media, and nothing suggests that the "advanced technology for handling complex soundscapes in AI-generated media" is anything other than marketing jargon. 

The Soundblade doesn't come with any companion software, but it does offer three basic EQ presets — music, movie, and game — that you can switch between using the remote. Each time you switch EQs, a voice prompt tells you the name of the preset you've switched to. This voice prompt also pops up when you switch between input types, when you power the device on/off, and when you hit max volume. 

As of now, this voice prompt can't be disabled and I kind of hate it (I'm just not a big fan of voice prompts — in anything). It definitely doesn't seem like a useful feature for most users — there are only three input sources and three EQ presets, and the only way to switch between EQ presets is by pressing a labeled button on the remote. And I don't know why anyone needs to be told they've hit maximum volume. I'm sure there are cases I can't think of where these voice prompts would be useful and not just annoying, and I think they'd be fine... if they were optional.

Bottom Line

The BlueAnt Soundblade is certainly a unique... -looking soundbar. And it is sleek — there are other low-profile soundbars out there, but most aren't this slim (nor do they look this good). If you're looking for a slim under-monitor soundbar that can handle a variety of tasks including supplying deafeningly loud music for your next house party, the Soundblade is an attractive and versatile option. It's a very good upgrade from cheap laptop speakers or... listening through your monitor.

That said, you're definitely paying a premium for the Soundblade's aesthetic design. It's a good all-around soundbar for when you need, well, sound, but if audio is a priority you'd be better off spending $200 on one of the best gaming headsets. It's also not the most feature-rich soundbar for a PC user — the Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE is pricier (though it's currently on sale for $230), but it offers better audio, a wider range of inputs, gamer-friendly features, and it also slides pretty easily under a monitor.

LG Electronics teased its vacuum tube-based DukeBox by LG Labs in advance of CES 2024. Pairing early computing tech with a transparent OLED panel, this prototype appears to go after the audiophile market — assuming it ever hits retail.

The LG DukeBox is a speaker system composed of two bottom front-facing speakers and a top 360-degree speaker. The speakers are amplified by vacuum tubes, visible from behind the transparent OLED front panel.

Vacuum tubes are used in audiophile and other high-end audio circles to provide a cleaner, more detailed audio amplifying experience — offering warmer, "sweeter" harmonics. Combined with the triple speakers built into the DukeBox enclosure, the audio experience should sound pretty impressive, at least on paper.

The transparent OLED panel can be put to work in interesting ways as well. You can opt to leave it fully transparent to show off the internals, but where's the fun in that? You can also run a fireplace effect on the panel, or even just watch movies on it — with the internals still partially visible. (We're not sure how transparent or opaque you can make the OLED, something to look forward to seeing at CES.) Maybe some oldies would be the way to go, as this is about the size of old TVs and computer monitors....

Besides the DukeBox, LG mentioned a few other products. Some are a bit outside our wheelhouse, though that might be an appropriate term for LG's "Bon Voyage" camping trailer. There's also the "DUOBO," a two-capsule coffee machine allowing for mixed coffee.

Other products teased by name only fall into LG's more traditional lineup. The "LG gram Fold" may provide a yet further improvement on the latest LG Gram Refresh's 2-in-1 model, while the "CineBean Qube" will improve on the existing CineBeam projectors with a hyper-compact design.

In any case, it's looking like LG will have no shortage of new hotness to show off at CES. The DukeBox seems like a pretty intelligent use of LG's transparent OLED technology that we're otherwise only seeing in commercial or public transit applications so far.

There are all kinds of audio options for getting sufficient sound out of your PC. Your built-in speakers might be okay if you’re a laptop user with basic productivity needs and occasional YouTube excursions. If you don’t want to disturb those around you, the best gaming headsets and earbuds can deliver everything from the basics to audiophile-grade excellence. You can even listen to sound through built-in speakers on many of the best gaming monitors... though we recommend you don't.

But even though audio sounds incredible on some of the best wireless gaming headsets, it’s hard to beat the freedom, flexibility, and audio fidelity of a good set of dedicated PC speakers.

What makes a set of dedicated desktop speakers the best computer speakers for you depends on your needs, how much you want to spend, and how much free space you have on or near your desk. We’ve tested several current PC speakers, from budget-priced 2.0 options to glorious gaming setups with subwoofers and surround sound, and everything in between.

We’ve gathered the best computer speakers we’ve tested below, with options starting at under $60. If you aren’t quite sure what kind of computer speaker setup is best for you, check the section below our picks about what to consider when shopping for PC speakers.

Prime Day Exceptional PC Speaker Deal

This is a standout deal from the Prime Day event, which is currently taking place. Our list of overall best picks continues below.

The Quick List

Best PC Speakers you can buy today

The Best PC Speakers Under $100

If you don't mind boxy black plastic designs and you don't want a subwoofer or 5.1 surround sound, Creative's T100 speakers are arguably the best value in PC audio — often selling for around $80. The pair of computer speakers stands just over 8 inches tall and delivers sound quality and volume output that rivals or bests some speakers that cost more than twice as much. Plus, the T100s come with a remote and ample connectivity options, features that most pricier options lack.

In our testing, the T100 speakers registered an impressive 82.5 dBA at 50% volume, and at 90.4 dBA cranked all the way up, they were among the loudest pair of 2.0 desktop speakers we tested. The Bose Companion 2 got somewhat louder at 91.6dBA, but those speakers have fewer features and cost nearly twice as much, at $149.

For those who want to do more than just play audio from their computer speakers via a standard 3.5mm audio cable, the T100 speakers include Bluetooth 5.0, a USB port for directly plugging a drive to play MP3 and FLAC files, and even an optical connection. Controls on the top of one of the speakers lets you change inputs, adjust volume, and power the speakers on or off, while a wireless remote lets you do all that, plus switch between EQ presets, adjust bass and treble, and more.

Aside from their uninspired glossy black-plastic shells, the only real downside of Creative's T100 speakers is that they can't connect over USB. Also, there's no option for adding a subwoofer. But if you're shopping in this price range you probably aren't seriously considering a 2.1 system with extra low-end thump. Sure, you can buy speakers that look and sound better than Creative's T100, but you might have to spend more than twice as much for substantially better options.

Best Budget Speakers

The Creative Pebble Pro is one of the more premium products in the Pebble desktop speaker lineup, but, at $60, it still retails for $20 less than the T100’s average sale price. There’s a lot to love about the Pebble lineup in general — starting with its compact and stylish round “pebble” shape, with drivers that are angled upward 45 degrees so the sound hits your ears when they’re placed on a desktop.

The Pebble Pro improves upon the original Pebbles with a higher power output and larger, re-engineered 2.25-inch drivers. It doesn’t have a subwoofer, but its low end gets a boost with Creative’s “BassFlex” technology; it also features the brand’s “Clear Audio” processing technology, which enhances vocals over ambient sound effects in movies, shows, and games. Finally, the Pebble Pro features RGB lighting around the base of each speaker — it’s semi-customizable; you can pick from three basic effects and multiple colors.

Like the original Pebble, the Pebble Pro can be powered by a standard USB port on a laptop — so this is a great set of speakers for those who want a less complicated setup. Unlike the original Pebble, the Pebble Pro has a USB-C PD port that, when plugged into a 30W USB-PD power brick, kicks the Pebble Pro’s power output up to 30W RMS (60W peak). These speakers sound pretty good at their regular power level, but they sound even better (and louder) with the power boost. Plus, as of this writing, if you buy the Pebble Pro on Creative’s website, you’ll get a 30W PD adapter free of charge.

The Pebble Pro boasts impressive audio for its size and price point — though it does lack the lows you’ll get with a subwoofer (or even some larger 2.0 systems). It also gets pretty loud: it registered 69.4dbA at 50% volume in our testing, and 88.2dBA at 100% volume (and distortion was minimal until around 78% volume). The Pebble Pro also offers 3.5mm analog, USB-C, and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and also has 3.5mm headset and microphone jacks.

The main downside to the Pebble Pro might be, coincidentally, its price — Creative’s Pebble V3 has the same drivers (though the Pebble Pro’s are “re-engineered”), Clear Dialog audio processing, and connectivity options as the Pebble Pro, and retails for just $40 (though we recently saw it on sale for $35). Plus, the Pebble V3 comes in the more standard color options of black or white, though it doesn’t have the Pebble Pro’s optional power boost or RGB lighting.

Read: Creative Pebble Pro Review

Best Multi-Use 2.0 Speakers

Japanese brand Onkyo has seen a resurgence in 2025, and its Creator Series GX-30ARC speakers stand out for their bevy of connection options, which can certainly come in handy if you want to use your speakers for your PC, console(s), TV, stereo (there's even a built-in phono preamp), or something else, these speakers should have you covered – you can connect up to six different inputs at once!

The Onkyo Creator Series GX-30ARC has inputs for USB-C, optical, RCA, 3.5mm Aux, HMDI (ARC), and Bluetooth 5.3 LE, and you can select between all of these via the remote. There's even a subwoofer connection so you can add more bass. So how do the speakers sound? In short, they sound quite good and they were one of the louder 2.0 speakers Ive tested, reaching 99.01 dBA at a meter away. And there are speaker stands included that angle the drivers up toward your ears. They are plastic rather than metal or foam, but it's still a nice inclusion that can make a significant difference in perceived sound quality.

Best Premium 2.0 Speakers

The primary downsides of these speakers are the price ($299 is a lot if you're mostly just looking for PC speakers), and size. At 5.75 x 8.7 x 6.7 inches, the GX-30ARC command quite a bit of desk space. Also, while the speakers mostly look good thanks to removable cloth coverings and black or white cabinets, the seams of the cabinets are visible on all four corners of the front. It's a small detail, and the seams are partially obscured by the cloth speaker covers, but it feels like an oversight on speakers that look so good (and cost around $300). You probably won't notice it if the speakers are on a shelf or a media console. But I found the seams hard to ignore on the white model I tested with the speakers sitting right in front of me on my desk.

At $269, Audiengine’s A2+ speakers are expensive – especially for a 2.0 setup. But they’re also an investment in excellent audio, and one that I’ve personally experienced. I bought the A2 (non-Bluetooth) version of these speakers in 2012, and they still look and sound as good as new. The A2+ model we tested for this page takes the premium build and good looks of the A2 and adds Bluetooth 5.0, with aptX for improved latency (important when watching movies and, perhaps, when gaming competitively).

The A2+ speakers come in a solid-feeling glossy speaker shell, in white, black or red. Ports include pretty much everything you could ask for. You get micro USB for connecting using the speakers’ internal DAC or 3.5mm for analog connections. There is a volume knob, a button for Bluetooth pairing and four RCA jacks, two in and two out. The former can be used for adding a subwoofer down the line should you want more bass. But in 10 years using the older A2 model at my treadmill desk, I’ve never felt a real need to add extra thump. If these speakers are your primary sound boxes, though, you may feel differently.

In our testing, the Audioengine A2+ didn’t get as loud as some speakers that cost quite a bit less. And that’s not surprising given they are only rated to output 60W of peak power in total. But they still managed to deliver 85.6 dBA at max volume in our testing, and 78.2 dBA at 50% volume. That’s a lot of sound unless you’re trying to fill a very large room with booming audio, in which case you should consider something larger.

There are two main downsides to Audioengine’s A2+: The exposed speakers aren’t ideal for homes with small children and/or curious pets, who could ruin your audio day with an errant smack or poke. Also, as the design of these speakers is a traditional straight rectangular cabinet, the speakers fire in a straight line, meaning your ears will miss the sweet spot of audio delivery if they’re sitting several inches below your ears on the desk in front of you. This can be fixed by picking up a pair of $20-$30 angled speaker stands or foam wedges, but for this price I would like to see these included in the box as most desktop setups basically necessitate their use to truly appreciate the sound these speakers are capable of.

Best 2.0 Gaming Speakers

Any set of speakers can deliver the blasts, booms or pickaxe bloops of your favorite PC game. But if you’re after a compact and relatively affordable set of speakers that will make your games sound good (while delivering some gamer style in the process), Edifier’s G2000 speakers are a great choice. The pair of speakers won’t take up much space on your desk, and they deliver a surprising amount of sound – with an emphasis on the low end. Don’t expect room-shaking rumble here, but with a subwoofer port at the back of one of the speakers, these small speakers can grow with your gaming needs.

Edifier’s G2000 speakers also offer up a plethora of connectivity options. Around the back there’s USB connectivity, 3.5mm analog, and Bluetooth 5.2 is an option if you want to go wireless. For those who crave a little light show to go along with their games, the speakers also offer up some RGB, with light emanating from slits on either side and a panel at the back (to reflect off of your wall). Just note that the lights are controlled via buttons on the side of one of the speakers, with 12 available settings. So don’t expect the kind of flexibility you might get from software controls.

Note that these aren’t the best option for listening to music, as each speaker consists of one 2.75-inch driver that has to do double-duty, handling the highs and lows. But if you don’t mind their bias toward the bass end of the spectrum, they’re OK for most audio tasks other than gaming. Just know that the G2000s are tuned and designed for those who prioritize gaming. If that sounds like you and you don’t want to spend more than around $110, these speakers are a great option. And if you don’t like basic black (and gray), there are pink, red, and white color options available for $5-$10 more.

Best 2.1 Gaming Speakers

The Razer Nommo V2 is a wired 2.1 gaming speaker setup with powerful, booming bass and impressive directional sound — perfect for a single-player PC gaming setup. The Nommo V2 is the more affordable version of Razer's Nommo V2 Pro. While the Nommo V2 Pro comes with a wireless subwoofer and Razer's wireless, customizable, multi-function control pod, the Nommo V2 has a wired subwoofer and on-speaker volume controls — and costs $150 less, with an MSRP of $300. This is definitely worth it: while a wireless subwoofer can make your setup look a little less cluttered, it's not like there are rear speakers in this setup — so the two satellites are likely to be near enough to the subwoofer that the cables won't be too much of an inconvenience. Also, we didn't love Razer's wireless control pod, which relies heavily on Razer Synapse 3 (and is also available as a separate purchase, for $50).

The Nommo V2 has the same dual satellites as the Nommo V2 Pro, plus a large, cube-shaped wired subwoofer. The satellites have a smooth semi-matte finish that's somewhat prone to fingerprints, and feature Razer's logo subtly embossed on their outer sides. The speakers sit on non-adjustable desktop stands at a 20 degree angle — the perfect angle, apparently, to deliver sound directly to your ears when they're placed on a desk. (The stands are not removable — these speakers are designed to be put on your desk and that's it.) They're a little deep for desktop speakers (about 7 inches / 178mm), but are otherwise pretty sleek and attractive. The back of each satellite has a translucent white orb through which the speakers' rear-projection RGB shines.

The Nommo V2 has two 3.2-inch full-range drivers in its satellites, plus a 5.5-inch bass driver in its down-firing subwoofer. It features a frequency response range of 40 - 20,000 Hz and has a max SPL of 98dB. Like Nommo V2 Pro, the Nommo V2's audio is powerful if a little bass-heavy and does extremely well with directional audio and virtual surround sound, which makes it perfect for single-player gaming PC setups (though it has Bluetooth 5.3 in addition to USB-C wired connectivity). While it's not the best multi-tasker — we wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for something that can double as a home entertainment system — you'd be hard-pressed to find a better setup for surround-sound PC gaming.

Best 5.1 Surround Speakers

SteelSeries says its Arena 9 is the first 5.1 surround system for gaming, which we suppose is technically true, because while there are other 5.1 surround systems for PCs, they’re not billed as being gamer-oriented. The Arena 9 comes with five satellites — a center channel that sits under your monitor, two left/right front channels, and two left/right rear channels — as well as a 6.5-inch down-firing subwoofer. The rear satellites are wireless (they connect to each other and are powered separately, but connect to the system wirelessly), which makes for an easier setup than trying to run speaker cables under carpeting.

The Arena 9 comes with a handy control pod, which features an informative OLED display and touch-sensitive buttons. You can control most of the Arena 9’s features, including audio settings such as EQ and 5.1 upmix, lighting settings such as color mode and brightness, and system settings such as Bluetooth and rear speaker pairing, with this control pod, which is weighted so it will stay on your desk. For further customization, the Arena 9 also works with SteelSeries’ GG software, which includes the company’s Sonar audio app with parametric EQ.

There’s nothing quite like true surround sound in movies and games that support it, and the Arena 9 does an excellent job of delivering immersive, directional audio that will make certain games come alive. (For audio sources that don’t support surround, the Arena 9 offers 5.1 upmixing, which converts stereo sound into multi-channel audio.) But even stereo sources sound great on the Arena 9, with clear, solid mids and nicely-rendered lows (thanks to the hefty subwoofer).

The biggest downside to the Arena 9 is definitely its high price point of $550 — especially when you can find budget-priced home theater surround systems for under $400. But the Arena 9 really is designed for PC gamers with its USB connectivity — other similarly-priced home theater surround systems aren’t designed to work directly with PCs. The Arena 9 also has some nice features that are specifically designed for PC gamers, such as 4-zone immersive lighting and a desktop control pod (versus, say, a remote).

Best Soundbar

Soundbars are usually thought of as TV/home theater accessories, but they’re a good option if you’re limited on lateral desk space — and there are a few that are designed specifically with PC users in mind. The Sound Blaster Katana SE is Creative’s most recent addition to its gaming-oriented Katana lineup, and it’s particularly suited to a setup with limited space, as it’s the first Katana soundbar without a subwoofer.

The Katana SE is slim enough at just 3.1 inches (78mm) high to fit neatly under your desktop monitor — though it also comes with custom wall-mounting hardware for those who want to mount it under a monitor or TV. It features four drivers — two 4.3-inch (109mm) midrange drivers, and two 2.1-inch (54mm) tweeters — each of which is individually powered by dual DSP-controlled stereo amps. The result is clear, great-sounding audio and a soundbar that gets impressively loud: while the Katana SE managed a maximum of 74.5dBA at 50% volume in our testing, it hit a significantly higher maximum of 92.7dBA at 100% volume.

The Katana SE is packed with features and connectivity for all types of gamers — it features the typical 3.5mm analog and USB-C inputs, as well as optical-in, HDMI ARC, and Bluetooth 5.0. It also has a Dolby Audio decoder (available over HDMI ARC/optical-in), as well as Creative’s Super X-Fi headphone technology for virtual surround sound. Its multiple input ports means you can use it with your PC as well as consoles, TVs, and other devices — making it much more versatile than Razer’s Leviathan V2 and V2 Pro soundbars, which only offer connectivity via USB and Bluetooth.

While the Katana SE sounds very good, even at the low end, it doesn’t quite offer the deep, weighty bass reproduction of a dedicated subwoofer. Creative’s Sound Blaster Katana V2 soundbar retails for just $30 more (though it’s currently on sale for the same $300 price tag as the Katana SE), and comes with a slim, 6.5-inch subwoofer, for those who have some under-desk space.

Other PC Speakers We Tested

Onkyo Creator Series GX-10DB, GX-30ARC speakers

Onkyo's newest creator- and customer-focused speaker models, the $199 GX-DB and $299 GX-30ARC, look great and have lots of features, including Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C connectivity, a built-in phono preamp, and HDMI ARC on the higher-end model. They both have removable cloth front covers and come in white or black, and ship with angled stands, which are sturdy and wrapped in a woodgrain finish (but are ultimately plastic).

Both offer Bluetooth 5.3 LE, USB-C, RCA (with a built-in phono stage for vinyl record players), and optical connections, and have a subwoofer connector. The larger GX-30ARC also has a 3.5mm aux jack and HDMI ARC, and allows you to set either the left or right speaker as primary. It uses a proprietary four-pin DIN-like connector with a 2m cable to run between the speakers, which, unfortunately, limits how far apart you can place them. (The GX-10DB uses standard speaker wires.) Both sets output solid volume, though the GX-30ARC kicks out 99.01 dBA at max volume while the GX-10DB tops out at 92.6 dBA.

Read: Onkyo Creator Series GX-10DBX, GX-30ARC Review

OXS Thunder Pro+

We recently tested the OXS Thunder Pro+, a 7.1 gaming soundbar that comes with the "world's first satellite neck speaker" — a neck pillow with two built-in speakers for a more immersive surround sound experience. The soundbar alone costs a pricey $600, while the neck pillow is an extra $100 if you purchase it as a package ($150 if you buy it separately, after the fact). The soundbar has a lot to offer: it's a nice size for an under-monitor soundbar, it features built-in RGB lighting (only semi-customizable), and has angled drivers for a "wider, richer soundstage." It sounds good for both music and gaming — it works better with mid-range heavy songs, as it has no subwoofer (nor does it have a jack for plugging in a separate subwoofer), and it does a great job with crisp vocals and directional sound.

The "satellite neck speaker" is a neck pillow that can be attached to a chair's headrest via an elastic strap. It's a very good neck pillow, with a removable fabric cover, thick memory foam padding, and a contoured shape for comfort. It feels pretty expensive for a neck pillow — not $100 expensive, but much more premium than the pillows that typically come with gaming chairs. It features a side-facing speaker on each side; on the right side you'll also find a power button, a pairing button, and a USB-C charging port. While the neck speaker only works with the OXS Thunder Pro+, it still needs to be paired with the soundbar via a USB-A dongle (which makes sense, given that you can purchase it as a separate accessory, but it still feels a bit clunky). Unfortunately, the neck pillow doesn't deliver in performance or battery life — the speakers are significantly worse than those of the soundbar, and music and games alike sound muffled and compressed. It does help with immersion, to some extent, but it also has poor battery life: OXS claims around 12 hours, but we found it to be closer to half that in our testing.

All in all, the OXS Thunder Pro+ is a solid, great-sounding soundbar (the neck speaker... we'd say, leave it). But it's not quite a $600 soundbar, especially when there are plenty of dedicated under-monitor soundbars for half that price.

Read: OXS Thunder Pro+ Review

Fluance Ai41

We recently tested the Fluance Ai41 Powered 5-inch Stereo Bookshelf Speakers, and found a lot to like, including more and better audio than smaller traditional desktop speakers, attractive looks, and a great remote that lets you adjust bass and treble and dim the status LED.

The Fluance Ai41s aren't cheap at $249, and they take up a lot of desk space than traditional computer speakers. But if you have room for them on your desk and have been disappointed by smaller desktop speakers in the past, they're well worth considering. We haven't officially added them as a pick to this page largely because we haven't tested anything else in this size class to compare them to.

We also have two new sets of speakers from the resurrected Onkyo brand (now controlled by Voxx, who also owners of Klipsch) in for testing. They're attractive speakers with a lot of modern features. But we need to spend more time testing before passing judgement on their sound.

How We Test Speakers

A lot of opinions about sound signature, features, and design come into play when deciding what PC speakers are the best for you. Of course, there are measurable characteristics that can tell you quite a bit about how a set of speakers sound. But without thousands of dollars of equipment and an anechoic chamber, it’s tough to reliably make those kinds of measurements. Plus, regardless of what those results might be, how speakers will sound to you depends greatly on the size and shape of your room, the types of materials on and around your walls, and your own ears and brain.

So without unlimited space and funds for true high-end audiophile-level testing, or the ability to take everyone’s physiology and computing surroundings into account, we’ve attempted to mix some measurable data with lots of experience and our own opinions when testing speakers.

We use a Pyle PSPL25 sound meter at a fixed 1-meter distance to test a speaker’s maximum sound output at 50% and 100% volume, using a standard test track. This tells us both how loud a set of speakers can get, and how good or bad things sound when cranked all the way up. Cheaper speakers (and some more expensive options with sub-par power supplies) don’t tend to sound great at max volume. We also use the speakers across a range of common PC tasks: playing games, watching video, and listening to music to get both an anecdotal sense of how the speakers sound in everyday use, as well as how intuitive any hardware or software controls are to navigate.

As with all of the products we benchmark, test, and review, how we test speakers is a fluid process, aimed at delivering useful results and suggestions for our readers. Please feel free to offer up suggestions in the comments below. When we make substantive changes to how we test speakers, we’ll update this portion of the page.

Specifications Comparison

What to Consider While Shopping for PC Speakers

Newly-minted Corsair subsidiary Drop is best known for its keyboards — after all, it started out as a community-driven platform for negotiating group buys on keyboard enthusiast paraphernalia: boutique boards, switches, keycaps, etc. The company also sells its own merchandise, which includes keyboard kits, pre-built keyboards, and headsets (as well as... other things, occasionally). So it’s not too surprising that Drop has decided to take its audio line to the next level with a surprisingly slim pair of desktop PC speakers: the BMR1 Nearfield Monitors.  

The BMR1 Nearfield Monitors are a pair of sleek, unique-looking desktop speakers featuring Balanced Mode Radiator drivers from Tectonic Audio Labs. They can be mounted either vertically or horizontally, depending on your setup — if you mount them horizontally, they’ll fit pretty neatly under most desktop monitors. They feature both analog and Bluetooth connectivity and have an aux-out port that lets you plug in an optional subwoofer. They also feature interchangeable magnetic speaker grilles, which are sold separately in several colors (with more colors/designs in the future tentatively promised). 

If you think these sound pretty awesome, you’re not alone — Drop announced the BMR1s in January with three initial runs, all of which sold out immediately. Two additional runs of 1,000 units also sold out, and the speakers are currently on their sixth run of 1,000 units (still available as of this writing). The BMR1s alone cost $129 and do not come with speaker grilles; grilles can be purchased separately for $25 - $39 (depending on color).

Design of the BMR1 Nearfield Monitors

Design is a big part of the BMR1s’ appeal: these slim, sleek rectangles have a tiny footprint compared to most PC speakers. Each speaker measures approximately 10.63 inches (270mm) long by 2.55 inches (64.8mm) wide, and is just 1.62 inches (41.2mm) deep. The speakers come with plastic “isolation stands” that allow for either vertical or horizontal placement.

Each stand’s footprint measures 2.6 inches (66mm) wide by 3.94 inches (100mm) deep. If you mount the speakers vertically, each speaker will measure approximately 11.3 inches (288mm) tall by 2.6 inches (66mm) wide by 3.94 inches (100mm) deep. If you mount the speakers horizontally, each speaker will measure approximately 3.46 inches (88mm) tall by 10.63 inches (270mm) wide by 3.94 inches (100mm) deep. Size-wise, these speakers are perfect for anyone with an already too-cluttered desk — they take up barely any desk space when mounted vertically, and fit neatly under most monitors when mounted horizontally.

In true Drop form, the BMR1s are sold as a barebones kit, without speaker grilles. Drop sells optional, interchangeable magnetic speaker grilles separately in several colors — black, white, raw steel, “laser purple” (deep purple/navy), “shinai sage” (sage green), and “skiiboard orange” (orange). The grilles cost $25/pair (except for “raw steel,” which costs $39), and are made of coated steel mesh in a plastic frame. The company plans to offer additional colors/designs in the future.

I don’t dislike the “spare, industrial style” of the speakers sans grilles, and exposed drivers are certainly not uncommon in the speaker world. But I do think the BMR1s look sort of unfinished without grilles (especially as you can see the glue around the drivers). It does seem like Drop could have included something in the $129 base price. The speakers are fine in terms of build quality, but the standard-issue black plastic chassis looks and feels a bit cheap for how much these cost.

In the box, the BMR1s come with two stands, attachment hardware (screws, washers, and a hex key), a power block/cord, a 4-foot (1.2m) speaker interconnect cable, and a 3.5-foot (1m) AUX cable. The speaker interconnect cable appears to be proprietary — while most people will not be putting their speakers more than 4 feet apart, such a short cable doesn’t allow for a lot of flexibility when it comes to cable management (the AUX cable is also laughably short, but at least that can be easily swapped out).

The right speaker houses all of the ports, including the power input. For audio input, the right speaker has a 3.5mm stereo aux-in, as well as wireless input (Bluetooth 5.0). The speaker also has a headphone jack (with mic passthrough) and an aux out or subwoofer out for plugging in an optional subwoofer. There’s also a mode switch for switching between 2.0 (without subwoofer) and 2.1 (with subwoofer). And, of course, the proprietary speaker cable input on both the right and left speakers.

There’s a small multi-function button on the front of the right speaker, which is ringed in a bright LED when the speakers are plugged in. (Maybe a little too bright — it would be nice if this could be dimmed or turned off.) Pressing the button once switches to Bluetooth mode (press and hold in Bluetooth mode to enter pairing mode), pressing it again enters headphone mode (if headphones are connected). Default mode (analog-in) is denoted by a white LED, Bluetooth by a blue LED, and headphone mode by an orange LED. I will note that this is not a power button — there’s no power button on these speakers, nor is there volume control.

Aside from their dual-mounting capabilities, the stands that come with the BMR1s are pretty basic: they’re made of matte black plastic and have anti-slip rubber corners on the bottom and Drop’s logo engraved at the base, and they’re not adjustable. The stands have a groove to help guide and stabilize the speakers once they’re attached, but it’s not the most stable setup I’ve seen — the speakers were a little wobbly when mounted (both ways). This isn’t much of an issue, as the speakers are pretty lightweight — the right speaker weighs 13 ounces (368.5g) and the left speaker weighs 12.36 ounces (350.4g). The stands have cutouts so you can access all ports.

Specs

Performance of the BMR1 Nearfield Monitors

The BMR1 Nearfield Monitors are so slim because they use Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers (manufactured by Tectonic Audio Labs), instead of traditional cone-shaped pistonic drivers. The main benefit of BMR drivers is their size — each of the BMR1s features a flat, square, two-inch BMR driver and dual force-canceling passive radiators. Drop says the drivers are tuned to deliver a “holographic, natural frequency response” that’s perfect for “movies, music, and more.”

BMR drivers also offer wider dispersion than their conical counterparts — they feature more off-axis output and less directional sound, which makes them better for multiple listeners. (This also means you can be more flexible with placement/positioning — the BMR1s will sound largely the same whether they’re mounted vertically or horizontally.

The BMR1s have a frequency response of 80 Hz - 24,000 Hz. That’s not great on the low end, though the dual force-canceling passive radiators do a decent job of producing deep, meaningful bass — and the BMR1s do give you the option of plugging in an external subwoofer if you’re really looking for powerful lows. 

While a lot of articles covering Drop’s announcement of the BMR1 Nearfield Monitors suggested Drop claimed they would have “audiophile-level sound,” I think it’s important to note that Drop pretty carefully tip-toed around making that statement in its press release. (It mentioned “audiophile products,” “audiophiles,” “high-quality desktop speakers,” and sounding “great” — but stopped short of calling these audiophile-level speakers.) And while the BMR1s do sound very good, especially for their size, I don’t think I’d call their sound “audiophile-level.” 

Music sounds quite good on the BMR1s, so long as you’re looking for a very neutral sound profile. If you’re used to listening to music with bass-heavy headphones/headsets, the BMR1s are definitely not... that. If anything, they’re a little too neutral for me, as I prefer my neutral profiles to lean a little warm. The BMR1s have a fairly wide and detailed high range, producing clear but not overly bright treble in songs such as Britney Spears’ Toxic and Pitbull’s International Love. The midrange, by comparison, sounded a little compressed, which caused midrange-heavy songs like K-391’s Lonely World and Pepas’ Farruko to sound less dynamic. 

Movies, TV shows, podcasts, talk radio, etc. also sound very good on the BMR1s, though I did notice some slight graininess in the lower midrange when the speakers were turned up fairly loud. Speaking of volume — while the BMR1s are fairly loud for how little space they take up, they’re not particularly loud for PC speakers. In our volume test, the BMR1s delivered 73.1 dBA at 50% volume and 85.3 dBA at max volume, which is similar to the Audioengine A2+’s maximum volume level. (Of course, the A2+’s are quite a bit larger, measuring 6.25 x 4.2 x 5.6 inches (158.75 x 106.68 x 142.24mm) each and weighing 6.8lbs (3.08kg) together.) But where the BMR1s do shine is in their lack of distortion — these speakers sound almost as good when they’re at or near maximum volume as they do at 50%. And while they’re not as objectively loud as some of the other speakers on our list of best PC speakers, the BMR drivers’ wide dispersion means they can fill a medium-sized room better than you might expect. 

I was also impressed with the BMR1s’ gaming performance — they’re not particularly tuned for gaming like some PC speakers are, but the detailed high range and “holographic soundstage” Drop keeps mentioning make these speakers surprisingly good for both competitive FPS/Battle Royale type games and immersive, aurally-rich RPGs. The soundstage is a bit larger than it is with most 2.0 systems, though it’s still just a stereo setup and not surround (and the BMR1s don’t come with software or even offer a digital connection, so there’s no built-in virtual surround). But gamers will want to plug into the speakers directly, because there’s a very noticeable lag over the BMR1s’ Bluetooth connection.

Bottom Line

The Drop BMR1 Nearfield Monitors are interesting. They’re not only very slim and very lightweight compared to most of the competition,they’re also designed in such a way that I can see them fitting into even the most cluttered desk setup. They sound good, especially for their size, with an almost too-neutral sound profile and a larger-than-average soundstage. 

They’re not the best speakers you’ll ever hear, nor are they my personal favorite listening speakers. But this is all relative: they’re absolutely better than your laptop’s built-in speakers or — (god forbid) — the speakers on your desktop monitor.

But these speakers also have some (several) quirks I think Drop could fix for the next iteration. The electronics in the BMR1s are... let’s say, feisty. The right speaker (the active speaker) gets a little worryingly warm near the bottom when it’s plugged in. This is maybe partly because it’s powered on all the time, because there’s no power button (just a multi-function button with several functions that are not power). The BMR1s’ SNR is good (> 95 dB), but there’s a lot of noise — buzzing, popping, distortion — when you fiddle with either side of the analog connection. And when your PC goes to sleep, wakes from sleep, or powers on/off.  And from the left monitor when nothing is happening but the speakers are in analog or headphone mode. 

I also have a few design petpeeves — such as the proprietary and short speaker cable, as well as the bright LED ring around the non-power button, the fact that the headphone jack is on the back of the right monitor and not easily accessible. I really wanted to like these and I do like them, especially for how easy they are to fit into a desktop setup (I may or may not have a hate-hate relationship with trying to fit speakers into my desktop setup), but at the moment the BMR1s just feel like they’re not quite there. Personally, I’d grab something cheaper, like the Creative Pebble Pros, and wait until the BMR2s drop.

SteelSeries’ Arena 3 is the brand’s entry-level 2.0 system in its ambitious Arena speaker lineup. With a retail price of just $129.99, the Arena 3 might seem competitively-priced — especially considering Razer’s Nommo V2 X starts at $149.99 — but of course there are desktop speakers outside of the gaming peripheral sphere.

⋇ Check out our Best PC Speakers for more options.

The Arena 3 speakers feature 4-inch full-range drivers with organic fiber cones and front-firing bass ports. They’re well-built and situated on tilt-adjustable desktop stands, with a volume knob and multi-function button for switching inputs easily accessible. 

They’re wired and offer analog connectivity (PC and AUX), as well as Bluetooth 5.0 — no USB or optical connection. The Arena 3 is a 2.0 system — no subwoofer, so its bass response is understandably underwhelming. But if you’re not looking for an impressive bass response, there are plenty of 2.0 systems with lackluster lows that cost a lot less than $130.

Design of the Arena 3

The Arena 3 is a wired, two-speaker stereo system with a left channel and a right channel. The speakers look similar to the oval-shaped front left/right speakers in SteelSeries’ higher-end Arena 7 and Arena 9 systems, but they’re larger and more... avocado-shaped. Each of the Arena 3’s speakers features a 4-inch premium organic fiber full-range driver, a front port for improved bass response, and is perched on a tilt-adjustable desktop stand.

The Arena 3’s speakers are housed in matte black plastic chassis with black and dark gray drivers. I won’t say the chassis is fingerprint-proof (it’s not), but it doesn’t attract fingerprints the way Razer’s Nommo V2 Pro speakers did. SteelSeries’ logo is printed in black on the frame under each driver. The speakers are somewhat bulky and oddly-shaped, but they’re very well-built and hefty — together, they weigh a little under five pounds (4.72lbs / 2139g). The right speaker is slightly heavier at 2.44 pounds (1105g), while the left weighs 2.28 pounds (1034g).

Both speakers have built-in tilt-adjustable stands. The stands feature round bases measuring 4.35 inches (110.6mm) in diameter by 0.39 inches (10.1mm) thick, and are lined with a circle of rubbery anti-slip material. The neck of each stand is around 0.75 inches (19.1mm) tall and allows the speaker to tilt backward approximately 20 degrees.

SteelSeries lists the Arena 3’s measurements as 7.72 x 4.97 x 4.13 inches (196.1 x 126.2 x 104.9mm), but these are definitely... off. I measured each of the speakers at about 8 inches (203.2mm) tall by 6 inches (152.4mm) wide by 5 inches (127mm) deep standing “straight.” Fully tilting the speakers adds about 1 inch (25.4mm) of depth and half an inch (12.7mm) of height. So each speaker will take up 8.5 x 6 x 6 inches (215.9 x 152.4 x 152.4mm) of space at most when fully-tilted.

It’s worth pointing out that the speakers do not sit perfectly perpendicular to your desk when they’re standing “straight” — they start out with an upward tilt of approximately 5 degrees, and can be manually tilted back an additional 15 degrees or so. The resulting 20-degree speaker tilt is about the same as the (non-adjustable) tilt of the Razer Nommo V2 Pro.

The system’s inputs, ports, and controls are all located on the right speaker. The base of the right speaker stand has a multi-function button and a volume knob. Pressing the multi-function button once switches between audio input — specifically, between the speaker’s audio and a headset plugged into the speaker’s rear headset port. Long-pressing the multi-function button puts the system in Bluetooth pairing mode.

There’s a bright indicator LED under the SteelSeries logo on the right speaker. The LED blinks blue when the system is in pairing mode, and turns solid blue when successfully paired to a device. The LED is solid green when you’re connected to a wired audio source (AUX or PC), and is solid orange when you plug a headset in. You can turn the indicator LED off completely by double-pressing the multi-function button.

On the back of the right speaker there’s a DC-in for power and three 3.5mm analog input ports: headset, auxiliary, and PC. You’ll want to use the PC port to connect the speakers to your PC, auxiliary to connect to other devices, and the headset port for plugging in a headset. Also on the back of the right channel is a hardwired 6.5-foot (2m) speaker cable that plugs into the left channel. This is way more cable than anyone needs between the right and left channels, but it’s nice to see that SteelSeries erred on the longer, rather than shorter, side.

In the box, the Arena 3 is packaged with a 6.5-foot (2m) speaker cable for connecting to your PC (or other device), as well as a 7-foot (2.13m) power cable with a 30W power adapter. The power adapter features an interchangeable plug — you can order the Arena 3 with the regional plug type of your choice: U.S., U.K., EU, Korean, Australian, or Chinese.

Audio Performance of the Arena 3

The Arena 3 is a 2.0 (stereo) system with a left channel and a right channel, each of which sports a 4-inch full-range driver and a front ported bass reflex system. The speakers have a frequency response of 50 Hz - 20,000 Hz with 91dB sensitivity and an impressive max SPL of 100dB.

The Arena 3 will easily fill a medium-sized room if you crank up the volume — and it sounds pretty good so long as you’re not expecting a desk-shaking bass response. When connected via the 3.5mm PC input, the Arena 3 managed to hit a maximum of 83.3dBA (A-weighted decibels) at 50% volume, measured via handheld sound level meter at 3.3 feet (1m), and a maximum of 94.1dBA at 100% volume. Volume was slightly lower over Bluetooth, with the Arena 3 hitting a maximum of 82.6dbA at 50%, and a maximum of 92.1dbA at 100%. 

We use K-391’s Lonely World, which is a very midrange-heavy track, for our volume test. This was a good thing for the Arena 3, because the system has very strong mids — which are boosted all around, but are especially robust on the lower end to compensate for the lack of bass. This doesn’t really work: while the lower mids are pretty full-bodied, actual lows are noticeably absent. The bass drum at the beginning of Lorde’s Royals, for example, truncates prematurely where it would normally roll off, and the first minute of Hans Zimmer’s Time is barely present. 

The Arena 3 has no subwoofer, nor does it have a port for plugging in a third-party subwoofer. Instead, the system relies on two small front ports — one above each driver — for enhanced bass response. While the front port location is handy because it means you can place the speakers next to a wall (face it — most desks are probably next to a wall), I think the ports are just too small and too close to the drivers to do much in the way of bass enhancement. It seems like SteelSeries probably should have gone with a larger rear port — especially as the Arena 3 has no RGB lighting (both the Arena 7 and the Arena 9 have rear-projection RGB lighting on the front left/right channels).

The Arena 3 doesn’t just lack a low end — its highs are also a little restrained. The lack of detail is most apparent in tracks that slide in and out of the high range, such as Gesaffelstein’s Hellifornia and David Guetta’s Titanium, but I didn’t mind it too much — there wasn’t too much detail lost, and I definitely prefer restrained highs to painfully bright. 

While the Arena 3’s aggressive midrange isn’t ideal for music listening, it’s actually pretty good for gaming (as well as other types of media, such as movies and TV shows). Voices sound especially good with the speakers’ boosted mids — warm, crisp, and clear, even at lower volumes. Auditory cues in games, such as footsteps and gunshots, were also very clear. Ambient environmental noises, such as chirping birds and dripping water, were also present — there was still plenty of audible detail in God of War: Ragnarok and Subnautica: Below Zero.

Features and Software of the Arena 3

The Arena 3 only connects via analog (or Bluetooth), and therefore doesn’t really have any direct software, but it does work with SteelSeries’ Sonar app, which is part of the SteelSeries GG software. Of course, all speakers and headsets (not just SteelSeries’) technically work with the Sonar app, so this isn’t an Arena 3- (or even an Arena-) specific feature. The Sonar app features a 10-band parametric EQ as well as SteelSeries’ virtual surround sound, but of course there’s only so much “surround” you can really get from a 2.0 system.  

Bottom Line

The SteelSeries Arena 3 speakers aren’t bad — they produce nicely balanced, albeit midrange-heavy, audio out of the box, and there’s no question they can fill a room with music. These speakers get impressively loud, and they sound just as good at full volume as they do at more reasonable levels.

But pure volume aside, the Arena 3 lacks detail and power in both the low and high ends, and only offers analog connectivity in addition to Bluetooth. For $130 you can pick up the Creative T100s, which sound great and feature analog, optical, and Bluetooth connectivity, and still have $40 to spend on the extra portable Creative Pebble V3s.

Creative’s Pebble desktop speakers have been a hit since they launched — because what’s not to like? They’re small and stylish and they pack a pretty impressive audible punch for just $25. So it’s not too surprising that Creative has released several variations on the original Pebbles, including the most recent launch: the Pebble Pro. 

Priced at $59.99, the Pebble Pro is the most expensive Pebble so far — it’s $10 more than the Pebble Plus, which includes a subwoofer (the Pebble Pro does not include a subwoofer). The Pebble Pro is a 2.0 dual channel desktop speaker system with USB-C and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and built-in customizable RGB lighting. 

It looks very similar to the other speakers in the Pebble line — compact, minimalist balls with elevated drivers that sit tilted up at a 45-degree angle. But the Pebble Pro is also packing some internal upgrades that give it the edge over its siblings — it has larger, re-engineered 2.25-inch drivers, and features Creative’s “BassFlex” technology and Clear Dialog audio processing. 

The Pebble Pro also has a higher power output — 10W RMS (20W peak), with the option to kick it up to 30W RMS (60W peak) by  plugging it into a 30W USB-PD power brick. For reference, the original Pebble had a 4.4W RMS, and subsequent iterations (Pebble V2, Pebble V3, Pebble Plus), 8W RMS. 

The Pebble V3, which has the same 2.25-inch drivers (albeit, un-re-engineered) as the Pebble Pro, as well as Clear Dialog audio processing and USB-C and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, is currently on sale for $35 — nearly half the price. The Pebble Pro’s added RGB lighting isn’t really worth twice the price, but the BassFlex technology and the power upgrades just might be.

Design of the Pebble Pro

The Pebble Pro speakers are roughly the same size and shape as the rest of the Pebble lineup. Each pebble-shaped speaker measures 4.8 x 4.8 x 4.6 inches (123 x 123 x 118mm) and is housed in a plastic chassis. 

The speakers are well-built and stylish-looking, though the chassis does attract fingerprints and was surprisingly difficult to smoothly wipe down (as you can see from my pictures). The Pebble Pro comes in one colorway — a dark, military-esque green (dubbed “Audio Green”) with dark gray faceplates and gold accents.

I’m not sure why Creative decided on this color as its sole option for the Pebble Pro, but I don’t... love it. I don’t have a problem with the color on its own — I like that it’s different from ever-present black or white while still being semi-neutral — but one of the Pebble Pro’s unique features is its built-in RGB lighting. 

And I don’t think flashy, spectrum-cycling RGB really works with this shade of green (okay, or with the overall minimalist aesthetic of the Pebble line). I also don’t think there’s a single lighting color (other than white, which isn’t an option) that really works well with this shade of green, but maybe I’m overthinking this.

Both the left and right channels feature elevated drivers that are tilted upward at a 45-degree angle on the front and passive radiators on the back. The left speaker has Creative’s logo printed in gold along the bottom of its dark gray faceplate, while the right speaker has a volume knob and two buttons for connectivity and lighting. There’s an  indicator light next to the volume knob that changes color to indicate input type (USB-C, Bluetooth, or AUX).

Both speakers are the same size and shape, and are connected via a hardwired 6-foot (1.8m) cable. The right speaker has three additional ports on its back: USB-C, USB-C PD (Power Delivery), and 3.5mm AUX-in. It also has two 3.5mm jacks on its right side for a headset and a microphone.

The bottom of each speaker is lined with rubbery anti-slip material, which wasn’t quite enough to stop the speakers from slipping on a wooden desktop — the cable that connects the two speakers is somewhat stiff out of the box, so it may need some training to get the speakers to sit where you want them. The speakers are relatively lightweight: the left speaker weighs 13.44oz (381g) and the right speaker weighs 14.88oz (422g). An RGB lighting strip circles the base of each speaker.

The Pebble Pro comes with three cables: a 5-foot (1.5m) USB-C to USB-C cable, a 5-foot (1.5m) USB-C to USB-A cable, and a 4-foot (1.2m) 3.5mm AUX cable. The system does not come with a power adapter, but Creative is currently including its 30W PD adapter as a free add-on if you buy the Pebble Pro directly from its website. The Pebble Pro is capable of 10W RMS output when connected to a regular USB port, and is capable of 30W RMS using the 30W PD adapter. This makes it a little more portable than most desktop speakers, as it doesn’t require power from a separate outlet.

Specs

Performance of the Pebble Pro

The Pebble Pro is a 2.0 dual-channel system with a left speaker and a right speaker. Each speaker has a 2.25-inch full-range driver on the front and a passive radiator on the back. The drivers are tilted up at a 45-degree angle, so the speakers can sit on your desktop and point at your ears. This angle isn’t adjustable and these speakers don’t seem particularly easy to fit into a generic stand, so keep this in mind if you’re looking for speakers that will sit somewhere other than your desktop. 

The Pebble Pro has a frequency response range of 80 Hz - 20,000 Hz and sounds very good for its price point. It delivers plenty of volume, even when it’s connected to a regular USB port (drawing up to 10W RMS), though you’ll get a noticeable boost by plugging in the 30W PD adapter. The Pebble Pro managed to hit a maximum of 69.4dBA (A-weighted decibels) at 50% volume, measured via a handheld sound level meter at 3.3 feet (1m), and a maximum of 88.2dBA at 100% volume. More importantly, the speakers still sounded decent at higher volumes — distortion didn’t start to become unbearably apparent until around 78% volume. 

The Pebble Pro doesn’t have a separate subwoofer (nor does it have a port for one), but it managed to do a decent job of reproducing the pounding bass in Kaskade’s POW POW POW. However, songs with deeper, layered bass, such as Hans Zimmer’s Time, sounded compressed on the low end, and most of the nuance in the bass drum at the beginning of Lorde’s Royals was lost. It’s not a perfect system for bassheads, but you’ll get enough movement on the lower end for a dorm room party. 

The Pebble Pro features Creative’s “Clear Dialog” audio processing, which is designed to enhance vocals over ambient sound effects in movies, shows, and games. I wouldn’t say vocals sounded particularly enhanced, but voices from all sources sounded very good on the Pebble Pro — clear, crisp, and full, even at lower volumes. 

Features and Software of the Pebble Pro 

The Pebble Pro has built-in RGB lighting around the base of each speaker. This lighting is configurable (-ish), but there’s no lighting-specific software — all configuration is performed on the speakers using the lighting button and volume knob on the right speaker. There are three lighting effects (four if you count “off”): “cycle,” “pulsate,” and “solo.” “Cycle” cycles through the spectrum of colors and has no additional settings; “pulsate” is a single color breathing effect; and “solo” is a solid single color.

Pressing the lighting button once switches to the next lighting effect (cycle > pulsate > solo > off). In “pulsate” and “solo” modes, pressing and holding the lighting button for two seconds lets you enter color selection mode (the indicator light will turn cyan when you’re in color selection mode). You can then pick your desired color by rotating the volume knob. Once you’ve found a color you like, pressing the lighting button once more will exit color selection mode.

 The Pebble Pro is also compatible with Creative’s SmartComms Kit, which is part of the Creative App (the Creative App isn’t useful for much else aside from updating the Pebble Pro’s firmware). If you plug a microphone into the Pebble Pro’s 3.5mm mic port, you can use the SmartComms Kit for some microphone processing — i.e. automatically muting/un-muting your mic during a call and cleaning up background noise such as PC fans or distant traffic.

Bottom Line

The Pebble Pro is definitely a step-up from the Pebble line-up with its re-designed drivers, added BassFlex and Clear Audio processing technology, and optional extra power input. I wasn’t particularly wooed by the RGB lighting, but at least it’s customizable and I’m sure many will appreciate the fun flashiness. This is a great compact desktop speaker setup that’s actually pretty portable — it can be powered solely by a standard USB port on a laptop, or it can be plugged into a 30W PD adapter for an extra kick in both audio quality and volume. 

The Pebble Pro is an excellent budget desktop PC speaker option with great-sounding audio, clear vocals, and weighty bass. My only small complaint: there’s no subwoofer port (and there are a lot of ports) for those who want the option for even better bass.

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LG has launched the new LG StanbyMe Go (27LX5), which could be summarily described as a 27-inch display in a suitcase (h/t Liliputing). Other attractive features of this relatively expansive portable display include its built-in adjustable stand, carrying suitcase, speakers, and three hours of battery life. LG’s lifestyle images suggest the primary imagined use-case for the 27LX5 is as a device you might take on a picnic. We can imagine a few other uses as well, that don't involve tents.

From the introductory description and the images above and below, you probably already have a good handle (pun intended) on the potential appeal of the new LG StanbyMe Go (27LX5). Here's a look at some of the technical specifications of the product:

With the installed WebOS 22, the LG StanbyMe Go can do a good job as a large ‘tablet’, so you don’t need to connect another device for playback of your favourite videos or music. WebOS also has a range of apps and enables features like voice control, AirPlay, and screen mirroring. An HDMI input is present so you could connect to something like a laptop without poking around in software.

The 1920x1080 resolution seems relatively low for a 27-inch display, but perhaps that was to help with battery life. If you're not taking the StanbyMe Go outside, you could also use it for presentations in a board room... one with WiFi but without a built-in display, presumably.

Of course the special sauce here is the suitcase form factor, which offers rugged (MIL-STD-810H ) portability and easy setup, with a wide range of display position adjustments possible, including portrait. It might be good for shoving in the car for a picnic, as LG’s media department foresees, but seems a bit too heavy for a business traveler. For thinner, smaller, and lighter portable monitors, please take a look at our Best Portable Monitors 2023: Gaming and Laptop Productivity feature.

This isn’t the first member of the StanbyME series of displays from LG. A few years ago, the electronics firm introduced the StanbyME (27ART10AKPL) which was also a 27-inch FHD portable monitor with three hours of battery life, but this one came with a tall lamp-like pedestal stand.

Hacking off the stand and adding a suitcase several years later seems like very little has been accomplished, but perhaps LG will find a market niche for this device among the outdoorsy type who don't want to leave their large screens at home.

With a seemingly endless array of improvements to televisions, it’s easy to overlook an equally powerful trend in audio when it comes to enhancing the home entertainment experience.

Sure, 8K and 4K UHD, High Dynamic Range (HDR), High Frame Rate (HFR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) have captured the headlines and the hearts of TV, movie viewers and gamers alike. But increasingly, consumers are finding it is the audio that pulls them into what they’re watching, creating an immersive experience that makes them feel a part of the story.

Fueling this recognition is growing consumer uptake of soundbars equipped with HDMI® Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC). With HDMI eARC, these soundbars immerse viewers and gamers who own eARC-enabled TVs in a field of sound, bringing an audio experience punctuated by clear dialog and a field of sound that envelops people in a way reminiscent of movie theater sound. 

Key to the level of audio performance is eARC’s support for high bitrate, object-based audio formats up to 192kHz at 24-bit. For viewers, this level of audio performance means detailed reproduction of sound that enhances the sports they watch, the movies and TV shows they view and the games they play. 

While some consumers are buying advanced audio-video receivers capable of enhanced sound, many now rely on HDMI eARC-enabled soundbars to open the door to immersive audio. 

Soundbars with HDMI eARC bring advanced audio technologies, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, into the home. Both immersive formats place viewers in the audio field, giving people the sense that sound is coming at them from all directions—a remarkable feat given that a soundbar is typically in the front of the room under the TV set. For consumers wanting a three-dimensional audio experience without multiple speakers scattered about, there simply is no better solution.

The secret to creating this spatial audio effect is in how HDMI eARC-enabled soundbars with Dolby Atmos or DTS:X bounce audio off the ceiling and walls to create an audio field that immerses viewers in the sound—all without disrupting decor and the traffic patterns people use to walk around their rooms.

HDMI eARC, part of the HDMI 2.1a specification, supports 48Gbps data transfer, a data rate that’s more than capable of handling transmission of uncompressed audio formats to deliver high-quality audio signals from a TV to a soundbar, thereby bringing crisp, intelligible dialog and immersive sound to viewers. 

Designed specifically to support the bandwidth needed to transport uncompressed audio formats, Ultra High Speed HDMI® Cables can be counted on to move this volume of data reliably and to ensure compatibility with HDMI eARC-enabled soundbars. 

To be sure, advanced video display technologies and formats are leaving their mark on television viewing. But it is the equally advanced audio performance made possible by HDMI eARC-enabled soundbars and immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X that ensure TV and movie watchers as well as gamers experience entertainment in a way that delights the ears just as much as 4K and 8K delight the eyes. Together, these advanced audio and video technologies are elevating the level of enjoyment viewers are experiencing to unprecedented heights.

More information is available on the HDMI LA website.

The terms HDMI, HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface, HDMI Trade Dress and the HDMI Logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing Administrator Inc. 

Razer’s back to bother your neighbors with the second generation of its popular positional PC speakers. The unsurprisingly-named Nommo V2 line includes the top-of-the-line Nommo V2 Pro — which is what this review will focus on — as well as the mid-range Nommo V2 and the entry-level Nommo V2 X. 

The Nommo V2 Pro is a 2.1 surround system featuring two desktop speakers with 3.2-inch full-range drivers and a wireless down-firing subwoofer. The desktop speakers are equipped with rear-projection RGB lighting that can be configured to do things like reflect the colors on your screen for an immersive feel (assuming your desk faces a wall). The Nommo V2 Pro also comes with a multi-function wireless control pod that Razer promises will have functionality beyond just audio control once it launches as a standalone product in August. The Nommo V2 Pro has one wired input (USB-C) as well as Bluetooth 5.3.

The entire Nommo V2 line will be available starting in June. The Nommo V2 Pro will cost $449.99, while the Nommo V2 will cost $299.99 and the Nommo V2 X will cost $149.99. The Nommo V2 will have the same audio properties as the Nommo V2 Pro, as well as rear-projection RGB, but it will not come with the wireless control pod, and it will have a wired subwoofer. 

The entry-level Nommo V2 X will not come with the wireless control pod or a subwoofer, nor will it have RGB (as it’ll need those vents for bass release). The wireless control pod will be sold as a standalone accessory that will work with all of the Nommo V2 line as well as (allegedly) other Razer products (through... Synapse) and will be available in August 2023. for $49.99.

Design of the Nommo V2 Pro

The Nommo V2 Pro is a 2.1 speaker setup with a right channel, a left channel, and a subwoofer. It deviates a little from the original Nommo design, with shorter left and right speakers and a cube-shaped subwoofer rather than a cylinder. The left and right speakers have a smooth matte-black finish that’s pretty prone to fingerprints, but this isn’t too much of an issue as you probably aren’t grabbing your PC speakers too often (I assume). 

All of the speakers in the Nommo V2 line have the same finish. So if you will be moving your speakers around often (maybe you’re thinking of picking up the Nommo V2 X for a dorm room laptop setup) know you’re probably going to be wiping them down a lot. Razer’s text logo is embossed in glossy black on the outward-facing sides of each channel.

The speakers are shorter than the original Nommo lineup, standing 7.28 inches (185mm) tall. They’re about the same diameter and depth, however — approximately 5.16 inches (131mm) in diameter, and 7 inches (178mm) deep.

Each speaker sits on a non-adjustable desktop stand at a 20-degree angle, pointing slightly upward. On the back of each speaker is a 3.27-inch (83mm) translucent white orb, through which the rear-projection RGB shines. Overall, the Nommo V2 Pro’s left and right speakers are a little deep for desktop speakers, but they’re otherwise fairly attractive — though perhaps not as attention-grabbing as the original Nommo Pro’s stacked-tweeter look (of which I was not a fan). I’m glad Razer reduced the height of the stand, but it would be nice if there was some room to adjust the speaker angle.

The back of the right desktop speaker has three ports: one for connecting to the left desktop speaker, a USB-C input port, and a power port. The back of the left desktop speaker has a cable to connect to the right desktop speaker, which is thick, braided, and approximately 81 inches (205.74cm) long. The Nommo V2 and the Nommo V2 X also feature power and volume control buttons on the right speaker, but the Nommo V2 Pro comes with the wireless control pod and so has no physical controls on either speaker.

The subwoofer is a black cube measuring 10.43 inches (265mm) on all sides. It sits on four metal rubber-tipped feet, which are approximately 1.38 inches (35mm) tall — so the subwoofer stands just under one foot tall (11.81 inches / 300mm). 

It features a textured black finish (which is not fingerprint-prone), and has Razer’s triskelion snake logo embossed in shiny black on the top. On the back of the subwoofer there’s a round vent, as well as a  power port, a pairing button (though the subwoofer should pair automatically), as well as a status LED that indicates whether the subwoofer is successfully paired. If that sounds surprisingly bare to you, that’s because it is — this might be the first time I’ve seen a subwoofer without any physical knobs. The subwoofer comes with a 6.5-foot power cord.

The Nommo V2 Pro can be controlled through Razer’s software or using the included wireless control pod. The control pod is a large black puck, with a plastic base and a machined aluminum clickable wheel with textured sides. The control pod measures 2.78 inches (70.5mm) in diameter and is 1.36 inches (34.5mm) thick, and it weighs 4.1 ounces (116.5g) with two AAA batteries (included) installed. It’s actually lighter than it looks, but there’s a ring of rubber around the bottom and I didn’t have any issues with it slipping as I tried to adjust the volume.

At launch, the control pod will only control the Nommo V2 Pro and select Bluetooth devices, i.e. phones. “Clicking” and holding for three seconds powers the speakers on/off; a single click toggles mute; a double click controls play/pause; and a triple click skips to the next track. Spinning the wheel adjusts volume. There’s also an input switch along the base for pairing the control pod with a Bluetooth device: Pressing the input button once switches between PC mode and Bluetooth mode, while pressing it twice cycles through your EQ presets, which you can set up in Synapse. Pressing and holding the input button will switch between audio inputs on your PC (e.g. the Nommo V2 Pro speakers and a headset).

The Nommo V2 Pro comes with a 6.5-foot (2m) power cord with interchangeable regional plugs (type A and type I) for the right speaker, two 6.5-foot (2m) regional power cords for the subwoofer, one 6.5-foot USB-C to USB-A cable, a wireless control pod, and two AAA batteries.

Specs

Performance of the Nommo V2 Pro

The Nommo V2 Pro’s left and right channels each sport one 3.2-inch full-range driver, and the down-firing subwoofer sports a 5.5-inch bass driver. The speakers have a frequency response of between 40 Hz and 20,000 Hz (slightly wider than the original Nommo’s frequency response of 50 Hz - 20,000 Hz), and have an SPL of 99dB — so they get pretty loud (though they’re not the loudest speakers you can find).

This is a “surround” setup, but these speakers are extremely directional. You really get the full force when you’re sitting directly between the left and right channels, and moving even a little to the side makes for a noticeably lower impact. This isn’t a bad thing — especially when paired with Razer’s THX spatial audio — but it’s definitely a speaker system for a single-user PC setup and not something I’d recommend putting in the living room.

Games sound great on the Nommo V2 Pro — even if they’re not titles that are “THX enhanced.” (The Nommo V2 Pro will come with six THX Game Profiles at launch, including Grand Theft Auto V, Hogwarts Legacy, and Monster Hunter Rise, with “many more to come,” according to Razer.) 

Whenever I play Grand Theft Auto V, I stick a gold chain on my French bulldog, Remy, and yell at the screen until my husband asks why I’m trying to turn our dog into a drug dealer (“Because he’s from the streets!” is my response). The Nommo V2 Pro’s directional audio was so good that Remy turned toward people talking behind me — I didn’t know this kind of faux-surround directional audio trickery could trick a dog, but I guess it can (well, a French bulldog — maybe not some sort of dog known for... dog senses, but still).

Music sounds good... ish on the Nommo V2 Pro. Let me explain: some music sounds pretty good on the Nommo V2 Pro, but a lot of music is just okay — it’s really the bass and the low-mids that impress on these speakers. The upper-mids (and, okay, the middle-mids) and highs sounded pretty cramped in songs like Britney Spears’ Toxic and even David Guetta’s Titanium. 

Maybe it has something to do with how the speakers point the audio toward the center — when THX spatial sound is turned off, audio sounds like it’s coming directly from the center of your screen (assuming your screen is centered between the speakers), almost like a soundbar (well, a soundbar that doesn’t try to recreate directional audio — you get what I mean).

But, like I said, some music sounded great. Deep EDM beats like my favorite bass-heavy POW POW POW by Kaskade sounded great, and I could feel the rolling bass in Wiz Khalifa’s On My Level everywhere. (I’m pretty sure my neighbors could feel it, too, because my husband texted me from outside the apartment to ask if I was testing speakers.)

Features and Software of the Nommo V2 Pro

You can control the basics — volume, play/pause, mute, track skipping, input, etc. — using the wireless control pod, but you’ll need to go into Razer’s companion software, Synapse 3, if you want to do things like change the EQ presets, customize the lighting, and adjust the “subwoofer level.” I’m more than a little biased but this seems like too much control to cede to Synapse.

Case-in-point: while I was writing this review, Synapse updated (as it does seemingly every five seconds) and also prompted me to update the Nommo V2 Pro’s firmware, which I did. Then it prompted me to do so again, which I did, and then again, which I tried to do but couldn’t, because the firmware updater informed me I had the latest firmware. However, Synapse refused to recognize this and so at the moment I cannot adjust the Nommo V2 Pro’s subwoofer level (which seems to be volume level — there’s no crossover or phase control) until I can somehow convince Synapse my firmware is up to date (which it is).

While it’s true that the Nommo V2 Pro’s wireless subwoofer looks very sleek with its almost complete lack of ports, knobs, and wires, Razer could’ve just stopped at wireless and given us a knob (or two).

Anyway, assuming you can get Synapse to work, you can also go in and adjust the EQ presets — well, preset. There are five EQ presets built in: default, game, movie, music, and custom. However, if you try to adjust anything on the first four, it just kicks you over to the custom preset — the first four cannot be changed (at least, not right now), so I hope you like them.

You can also customize the Nommo V2 Pro’s rear-projection RGB lighting with various colors and effects (there are only two zones, however — one on each speaker), or you can turn on the “ambient awareness” mode, which reflects an area of your screen for extra immersion. For example, if you’re slipping through an icy cave, the lighting will change to reflect the blue-white iciness of your surroundings.

The Nommo V2 Pro’s RGB lighting is nice and bright, but it only really works if your desk is facing a wall — there’s no lighting along the bottom, like there was on the first Nommo Pro, so you won’t really see the RGB unless there’s something for it to reflect off of.

Bottom Line

The Nommo V2 Pro is a great PC speaker setup if you’re looking to upgrade your battle station (gamer cave? I don’t know). It’s especially appealing if you’re looking for something like a 7.1 surround sound experience but you don’t have the room (or patience) to set up satellites — the Nommo V2 Pro does a very impressive job with directional audio, especially in games.

I’m a big fan of the wireless subwoofer, but I also have far too many wires under my desk. If you don’t need a wireless subwoofer, you can save $150 by getting the Nommo V2, which has a wired subwoofer (and no wireless control pod, but you can buy that separately soon if you really want it). 

The wireless control pod is fine, but it’s not revolutionary (certainly not in its current, uncustomizable form). I’m skeptical of Razer’s ability to improve it with software — given Razer’s track record with software, but also because I’m just not sure I need a wireless control pod to control things. When Razer presented this to me, they gave an example of something it might be able to control: mouse DPI. What if you could change your mouse’s DPI with the tap of a button? Well, I can already change my mouse’s DPI with the tap of a button... on my mouse. Why would I move my hand from my wireless mouse to a separate control pod to change my mouse’s DPI? Synapse doesn’t work on my Razer mice half the time, so I don’t really see the benefit of introducing yet another wireless device. 

Also, while the Nommo V2 Pro is great for a desktop PC (or a relatively static laptop), it’s not what I’d recommend for most situations that are not that – especially since it lacks an analog audio connection or even multiple wired connections (just USB-C and Bluetooth). If you’re looking for a speaker system that can boost your home entertainment system or double as room-filling party speakers, these will work but there are better multitasking options out there — such as SteelSeries’ entry-level Arena 3, which is a dual-speaker setup with multiple inputs and less direction in its audio.

Razer’s Leviathan V2 soundbar is the latest peripheral offering from the gaming and lifestyle brand. It’s an updated version of their original Leviathan soundbar, which debuted in 2014. The new V2 has a new, sleek design and has added RGB lighting underneath. Unlike the original, this soundbar supports THX spatial audio, a virtual surround sound featured in Razer’s Kraken V3 headsets, one of which is featured on our best PC gaming headsets list. The Leviathan also comes with a 55-inch firing-down subwoofer that’s received a slimmer redesign as well.

The new design makes the Leviathan V2 a pound lighter and slightly slimmer than its predecessor. It has also removed a number of the original Leviathan’s physical buttons and ports, including a 3.5mm jack and optical audio input. And while the Razer Leviathan V2 sounds great without Razer’s clunky Synapse 3 software, you will need to use the software if you want to unlock the V2’s full potential.

Specifications - Razer Leviathan V2

Design

The Razer Leviathan V2 is slimmer than its predecessor and has a low-key matte black finish, plus an important addition underneath: RGB LEDs with 16 lighting zones that you can control via Razer’s Synapse software. Although the soundbar itself is slim, you may find it difficult to stash both it and the attached subwoofer on your battlestation.

The Leviathan V2 soundbar is 19.7 inches long, 3.6 inches tall, and 3.3 inches deep (500 x 91.3 x 84mm), and it managed to fit snugly under my 23-inch HP monitor once I removed the attached feet. The soundbar has two full-range drivers behind a dark grille, which has Razer’s signature snake-triskelion logo in the center and a THX logo on the right.

The dark grille hides the drivers much better than the original Leviathan’s lighter grille, and the corners are sharper instead of rounded. On top of the soundbar are volume buttons, a power button, a Bluetooth button to search for devices, and a source button for switching inputs. 

The original Leviathan had several buttons in the slight pinch on top of the grille for switching presets and controlling the virtual surround sound feature. On the V2, those functions are controlled exclusively via software — and this definitely feels like a downgrade. The grille still has a slight pinch on top, but now it’s smaller and just for show. The soundbar doesn’t even come with a remote — just a remote app for your smartphone.

The Leviathan V2’s 55-inch (140mm) down-firing subwoofer monolith sits on four small legs and links to the soundbar via a dedicated connector cord. This part of the Leviathan V2 was more challenging to fit on my current workstation; I ended up stashing it behind my 48-inch LG CX after I moved some junk around. Of course, I ended up putting some of that junk back on top of the subwoofer. Good news: Nothing’s fallen off yet. 

The two passive radiator drivers behind the full-range speakers were a bit more troublesome. Whenever music and movies get loud, the soundbar begins physically pushing itself out from under my monitor. I ended up having to lock my monitor on top of the soundbar to secure it, so much so that I now have to lift my monitor to access the Leviathan V2’s power button.

Sound on Razer Leviathan V2

Before installing the Razer Synapse app on my PC, I tried the Razer Leviathan V2 without any software, and I’m happy to report that it sounds pretty good. I make beats with FL Studio 10, but I’ve been without quality speakers for some time now — I’ve been relying on headphones and my TV’s built-in speakers. There was something so liberating about listening to and creating beats over this soundbar: The volume was satisfyingly loud and the thumps and reverberations from the subwoofer were almost akin to what I’ve experienced with a full stereo system.

The Razer Leviathan V2 delivered a detailed treble that ranged from dynamic highs to deep lows when the bass kicked in. Songs with high treble and rich bass such as “March of the Fire Ants” by Mastodon and “Top” by Lil Uzi Vert got so loud that they filled up my entire apartment. When my mother came over to visit, she said she could hear it while she was coming up the block. That’s pretty impressive, considering I live in a noisy neighborhood in the Bronx. Of course, I don’t think I’ll be winning any obnoxiously loud music contests with my neighbors — the soundbar and subwoofer are impressive, but they can’t compete with a home entertainment setup.

Other highlight tracks included “It’s No Good” from Depeche Mode, another song that filled the room and made me feel like the Maxell Blown Away guy from those old commercials. Bass and sub-bass quaked my entire living quarters when I played “Broken Promise” from the Toonami: Deep Space Bass soundtrack. And again — this was all without software.

The Leviathan V2 also sounds great with software. The EQ music preset in Razer’s Synapse software amplifies the soundbar’s fantastic range: “It’s No Good” sounded even more detailed. I also listened to “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer, and the synth in that song pulsated through my entire home.

To test the soundbar’s non-music audio quality, I watched The Batman in a browser window, and Robert Pattison’s opening monologue boomed through my desk and the floor of my apartment. But I wasn’t as impressed with the soundbar’s movie performance as I was with it playing music. When “Something in the Way” by Nirvana played in the film, I was so dismayed by the lack of volume and dynamic. When I put the exact same song on Spotify, the track sounds immensely better. Although this may be more of a browser thing, Razer bills the V2 as a soundbar for movies, as well as music and gaming, and a browser is where most will be watching their content. The V2 delivers booming bass for movies, which means the action scenes feel cinematic, but the speakers are at their best when it's pumping out music or consistent gameplay action.

To get an idea of how the soundbar would replicate action game gunshots, I played Max Payne 3 — and I thought I was inside a Michael Mann film. The booming sounds that came from the soundbar during the title screen let me know I was in for a treat. During the iconic action-packed airport sequence, which features an underlying score of “Tears” by HEALTH, I was blown away by how detailed and cinematic everything sounded — especially because I didn’t have any Synapse features turned on at the time.

The Game preset in Synapse brought out a heavier, more detailed range from the soundbar I did not pick up before I utilized the software. I played a little of the spatial audio-enabled Cyberpunk 2077 to get an idea of the Leviathan V2’s THX capabilities. The game’s settings have different audio presets depending on the device you’re using, but the game sounds better under the headphone preset than anything else, so that’s what I chose. 

The audio was so good that roaring down the highway in Johnny Silverhand’s 911 II (930) Turbo made me start appreciating the sound design behind the in-game vehicle. Gunshots sounded punchy, music from my car was loud and bassy, and, when I stood motionless in the middle of the street, I could hear the direction of the cars shift as I panned the camera. 

The Leviathan V2 also has built-in Bluetooth, even though it no longer has a 3.5mm jack or an optical audio input. I connected the V2 to my LG CX via Bluetooth and was able to use both the soundbar and TV’s built-in speakers simultaneously. Bluetooth is nice if you want to create some dynamic, but it’s better suited somewhere away from the TV. Unfortunately, my setup has the TV and soundbar right next to each other when it’d probably sound better from the opposite side of the room. 

Bluetooth is a bonus, but not a selling point. The maximum volume is nowhere near as loud over Bluetooth as it is through a wired connection, and I wasn’t able to use any of the audio features from my CX (such as Dolby Atmos) while connected via Bluetooth. The lack of ports is definitely noticeable here because a 3.5mm headphone jack would provide much better audio quality, and an optical input or HDMI Arc support would make the soundbar more versatile (not to mention, provide a way to troubleshoot potential software/hardware issues).

Software for Razer Leviathan V2

When it works, Razer Synapse 3 is a great piece of software. But when it doesn’t, it has the potential to crash your entire system without warning.

It’s such an issue that I’ve recently found myself looking up how to uninstall the software just to keep my PC from randomly shutting down. I’m not alone; there are threads on Reddit asking if Synapse 3 is stable enough to be used, and a friend of mine even confirmed that he was having the same issues and they caused him to turn his back on the brand entirely. Doing a clean uninstall, which is what the manufacturer recommends, was a hassle, and their video on how to do that wasn’t much help, so I was reluctant to reinstall it for this review. But you’ll need Synapse 3 to tap the Leviathan V2’s full potential, so it’s a necessary evil.

Once I finished the clean uninstall, Synapse 3 was re-installed, it shut my computer down and disabled my accompanying Razer BlackWidow V3 keyboard and Deathadder V2 mouse. I ended up having to tinker with the registry and device manager to get everything working again. So I actually ended up using a test laptop to test the V2’s software elements.

Presets include THX, Gaming, Music, Movies, and a Custom tag to mess around with the 10-band EQ. Gaming narrows sound, Music provides high treble and bass while Movies brings cinematic bass. There’s also a toggle to switch between stereo and THX spatial audio, which works best for gaming as opposed to listening to music. On the desktop, there’s a Center Focus feature that directs all sound to the front of the soundbar. When enabled during my casual playthrough of Cyberpunk, all the range was exchanged for overtly loud volume that sounded unpleasant. Lastly, the software allows you to change the RGB lighting installed in the V2.

When I used the presets in the app while connected via Bluetooth, I wasn’t impressed. The music preset muddied songs too much for my liking and the movie preset does well during the action, but not too great during dialogue scenes. 

Razer also has two mobile apps for controlling the soundbar: the Chroma RGB app and the Razer audio app. Through the Chroma RGB app, you can set four strobing effects that range from static to a wave of rainbows and tamper with the color spectrum for your desired shade just like on Synapse. Unfortunately, the Razer Audio app only allows access to the EQ feature and its presets when the soundbar source is on Bluetooth. However, the app functions like a remote, allowing folks to seamlessly switch between USB and Bluetooth connections, turn the volume down, and access those aforementioned features under Bluetooth.

When using the EQ over Bluetooth, the audio quality sounds a little worse. I hate how many functions are tied to the software, especially since the software has been giving me so much trouble as of late. It sucks that the only way I can cycle through presets or enable THX spatial audio is through Synapse. I also hate that I have to download two different apps to control music and RGB settings. The software inconveniences most definitely drag down this otherwise enjoyable sound device, especially since the original Leviathan had physical buttons you could use to control the EQ.

Bottom Line

The Razer Leviathan V2 is a great soundbar with volume, high treble, and a thumping subwoofer that leaves a lasting impression. Both the soundbar and the subwoofer have sleek, matte-black designs that will blend easily into any RGB-powered setup. 

The streamlined redesign comes at a cost, though — while the original Leviathan had more physical buttons, a 3.5mm jack, and an optical audio input, the V2 has none of these features. It does have Bluetooth, which is a nice addition, but Bluetooth sound quality can’t compete with a 3.5mm or optical connection. Also, while I love the V2’s new RGB lighting and software features, Razer Synapse 3 was so janky that I couldn’t really enjoy it. You may not face the exact same issues I did with Synapse 3, but it’s a finicky program that you’ll need to use if you want to fully experience the V2.

At $249, the Leviathan V2 is somewhat pricey, but you’re paying for quality sound. If you’re looking for a new soundbar with more flexibility, also consider the Creative Sound BlasterX Katana, which also features a subwoofer, 7.1 Virtual Audio, and programmable RGB lighting but has physical buttons and more connectivity options. However, if you plan to use your soundbar over USB and want great sound, the Leviathan V2 is a strong choice.

PC gaming and lifestyle brand Razer has updated its Leviathan soundbar. The Leviathan v2, designed to fit neatly beneath a desktop monitor, features multiple speaker drivers plus a subwoofer, THX Spatial Audio and Razer Chroma RGB. It is purposefully designed for PC gaming, and you are expected to connect it to your PC via USB, but it also has Bluetooth connectivity.

With Windows 10 or newer drivers from Razer, you can enjoy the soundbar's complete feature set. However, the Leviathan v2 isn't useless without a PC, as its Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity allows you to switch to outputting audio from smartphones, tablets and more.

According to Razer's PR, the new soundbar will deliver "crisp, clear trebles and deep, punchy bass." Moreover, Razer's patented THX Spatial Audio is said to provide a realistic true-to-life soundstage to users. Due to this technology, PC gamers will experience advanced 7.1 surround sound, with the audio providing "pinpoint accuracy" – something which could be an asset in 3D gaming.

Using Razer's Windows software or mobile apps, you can also tune the audio and RGB lighting settings. The Leviathan v2 has 16 lighting zones for a wide array of lighting customization and effects.

We haven't mentioned much in the way of tech specs yet, and to address that, you can find a table below providing key specs of the Leviathan v2 compared to its still available but cheaper predecessor.

In the table above, readers will note a slightly different speaker/sub configuration, but whether this improves audio quality will be subjective. If possible, potential buyers are encouraged to listen to speaker systems in person before buying.

Another notable change between Leviathan versions is in the connectivity on offer. While the 3.5mm and optical connections of old would have been welcome on the new version, Razer can provide more audio tinkering and sound-shaping via its software and the USB connection, and users will benefit from the THX spatial audio and 10-band EQ, for example.

Last but not least, Razer adds quite a large amount of RGB lighting to its new soundbar. Whether you want to pay extra for flashy RGB lighting in the space between your keyboard and your monitor is a matter of personal preference and taste.

While we don't maintain PC speaker buying guides at this time, the closest we have for PC users on the quest for better audio is our guide for the Best PC Gaming Headsets 2022, covering budget, wired and wireless products.

Did you ever wish for a combined typewriter style keyboard, laptop/tablet stand and Bluetooth speaker? If so, the KnewKey DJ88 might have been designed just for you. This product is currently featured on Gloture Japan, a crowdfunding support and digital marketing business that helps lesser known products get noticed.

Sometimes a device is greater than the sum of its parts, as it works so well. We hope this is the case here, as the asking price of ¥57,470 + tax ticket price (approx $460) is expensive. So, we better have a good look at the KnewKey DJ88's individual components and the device as a whole to give it a fair trial.

As a keyboard first and foremost, it would seem best practice to look at this feature before any others. Immediately, you can see that the KnewKey DJ88 goes with the vintage typewriter aesthetic. It has rounded keys (83 of them) and is more compact than most TKL keyboards as it squashes the inverted 'T' arrow cluster and quick page navigation keys to the right, with no gaps. The arrow keys can double up for audio volume and LED lighting brightness adjustment keys in combination with the function key. At the top edge of the device platform there are knobs for quick adjustments of volume and brightness, as well as audio track selection.  

We also notice that the keyboard layout includes Apple-centric CMD keys, but usually these work perfectly as Windows keys in most versions of Windows. The power key is to the top right of the keyboard.

Under the rounded keycaps are 'blue' feel mechanical keyswitches. These are perhaps the best choice of an approximation of a typewriter, providing both an audible and tactile click to confirm a key actuation.

The KnewKey DJ88 features what is claimed to be "high spec" wide-range 360 degree surround stereo sound by Harman JBL. Users should benefit from the 45mm Harman drivers combined with a 4D Bass subwoofer. Built into an aluminum die-cast chassis, one might expect a punchy and resonant response from the audio subsystem "that goes beyond laptop speakers."

It looks highly convenient to pull up the handle and angle a smartphone or tablet into the top slot to start editing with the KnewKey DJ88. However, there doesn't appear to be a facility for changing the angle of the mobile device. If you want to hit your coffee shop with the KnewKey DJ88 and your laptop, things look like they will be somewhat more complicated. It looks like a laptop user will have to place their trust in an unattached stand that sites behind the speaker to enjoy this input device and speaker with their laptop. This might cause an accident if you feel the need to reposition the keyboard on the table without due care and attention.

The ¥57,470 + tax ticket price (approx $460) is pretty high for a keyboard, even a stylish mechanical model that folds in an adaptable stand, and integrates a quality 360 degree audio Bluetooth 5.0 speaker system. If this device is something you like the look of and you find yourself being tempted please wait for at least an independent third party review, and a retailer with a good returns policy, before spending your money.

Should the above be a step too far for your sensibilities or your pocket, please have a look through our recently updated guides to the best wireless keyboards of 2022, and the best gaming keyboards of 2022 - mechanical, TKL and more.

Phanteks’ most award-winning product is without-a-doubt its Evolv ATX chassis. From the sandblasted aluminum panels, to the impressive internal layout, its a model that has always been the premium kingpin in the company’s collection of cases, so why not make them into cute little desktop speakers too?! At CES 2020 Phanteks is launching its first generation of desktop speakers the Evolv Sound Mini based loosely on the design of the Evolv X, but with speakers, and RGB. 

Phanteks Evolv Sound Mini 2.0 Speaker System 

This tiny 2.0 speaker system comes in an ABS plastic and fabric finish and will be available for either a worryingly, or impressively, low price of £26.90/$29.99 this January. 

For that outlay you get two Evolv-like satellite speakers, a couple of cables and that’s about it. The main unit, is powered by a USB C cable to a plug, and the two satellites are connected together via a removable Micro-USB cable to allow for the RGB lighting to sync seamlessly. For input all you get is a 3.5mm audio jack. In a weird way this actually makes them quite portable, as you won’t have to worry about damaging power leads or anything along those lines, and if you do you can just swap them out for an aftermarket alternative.

The Evolv Sound Mini also has digital-RGB LED lighting integrated into the front of both of the units in a similar style to the Evolv X chassis. You can control this via buttons on the side of the main satellite. Because, you know RGB. 

We only hope Phanteks hasn’t sacrificed good sound quality for a little extra lighting, especially on such a tight budget. Sadly there’s no word on frequency response or distortion ratios, or whether we’ll get to see a teeny tiny subwoofer shaped like the Evolv Shift.

 Phanteks Eclipse P300A Budget Chassis 

Next up on the list of launches is the Phanteks Eclipse P300A. Similar in scope to the Phanteks Eclipse P400A that the company launched last year, the 300A brings that high airflow mesh front panel down to the Eclipse P300’s budget busting level, giving PC enthusiasts on a tight purse string a solid and dependable case with good airflow at a very impressive price. There’s not a lot new here aside from that front mesh panel, but the P300 is already an impressive piece of kit so we don't mind too much. The P300A will be available at the end of this month, for $60/£49.

Phanteks Glacier D120 Distribution Plate 

Last up we have Phanteks’ latest Glacier D120 distribution plate. Designed to make liquid-cooling easier, these distribution plates are fantastic additions to any loop. Following on from the D140 released last year (and which we used in our 4K SLI Gaming Build), the D120 looks to improve on the compatibility by fitting into a single 120mm rear fan slot, and only covering the top fan mount location as well, unlike the D140 which also covers the PCIe mounting locations too. This will help with case compatibility significantly.

It's also ideal for those looking to liquid-cool ITX cases as it gives you additional options as to how to run your loop between your CPU, your GPU and your top radiator. And let’s face it, it looks pretty cool too. Sporting an acrylic top, mirror-finished backplate and of course digital RGB lighting as well, it’s not without its feature set, and will be available at the end of this month for just £65/$75.

S/PDIF stands for Sony/Philips Digital Interface. In the photo above, the S/PDIF port is on the right side.

S/PDIF is an optical audio cable format that allows the transfer of digital audio signals from device to device without needing to convert to an analog signal first. This is beneficial since such a conversion can hurt audio quality.

S/PDIF ports are included on some motherboards, particularly a lot of high-end motherboards, although they are rarely used. You can also find them on certain laptops and desktop gaming PCs, sometimes in the same jack as the headphone jack.

This article is part of the Tom's Hardware Glossary.

Further reading:

• Dissecting the Modern Motherboard: Connectors, Ports & Chipsets Explained
• How to Choose a Motherboard

If you own a Beats Pill XL, you might need to give it back. Apple announced today that it is recalling the large portable speaker, which has been in the market since January 2014.

The recall is about the batteries used for the Beat Pill XL. The company stated that in a few rare cases, the batteries overheat and could lead to a fire hazard. It's not exactly clear as to the number of occasions when this kind of incident occurred, but Apple isn't taking any risks and is nipping it in the bud as early as possible.

To start the recall process, you will need to visit Apple's special page. After filling out the web form, the company will send you a prepaid postage box for the speaker. When it's sent back, Apple will give you $325 ($25 more than the original price for the speaker), and you can choose between getting it in Apple store credit or an electronic payment.

There are also two other Beats Pill products on sale at Apple's website, the Beats Pill 2.0 and the Beats Pill 2.0 Limited Edition, but they seem to be safe from the recall. However, both products appear to also have the same rechargeable lithium-ion battery as the Beat Pill XL. Hopefully, the problem doesn't spread to the other speakers.

Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Sound bars provide high-quality surround sound without the need for additional speakers. Some sound bars even include a subwoofer for those who want a little more from their sound system, especially when it comes to big explosions in movies or watching sports. In October, Razer joined the scene with the Leviathan. This is Razer's second attempt at speakers, the first being the Ferox, which came out in 2011. Compared to the Ferox, the Leviathan is a huge upgrade both in design and audio quality.

The Leviathan sound bar weighs 4.4 pounds and features two 2.5-inch drivers, along with two 0.74-inch tweeters. The subwoofer weighs 5.1 pounds and has a 5.25-inch driver, and it includes a wire that connects to the rear of the sound bar for the added bass.

Additional inputs include an optical cable, a 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm cable, and a power adapter, all of which connect to the rear of the sound bar. The Leviathan can also connect wirelessly through Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC, and it "remembers" up to four devices. It also comes with two pairs of detachable feet, which helps set up the correct angle of the sound bar, wherever you put it. (Razer recommends a 15-degree angle for general use, zero degrees when using it to watch TV or playing console games, and 18 degrees for use on a desktop PC.) The back of the sound bar also includes two mounting slots so you can hang it on the wall if you prefer that to placing it on a desk or table.

The control panel is located at the top of the sound bar and features seven buttons. The first button on the left changes the input (auxiliary, optical, and Bluetooth), while the next button enables Bluetooth paring for new devices. The third button toggles the Dolby surround sound feature.

Pressing the middle button mutes or unmutes the entire sound bar. The fourth button alternates between three equalizer presets: game, music and movie. The final two buttons are used to increase or decrease volume. To control the amount of bass from the subwoofer, the user must press the Dolby button in combination with the volume controls on the sound bar.

Below the controls are two small displays that show which input and audio presets are activated. Both the displays and controls are lit by green LED lights, which can be turned off by pressing the Dolby button and the preset buttons.

In terms of performance, the Leviathan delivers on every level. Although you can't turn off the presets, each one provides superb audio quality, whether you're watching sports, listening to your favorite song, or slaying enemies in a video game.

The system loses the bass as the volume goes lower, but the rest of the audio still comes in clearly. Conversely, the bass can be powerful at high volume levels, but adjusting the subwoofer controls can easily make it bearable when it's loud. Additionally, there was no distortion at higher volumes.

For music, I tested Daft Punk's "Giorgio By Moroder." The treble was very clear in that I could easily hear the different synthesizers while the subwoofer provided the right amount of bass without overpowering the main beat. Both parts combine to create a balanced midrange so you can clearly hear each musical layer.

While "Giorgio By Moroder" features a heavy bass and synthesizers, I also tried out the Leviathan on Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work," a song focused on vocals and guitars. Once again the bass was able to deliver on the background drums, but it didn't overpower the vocals and guitars. The treble brought out the vocals while still leaving the guitars a little more prominent throughout the song. The result is three great layers on the midrange that blend well and don't fight over each other for audio supremacy.

Both tests were done through the Leviathan's Bluetooth connection, but the audio quality was just was as good as when I connected it to the sound bar via the 3.5 mm cable.

For games, I used the Leviathan's optical cable, and the Dolby 5.1 surround sound made games more immersive. I spent a few days playing Forza Horizon 2 with the Leviathan. With surround sound off, the roar of the engines and the in-game soundtrack blended, giving a strange mix because I would only hear bits and pieces of a song while the car switched gears. Crashes didn't feel intense because it lacked the bass.

With surround sound on, it's a whole different story. The increasing revs of the Ferrari LaFerrari engine as I went faster and faster felt real. Further, each lyric and note came in clearly, even over the loud engine.

Each crash into a tree, light pole or car was heartbreaking as I could hear the boom of the initial hit and then the metal folding in on the chassis. When I drove off-road, the subwoofer provided the right amount of bass to simulate the sound of the suspension and tires going through each rock and crack, and the sound bar gave out a little trickling noise as I drove over the small rocks.

Finally, I also put the Leviathan through its paces on a television setting, which was also connected via the optical cable. Its biggest test was during the Super Bowl with the surround sound feature turned on. The commentators came in clearly, and the sound of the crowd was as deafening as if I actually bought tickets to the game. It was also very easy to hear both quarterbacks starting the play, as well as both offensive and defensive lines clashing with their pads and helmets.

A rather large omission from the entire setup, however, is a remote control. When I connected my phone via Bluetooth, I was able to control the volume using my phone, but on any of the wired connections, you have to manually press the buttons on the sound bar.

It would also be nice to have some sort of digital display or audio notification if you have reached the minimum or maximum volumes, and the same can be said for the subwoofer levels, as I had some difficulty figuring out the entire range of volume and bass output.

If the Leviathan is perched on your desktop and connected to your PC, the lack of a remote isn't a problem because the sound bar is close enough that you can easily reach the controls. However, in living room setups, you might have to get up from the couch to make any changes. It wouldn't be too difficult to add a remote or maybe even an app for a smartphone to remotely change any settings on the sound bar.

At $199.99, the Leviathan has enough features and performance to justify the price tag. Its many connections make it a versatile sound bar for any occasion, and the subwoofer provides enough bass without overpowering the treble. With the exception of the logo on both the sound bar and subwoofer, the black exterior and tiny LED lights give it a low-profile look, allowing it to blend into an entertainment system setup.

Razer may be known for its gaming peripherals and systems, but the Leviathan is a first step in capturing a whole new audience while still catering to gaming enthusiasts.

UPDATE (2/10, 7:30 PT): The Leviathan is actually Razer's third speaker system. Its other predecessor besides the Ferox is the Mako, which was discontinued.

Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

There's no question that Google's Chromecast has been a major success for the company thanks to its low price of $35 and the extreme ease of use for streaming video directly to the TV. However, many have been wanting to stream only music, using the same "Cast" capabilities.

Right now you can do that with the Chromecast, because it already supports music apps such as Google Pay Music, YouTube, Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, NPROne, Rdio and the list will likely grow further as the popularity of the Chromecast increases. The only problem is that many want to listen to their music on something better than TV speakers.

MediaTek and Google aim to fix this through a new partnership. MediaTek created a new audio-focused SoC that works with Google Cast APIs and targets home audio devices that want to be "Cast Ready."

"In this Internet age, consumers are demanding a connected audio experience. The ability to connect devices and listen to music in a seamless manner is a basic need now," said Mohit Bhushan, Vice President, General Manager and MediaTek's Head of US Business Development. "MediaTek is a proud supporter of Google Cast for audio, and we continue to enable innovative new product categories while keeping our Everyday Genius brand promise."

The SoC comes with a Cortex A7 CPU core and supports 192 KHz audio formats such as FLAC, PCM, DSD and APE. It also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS Digital Surround decode capability.

The MT8507 is the first audio chip of its kind to support Google Cast, and it has already entered mass production. Both Google and Mediatek have been working with home audio system makers to bring "Google Cast Ready" speakers and soundbars to market by March 2015.

"Based on the success of Chromecast, we're excited to expand the Google Cast ecosystem by working with a leading semiconductor company such as MediaTek to power audio devices," said Suveer Kothari, Google Cast Director of Business Development.

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Dolby Atmos is a relatively new surround sound technology which up until now was an experience only obtainable in cinemas. That is all changing though, as Dolby has collaborated with a number of vendors to bring the Dolby Atmos experience into consumer hardware, and thus the household living room or in-home cinema. Among these vendors we find Onkyo and Pioneer, as well as Denon.

Dolby Atmos works quite differently from older techniques, where in the past each sound channel was bound to a speaker channel. Instead, Dolby Atmos works with coordinates in 3D space. The Dolby Atmos codec allows for an unlimited number of channels to be predefined, each with its own unique location in 3D space. Of course, there are hardware limitations, and as such, audio streams won't have more than 128 channels. Despite having fewer channels, we imagine that with the help of gradients between channels the limitation will be imperceptible.

Let's talk about the benefit of having sound channels tied to a location in space rather than tied to a speaker channel. It will allow the sound track to work optimally on any speaker installation. The video below, made by Dolby and Onkyo, probably does a better job of explaining, but we've explained it anyway in case YouTube doesn't work for you. In short, your receiver will use the audio information provided along with your speaker setup to bring you the optimal experience. It does this through knowing exactly where each speaker is and how it behaves. As a result of this, you can have any speaker installation imaginable, and you'll always get the best experience possible given the confines of your hardware. Compare this with sound channels tied to speaker channels. You can quickly see the benefits, as some people don't necessarily have exactly 5.1 or 7.1 setups, but instead have greater than or fewer than speaker channels.

However, we missed one of the key points in Dolby Atmos: speakers from above. In order to make the sounds of helicopters, rain, dropping skyscrapers, or anything you can imagine to be on top of you, you need speakers from above. Consumers will both be able to install speakers into their ceiling, as well as use Dolby Atmos enabled speakers if their ceilings have sound-reflecting properties. Dolby Atmos enabled speakers are speakers angled upwards in order to project the sound at the ceiling, which in turn will bounce off the ceiling towards the listener. While it won't be as effective as simply mounting speakers on your ceiling, it's certainly a good step forward. Dolby Atmos enabled speakers will be available in all shapes and sizes. The industry has also considered the needs of those who already own very nice speakers that don't need replacement is building add-on units.

All in all, we're very excited to see that the Dolby Atmos technology will be making it to the living room. Despite that, like we're seeing with 4K, we do expect that it will be a slow process. The hardware support will be coming, but we'll still need the content.

Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Turning The PC Into A True Hi-Fi Audio Platform

Hi-fi stands for high-fidelity. Specifically, the high fidelity of a reproduced audio signal compared to its original source. Recording and reproducing sound introduces artifacts, and your listening environment has an effect as well. So, playing back recorded audio never sounds exactly the same as the original. You can get pretty close, though.

Hi-fi often is often associated with exotic (and expensive) equipment. Tube amplifiers. Silver cables. Gold-plated interconnects.

Yet, unless you own a dozen shelves of 180-gram vinyl records, most of your hi-fi audio is probably stored in an affordable digital format, either on optical media (like CDs, DVDs, SACDs, and LaserDiscs) or magnetic storage, in the form of files on your hard drive.

In order to play back that content, you need a few different components. You need something to access the information (a CD reader, perhaps). You need to convert the digital signal back into an analog one using something called a Digital to Analog Converter, or DAC. You need an amplifier. And finally, you need something to create sound pressure waves in the air around you at the right frequencies set by the signal (speakers or headphones).

As long as the content arrives to the DAC in a bit-perfect state, the source really doesn't matter. A quality CD-player or a PC playing a bit-perfect stream over USB should sound the same.

The challenge for us as PC enthusiasts is that uncompressed audio takes up a lot of disk space. A CD-quality stereo stream uses two (channels) x 16 (bits per sample) x 44,100 (samples per second) = 1411.2 Kb/s A 60-minute CD, uncompressed, ties up 635 MB of storage. That was a ton back in the days of gigabyte drives, 1 Mb/s Internet connections, and slow Wi-Fi. The solution was lossy compression in the form of MP3 (first) and AAC (later), which addressed the capacity issue with a quality compromise deemed acceptable by most consumers. But audiophiles balked at the idea.

Of course, today we enjoy multi-terabyte drives, very fast broadband connections, and almost gigabit-class wireless data rates, and advanced lossless compression schemes like FLAC and ALAC, the latter of which can halve the size of an audio file with no quality loss whatsoever. And so, the story changes.

Suddenly, a $60 1 TB hard drive can store 3000 CDs at their native quality. That's a lot of shelf space saved. Buying and downloading a new disc takes minutes, at most. Finding an album or track in your collection happens quickly. Online stores are never out of stock. And if you back up your library, it will never get lost or degrade. What's not to like?

One part of the pipeline that remains constant, and where PCs traditionally lag, is the translation from digital source to actual sound. Thankfully, hi-fi devices natively supporting PCs are becoming increasingly common. And if the quality of more traditional hi-fi equipment can be matched, then a case can be made (given overwhelming convenience) for our PCs becoming the ultimate audio source.

But what are the options for hi-fi audio on a PC today, and at what price points? In today's story, we're looking at the differences in sound quality, features, and value of a few pieces of hardware able to turn your system in the ultimate hi-fi machine. In the process, we'll introduce you to blind listening tests done right (at least in our view), and why that's so important.

Four different devices are on the bench, ranging from $2000 all the way down to $2: the Benchmark Media Systems DAC2 HGC, JDS Labs' O2+ODAC, Asus' Xonar Essence STX, and Realtek's ALC889 multi-channel codec. That's a 1000x factor in cost.

Four Devices Tested: From $2000 Down To $2

All of our tests were run on a PC with Windows 7 x64. For the most part, the machine's specs aren't really relevant, except for the fact that the motherboard hosting our Realtek ALC889 codec is Asus' Rampage III Formula.

The following devices are included, covering price points from $2000 down to $2.

Notes:

1. The STX has swappable socketed op-amps. We replaced the native 2 x JRC2114D (which are also very good) with 2 x TI LME49860/LME4562, the same ones used in the DAC2.
2. Does not support 88.2 kHz
3. Does not support 88.2/176.4 kHz
4. Did not support 88.2 or 176.4 kHz in our test at 16- or 24-bit depth
5. The PCM1792A DAC does support DSD, but unfortunately, the C-Media CMI8788 does not, hence the lack of this capability on the card

Despite the higher product series number, the ESS Sabre ES9023 DAC is, on paper, inferior to the ES9018. That doesn't imply an audible difference, though.

Benchmark DAC2 HGC

Few devices are consistently praised in the audiophile community. The Benchmark DAC1 is one of the chosen few. You'll have a hard time finding someone with critical feedback about that device. And, although personal preferences and arguments over value are rife, it really is the reference for a high-end DAC and headphone amplifier combination.

In October of 2012, Benchmark Media released its DAC2 HGC to weighty expectations. At $2000, it's certainly not affordable (a DAC1 HDR, comparable in features, still goes for $1600). But to Benchmark's credit, aside from the headphone amplifier, which is the same HPA2 found on the DAC1, the DAC2 is an entirely new device. It leverages what is one of the world's highest-end DACs, the ESS ES9018, adding to it, among other things, custom jitter-reduction logic. It lives up to its Hybrid Gain Control name by implementing separate volume controls: digital for digital inputs; analog for analog inputs.

The Benchmark DAC2 HGC is the Cadillac of this round-up. It includes many features I'd imagine are generally useful to PC enthusiasts:

• Asynchronous USB input: up to 172.4/192 kHz at 24-bit PCM, plus native DSD64 support
• Four S/PDIF digital inputs (two coax, two optical)
• Two RCA stereo single-ended analog inputs
• Two RCA stereo single-ended analog outputs
• One XLR stereo balanced analog output
• Two front-panel stereo TRS (1/4") headphone jacks
• Input selection, word-length, and word-clock display on front panel (finally!)
• A remote control commanding a motor-driven actuator attached to the master volume control
• Polarity and dim/mute buttons, and a 12 V trigger (less commonly used)

Both front-panel headphone jacks can be active concurrently, without any signal degradation. The left headphone output jack mutes the back-panel analog output, while the right headphone output jack does not. This is a simple (but incredibly useful) feature that lets you mute (or not) your speakers by picking the appropriate jack for your headphones.

The DAC2 HGC operates as a USB Audio Class 1 device by default, which means that it doesn't require driver support for Windows and Mac compatibility. It can be manually switched to operate as a Class 2 device, necessitating a driver in Windows, which is included. The main reason to switch to UAC 2 is to play PCM files above 24-bit/96-kHz, DSD files, or if you need an ASIO driver for any reason. If none of those apply, there's no reason to change modes.

More affordable versions of the DAC2 HGC do exist. There's a DAC2 D without analog inputs and a DAC2 L with analog inputs, but without the headphone amplifiers. Both models are $200 cheaper at $1800. PC enthusiasts may look favorably at the DAC2 D, since it's unlikely that you'd need the analog inputs and that device supports concurrently multiple sets of both speakers and headphones, whereas the DAC2 L does not support headphones.

In case you're wondering, the DAC2 reflects exceptional build quality. That's something you'd no doubt expect at this price point, but it's still an important point to confirm. There's also a bundled remote that, while not terribly useful in a PC environment, is still a nice touch.

JDS Labs O2+ODAC Combo

The O2+ODAC that JDS Labs (among others) manufactures, based on an open source design, is the most innovative concept in our round-up.

In 2011, a mysterious blogger who used the handle "NorthWest Audio/Video Guy" (NwAvGuy) began ranting about the snake oil he believed was being sold to the audiophile community. He set out on a personal crusade to design and build a low-cost headphone amplifier that, through blind tests, could not be distinguished from the Benchmark DAC1.

That design eventually became what's known as the "O2" (from Objective2) headphone amplifier. NwAvGuy went on to create an implementation of ESS' ES9023 chip to function as a DAC feeding the O2, using similarly objective criteria. That latter device came to be known as the "ODAC" (from ObjectiveDAC). Both devices can easily be connected and integrated into a single enclosure.

The O2+ODAC is an uncommon design by most standards. The headphone amplifier, in particular, was originally designed with battery-powered operation in mind (for portability). While the JDS Labs implementation does away with the batteries, it retains many of the portability-related design choices. It employs an external AC transformer, not the internal one you'd find on most comparable DAC/amps. There are no RCA stereo outputs at all. And the O2 does not use an amplifier chip (like the TPA6120A2), but rather a custom design on the output stage.

Feature-wise, the O2+ODAC is really barebones. It has a 3.5 mm line-in connection up front, a mini-USB port in the back, and a 3.5 mm headphone-out jack. That's it as far as I/O goes. Controls are limited to a gain switch and an analog (high-quality) volume control.

Based on NwAvGuy's open-source license (which, paraphrasing, states: anyone and everyone can manufacture one of these without paying me a dime, as long as they don't change the design), a variety of manufacturers are now selling O2+ODAC devices.

In 2012, after being banned from the headfi.org forum for, according to his version of the story, criticizing one of that forum's sponsor's products, NwAvGuy started building a desktop-oriented version of the O2+ODAC, called the Objective Desktop Amplifier. The twist is that NwAvGuy mysteriously disappeared without a trace in mid-2012 before completing the ODA's design. Nobody seems to know why he stopped blogging or what happened to him. So we're left with the O2+ODAC to test, and a lingering dream of what the ODA could have been.

The manifestation we're testing today is provided by JDS Labs. It is sold fully assembled for roughly $290, including the required AC transformer. If you're nimble enough with a soldering iron, you can pick up the O2 do-it-yourself kit for $69, add the ODAC board for $99, and buy the transformer for $11. That'd get you going for about $180, not including the enclosure.

Aside from the performance commentary you'll find through the following pages, I encountered one specific problem with the O2+ODAC. After receiving and unpacking it, I clicked into high-gain mode, plugged in my Sennheiser HD 800s (300 Ω impedance), turned up the volume, and noticed that the sound was terrible, affected by massive distortion. It turns out that the supplied transformer isn't powerful enough to drive high-impedance phones using the high gain setting. Unfortunately, JDS Labs doesn't stock higher-power transformers, so a replacement wasn't an option. The only solution was to use the low-gain setting at much higher volume. That did successfully solve the distortion issue. But JDS Labs should consider, in my opinion, stocking AC transformers that better-support the high gain setting. Going one step further, transformers should really be included with the assembled product.

So, did NwAvGuy end up winning his crusade? Can the O2+ODAC be distinguished from the 7x-more expensive and 5x-larger Benchmark DAC2? Read on...

Update: We received the following response from JDS Labs:
"AC adapters for O2 are packaged separately because JDS Labs ships worldwide. There's little incentive to bundle AC adapters since each customer requires a unique plug. Thus, the items are presented separately for customer's selection. Our shopping cart reminds customers to choose an appropriate model. As of late December, we now stock a higher-power model for U.S. customers who need additional current; this represents less than 2% of customers, though. All European, Australian, and British AC adapters stocked by JDS Labs are high-power models."

Asus Xonar Essence STX

In May of 2009, Asus launched its Xonar Essence ST. The STX, which is almost identical except for its PCI Express interface (and a few other minor differences, notably the lack of daughterboard support for eight-channel audio), followed shortly thereafter.

The Xonar Essence ST(X) was one of the first cards designed specifically to support high-end headphones and bridge the gap between PCs and the high-end audiophile world. Most notably, it included 1/4" TRS connectors, which are rare on add-in cards. The Xonar ST(X) totally came out of left field; nobody imagined a motherboard manufacturer taking that route.

The STX is still sold today at close to its full launch price. How many other sound cards from 2009 can boast such a claim? Asus' design was presumably so effective that when the company introduced its Xonar Essence STU in October of 2013 (almost five years later), it pretty much mirrored the implementation, adding an external enclosure, two volume controls, and some other minor stuff (including 49720 op amps, which aren't popular on the STX, but might have been implemented differently). The Essence One uses somewhat higher-quality components and includes a few more features. But the STX must have been something special, since the Essence One is no longer for sale and the Essence STU doesn't appear to have much momentum.

So, what makes the Xonar Essence STX so successful?

Red: LME48960 op amps (used and spare), Green: stock JRC2114D + LM 4562 (unused), Blue: LME49720 (unused), Pink: TI PCM1792A DAC, Orange: PLX PCIe-to-PCI bridge, Purple: AV100/C-Media AV8788 DSP, Yellow: TI TPA6120A2 headphone amp, Gray: ADC section

One of its perceived strengths is the flexibility to manually swap out the operational amplifiers. Although many would argue that the real-world benefit of doing this is close to non-existent (in fact, you're more likely to make the card operate at a lower fidelity if you swap out the stock JRC2114D op amps which the card was designed for), tinkerers love the option. Tweaking a sound card, since overclocking it doesn't make much sense, resonated with the enthusiast community.

More important is the Essence STX's reportedly well-reviewed sound quality paired to high-end headphones. Asus' implementation of the once-top-of-the-line Texas Instruments PC1792A DAC and TPA6120A2 amplifier was well-received.

And then there's pricing. The Essence One ($600-$1000) and Essence STU ($400), while likely sounding similar, lacked the STX's value proposition at $190.

Because it used PCI Express, Asus' Xonar Essence STX didn't need a dedicated (and expensive) power supply. Except for a three-way gain setting, it also didn't need volume controls. It didn't need an external enclosure or the cables to connect it. The company did choose to add analog inputs and an ADC, though I doubt many of the enthusiasts who bought an STX valued that feature.

If Asus decided to create cheaper and higher-quality sound cards, rather than pricey external DACs, I think it'd win over more converts. A second version, made more affordable by cutting the ADC stages and equipped with a newer-generation DAC, would be great. It's also conceivable that enthusiasts would pay for an optional front-panel display with a quality 32-bit volume control and LCD.

Realtek ALC889

In addition to its work in the networking space, Realtek has a significant share of the integrated audio market, too. The company sells a variety of codecs with different feature sets. The Rampage III Formula motherboard I'm using comes equipped with an ALC889, so that's the multi-channel codec I'm testing alongside the discrete solutions.

Except for the very similar ALC898 and technically better ALC1150, neither of which is listed in the table below, Realtek's ALC889 is pretty much top-of-the-line. Beyond sporting the most advanced specifications, it's also Realtek's only codec with support for DSD (though we couldn't find a suitable ASIO driver to get it working with foobar2000).

You can purchase the ALC889 in volume as an OEM for an indicative price of ~$2 per chip (or less, depending on the volume ordered), which means that the cost it adds to your motherboard is probably less than $10. Talk about an indicator of how commoditized the integrated audio market is.

Before you lean on integrated audio, be sure to do a little research into the codec your motherboard includes. Specifically, higher-sounding part numbers aren't always indicative of a better component. For example, the popular ALC892's specifications are inferior to the ALC889.

According to its datasheet, the ALC889 sports headphone amplifiers integrated at six output ports. They drive the Sennheiser HD 800s at 93.6 dB(A), and as such have more than enough power for anything at or below 300 Ω.

As you'll see, the ALC889 appears to be the least hi-fi of the devices we're testing, with a 1.4 dB(A) difference at 100 Hz. It is quite easily distinguishable in a pure-tone comparison at that frequency, although it is much harder to detect in regular music-listening scenarios (as at 1 kHz and 10 kHz the volume difference is much smaller).

We also want to explore this codec's output impedance. At 77 Ω for the recommended implementation, it is by far the highest (almost by an order of magnitude over the second-highest) in our round-up. Is that a factor in the real world?

Test Setup: Sennheiser HD 800 And AKG K 550 Headphones

We're testing using two set of headphones. Because this is a story about high fidelity, they're expensive. If you don't listen to quality music recordings, or don't care about the upper echelon of audio equipment, they're almost certainly overkill. You'd get better value out of more affordable models.

Beyond their price tags, these two headphones are different in many ways.

Sennheiser's HD 800 is the company's flagship headphone. At $1500, it's prohibitively expensive. Quality-wise, however, it's considered one of the best in the world (along with the Audeze LCD-3 at $2000, Grado's PS1000 at $1700, the Fostex TH-900 at $1500, Ultrasone Edition 12 for $1700, HiFiMan's $1300 HE-6, and the $1400 Beyerdynamic T1 Tesla). The $4450 STAX SR-009 also deserves a mention as the best-known commercially available electrostatic headphone. We're sure that the circle of headphone royalty could be argued to include others, but it's safe to say that this list generally almost always qualify for the distinction.

The HD 800 is an open back and circumaural design. In plain English, that means these headphones don't block outside sounds and envelop your ears, resting on the sides of your head. Not surprisingly, then, they're also big, though surprisingly light for their size. Sennheiser rates the HD 800s for 300 Ω impedance, placing them in the high-impedance category of electrically-inefficient headphones that amplifiers have a hard time driving. This can also be a boon too, making them less sensitive to the output impedance of the amplifier itself. Even at 300 Ω, the HD 800's impedance is still half of some Beyerdynamic headphones, which can reach 600 Ω and are some of the hardest headphones to drive.

Sennheiser's top-end headphones connect through a Y-cable with a fixed 1/4" TRS plug. The cable is removable, so if you happen to break it, replacements are available. You can also swap out the stock cable with a more expensive one, though we haven't seen the benefits proven in a reliable blind test.

Besides their audio quality, the one characteristic I personally appreciate about the HD 800s is that their circumaural design and light weight mean they're extremely comfortable over long listening sessions.

We also used the AKG K 550 headphones for a few tests. They're marketed as reference. At $200 (and sounding very nice), they certainly deserve a place in the ranks of headphone nobility. The K 550s employ a circumaural design too, though they're smaller than the HD 800s and don't clear my ears as well. With less padding on the head band, the AKGs are far less comfortable overall, at least for me. AKG employs a single non-detachable cable instead of a Y-cable, which is intended to help with clutter. 

These are traditional 32 Ω headphones. They come equipped with a 3.5 mm connector and 1/4" screw-on adapter. So, the K 550 can connect to your portable music player or phone, while the HD 800 is simply too difficult for a mobile device to drive. Another major difference is that the K 550s are based on a closed-back design, yielding certain privacy advantages. You can't really get away with using open-back headphones, say, at the office. Closed-back headphones also dampen outside noise; that can be a boon in relatively noisy environments.

The merits of open- and closed-based designs when it comes to sound quality are much more open to debate. Most top-of-the-line headphones are at least semi-open. Only the Fostex TH-900 is closed-back, and arguably not as popular as some of the other options on our list. Personally, I own affordable closed-back (Sony MDR7506, $85) and open-back (Grado SR80, $100) headphones, in addition to the high-end HD 800. Regardless of price point, when I have the choice, I use open-back headphones; I simply prefer their sound.

Test Setup: Volume Matching And Testing The Listener

The Listening Environment

All of our tests were conducted in a room with a background noise level of 36.5 dB(A) ±0.2. Of course, we had a PC in the room, and the noise we measured was primarily a result of the system's cooling fans. When my machine dropped to standby, the background noise fell to 32.2 dB(A) ±0.2. In other words, we listened in a very quiet room.

With all of the talk about signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios, total harmonic distortion + noise (THD+N) and dynamic range (DR), it's easy to forget that regular listening environments are inevitably subject to quite a bit of background noise. Beyond a certain threshold, increasingly high SNRs and the "N" component in THD+N become audibly irrelevant when the noise floor of your environment is meaningfully higher than the hardware being tested. That's particularly true for open-back headphones, which, unlike closed-back designs, provide practically no attenuation of ambient noise. Check out some of the (non-scientific) tests in the conclusions page to do a bit of related tests directly on your own.

Imagine trying to listen to your favorite CD on the deck of an aircraft carrier. You can't; the background noise level is so high that you actually need hearing protection. That's an extreme of course, but background noise in any environment still affects what we can hear and what we cannot.

Volume Matching and its Importance

Volume-matching sources when blind listening is important for two reasons. First, if sources are at different levels, they're easy to tell apart. From there, the test is no longer blind. Second, us humans tend to prefer (all other factors being equal) louder sources. Again, that's something we want to control.

Using Sennheiser's HD 800, we accurately volume-matched the individual devices using the 100% digital volume and minimum gain setting of the Asus Xonar Essence STX (which, as an add-in sound card, lacks an analog volume control) and a 1 kHz test tone.

Three test tones at 100 Hz, 1 kHz, and 10 kHz were used from mediacollege.com. The 1 kHz reference level is most important; that's the frequency at which human hearing is most sensitive. The devices we're using are rated to be fully linear in the specified range, so calibration values should match across all three tones.

At 1 kHz, all sound sensor weightings, such as dB(A), dB(C), and dB(Z), are exactly the same with a 0 dB gain. Meanwhile, at 100 Hz and 10 kHz, the weightings yield different values. We're using the common A-weighting, which approximates human hearing best in terms of relative loudness of sounds at different frequencies. This goes a long way in explaining why 100 Hz and, to a lesser extent, 10 kHz, measure consistently lower than 1 kHz. The remaining "drop" comes from the HD 800's own frequency response, which is far from linear above 1 kHz.

As you can see, the calibration is very good, though not absolutely perfect. The Benchmark DAC2 is not perfectly aligned because it uses a digital gain control to affect the volume of its digital input. This control has roughly 0.5 dB(A) "steps" at the level we tested, compared to the analog potentiometer in JDS Labs' O2+ODAC. Given the DAC2 HGC's higher price tag, I'm giving it a minor handicap and setting it at the rounded-down closest setting to the other devices. Realtek's codec is slightly softer at 1 kHz and significantly louder (1.4 dB[A]) at 100 Hz. In this sense, it's simply the least-linear or least-transparent of the devices we're testing.

Audiophiles might argue that a listening difference of 0.2 dB is notable, and might impact our test results. This might hold true for a small minority of humans. For us, it does not matter. This isn't just claimed; we'll prove it shortly. Furthermore, 0.2 dB approaches our equipment's margin of error. Realtek's 1.4 dB(A) difference at 100 Hz is the one measurement that might be noticeable.

Of course, listening at >90 dB(A) for extended periods of time can cause hearing loss. You'll be fine a few minutes at a time. But maintaining high volume should be avoided.

The Most Important Instrument to Calibrate: You

Because everyone's ear is morphologically different, we each hear sound uniquely. There are some general truths, though. For example, we become progressively incapable of hearing higher frequencies as we age. The typical human hearing range is conventionally referred to as 20 Hz to 20 kHz (sometimes 22 kHz).

Our tests involve two listeners: a moderate enthusiast, Listener A, accustomed to ~$3000 in audio gear, and a more serious enthusiast, Listener B, used to ~$70,000 in audio gear.

At the high end, Listener A can hear a 17 kHz tone using the DAC2. Tones at 18 kHz and above are absolutely silent. Listener B, despite being a few years older, can hear up to 20 kHz.

On the other end of the spectrum, Listener A can faintly hear 12 Hz. Anything lower is total silence. Listener B's hearing starts roughly at 14 Hz. This is uncommon; typically, the threshold is around 20 Hz. Some say such low frequencies are felt, rather than heard. Another possible explanation is harmonic distortion in the headphones or audio equipment. If that was the case, the tone heard at 12 Hz should sound the same as 24 Hz, but softer. But it doesn't. It sounds far lower than the 24 Hz tone.

Using these calibration settings, a blind A/B test of a difference in ±0.5 dB volume levels at 440 Hz results in a score of 5/10 for both listeners, essentially equivalent to a random guess. That means neither participant can tell 0.5 dB levels apart. To reach a 95% confidence level that listeners can tell volume levels apart, we have to move to ±1 dB, where they score 9/10 or 10/10 consistently.

Thus, the "calibration range" of your listeners today is 12 Hz to 17 kHz and 14 Hz to 20 kHz, with a 1 dB volume sensitivity.

Given that the devices we're testing are calibrated well below the level where either listener can hear the volume difference, we consider them accurately volume-matched (except for Realtek's codec at 100 Hz).

For reference, here is the hardware both listeners use:

As you can see, Listener A is accustomed to an audio setup worth around $3000. Listener B is in another category altogether, with a configuration well into five figures. Listener A's setup is also a 2.1-channel near-field active-monitor setup, while Listener B's setup relies on high-end full-range speakers. Both listeners are well-acquainted with Sennheiser's HD 800 headphones though, which are what we'll primarily be using for our tests.

Test Setup: Cables, Software, And Tracks

Cables and Connections Used

For the O2+ODAC and the DAC2, we used vendor-supplied USB cables.

The Sennheiser and AKG headphones both relied on stock cables.

Four identical Hosa 10-foot TRS female-to-TRS male extension cables were used. For the O2+ODAC and Realtek ALC889 codec, which do not have TRS jacks, a Hosa TRS female-to-3.5 mm RCA male adapter was used. These are not exotic components; the cables are $7 each and the adapters are $3 each.

Here's an important question, though. Why use extension cables at all? Why not plug headphones directly into device jacks?

The reason has to do with our blind listening process. Extension cables essentially render interconnect noise the same (when the headphones are switched from one device to another) and require no moving around on the part of the test assistant performing the switch. It'd be hard to perform a truly blind test if the assistant had to get up, walk around to the back of the PC to plug into a sound card, and so on.

I believe (until I'm otherwise proven wrong) that the cables and adapters are audibly transparent. If you'd like to read a serious study on the effects of cables on audio frequency response, we recommend this article.

Music Formats

We classified sources into three categories:

Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA)

These tracks are encoded with the common pulse-code modulation (PCM) scheme used in standard audio CDs. The format is a two-channel signed 16-bit linear PCM at a 44.1 kHz sampling frequency.

As a bit of trivia, the main reason why CD audio is sampled at 44.1 kHz is that the corresponding Nyquist frequency (the highest frequency that can be captured using the sampling rate) is 22,050 Hz. Hence, CD audio is designed to capture and represent all frequencies humans can hear.

What's more, sometimes this format is referred to as "Red Book" from the color of the binding book containing its technical specification.

The reason why CDs are designed to hold 74 minutes of audio is said to be less technical and more "human"; reportedly, Sony's president Norio Ohga wanted to listen to Beethoven's entire 9th symphony in his car.

DVD-Audio (DVD-A) and DVD-Recordables (DVD-R), including PCM files (typically .WAV)

These are tracks that have higher word length and sampling frequency than "Red Book" CD audio.

While 24-bit recordings are relatively common in the recording studio, they tend to be used more for headroom in editing than an actual audible benefit. We've never seen a properly-conducted blind test where individuals could reliably tell between 24- and 16-bit audio. With that said, "audiophile" recordings made available at the native 24-bit, though not very popular, do exist.

Higher sampling frequencies than 44.1 kHz again provide more headroom for editing; the actual benefit in terms of audio quality is the subject of much debate. The ultrasonic frequencies that such high sampling frequencies collect are inaudible, unless you happen to be a dog (which can hear up to 60 kHz), cat (79 kHz), or a bat (up to 200 kHz). And that's assuming that your speakers/headphones can play those higher frequencies correctly. They certainly aren't designed to. In fact, the harmonics from those frequencies can actually result in lower fidelity.

We sourced our DVD-A files as uncompressed WAVs from www.hdtracks.com.

Super Audio CD (SACD)

Direct-Stream Digital-encoded audio takes a very different approach than multi-bit PCM. DSD has a word length of only one bit and a sampling frequency of 2.8224 MHz. It is a pulse-density modulation scheme. The benefits and limitations of DSD versus PCM are, not surprisingly, the subject of much debate and there is really no consensus, even among academics, on which is superior.

Although DSD content is rare (SACD never really took off), so-called "native DSD" digital-to-analog-converters appear to be popular in the audiophile community. Mytek, in particular, is pushing the format.

Some SACDs contain multi-channel tracks. The most famous one is likely Pink Flyod's The Dark Side of the Moon, which contains six channels on a "hybrid" disc.

Of the devices we're testing, only Benchmark's DAC2 supports DSD natively. So, we'll reserve a separate section of this article to delve into it.

Test tracks

In our choice of test tracks, we wanted to represent a wide variety of genres and musical format options. Obviously, how well a particular track was recorded influences the listening experience massively. So, our selections were picked because, in addition to being enjoyable, they were also recorded well.

Player Software and Configuration

We used foobar2000 v1.3 beta 7. It's free, it works, and it doesn't mess things up. It's doesn't look cool, but that doesn't deter us. Benchmark wrote a pretty good article on how to configure it.

In short, configure outputs as WASAPI devices, set the output data format to 24-bit (the maximum supported by the devices we're testing), set all volume levels to max (0.00 dB), turn off Replaygain, and bypass all audio plug-ins. Note that devices in WASAPI mode will default to 16-bit operation if 16-bit content is played, ignoring the 24-bit setting. That's a good thing. It means that 16-bit tracks don't get padded to 24-bit, which would be undesirable.

It doesn't really matter if you configure outputs as WASAPI, KS (Kernel Streaming), or ASIO devices, as long as you are consistent. Each mode bypasses the Windows mixer, resulting in a bit-perfect stream to the DAC. The only mode you want to avoid is Direct Sound, which doesn't bypass the mixer.

Although it takes an extremely convoluted process to get working, foobar2000 is one of the few players in the world that can natively play DSD files on supported hardware. A notable alternative is JRiver Media Center, which has a free trial, but isn't free per se.

Test Setup: The Blind Testing Process

Objective or Subjective?

Nowhere in this article do we talk about technical specifications or benchmarking individual components. If you want that information, it's available for all three discrete devices. Realtek doesn't provide measurements, only specs, but those are published online too. The point we are making is that, they should all be completely transparent. Realtek's codec shouldn't follow far behind, at least on paper.

If that's true, then we shouldn't be able to tell them apart in a sequence of blind listening tests. That's the angle we're setting out to explore, hence our subjective approach.

A Properly-Blind Subjective Methodology

It's easy to be influenced in a listening test by what you expect to hear. If you feel like you can be objective without a blind test, then great. But we know we cannot. So, we went to every length possible to remove expectations, correcting for any factor that provided unwarranted information.

Typical A/B tests let you hear A, then B, then a random sequence of As and Bs, testing to see if you can correctly tell them apart. If you can guess correctly with a 95% confidence interval, then it's fairly certain that you can tell them apart. If not, you must concede you can't. It's really that simple.

We've deliberately complicated the event in that this is essentially a blind tailored A/B/C/D test. We have four devices. We test one track at a time. We test each track eight times. The only guarantee is that each device will be presented twice in the sequence, though that could be in any order (even consecutively). A proper blind test would not guarantee equal distribution in the sequence, since that creates some form of expectation. But that was a compromise we had to make to generate sufficient data samples for each device.

The tests are conducted with a partner helping us by selecting the sources randomly. During each test, we write down our subjective thoughts. At the end of each run (lasting the first few minutes of each track), if we feel comfortable doing so, we make a guess on the device we just heard. After the eight runs, we compare our impressions and guesses to the actual device list, which our partner wrote down separately.

As you already know, every device is carefully volume-matched, demonstrating good matching across three representative test tones. Only Realtek's ALC889 codec could not quite get there due to its technical limitations.

Furthermore, we used identical color-coded extension cables from each devices, so the partner didn't need to move from the test bench at all and the connecting noise for each device was the same. We went one step further and removed the headphones in between runs as the partner was switching connections to avoid hearing any distinct connection-related click or pop.

Due to time constraints, not all listeners tested all content. We also had some issues with volume-matching the Realtek ALC889, and those are called out where they're relevant.

Our precautions worked well; we could not tell the devices apart from each other in any way except their sound.

Challenging the Methodology

A few of the listeners who tried replicating the process above challenged our methodology. This is good, fair, and needs to be openly discussed. So, we present those challenges below.

We were questioned on:

1. The process of listening to the same track multiple times using the same or a different device (versus switching across devices seamlessly)
2. Using four devices (versus doing A/B testing of individual device pairs)
3. The applicability/extensibility of these tests from headphones to full-sized speakers

On the first point, we agree that there is some merit to this. Human acoustic memory happens to be short-lived. Not only that, but rarely are individuals conscious of it. So, trying to "remember" and "compare" how a given track sounds over time (even after multiple seconds) is really, really difficult. With that said, because we were testing on familiar hardware using our favorite tracks, we felt we should have been able to identify differences, with at least directional reliability, if we could hear them. But yes, ideally, we would have liked to try seamlessly switching as well. Unfortunately, we could not find any 1/4" TRS stereo rapid-switching boxes and, even if they exist, foobar2000 won't output over more than a single device at a time (and, we may be wrong on this one, but neither does Windows). Running multiple instances of foobar2000 at the same time is possible, though it creates temporal alignment issues. The idea is nice; it's just technically problematic.

On the second point, our purpose here wasn't telling pairs of devices apart, but rather trying to gauge whether any one component sounded significantly better or worse than the others. Based on what we were trying to achieve, I think our methodology is even better than A/B pairs. This is one challenge thus we'd like to directly rebuke.

Finally, regarding the last point: we agree. These tests, as they were conducted, only apply to headphones. More specifically, they apply to high-impedance headphones. Hopefully, we'll get the opportunity to extend our experimentation to low-impedance headphones in the near future. Full-sized speakers are more challenging for a variety of reasons, and we can't promise that'll happen any time soon.

Wrapping Up

If you've read through the last four dense pages of setup background, then you can appreciate the complexity of arranging proper blind tests. We did our best with the equipment, knowledge, and time we had available to create the best possible experiment, documenting each and every step so that you can judge for yourself how relevant these tests are to you.

The tests aren't perfect, and we don't claim they are. They cannot be generalized beyond the specific cases we tested, and we don't claim they can be. Nevertheless, we hope you'll find them interesting within the scope of their applicability.

We also would have liked to test more devices. If there's enough reader interest, you can bet we'll follow up with a wider range of products.

Results: Dragonborn / Jeremy Soule

Track notes

If you're reading this page and you've never played Skyrim, then stop reading. Now. Go play Skyrim. One hundred or 200 game-hours later, you'll appreciate the remainder of this page...

...or will you? In the game's encoded format (a lossy, compressed, WMA-related format with an .xwm extension), Skyrim's soundtrack is pretty outstanding. But the official soundtrack on CD has a special degree of immersiveness that goes beyond the in-game music (or so my brain seems to think).

So, after you put in your game time, go buy Skyrim's soundtrack, spend some more time just listening to that, and after you catch yourself singing out Dovahkiin! with those 90 voices, you will really appreciate the rest of this page.

The Dragonborn track itself is a Red Book-standard 16-bit, 44.1 kHz file. It is remarkable because of its deep vocals and bass-heaviness, intermixed with high treble female vocals that create an extreme sonic contrast.

Test results (Listener A)

Listener A's comments:

As we start our blind tests, I'm not really sure what exactly to listen for. Based on the results above, obviously for an untrained ear it is hard to tell most devices apart. I'm really curious to see if I improve as I listen to more content. From my notes, it seems that the device I subjectively preferred was what turned out to be Asus' Xonar Essence STX (runs four and eight). That is surprising to me. I'm curious to see if that continues to hold true.

*: Tests of the Realtek ALC889 codec marked with an asterisk had a volume level calibration issue that was corrected later. We kept the results in for the sake of transparency, although they should not be considered representative of an actual ability to distinguish the ALC889 from the other devices being tested.

Results: Soothe My Soul / Depeche Mode

Track notes

The second single released from the album Delta Machine, Soothe My Soul is a rich track with deep drums and intense vocals. We listened to the Red Book 16/44.1 version, although a 24-bit release is available.

Test results (Listener A)

Listener A's comments:

This was an interesting second test. I can now clearly distinguish the Realtek ALC889 and detect it immediately with certainty. I was highly uncertain of the others. Note my double error in runs six and eight. Twice I mistook Asus' sound card for the DAC2. That's because, subjectively, those were the devices that sounded the best to me. They should be the most expensive, right? It turns out that I show a patter of personal preference for the Xonar Essence STX. It doesn't sound as "reference" as the others, but it seems to be what I favor. The bottom line, either way, is that (excluding the ALC889) I got almost all of the others wrong.

*: Tests of the Realtek ALC889 codec marked with an asterisk had a volume level calibration issue that was corrected later. We kept the results in for the sake of transparency, although they should not be considered representative of an actual ability to distinguish the ALC889 from the other devices being tested.

Results: Through The Fire And Flames / DragonForce

Track notes

If you have any experience with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, or if you like power metal in general, you almost certainly know this song. It is widely regarded as the game's hardest track.

At 200 BPM, it is extraordinarily fast, and with Hernan Li and Sam Totman playing guitars together in the foreground, this is one track that can very quickly degenerate into a muddled mess with poor headphones or other equipment.

Of the tracks we're using to test, this is probably the one that received the least amount of attention in the studio recording and mixing rooms. It's nowhere near as polished as the others. Since the music itself is amazing, however, that shouldn't deter listeners excessively.

Test results (Listener A)

Listener A's comments:

By this third test, Realtek's ALC889 codec became easy to tell apart. The others, however, are much more difficult. I have notes riddled with comments like "sounds the same as before" with, for instance, round five (DAC2) compared to round four (the Xonar).

Interestingly, I wrote "sounds familiar" in run four (Xonar), which was actually true, since I've owned Asus' sound card for a long time. Evidently, though, it wasn't familiar enough to become apparent in run two. I'm now starting to focus on whether I can tell the Xonar apart from the O2+ODAC and DAC2. I'm not yet close to telling those two latter components apart.

*: Tests of the Realtek ALC889 codec marked with an asterisk had a volume level calibration issue that was corrected later. We kept the results in for the sake of transparency, although they should not be considered representative of an actual ability to distinguish the ALC889 from the other devices being tested.

Results: Get Lucky / Daft Punk

Track notes

HDTracks' version of Daft Punk's Random Access Memory album, inclusive of the hit single Get Lucky featuring Pharrell Williams, is made available in a DVD-A format of 24-bit/88.2 kHz. That created issues for us. While the Benchmark DAC2 supports such sampling frequency, the JDS Labs O2+ODAC and Asus Xonar Essence STX do not. Realtek's ALC889 codec does support that frequency in its specs, but in WASAPI mode using foobar2000, neither 88.2 nor 176.4 kHz worked.

Our only choice left was resampling. We could upsample up to 96 kHz, which was closer in absolute value and supported by all devices, or downsample to 44.1 kHz. Though it may sound counter-intuitive, we chose to downsample because converting from 88.2 to 44.1 kHz is a very simple and precise operation. All that is required is a sum-and-divide-by-two. Upsampling from 88.2 to 96 kHz is far more more likely to cause artifacts. Given that the differences between 88.2 and 44.1 kHz are generally considered inaudible anyway, we went the route more likely to preserve fidelity. Also, we used foobar2000's PPHS resampler in Ultra mode, which is considered a very high-quality resampler.

For the sake of integrity, Listener A did some (non-blind due to time restrictions) tests on the DAC2 to see if he could immediately tell 88.2 from resampled 44.1 kHz. The (unscientific) answer is that he could not. He also tried reducing the word length from 24- to 16-bit, with and without dither, and he still couldn't tell any difference.

Test results (Listener A, take one)

Listener A's comments:

In all honesty, I was really surprised to guess each device correctly. I believe luck played a role, although there is certainly a learning factor involved. I can definitely tell the Realtek ALC889 apart by its lower volume. But this was the first time I felt I could (and did) reliably identify the Xonar sound card from the O2+ODAC and DAC2. I did so through the bass' particular definition. It's hard to say if this track's 24-bit resolution was a factor.

Asus' Xonar Essence STX seems to have a more lively and emotional bass that I subjectively appreciate. It probably isn't as "reference" as the O2+ODAC or DAC2. In that specific sense, it can be argued that those two devices both appear to be marginally superior to the Xonar.

The Benchmark DAC2 HGC and JDS Labs O2+ODAC I simply could not tell apart. I was frankly guessing and happened to be correct. Don't take the outcome as definitive; I believe I could equally have guessed incorrectly.

With that said, all three discrete sources sound absolutely amazing on a track that is absolutely masterfully recorded.

*: Tests of the Realtek ALC889 codec marked with an asterisk had a volume level calibration issue that was corrected later. We kept the results in for the sake of transparency, although they should not be considered representative of an actual ability to distinguish the ALC889 from the other devices being tested.

Test results (Listener A, take two)

Listener A's comments:

My second take, run a few days after the first, demonstrates how hard it is to tell these devices apart. The Realtek codec's volume issues are addressed and it easily blends in with the pack, making identification even harder. I still felt like I could tell the Xonar Essence STX apart, but the results proved me wrong. More interestingly, I could not even tell that a given device was the same when my partner smartly decided to run each device twice in a row.

Results: Symphonic Dances / Andante Con Moto / Rachmaninoff

Track notes

HRX's version of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances is made available in a DVD-R format of 24-bit/176.4 kHz (after a 176.4 to 88.2 to 176.4 kHz process). That created similar issues as Daft Punk's 88.2 kHz album, and the reason is the same. Only the Benchmark DAC2 supports this sampling frequency; the JDS Labs O2+ODAC and Asus Xonar Essence STX do not. Realtek's ALC889 codec does support that frequency in its specs, but in WASAPI mode using foobar2000, neither 88.2 nor 176.4 kHz worked.

Since we were going from 176.4 kHz all the way down to 44.1, we wanted to show that resampling using the same foobar2000 PPHS resampler in Ultra mode introduced no audible artifacts. Both listeners tried multiple times, and neither could tell any difference. In our subjective opinions, 176.4 and 44.1 kHz are exactly the same.

Test results (Listener B)

Listener B's comments:

I was surprised at the results, struggling to decide whether the validity of our blind tests could be called into question, or rather if these tests indeed show our auditioned devices cannot be reliably told apart. I do believe that the story would be different if we used full-sized speakers, rather than headphones.

Bonus Test: DSD Versus PCM; Billie Jean / Michael Jackson's Thriller

Sampling into Megahertz

Having tried 24-bit/88.2 kHz (and 96 kHz) tracks without being able to tell the difference from Red Book audio, we were starting to get skeptical about high-def audio. Still, we wanted to test the pinnacle of digital audio formats. We picked the most-sold album in history, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

We chose two formats: the exotic DVD-Audio (PCM at 24-bit/176.4 kHz) and the equally (if not more) exotic SACD (DSD64 at 1-bit/2.8224 MHz). The former is available from hdtracks.com for no less than $25. The latter is available from acousticsounds.com, also for $25.

To give you a better idea of the amount of data we're talking about, the uncompressed PCM version (24-bit/176.4 kHz, or 8467 Kb/s) is 2.5 GB, while the DSD64 version (1-bit/2.8224 MHz, or 5645 Kb/s) is 1.66 GB. That's just one album. From a bit rate perspective, DSD64 is essentially equivalent to 16-bit/176.4 kHz PCM, although that in and of itself says nothing about perceivable sound quality.

On paper, Realtek's ALC889 codec supports DSD. But we weren't able to get it working with foobar2000 due to a lack of an ASIO driver. Asus' Xonar Essence STX's DAC chip does support DSD, and Asus does supply a quality ASIO driver. However, Asus' DSP choice, the C-Media CMI8788, does not support DSD, breaking the chain. By design, the O2+ODAC does not support DSD. It's a driverless device that tops out at 24-bit/96 kHz PCM. That left us with Benchmark's DAC2 as the only device supporting DSD through foobar2000.

The catalog of SACDs is small, so a lack of support for this format is hardly a deal-breaker in any circumstance.

A Difficult Comparison

The DSD version of the album plays louder in foobar2000, creating a nightmare as we tried to volume-match. Unfortunately, foobar2000 does not support digital volume control of DSD files, and manually adjusting the DAC2 is an imprecise exercise at best. With that said, the tracks we listened to sounded extraordinarily similar, and we'd guess that they're from the same set of master tapes, though we don't know if the mixing is the same.

Given issues with volume matching and questions about mixing, we hesitate to generalize about DSD versus PCM, so please consider our observations specific to just these two recordings.

Both listeners felt that, while the two versions were enjoyable, the DSD-based copy was better overall. Listener B observed "greater musicality", while Listener A noticed a difference but had a harder time putting it into words, eventually concluding that the DSD version felt more natural.

Why We Need To Test Low-Impedance Headphones Soon

So far, all of our tests employed Sennheiser's HD 800 headphones. As a reminder, they're relatively high-impedance (300 Ω) cans.

As we talked about testing the O2+ODAC, JDS Labs asked that we also try using low-impedance headphones, and the company sent a set of of AKG K 550s, rated at 32 Ω. Its point is that one of the O2+ODAC's main advantages is a vanishingly small output impedance (close to 0 Ω), which is supposed to be great with low-impedance headphones.

Now, the Benchmark DAC2 also has vanishingly small output impedance; its HPA2 headphone amp is rated close to 0 Ω, too. Naturally, then, testing against the DAC2 again was fairly redundant. But what about Asus's Xonar Essence STX, which implements the TI TPA6120A2 datasheet-recommended 10 Ω output impedance level, or Realtek's codec, rated at 2 Ω but subject to a suggested 75 Ω resistor in series on the output path, yielding a typical total of 77 Ω?

Output and Load Impedance

In order to understand why output and load impedance might matter, we need to introduce a concept known as Damping Factor.

As speaker (or headphone) drivers oscillate, they generate a voltage difference of their own that affects all directly-connected electrical components. Without going into too much detail, if an amplifier's output impedance is high compared to the load's impedance, speaker motion and control are impeded. This is particularly true at low (<500 Hz) frequencies, and extremely so at the driver's resonance frequency (resonance, as you can imagine, is very bad for hi-fi audio). The ratio between an amplifier's output impedance and a load (headphones, in this case) impedance is called Damping Factor.

Impedance is a concept that applies exclusively to alternating-current circuits. Furthermore, impedance is not a set figure. It varies based on the frequency of the electrical signal. The 300 Ω-rated HD 800s, for example, typically measure in the 600 Ω impedance range below 1 kHz frequencies.

A DF of 50 or more is typically considered excellent. That means amplifiers rated for up to 12 Ω output impedance should encounter little trouble driving the HD 800s (600/12 = 50 DF at <500 Hz), even through deep bass. The benefits of even higher damping factors, which you see in the chart above can approach 6000, are debatable.

But using a 32 Ω headphone as a load yields quite different numbers. According to InnerFidelity, the K 550 measures between 34-37 Ω impedance below 500 Hz. With that load on the 77 Ω Realtek ALC899 codec, the Damping Factor is a fairly poor 0.4, and on the 10 Ω Xonar Essence STX, it's a not-so-stellar 3.5.

Technically, you also need to add cable impedance to the amplifier's impedance. But given that the 10-foot cables and connectors we're using have an impedance of <0.1 Ω, I felt that could be excluded. If you're using long or thin cables, the same might not be true.

Coming Soon: Low-Impedance Headphone Testing

We would have loved to test AKG's K 550 as part of this article. But at over 12,000 words, this piece was already a behemoth before going down that road. Still, we know that testing the AKG K 550 (or another low-impedance headphone, for the matter) is important since high-impedance headphones tend to be exotic, expensive stuff. A vast majority of PC users own headphones rated at or around 32 Ω.

Because we haven't yet covered 32 Ω headphones, the results discussed throughout this article only apply to 300 Ω headphones.

We plan to explore whether the same conclusions can be drawn about lower-impedance headphones in a future article.

Why Audio Formats Above 16-Bit/44.1 kHz Don't Matter

Musical records vary enormously in their recording and mixing quality. Albums like Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, most of Lady Gaga's pop work, Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, and many others are simply masterfully recorded/mixed.

Obtaining an audiophile-quality 24-bit/192 kHz version of a poorly put-together track does nothing to make it sound better. As a matter of fact, in all of our blind tests, we couldn't tell the difference between 44.1 and 176.4 kHz, or 16- and 24-bit recordings. While those formats do have a place (namely, in the recording studio where the mixing headroom is a real advantage), they don't seem to add anything to consumer audio. Based on our experience, 16-bit and 44.1 kHz provides the best audio quality you're able to experience. Everything beyond that format tends to be a waste of drive capacity and, since the high-def recordings are more expensive, money as well.

Downsampling a 176.4 kHz track to 44.1 kHz using a high-quality resampler should prevent clipping and yield an output that you can't distinguish from the original. So, if you somehow find a 176.4 kHz recording in your hands and your hardware doesn't natively support it, don't worry. Resample it to 44.1 kHz and know that you're, in practice, not losing any of its fidelity.

Pretty much all modern DACs oversample inputs before the analog conversion (sometimes to a fixed rate [Benchmark converts everything to 211 kHz internally] and sometimes to a input-dependent rate, which is still usually pretty high). Besides the loss of audio frequencies above 22 kHz, which are inaudible, there should be very little difference between a native signal at 176.4 kHz converted to 211 kHz and a native signal at 44 kHz converted to 211 kHz.

The main advantage of 24-bit versus 16- is greater dynamic range (144 dB compared to 98), but that's practically irrelevant. Many of today's records succumb to the loudness war, where dynamic range is artificially compressed in the production stages. Michael Jackson's "Black or White", shown in the figure above, is a great example of this phenomenon. Even if the dynamic range of records wasn't becoming smaller, you'd be hard pressed to meaningfully experience a larger dynamic range in music. As a test, try some of the unscientific but directionally interesting tests on our conclusions page.

Monty at xiph.org has a separate and far more exhaustive discussion of this topic, and I encourage you to read it if you find the subject matter interesting. For our part, we're limiting ourselves to what we hear and understand, which tells us there is no difference between 16- and 24-bit, or 44.1 and 176.4 kHz.

DSD is a bit of a different story. SACDs are vanishingly rare. Any suggestions that the DSD64 format will pick up steam seems highly unlikely to us; even the academic world cannot decide if it is better than multi-bit PCM. The technicalities differentiating DSD and PCM are very complex, though high-quality DSD and PCM recordings shouldn't sound all that different. Both DSD64 and Red Book PCM are, in essence, hi-fi formats. Moreover, it's extraordinarily challenging to compare them in any objective way since DSD and PCM encodings are often obtained through separate masters. When they are not, the DSD encoding comes from a PCM master (what's the point, then?) or an eight-bit DSD called DSD-Wide, which has more similarities than differences from regular PCM. We just have to rely on subjective opinions on this one.

Anything Above $2 Buys More Features, Not Better Quality

Although we don't typically review audio gear, we believe that we have a few advantages over some hi-fi reviewers. First, we have no financial interest in the products we review. Second, we're PC enthusiasts, not self-proclaimed audiophiles. Consequently, we're not afraid to talk about our strengths and weaknesses. In the audio field, an inability to hear differences among devices spanning a large range of price points is self-defeating. But here, we can comfortably suggest that those products might simply perform similarly.

One thing we know we're good at is designing objective tests, learning from them, and drawing fact-basing conclusions based on the analysis. The integrity of our methodologies is everything, and we can't help but believe that approach is rare in audio equipment testing. We hope our readers will find our experience in testing valuable.

Of course, we also have to acknowledge our own shortcomings and the limits of these tests; neither is perfect. We are audio amateurs, not audio professionals. However, we've tried to create the best possible tests, documenting each and every step along the way so that others can conduct their own experiment and form their own opinion. If you see a way to improve upon our process, we welcome this and look forward to seeing your results, too.

If some of the conclusions we drew sounded implausible, don't worry; they did to us as well.

Try A Few Things For Yourself

Although there is no quick and easy way to replicate the tests in this article at home on your own, here are a few tests we hope you'll have fun with. They should be far more enlightening than our technical explanations of some of the concepts we discussed.

You probably can tell the difference in 1 dB volume levels, but can you reliably tell the difference in 0.5 dB volume levels?

Can you hear all the way up to 22 kHz? What about at or below 20 Hz?

You can probably hear an absolute 54 dB of dynamic range in your environment, but can you reliably hear 78 dB? For reference 16-bit audio has roughly 96 dB of dynamic range. Twenty-four-bit manages a theoretical 144 dB, although it's almost impossible to achieve more than 120-130 using real-world ADCs. Eight-bit audio has a dynamic range of "only" 48 dB; can you reliably tell the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit audio?

Play all of these tests at maximum digital volume. Just be aware that they're not designed to be scientific, but rather to give you some perspective. Try them out for yourself and feel free to post your results in the comments section below!

A $2 Codec Sounds (to us) like a $2000 Device

I sank $2000 of my own money into the DAC2 HGC last December, so I subjectively wanted it to sound better than everything else. Tests have shown that it doesn't. I was surprised, but, having been personally involved in the evaluation and believing in the integrity of what we set up, I rationally accept the findings.

Of course, we're ready for the audiophile community to rise up in arms about the statement you'll read next, but it's true that neither an intermediate enthusiast nor a serious one with ~$70,000 in gear at home were able to reliably tell apart any of the four devices once we properly set up a blind test with accurate volume-matching. We actually enjoyed them all as great audio experiences.

Using world-class headphones, a $2 Realtek integrated audio codec could not be reliably distinguished from the $2000 Benchmark DAC2 HGC in a four-device round-up. Again, all four devices sounded great. The same might not apply to full-sized speakers; we can't say, since we didn't test them. But as far as some of the best headphones in the world go, we stand by these test results.

While calibration does show that Realtek's ALC889 is less linear, and thus less hi-fi than the other devices we're looking at, the 1.4 dB difference at 100 Hz apparently isn't enough to reliably differentiate the experience it delivers from others in real-world scenarios. Isn't 1.4 dB a pretty big difference? In a "pure tone", it would be quite noticeable. That's less the case when you're listening to regular music though, especially if the more sensitive 1 to 4 kHz tones are more accurately matched.

But $2 Buys A Smaller Subset of Features

If we halted our exploration at perceived audio quality, we'd only be telling half of the story. There's just so much more to a DAC/amplifier.

Neither the Realtek codec nor Asus' Xonar provide volume control, aside from what you get in Windows. Realtek does support DSD, but without an ASIO driver, we couldn't get it working in foobar2000. Neither lower-end solution can drive headphones and speakers concurrently, let alone automatically mute speakers when headphones are connected. They don't support amplifying an external source, either. Not surprisingly, they're strictly tied to a single device with no real portability. Realtek does facilitate eight-channel output, and the integrated codec and discrete sound card help prevent clutter on your desk.

The DAC2 and O2, being USB-based audio devices, can be plugged into and rapidly switched between any USB source. Want to connect your laptop to your audio system rather than your desktop? That's easy. The O2 has a very high-quality analog volume control, which provided the finest calibration in our round-up. The DAC2 has a motorized volume control with remote control. Want to listen to your headphones in bed and adjust the volume without getting up? Only the DAC2 can do that.

Ultimately, music is about entertainment and personal enjoyment. Hi-fi is meaningful insofar as it heightens the experience of music; it is not necessarily helpful beyond that. Some audiophiles even prefer the low-fi distortion that tube amplifiers introduce. The DAC2, O2+DAC, Xonar Essence STX, and ALC889 are all outstanding solutions. Each delivers a beautiful experience that you'd certainly enjoy. They're similar when it comes to sound quality. Where they differ is mainly in their feature sets and price points.

Value Considerations

I think that money spent on quality recordings, whether they're digital recordings, CDs, DVDs, or SACDs, is the money best-spent. They'll simply never become obsolete.

From there, speakers and headphones are the most important components in your sound system. Headphones generally give you better bang for your buck and are usually more convenient. Obviously, though, they can't replicate the experience of full-range speakers. You feel bass from a subwoofer in ways a headphone can't match. Also, listening to high-end speakers well-separated provides a more immersive experience.

If headphones are the way you go, then our tests show that quality integrated audio codecs are sufficient for driving some of the best in the world. You simply have to live with the fact that a motherboard with built-in audio is going to give you fewer features. That's the point where you have to decide what you're willing to pay for.

We debated whether to recognize a codec for its achievements, rather than a specific product hosting it, but decided that Realtek deserved credit for its work. The ALC889 is found on premium motherboards, as are the newer ALC898 and ALC1150. It's somewhat lacking in the features department; you don't get external volume control, RCA (or 1/4" TRS) outputs, or an ASIO driver. You could argue that eight-channel output partly compensates, though it's not a factor in hi-fi audio. The ALC889 is the least-linear of the devices we tested, though its worst performance of -1.4 dB(A) at 100 Hz is still acceptable overall.

With all of that said, we simply could not tell the little codec's sound quality apart from other, much more expensive devices. For a component that costs 1/1000 of our highest-end contender, that's an impressive-enough feat to earn Smart Buy honors. It also encourages a broader re-evaluation of how integrated audio is reviewed.

The Benchmark DAC2 HGC, on the other hand, easily gets the money-is-no-object Tom's Hardware Elite award. It is a wonderful device with a wide array of features that aren't just mashed together, but rather designed for intuitive usability. Further, the DAC2 is built like a rock. Of course, you'll have to decide if the spec sheet and build quality are worth $2000, particularly since our ears couldn't tell it apart from much cheaper products at a fraction of the price. If you're shopping in this price range for a DAC/amp, also consider the Mytek Stereo192-DSD ($1600), Bel Canto C5i ($1900), and Violectric HPA 200 ($1000), all of which sport similar features and are generally well-reviewed. Remember that our Elite recognition is not a reflection of the DAC2's performance compared to similarly-priced contenders in its class; we haven't had a chance to test them yet, after all.

The PC As The Future of Hi-Fi

As optical storage fades away, we believe PCs will increasingly become the center of the hi-fi listening experience. Nothing can match the accuracy (bit-perfect sourcing and streaming, and no degradation over time) and convenience (thousands of losslessly-compressed albums a mouse-click away) of PCs. Today we even demonstrated that a $2 codec is sufficient for driving some of the most expensive headphones in the world. We haven't tested this yet, so we can't say with certainty, but a DAC hooked up to a PC should also drive amplifiers and associated full-sized speakers as well as the DACs built into, say, high-end CD players. For PC enthusiasts, that convergence is just one more reason to love our versatile systems.

In addition to the mobile keyboard, Genius also introduced an upgraded Stereo Bluetooth Speaker, the SP-965BT (the older model is listed here). Although the product is not currently listed on the website, the updated model reportedly adds NFC connectivity, allowing one-touch capability. This allows the user of an NFC-enabled tablet or smartphone to merely tap the speaker for listening to music, otherwise Bluetooth is the default audio pipeline.

"Enjoy music when the sound is right. SP-965BT is a small design but delivers loud, rich and heart-beating bass that make you want to share with everyone around," reads the company press release. "SP-965BT is easy to carry around if you're on the go or at home. There are other Genius audio products available that can complement your smart device."

Check out all of our CES 2014 coverage!

Wireless Speakers From $50 To $250

The wireless Bluetooth-based speaker market really took off over the last two years. Of course, we shouldn't be surprised. It was bound to follow the evolution of smartphones and tablets taking the place of dedicated MP3 players. With access to music services like Spotify and Pandora, you no longer need to carry your library with you. Then again, if you're at home, tapping into a well-stocked repository of tunes is super-easy with those devices, too. With more music all around us, there are more situations where we'd like to share with friends instead of hiding it between a set of headphones.

With all of the speaker systems we were introduced to in 2013, it's a good time to take a closer look at what's available. After all, a lot of these would make great little stocking stuffers.

After a fair bit of research, I was surprised by the specifications that were consistent and those that varied wildly between devices. In today's story, all of the sub-$100 options are what I'd consider ultra-portable. They're small enough to tote around in a purse and equipped with mics to double as speakerphones. From $100 to $200 there are the slightly larger models with bigger drivers and better sound, but none of that speakerphone business. Call those products portable. Finally, above $200, there are the more powerful options, which are modern versions of the boombox that was popular back when we were kids.

We're reviewing each speaker in order of price, from the lowest to the highest, starting with Arctic's S113BT.

Arctic S113BT

Arctic is still a relative newcomer to the audio industry, and it's stepping out with a clear focus on value.

Bundle And First Impression

This is the least expensive product in the round-up, and although you don't get many bundled accessories, the S113BT comes with everything you need, really. There's a USB-to-micro-USB charging cable (not shown), a 3.5 mm male-to-male input cable, a carrying case, and a manual. We'd like to see the company include an AC charger, but none of the competing ultra-portable alternatives include one either, so it's likely deemed too great of a cost-adder.

The speaker is wrapped in a soft silicone shell, and it's available in orange, blue, pink, black, and white. The padding seems like it would protect Arctic's speaker from a fair amount of abuse, though we also suspect that the finish gets dirty and scuffs fairly easily.

The front and rear are covered in a metal grille. Two 1.5" drivers output sound in the front, while two passive bass radiators face the rear. At 2.3" x 6.2" x 1.8" and 0.6 lbs (290 g), this is also the lightest offering in our round-up, and it's small enough to carry around in a purse or small backpack.

Connectivity And Controls

There's a power switch and micro-USB power on the side. Music is either fed into the speaker through Bluetooth or an analog 3.5 mm jack. Despite a low price, the S113BT is one of the few contenders with Bluetooth Smart (4.0) support, though it's not clear if Arctic enables the classic, high-speed, or low-energy protocols. This is also the only speaker in our round-up with near-field communication (NFC), and in that respect is easier to pair than the competition. A pop-up appeared on my smartphone alerting me to the speaker's presence; I didn't have to actively seek it out on a list of available Bluetooth-capable devices.

There are only three buttons for controlling the speaker, and all of them serve multiple functions. The plus and minus buttons affect volume. They also switch to the next or previous track if you press down longer. The center button has more responsibilities. It can play and pause music. Moreover, it's tasked with phone functionality like answering and ending calls, voice recognition, transferring calls between the speaker and handset, redialing, and, oddly enough, reducing volume with the 3.5 mm input connected.

Subjective Sound Analysis

Portability is largely dependent on dimensions, and a small size means the S113BT needs diminutive speakers. Regardless of price, physics cannot be defeated, so it's not surprising that the tiny drivers do not impress with their low-frequency response. The S113BT doesn't make its presence known until you get to the mid-range. Arctic fares well when its low price is considered, and most music sounds fine, even if it's limited to the middle- and upper-end of the frequency spectrum.

Because the S113BT includes a speakerphone, we also compared its mic response during a phone call. This speaker boasts the loudest volume of any other product in our round-up. It might not be the clearest, but plenty of volume makes conversations easier to understand.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

Arctic's S113BT won't knock your socks off with its sound quality. But none of the ultra-portables in our comparison can overcome their handheld nature. Considering Arctic's significantly lower price, it's hard to dismiss otherwise compelling value. Nice features like Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, NFC support, and a loud built-in mic make this system an affordable option. Less-than-ideal audio reproduction keep us from granting a clear recommendation, though.

Luxa2 Groovy

Luxa2 is Thermaltake's high-end consumer technology brand. While it's relatively young, Luxa2 is already known for its liberal use of aluminum and leather, two materials that are prominently featured on the Groovy Bluetooth-equipped speaker. Despite the intended luxury target market, an $83 price tag on Amazon.com is the second least-expensive in our round-up.

Bundle And First Impression

The Groovy comes with all of the accessories you need, such as a USB-to-micro-USB charging cable, a 3.5 mm male-to-male analog input cable, a leather carrying case (not shown), and a manual. Again, we're disappointed that an AC charger isn't included.

Luxa2 encases its speaker in a solid aluminum frame that wraps from the top to bottom around the back. You're able to choose between brown and black leather straps; both are bundled. Thanks to high-quality materials, this is a sturdy-feeling product that gives us the impression it'll last a while.

A gray cloth material surrounds the metal grille protecting the speakers. We couldn't get the the drivers' specifications, which typically isn't a good sign, but based on the unit's size, we guess they're in the 1.75" range. At 3" x 7.3" x 2.1" and 1.2 lbs (556 g), the Groovy is a bit heavier than Arctic's S113BT (though still small enough to carry around easily).

Connectivity And Controls

The Groovy is set up to communication over a Bluetooth 2.1-based connection, capable of up to 3 Mb/s, or a 3.5 mm audio jack. NFC isn't supported, and despite the addition of secure simple pairing to Bluetooth 2.1, we found that it took longer to establish a relationship with the Groovy compared to other speakers in our round-up.

All of the controls and inputs are along the top of the speaker. There are four buttons: power, lower volume, pause/play/answer phone, and raise volume. Unfortunately, there's no provision for skipping or repeating tracks. The auxiliary input, micro-USB charging port, and microphone port are also up there.

Subjective Sound Analysis

The Groovy's bass is naturally limited by its tiny drivers, just like the rest of the ultra-portable contenders. But relative to its competition with speakers smaller than 2", Luxa2 stands out with richer and deeper sound than Arctic's S113BT and Edifier's Extreme Connect.

On the other hand, the Groovy's built-in microphone is a mixed bag. It delivers the round-up's clearest sound, but sacrifices maximum volume. You have to get closer and speak louder with the Groovy's hands-free mode enabled. We'll give you a recorded example of this in our benchmarks toward the end of the story.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

Luxa2's Groovy is built using the highest-quality materials and offers the best sound compared to the other ultra-portables we're reviewing. Despite minor shortcomings, such as a conspicuous lack of previous/next track controls and an overly quiet microphone, more important variable like solid audio performance earn our respect.

Edifier Extreme Connect

Unlike Arctic and Luxa2, Edifier is a brand dedicated to audio. Let's see if the company's Extreme Connect can distinguish itself in the ultra-portable playing field.

Bundle And First Impression

Packed in an Apple-esque white plastic case with a clear plastic cover, Edifier's Extreme Connect includes an accessory bundle that closely mirrors its ultra-portable competition. You get a USB-to-micro-USB charging cable, a 3.5 mm male-to-male input cable, a carrying case, and a manual (not shown). Considering an even higher price range between $83 and $100 on Amazon, we're all the more let down that there's no AC charger in Edifier's kit.

At least the Extreme Connect feels sturdily built, with hard rubber top and bottom caps, and wrapped in a metal mesh grille. The black-on-black motif is simple and tasteful, though there are more interesting color options available (blue, red, yellow, and gray).

The system sports two 1.9" drivers and one 2" x 3.5" passive radiator. Those are the largest speakers of the three ultra-portables we're reviewing. At 2.4" x 6.4" x 1.7" and 1 lb (450 g), though, the Extreme Connect is still fairly diminutive.

Connectivity And Controls

Edifier's product really stands apart from its competition in a comparison of connectivity. Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and a 3.5 mm audio jack are merely par for the course. But the Extreme Connect also features a microSD slot for playing music from a memory card, and the microUSB jack doubles as a PC interface. That means you can hook the speaker up to a notebook and use it as an output device. You'll find a power switch over there as well, next to the other I/O.

Other controls are up on top of the speaker, etched into the rubber material that surrounds them. This low contrast, coupled with seemingly random placement, makes the buttons less clearly defined than we'd prefer. There are seven of them in total: select input, answer phone, previous track, next track, play/pause, volume up, and volume down.

Subjective Sound Analysis

Armed with the largest drivers in the ultra-portable category, the Extreme Connect has a flat frequency response. Bass is still minimal, but the output is still reasonably good. However, Luxa2's Groovy offers the richness that Edifier is missing. There's a more pressing issue, though. The Extreme Connect runs into a lot of distortion at high volume levels, so you need to be somewhat conservative to really enjoy the sound.

The built-in microphone does a decent job with phone calls, but it seems to muffle high frequencies. It's a little quieter than Arctic's S113BT, but louder than the Groovy.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

Again, Edifier's Extreme Connect boasts a nice, flat frequency response. It also includes USB and microSD connectivity options you just can't get from any other Bluetooth-capable speaker in our round-up. Assuming you can find it at the lower end of our observed price range, you'll have a hard time choosing between this speaker and Luxa2's Groovy. Just remember that the Groovy doesn't have next/previous track controls or those unique input options.

Cambridge Audio Minx Go

Of the companies that sent in samples for our round-up, Cambridge Audio has perhaps the most impressive background when it comes to high-end equipment. Let's see if that pedigree carries over to its wireless audio hardware.

Bundle And First Impression

At $150 on Amazon, the Minx Go's price sits in the middle of our seven tested devices. This is right around where manufacturers stop assuming you'll be carrying your speaker around with you and start bundling AC adapters with their products. Unfortunately, the trade-off is that you're no longer able to charge the system over a USB connection. Other included accessories are fairly standard; you get a 3.5 mm male-to-male cable, a carrying case, and a manual in the package.

Cambridge sells its Minx Go in black or white, both with hard plastic cases and metallic mesh grilles. The build quality appears sturdy, though I'd worry about scratching the glossy finish. Also, the rear bass radiator's plastic covering is a bit flimsy. Again, I wouldn't want that component to break in a gym bag or backpack with other items.

This is the only speaker in our round-up with a deployable stand, which you can see below.

Two 3/4" tweeters and two 2" woofers work with a rear-firing passive radiator to serve up sound. The Minx Go is roughly twice as thick and high as the ultra-portables we looked at on the preceding pages. It's also about twice as heavy at 1089 grams (2.4 lbs). Measuring 4.8" x 9.3" x 2.4", you probably wouldn't want to carry it everywhere with you, though the speaker is small enough to tote around to a friend's house.

Connectivity And Controls

Wired connectivity is enabled by a 3.5 mm input, while wireless audio is transmitted over Bluetooth. Cambridge doesn't specify the standard version it's using, but does call out A2DP support. Pairing is a quick and painless process. However, there's no built-in mic for fielding phone calls out in the back yard.

See that USB port? You can use the Minx Go to charge your smartphone, but only while it's connected to AC power. That's a disappointing restriction considering the speaker's best-in-class battery life.

Cambridge's offering has the simplest control mechanism in our round-up. There are buttons for turning the volume up, turning it down, and toggling power (plus entering Bluetooth pairing mode). With no microphone, there's no need for a communications button, and it's unfortunate that there's no way to skip or repeat tracks from a playlist.

Subjective Sound Analysis

Cambridge Audio put its focus where it matters: sound quality. The dedicated tweeters and woofers facilitate a stronger response across the entire frequency range. Bass is noticeably better, and it doesn't overpower other tones. Mids and highs are equally represented, endearing the Minx Go to many types of music.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

With very little extra functionality to talk about, Cambridge Audio's Minx Go puts sound quality front and center. Of course, there are limitations to what two 2" drivers and 3/4" tweeters can do. But the Minx Go achieves more with such small drivers than any other system I've tested. Most disappointing is the lack of controls for repeating or skipping over tracks, and the inability to charge a USB-connected device using the built-in battery. Still, at $150, there isn't a better-sounding Bluetooth-capable speaker in this round-up, and the almost 24-hour battery life is simply wonderful.

SuperTooth Disco Twin

You might not have heard of SuperTooth, but this French company got its start in 2004 specializing in Bluetooth-connected speakers for cars. It since expanded into portable Bluetooth speakers and headphones.

Bundle And First Impression

SuperTooth's Disco Twin kit is, essentially, a pair of the company's Disco 2 speakers with the right satellite wirelessly connected to the left. The bundle includes almost two of everything: AC chargers, 3.5 mm male-to-male cables, and cloth carrying pouches. You can find the kit on Amazon between $160 and $170.

The speakers are built into a tough plastic frame. Their grille is wrapped in black cloth. Overall, the set has some weight to it, though the materials do feel a little cheap.

SuperTooth doesn't publish its driver specifications, but it appears that each side houses four drivers and a passive radiator. The pear-shaped towers weigh 553 grams (just under a pound), and at 7.2" x 4.3" x 2.8", carrying them around is more burdensome than the units we already reviewed. Once again, this is gym bag territory. If you'd like to get a little more portable, it is possible to use one of the enclosures on its own instead.

Connectivity And Controls

Like most of the competition, SuperTooth's Disco Twin accepts analog input through its 3.5 mm jack or a wireless Bluetooth connection. As mentioned, each enclosure can operate independently, though only the left side is outfit for both input types. The right side is limited to a wired signal through its 3.5 mm jack if you use it on its own. Listening to the two enclosures together from a wired source requires a splitter, which isn't included. 

The Disco Twin paired with our smartphone quickly. There was an intermittent lag issue where audio cut out, but repeating the pairing process solved the issue. SuperTooth doesn't include a mic, and USB charging isn't supported either.

We're happy to report that SuperTooth's controls are both simple and obvious. There are six buttons on top of each speaker to turn volume down, to turn it up, to toggle power or make a Bluetooth connection, to replay a previous track, slip to the next track, or play and pause the current track. With the speaker turned on, the buttons light up. And used cooperatively, either speaker can navigate your library (though the volume controls are independent). 

Subjective Sound Analysis

SuperTooth's Disco Twin is the product in our round-up that facilitates great stereo separation as you move enclosures away from each other. Unfortunately, the frequency response sounds incomplete; there's adequate bass, but some of the mids are clearly missing and the highs don't quite sound right either.

If you didn't have these other units next to you for comparison, the Disco Twin would likely sound better. But right after listening to Cambridge's Minx Go, for example, the difference is noticeable. I also ran into considerable distortion at the highest volume levels, so plan on dialing back for the best experience.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

The ability to set satellites apart for greater stereo separation is unique to the Disco Twin, and the system retains its portability if you want to stick with one enclosure on its own. That's an unmatched level of flexibility in this round-up. Maximizing SuperTooth's kit means setting speakers on different sides of a home, filling an entire living space with music. Not possible with Bluetooth? Au contraire. The Disco Twin achieves best-in-class range, hitting 34 meters line-of-sight before dropping the wireless signal.

Plenty of volume is also a plus. Unfortunately, this kit demonstrates weaknesses along the frequency spectrum, falling short against its competition when we isolate sound quality. SuperTooth has an interesting product on its hands, though, which may appeal to customers looking to fill a space with music.

Eton Rukus XL

Eton isn't a common name is household audio, but the company has been around since the mid-'80s. It specializes in battery-powered audio devices able to harness alternative power sources like solar energy.

Bundle And First Impression

The Rukus XL costs $200 on Amazon. At that price, the bundle isn't particularly impressive; it includes an AC adapter and documentation. Don't let that modest list fool you though. This product is actually very functional.

It's unique-looking, to start. Eton uses a rugged black plastic frame with what feels like hard rubber around the sides. The speakers are covered by a gray metal mesh. The design is simple and attractive, equally suited to a bookshelf or campsite. 

The Rukus XL measures 14.5" x 8.1" x 5.2" and weighs 3175 grams (7 lbs), making it the largest and heaviest entry into our round-up. Don't count on slipping this speaker into your backpack. It's a boombox that thankfully sports a built-in handle, though we would have liked the handle to be tackier than just smooth plastic.

A piece of soft rubber covers the control buttons, suggesting some degree of weather resistance. Eton does claim its system is suitable for outdoor use, but stops short of making any guarantees about the speakers ability to repel rain or dust. Speaking of outdoor use, though, the back of the enclosure is covered by a solar panel that deploys to charge the built-in battery. Eton claims it can fill the depleted power source in five hours given direct sunlight.

Connectivity And Controls

You can send audio to the Rukus XL through a Bluetooth 2.1 connection or a 3.5 mm audio jack. The analog input does not automatically sense a signal, so you have to press the Aux button to switch over.

This is the only product in our round-up able to charge another device connected through USB from its battery (without the AC adapter plugged in). Combined with the solar panel, you end up with some compelling possibilities. For example, you could take the Rukus XL on a sunny day trip to the lake, using it for entertainment and to keep everyone's cell phones charged up. Of course, if you prefer, USB charging can also be disabled to save power.

The USB charging point is located behind a protective compartment, giving you a convenient place to stash your phone as it charges. Eton's speaker even paired to our Android-based cell quickly via Bluetooth. It's only missing an integrated microphone, so you can't use the device for taking calls.

There are nine buttons up top: power, volume down, volume up, bass boost, auxilliary input select, pause/play, next track, previous track, and a battery life indicator.

Subjective Sound Analysis

Eton's Rukus XL delivers solid audio performance, punctuated by clear mids and crisp highs. Bass is a little subdued compared to other frequencies, but the overall sound quality is enjoyable. You may run into distortion at the highest volume level, but backing off ameliorates the issue.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

While the Rukus XL doesn't belt out the best sound in today's competition, it's still distinctly good. The speaker's greatest strength is its utility, though. Charge the battery through an integrated solar panel while you top off your cell phone? Sure, why not? That's a great way to keep a pool party going all day long (not like you need the panel; the battery lasted almost 23 hours in our test, and that was indoors). We also measured an impressive 25-meter wireless range, which was the third-best result. If you spend equal time indoors and out, there's a good chance you'll appreciate the Rukus XL's flexibility, even at $200.

Logitech UE Boombox

Last but not least we have Logitech's UE Boombox. This company is no stranger to the PC space, and it's somewhat notorious for audio products with pumped-up bass.

Bundle And First Impression

We run across another sparse bundle consisting of an AC charger and some documentation. Considering the relatively high $250 price tag, it would have been nice to see some sort of carrying case to keep this pricey product protected in transport.

Logitech is good with aesthetics, and the UE Boombox is another of the company's attractive offerings. It sports a minimalist design built around a solid aluminum frame that braces the sides and curves into a carrying handle. A beige metal grille wraps over the top to cover the front and back, while a hard rubber base provides protection. Blue accents on the sides and a monogrammed UE on the front are subtle additions. It's a beautiful-looking piece of hardware. However, function irritatingly follows form. The handle doesn't leave enough space for an adult hand to wrap around without grating along the grille.

At 6.5" x 15.2" x 3.1" and 1980 grams (4.4 lbs), the UE Boombox is really only about one-third larger than Cambridge Audio's Minx Go. But the overall design and empty space below the handle project grander dimensions. Logitech's speaker could easily fit in a gym bag, but we'd be worried about scuffing that pretty aluminum finish. The enclosure plays host to two 0.5" tweeters, two 3" woofers, and four 2 5/8" passive bass radiators.

Connectivity And Controls

Inputs include a wireless Bluetooth 3.0 connection and a 3.5 mm jack for analog two-channel sound. The UE Boombox managed an impressive 11 hours of playback during our test. However, there's no USB charging port to keep your smartphone topped off. That's a little disappointing, given Logitech's asking price.

At least the UE Boombox will pair with your smartphone quickly. It's just a shame that there's no integrated microphone for hands-free calling.

Like its industrial design, the Boombox's controls are minimalist. A large touch-sensitive panel on the right controls volume. On the left, you have a power switch and Bluetooth pairing button. The combination is elegant and simple, though the option to navigate to and from songs would be nice.

Subjective Sound Analysis

Logitech's UE Boombox stands out when it comes to rip-roaring bass. That's great in an outdoor environment, where the frequencies you can feel are quickly lost. Indoors, though, the emphasis on lows becomes overpowering. The rest of the spectrum is well-represented, but the bass can be so strong as to mask everything else.

If you're into electronic dance, trance, or dubstep, this could very well be perfect. I'm not in the UE Boombox's target market, so it's really not my thing. There will be genres that just love what Logitech's speaker system is optimized for, though.

Livability And Subjective Conclusion

I respect the bass-heavy sound that Logitech's UE Boombox brings to the table, and I admire the company's high-quality materials and design. We measured a best-in-class Bluetooth range of 34 meters (more than 110 feet) before losing signal.

With all of that said, this is also the priciest speaker in our round-up. Although battery life proved ample at 11 hours, we still wish Logitech would have integrated a USB charting point for other devices. A fan of EDM might be willing to spend close to $250 on the UE Boombox's unique approach to wireless music. Others won't be so quick to pay such a premium price when other contenders include more functionality.

Results: Frequency Response, Volume, And Bluetooth Range

Tom’s Hardware doesn't write about a ton of audio equipment, so we'll give you some background information to help make sense of the frequency response charts.

Ideally, speakers are tested in an audio-neutral environment called an anechoic chamber. Our testing is performed in a lab. Because it's not an anechoic chamber, the room will affect the results to some degree. We'll identify some trends that persist across all of the tested speakers due to the environment, but our results are mostly relative, comparing the speakers to each other.

Here's a quick legend of the audio spectrum:
20 to 60 Hz: The sub-bass range. This isn’t heard so much as it's felt. Sound in this range provides a sense of power.
60 to 250 Hz: The bass range. This is where you hear the bass rhythm, especially in the 90 to 200 Hz area.
250 to 500 Hz: The lower midrange. It’s also called the bass presence range.
500 Hz to 2 kHz: The midrange. This is where you hear instruments and vocals.
2 kHz to 4 kHz: The upper midrange. Higher instruments and most vocals are heard here, and the human ear is very sensitive to changes in this range.
4 kHz to 6 kHz: The presence range. Too little sound in this range will make the audio seem like it’s coming from farther away.
6 kHz to 20 kHz: The brilliance range. This is where you hear harmonics and clarity, and accented sound in this range will make it seem crisper and clearer with higher fidelity.

Armed with this knowledge, here are the frequency responses of the speakers in our round-up.

Generally speaking, it appears that our lab causes a gradual dip from 200 Hz down to 1 kHz, and then back up again at 5 kHz. With this in mind, let's consider the results.

First, we'll concentrate on the ultra-portables: the Arctic S113BT, Luxa2 Groovy, and Edifier Extreme Connect. Starting with bass at 50 Hz, the Groovy shows an advantage in our test environment. By 100 Hz, the Extreme Connect catches up. Given these results, it'd appear that Arctic's S113BT suffers in the bass department, and that's exactly what we reported from our subjective testing. The lines come closer in the rest of the spectrum, but Edifier enjoys the flattest response overall. Luxa2's Groovy spikes in the upper midrange, but drops off fast in the brilliance range, while Arctic's entry delivers a bit more after 15 kHz.

Next, the portables from Cambridge Audio and SuperTooth. The Minx Go delivers an impressive performance starting at the bottom of the bass range and continuing up to the presence range at 5 kHz, where it suffers a few bumps. The SuperTooth Disco Twin looks inconsistent in comparison, with good low-end response followed by a significant midrange dip and then a drop in the presence range starting at about 4 kHz.

Finally, we have the big guns: Eton's Ruckus XL and Logitech's UE Boombox. The UE Boombox looks good, but you see how the massive bass can overpower the rest of the spectrum, which is admirably flat. As for the Ruckus XL, it sports a nice, even response, except for a strange peak in the 9 kHz range.

All of this objective data supports our own observations, so we're happy to have a chart that doesn't toss a handful of surprises at us. We'll move on to measuring the maximum volume each speaker system outputs.

It's interesting that Luxa2's Groovy and Arctic's S113BT deliver lower maximum volume using the 3.5 mm input, rather than Bluetooth. Otherwise, the only other interesting observation is that the Groovy can get so loud, despite its tiny dimensions (at least through its wireless connection).

Now for a look at Bluetooth reception range.

There's a big difference between Bluetooth implementations. We're not surprised to see the larger options performing so well. However, we weren't expecting SuperTooth's Disco Twin to lead the pack, tied with Logitech's UE Boombox.

Next, we put battery life to the test by emulating an indoor workplace. Each speaker is 20 inches (50 cm) from the listener, broadcasting a Songza playlist, and producing about 46 decibels of sound pressure.

While the ultra-portables tap out around five or six hours, SuperTooth's Disco Twin manages eight. Logitech's UE Boombox keeps the music going for 11 hours, while Cambridge Audio's Minx Go and Eton's Ruckus XL each come close to hitting a full day of playback. Battery life will go down as the volume goes up, of course.

Finally, let's consider the built-in microphones for hands-free mode. This test is limited to the ultra-portables: Arctic's S113BT, Luxa2's Groovy, and Edifier's Extreme Connect.

Arctic's S113BT gives us the loudest and brightest response, but not the clearest. The Groovy cuts out a lot of noise at the expense of volume. Edifier's Extreme Connect sits somewhere in the middle.

Four Bluetooth Speakers Receive Recognition

These price segments yield so much differentiation that we decided to recognize models in each class. Starting from the top, we have $200 to $300.

Eton Rukus XL

If you combine solid sound quality, good aesthetics, and incredible utility, you get Eton's Rukus XL. We love the ability to charge this speaker using its built-in solar panel, along with an attached smartphone through USB. I can't imagine anything I'd rather take on a camping trip. Of course, the Rukus XL is just as comfortable in your backyard, the kitchen, or in a living room.

When it comes to volume, Bluetooth range, and battery life, you get top-tier performance across our testing suite. This product truly deserves a Tom's Hardware Smart Buy award.

Next, $100 to $200.

Cambridge Audio Minx Go

Arguably the most balanced and best-sounding option in our round-up, despite being small enough to tote in a gym bag, Cambridge Audio's Minx Go also boasts the longest battery life in our comparison. The $150 speaker deserves our Smart Buy award based on those traits alone. If it also included a good mic for answering phone calls, controls for skipping and repeating audio tracks, and USB-based charging without the AC adapter, it would have received Elite recognition instead. Hopefully Cambridge Audio considers those capabilities for its next-gen effort.

Lastly, lets look at what you can find under $100.

Luxa2 Groovy

It's attractive, built using high-quality materials, and it sounds larger and louder than a diminutive stature might suggest. At a relatively low price of $83 on Amazon.com, we have a hard time finding fault with Luxa2's Groovy. We would have liked controls for navigating to the next or previous track on a playlist, but that's a small critique overall. In the end, there's no deterring us from granting a Tom's Hardware Smart Buy award to this value leader.

Edifier Extreme Connect

While the Groovy earns our Smart Buy award, Edifier's Extreme Connect comes close with solid frequency response across the audio spectrum and a host of unique features, such as microSD connectivity and built-in circuitry for using the speaker attached to a PC via USB. With a price just a bit higher than its competition, some folks might find the extra money worth spending for that extra flexibility. 

Many device makers are now starting to announce products they plan to showcase during the IFA 2013 show in Berlin next week. LG Electronics is one of several on the pre-IFA list, reporting that its 29EA73, 29EB73 and 29MA73 UltraWide 21:9 IPS monitors will make an appearance. Joining these will be an actual UltraWide All-In-One PC, the V960. Honestly, it was only a matter of time.

The company is unsurprisingly quiet on the hardware details, waiting to unload the full surprise next week. However, LG confirmed that this UltraWide AIO PC will sport Windows 8 along with Nvidia's GeForce GT 640M GPU to handle whatever resolution LG is planning to splash across the rig's 29 inch super-wide screen (possibly 2560 x 1080). The V960 will also have HDMI input and a picture-in-picture feature so users can watch their daytime dramas while surfing for the latest soap star gossip on the same screen.

"Since LG's launch of the world's first 21:9 aspect ratio monitor nearly a year ago, consumer interest in this new class of displays has seen a huge increase," said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT business division at LG Electronics. "The IPS 21:9 UltraWide All-In-One PC will further solidify LG's reputation as a leader in this relatively new but growing UltraWide segment."

As for the three new UltraWide monitors, we covered this announcement in early August. However, the company said in a separate statement on Thursday that it also plans to unveil its new Sound Plate solution for the TV sound system industry during the Berlin-based show. This device will measure just 35 mm tall, allowing it to be placed underneath any 32 inch to 55 inch HDTV. The upcoming Sound Plate will include a 4.1 channel sound system with dual built-in subwoofers.

"Projecting full-bodied audio in multiple directions, the Sound Plate creates an incredibly immersive auditory experience," the company said. "LG's innovative Sound Plate also incorporates a neodymium magnet capable of producing powerful audio. Bluetooth support is also offered for easy wireless connectivity with smartphones, tablets and other wireless devices."

LG's audio video lineup at IFA 2013 will also include the LG Sound Bar, the BH9530TW home theater system, Smart Blu-ray players, docking and portable speakers, and even LG's Micro Audio System (model CM3430). A number of Home Entertainment PC products will also be on hand at IFA 2013 such as the latest Ultra PCs and Tab-Book, the company said.

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Acer America launched on Wednesday a new AIO desktop PC focused on high-quality music playback, the Z3-605 series. They're packed with two front-facing Harman Kardon 3 watt speakers that "accurately produce crystal-clear audio that's as close to the original recording as possible." The speakers are backed by Dolby Home Theater v4 that delivers music, movies and games in dynamic surround sound.

"Integrating Harman Kardon speakers is an important milestone and showcases Acer innovation and technology leadership," said Frank Chang, director of desktop product management for Acer America. "Acer is the first in the market to bring Harman Kardon premium sound to a mainstream all-in-one desktop, setting a new standard." 

Acer's website shows that the company is offering four models: the AZ3-605-UR20 for $699.99, the AZ3-605-UR21 for $799.99, the AZ3-605-UR22 for $899.99, and the AZ3-605-UR23 for $999.99. All four sport a 23 inch Hull HD IPS display with viewing angles up to 178 degrees, but only select models offer 10-point multi-touch input with hand recognition software.

According to Acer, all four sport an ergonomic chassis with a 10 to 30 degree adjustment. There's also an integrated 1MP webcam, capable of 720p image capture, which can be adjusted between 0 and 20 degrees. A unique, capsule-shape port bay on the front groups together the on-screen display button, SD card reader, a USB 3.0 port and a 2-in-1 combo audio jack.

All four models also pack HDMI input for connecting a set-top box or game console, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an integrated SuperMulti optical drive, Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and a 1 TB 7200 RPM HDD connected via a SATA 3 interface. Intel HD Graphics seems to be the GPU of choice for all four models.

Naturally all four have different CPU and memory configurations. The cheapest AIO in the bunch, the AZ3-605-UR20, has an Intel Pentium 2127U dual-core processor clocked at 1.9 GHz (2 MB of cache) and 6 GB of DDR3 memory ( 16 GB max). The top-of-the-line model, Acer's AZ3-605-UR23, has an Intel Core i5-3337U dual core processor clocked at 1.8 GHz (3 MB of cache) and 8 GB of DDR3 memory (16 GB max).

The specs also show that the AZ3-605-UR21 sports the same Pentium CPU as the UR20 and only 4 GB of DDR3 memory, but it's more expensive because of the 10-point touch input and hand motion software. The UR22 model bumps the processor up a notch while retaining the 10-point touch input, software and RAM amount, using an Intel core i3-3220 dual-core CPU clocked at 3.3 GHz (3 MB of cache) instead. Apparently the only model in this foursome without 10-point touch input is the $699.99 UR20 model.

So there you go: four new Windows 8 AIO desktops with a decent set of hardware for movie buffs and casual gamers. This new series should pop up in retail soon, otherwise head here to grab one directly from Acer.

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If you're looking for a good speaker system to compliment your library of PC games and movies, Genius has released the SW-G5.1 3500 here in the States for $149.99 USD. It's a 5.1 surround sound 80-watt RMS speaker system that promises gameplay advantages in first-person shooters over your standard off-the-shelf solution.

According to the specs, the system contains one 6.5-inch subwoofer (5 ohm) providing 30 watts of "heart-thumping" bass as low as 50Hz. There are also five 3.5-inch satellite speakers (4 ohm) which can be hung on walls thanks to their hook design, pumping out 10 watts each for positional audio. A remote control is provided for convenient volume and bass adjustment.

"The 5.1 surround sound setup of the SW-G5.1 3500 gives gamers an advantage in first person shooter games by allowing them to pinpoint enemy locations by sound alone," the company said on Tuesday. "Gaming on regular stereo speakers only allows users to discern between right and left. The 5.1 sound enables gamers to listen to opponents' footsteps from all surrounding directions."

In addition to the remote control, users can adjust sound and bass from the control panel on the subwoofer itself. Control options also include a STANDBY and an AUX/5.1 CH switch function, which enables users to flip between gaming and music listening. On the front is a headphone and microphone jack, and on the back are three RCA jacks with 5.1 CH color coding and an additional AUX 3.5-mm input.

"Offering booming bass, crisp middle to high range sound, and the flexibility to connect to gaming, music, and other entertainment devices, the SW-G5.1 3500 surround sound speaker system epitomizes the high-quality that the GX Gaming Series represents in a louder more versatile design," the company said.

The Genius SW-G5.1 3500 system is now available in the US and Canada for the suggested retail price of $149.99. It's part of the company's GX Gaming series which can be seen here.

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Enermax looks set to impress at this year's CeBIT with a range of product offerings. First we have the company's new lineup of silent PSUs that feature heatsinks instead of cooling fans, fully modular cabling and 80 Plus Platinum Compliance. Although further details on pricing and availability are still pending, we do know that the new PSUs will be available with a variety of outputs ranging from 500 to 700 W. 

Following on from the PSUs are Enermax's new range of gaming orientated chassis including the Fulmo ST ATX mid-tower which has room for 240 mm radiators, internal liquid cooling loops, space for 3 graphics cards and ten 3.5 / 2.5" drive bays. The Fulmo ST is expected to arrive on store shelves in April 2013.

Finally we have the DreamBass Cooler which is an interesting combination of laptop cooler, USB soundcard and stereo speaker that can handle a maximum of 15.6" notebooks. This device is intended to offer audio quality that will "do justice to bass" and accordingly holds sets of drivers that handle lows and mids, and tweeters for the highs.

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On Thursday Genius launched a cool Bluetooth portable speaker designed to work with mobile devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets, measuring 195- x 82- x 82-mm. Called the SP-960BT, it's ideal for the home, office or a day in the park, packed with a rechargeable battery and two 2-inch drivers providing four watts of output.

"Convenience is key," the company said. "The Genius SP-960BT is compact enough to be easily carried around with you, and can play without being plugged into a power source. This speaker can play continuously for up to fifteen hours thanks to its built-in 1800mAh lithium-ion battery. When the battery does run out, the SP-960BT can be fully charged in no more than 4 hours via the included USB cable."

The speaker features a play/Bluetooth button on the back for easily syncing it to a compatible device – a blue LED indicator on the front of the SP-960BT blinks when the device is paired. For devices without Bluetooth capabilities, there's an AUX-in jack available on the back.

On the specs side, the Genius SP-960BT features Bluetooth 3.0, a frequency response of 200 Hz ~ 20 Khz, an impedance of 4ohm +/-10%, and a wireless range of 30 feet. It's now available in the U.S. and Canada for the suggested retail price of $69.99.

This new Bluetooth speaker was actually one of the many products Genius had on display last month at CES 2013 in Las Vegas. The company also showcased a redesigned carbon grey Pen Mouse using 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity which is now available in the U.S. For $49.99 USD. It also had on display for hands-on the awesomely cool Genius GX Gaming Series Gila 12-button configurable mouse, available now in the U.S. and Canada for $99.99.

"Genius' GX Gaming Series Gila lets gamers switch among 5 different previously assigned dpi levels directly from the mouse for precision targeting (200 dpi) to lightning fast movements (8200 dpi)," the company said. " Adding Gila's 1 ms response time to aid in situations that require quick twitch reactions, this GX Series mouse is capable of keeping up with any gaming scenario."

Also in the Genius booth was the Ring Mouse 2, a ring-style touch air mouse that you actually wear on your finger. It's slated as the "world’s first ring style touch cursor controller for business, travel, education and i-users" using a patented touch control technology. Wearers of the gadget can perform actual mouse functions like cursor movement, left/middle/right buttons, dragging and 4-way scrolling.

The company also showcased a pen tablet slated to undercut Wacom in price, the EasyPen F610E, measuring 6.25- x 10-inches. Features included 2048 levels of pen pressure, a high 4000 LPI, report rates of 200 PPS, and eight programmable macro keys compatible with paint or office functions. It comes bundled with Corel Painter Essentials 4 for sketching, painting and turning photos into paintings.

As seen below, the company also had other great-looking gaming speakers, keyboards and headsets on display.

_{Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback}

Top Deals

AudioSnax X-1 Bluetooth Speaker for $35 with free shipping at Groupon (normally $79).

24" Dell UltraSharp U2410 1920 x 1200 IPS-panel LCD Monitor w/3-year Advanced Exchange Warranty for $399 with free shipping (normally $549).

Logitech Keyboard Case for Apple iPad (3rd and 4th gen compatible) for $69.99 with free shipping at ZAGG.

Laptops:

15.6" Dell Inspiron 15 3rd Gen Core i3 Laptop w/4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive for $399.99 with free shipping (normally $449.99).

15.6" Toshiba Satellite P850-BT3N22 Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz Dual-core Laptop w/4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 2-year warranty, Backlit Keyboard, 12-month NIS subscription & Windows 8 for $599.99 with free shipping at Toshiba Direct (normally $699).

15.5" Sony VAIO S Core i5 Ultra-portable Laptop w/8GB RAM, 750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, 1GB GeForce GT 640M LE, 1080p IPS LCD, Backlit Keyboard + Free Docking Station for $999.99 with free shipping at Sony Store (normally $1,189.98 - add dock/sheet battery under accessories).

Over 30% off + Extra $50 coupon on Dell Precision M4700 Mobile Workstation- range starting $1,069 with free shipping (normally $1,299 - use coupon code CTTN1NJ$64LH4Q ).

14" Toshiba Satellite L840-BT3N22 Core i3 Laptop w/6GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive & Windows 8 for $479.99 at ToshibaDirect (normally $549).

Desktops:

Dell Vostro 270 Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-core Desktop w/21.5" E2213 1080 LED-backlit LCD Monitor for $499 with free shipping (normally $588.99).

20" Dell Inspiron One 2020 Core i3 All-in-one PC w/4GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive & Windows 8 for $579.99 with free shipping (normally $679.99).

Computing Hardware & Peripherals:

1.5TB Toshiba Canvio Basic USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive for $89.99 with free shipping at Best Buy (normally $109.99).

120GB Samsung 840 Series 2.5" SATA III SSD for $99 with free shipping at B&H Photo Video (normally $119).

PNY GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB GDDR5 Video Card + Assassin's Creed III (PC) for $249.99 with free shipping at Dell (normally $299 - use $30 mail-in rebate form).

22" Dell Professional P2213 16:10 LED-backlit LCD Monitor w/ 3-year warranty for $169.99 with free shipping (normally $219.99 - use coupon code PTB87?3BDGDLF5 ).

18.5" Dell E1912H 5ms LED-backlit LCD Monitor w/ 3-year Advanced Exchange Warranty for $99.99 with free shipping (normally $139.99 - use coupon code ).

OSP Designs X-Text 29.5" L-Shaped Computer Desk for $203.99 with free shipping at Wayfair (normally $395).

Techni Mobili Moderna Glass Top Computer Desk for $98.10 with free shipping at ZooStores (normally $201 - use coupon code HOLIDA10 ).

Home Entertainment:

65" Panasonic Viera TC-P65VT50 3D 1080p Plasma HDTV for $2,535.99 with free shipping at BuySquad (normally $2,799).

Today only! 40" Westinghouse UW40T2BW 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV for $359.99 with free shipping at Best Buy (normally $429.99).

6' T-Rex HDMI Cable for $2 at Groupon (normally $8).

Movies:

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) for $24.99 at Amazon (normally $39).

Phones & Tablets:

Samsung Galaxy S III Smartphone [w/new 2-year Sprint contract] + Free Activation for $85.49 with free shipping at Let's Talk (normally $149 - use coupon code TALKLOGIC ).

10.1" Dell XPS 10 Windows RT 32GB Tablet starting $449.99 with free shipping (normally $499.99 - use coupon code CTTN1NJ$64LH4Q ).

Personal Portables and Cameras:

Samsung MV800 16.1MP 5X Digital Camera w/ 3-inch Touchscreen Flip-Out LCD for $179 with free shipping at BuyDig (normally $219).

Parrot MINIKIT NEO Hands-Free Bluetooth Car Kit for $82.99 with free shipping at Sonic Electronix (normally $99).

Polaroid XS100HD 1080P Sports Video Camera Bundle for $165.99 with free shipping at BeachCamera (normally $199).

Audio-Technica ATH-ES7 Portable Stainless Steel Headphones (Black) for $99 with free shipping (normally $149).

Cool Stuff:

Electronic Brain Trainer Video Game (10 Games) for $12.99 at Kmart (normally $19).

PerfPower 48 Pack "AA" Alkaline Batteries + Earbuds for $9.99 with free shipping at Adorama (normally $24.96).

Top Deals

Panasonic SC-HTB350 2.1-Channel SoundBar Speaker System with Wireless Subwoofer for $149.99 with free shipping at Best Buy (normally $299.99).

Nikon COOLPIX P510 16.1MP Digital Camera w/ 42x Optical Zoom & Geo-Tagging for $346.95 with free shipping at BuyDig (normally $379).

15.6" Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition Core i7 Quad-core Laptop w/1080p LCD, 2GB Radeon HD 7730M, Backlit Keyboard for $849.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $1,138.99).

Laptops:

17.3" Toshiba Satellite C870-ST3NX3 Core i3 Laptop w/4GB RAM, 640GB Hard Drive for $499.99 with free shipping at Toshiba Direct (normally $599).

15.6" Dell Vostro 2520 1.7GHz Dual-core Celeron Laptop w/Ubuntu Linux for $299 with free shipping at Dell Small Office (normally $358).

14" Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Core i7 Laptop w/8GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive & GeForce 610M for $729 with free shipping at Lenovo Direct (normally $1,149 - use coupon code USPU4890103 ).

13.3" Apple MacBook Pro 13.3" Retina Display Notebook w/8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Thunderbolt for $1,575.22 with free shipping at B&H (normally $1,699).

Desktops:

HP ENVY h8-1420t Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-core Desktop PC w/8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Radeon HD 7570 for $699.99 with free shipping at HP Direct (normally $799 - use coupon code HP100INTEL ).

Dell Vostro 470 3rd Gen Core i5 Quad-core Desktop w/4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Wireless-N, Bluetooth 4.0, Windows 7 for $499 with free shipping at Dell Small Office (normally $599 - use $50 coupon code).

Computing Hardware & Peripherals:

Logitech Speaker System Z553 w/ 40W RMS Power & 3 Device Inputs for $109.89 with free shipping at PCNation (normally $129).

HP Photosmart 6520 e-All-in-One Printer for $119 with free shipping at PC Nation (normally $149).

Just released! 27" Dell UltraSharp U2713H 2560 x 1440 LCD Monitor w/3-year warranty, USB 3.0 Hub & DisplayPort 1.2 for $849.99 with free shipping at Dell Small Office (normally $999).

Gaming:

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics (Wii) for $27 with free shipping at Groupon (normally $39).

Portal 2 (Xbox 360) for $18.99 with free shipping at Newegg (normally $23.99).

Home Entertainment:

60" Samsung PN60E550 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV + Samsung BD-E5900 3D Blu-ray Player Bundle for $1,297.99 with free shipping at Dell (normally $1,499).

55" Panasonic Viera TC-L55E50 120Hz 1080p LED HDTV for $799.99 with free shipping at Paul's TV (normally $999 - use coupon code SAVE50 ).

Movies:

Anastasia (Blu-ray) for $8.99 at Amazon (normally $12.99).

Horton Hears a Who! (Blu-ray) for $8.99 at Amazon (normally $12.99).

Phones & Tablets:

9" Lenovo IdeaPad A2109 16GB Tegra 3 Tablet w/Android 4.0 for $249 with free shipping at Lenovo Direct (normally $375 - use coupon code 7DAYDEAL ).

HTC Droid DNA 5" 1080p Smartphone [2-year Verizon contract, new or upgrades] for $107.99 with free shipping at Let's Talk (normally $149 - use coupon code TALK4TEN ).

Samsung Galaxy Note II 5.6" Smartphone [w/new 2-year Sprint contract] for $139.99 with free shipping at Amazon Wireless (normally $199).

Personal Portables and Cameras:

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W690 16.1 MP Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom for $128 with free shipping at Adorama (normally $149).

Cool Stuff/Miscellaneous:

Calvin Klein Men's Basic Watch (K2A27138) for $119 with free shipping at Ashford (normally $425).

Flash Furniture WL-3425-GG Ergonomic Kneeling Chair for $138.16 with free shipping at HomeClick (normally $161).

Flash Furniture LF-W-118A-BK-GG Mid-Back Chair for $59.99 with free shipping at BizChair (normally $89.99).

Top Deals

Save yourself time and money on that home theater upgrade with this package from Pinnacle. The MB8000 Microburst system has 3-element 3? front/center/left speakers, two rear 3" satellite speakers, and a powerful 300W subwoofer, perfect for breathing new life into your favorite music and movies. We don't usually see a high end package like this on sale, so head over and treat your ears to some new speakers before this deal disappears.

Pinnacle Speakers MB8000 5.1 Channel 500W Microburst Home Theater System for $219.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $299.99 - use $80 coupon code JSSQJ70FQD8Q1P ).

24" Dell S2440L VA panel 1080p LED-backlit LCD Monitor for $189.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $259.99).

Logitech K750 Wireless Solar Keyboard for $50.99 with free shipping (normally $59.99 - use 15% coupon code P83Q8GXNJK9Q0R ).

Laptops:

17.3" HP ENVY dv7t Quad Edition Core i7 Quad-core Ivy Bridge Laptop w/8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Blu-ray, GeForce GT 630M for $849.99 with $9.99 shipping at HP Home (normally $999.99 - use $150 coupon code NB46372 ).

15.6" Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition 1080p Core i7 Laptop w/ Windows 8, 8GB RAM, 2GB Radeon HD 7730M for $911.19 with free shipping (normally $1,138.99 - use 20% coupon code).

15.6" Toshiba Satellite L955-S5360 3rd Gen Core i3 ULV Laptop w/4GB RAM, 640GB HDD, Intel HD 4000 graphics & Windows 8 for $479.99 at Toshiba Direct (normally $579.99).

13.3" Apple MacBook Pro (MD212LL/A) Retina Display Core i5 Notebook + Parallels Desktop 8 for $1,614.95 with free shipping at B&H (normally $1,699).

Desktops:

Dell Optiplex 3010 3rd gen Core i5 Quad-core Mini Tower + 24" U2412M UltraSharp LCD Monitor for $749 with free shipping at Dell Small Office (normally $899).

Dell Inspiron 660 3rd Gen Core i5 Quad-core Desktop w/8GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive for $529.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $699.99).

Computing Hardware & Peripherals:

EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 Video Card w/DisplayPort for $239.99 with free shipping at Newegg (normally $319.99 - use $20 mail-in rebate form).

Home Entertainment:

55" Samsung UN55ES7100 1080p 720Hz 3D LED Smart TV w/built-in WiFi for $1,529.99 with free shipping at BuySquad (normally $1,999.99).

50" Element ELDFT501 1080p LCD HDTV for $489.99 with free shipping at Target (normally $649.99).

Phones & Tablets:

ASUS TF600T VivoTab 10.1" Windows RT 32GB Tablet + Mobile Dock for $549 with free shipping at B&H (normally $799.98 - use rebate form).

LG Spectrum 2 4.7" HD LTE Global Smartphone [w/new 2-year Verizon contract] for $49.99 with free shipping at Verizon (normally $99.99 - use coupon code VZWCYBMON ).

Personal Portables and Cameras:

18.2MP Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX200V Waterproof Digital Camera w/ 3.3" OLED display for $429 with free shipping at BuyDig (normally $499).

Cool Stuff:

Free Two (2) Sound + Vision Magazine Print Issues (via Mercury Magazines).

Top Deals

This surround-sound set from Logitech has it all: 5 speakers + subwoofer, THX certification, 3D support, a simple control box, and wireless remote. You can connect up to 6 devices at once to pump audio into this hi-fi system. The rigorous THX certification ensures like-youíre-there clarity and depth. The Z906 will make the most of your PCís audio.

Logitech Z906 5.1-channel 3D Surround Sound THX-certified Speaker System for $299.99 at TigerDirect (+ shipping based on location) (normally $399.99).

15.6" Dell Inspiron 15R 2nd Gen Core i3 Laptop w/6GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive for $449.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $819.99 - use $100 coupon code).

Ends soon! 55" LG 55LM4600 1080p 3D 120Hz LED HDTV for $999.99 with free shipping at TigerDirect (normally $1,899.99 - use $100 coupon code PNT72775 ).

Laptops:

17.3" Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition Core i7 Ivy Bridge Quad-core 1080p Laptop w/8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Backlit Keyboard, 2GB GeForce GT 650M for $949.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $1,138.99 - use $150 coupon code).

17.3" Toshiba Satellite L870-BT2N22 Core i3 Laptop w/4GB RAM, 640GB HDD & 25% off upgrades for $487.49 with free shipping on $499+ order at ToshibaDirect (normally $649.99).

15.6" Dell XPS 15 Core i7 Quad-core Laptop w/ 1TB HDD, Mobile Broadband & Designer Lid for $999.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $1,518.99 - use $519 coupon code).

13.3" Acer Aspire S5 Core i7 Ultrabook + 11.6" Netbook for $999 with free shipping at Microsoft Store (normally $1,399).

ThinkPad Sale: Extra 15% off X230, W530, T430s Laptops at Lenovo.com (use coupon code TOPSELLERS ).

Desktops:

Gateway DX4870-UR10P Core i7-3770 Quad-core Ivy Bridge Desktop w/6GB RAM, 500GB HDD for $599.97 + shipping based on location at TigerDirect (normally $699.99).

Dell XPS 8500 Core i7-3770 Quad-core Ivy Bridge Laptop w/8GB RAM, 2TB Hard Drive, Radeon HD 7570 for $749 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $999.99 - use $100 coupon code).

Dell Optiplex 390 Intel 2.7GHz Dual-core Mini Tower + Free $200 Gift Card for $379 with free shipping at Dell Small Office (normally $664).

Computing Hardware & Peripherals:

Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz Dual-core CPU (retail) for $79.99 with $2.29 shipping at TigerDirect (noramlly $124.99 - use coupon code UNX72958 ).

128GB OCZ Agility 4 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD for $84.99 with $2.29 shipping at TigerDirect (normally $119.99 - use $15 mail-in rebate form).

Refurbished Linksys WET610N Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge with Dual-Band for $34.19 with free shipping (noramlly $49.99 - use coupon code SDISH5 ).

27" Acer S271HLbid 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight Monitor for $249.99 with free shipping (normally $299.99 - use $40 coupon code EMCJNNA27 ).

23" ASUS VS239H-P 5ms HDMI IPS Panel LED-Backlight Monitor + $20 Newegg.com Gift Card for $159.99 with free shipping at Newegg (normally $199.99 - use $10 mail-in rebate form).

Gaming:

Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition (PS3) for $15.99 with free shipping at Newegg (normally $29.99).

Free $15 Newegg gift card with Dishonored (Xbox 360/PS3/PC) + Free shipping.

Home Entertainment:

55" Panasonic VIERA TC-L55ET5 3D 1080p 120hz LED HDTV for $1,244 with free shipping at BuyDig (normally $1,399 - use coupon code: DigFallSave25).

51" Samsung PN51E550 3D 600Hz 1080p Plasma HDTV for $847.99 with free shipping at Abt Electronics (normally $950).

46" Samsung UN46EH5300 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV + $150 Gift Card for $799.99 with free shipping at Dell Home (normally $880 with no gift card).

37" Proscan PLED3792A 1080p LED HDTV for $249.99 with $19.20 shipping at TigerDirect (normally $399 - use $50 mail-in rebate form).

Jamo S426HCS3 5-Piece Home Theater System (Wenge) for $249 with free shipping at TigerDirect (normally $499 - use $250 coupon code FXQ72652 ).

Sony S194-0551 BX Blu-ray Player w/ built-in WiFi for $79.99 with free shipping at CompUSA (normally $149.99 - use $30 mail-in rebate form).

Movies:

Pre-order The Dark Knight Trilogy: Limited Edition Giftset (Blu-ray) for $29.96 with free shipping at Walmart (normally $53).

Hulk (Blu-ray) for $7.99 at Amazon (normally $10.99).

Phones & Tablets:

7" Lenovo IdeaPad A1 16GB Android Tablet (Blue, rightmost model) for $149 with free shipping at Lenovo.com (normally $249 - use $100 coupon code USPA12N104 ).

Motorola Atrix HD 4.5" LTE Smartphone [w/new 2-year AT&T contract] for $0.01 with free shipping at Amazon Wireless (normally $99.99).

Samsung Galaxy S III Smartphone [w/new 2-year AT&T contract] for $119.99 with free shipping at Amazon Wireless (normally $199.99).

Hosting & Domains:

JustHost.com 50% off all hosting packages.

Personal Portables and Cameras:

Polk Audio UltraFit 3000 Headphone (iPhone/iPod) for $79.96 with free shipping at Crutchfield (normally $99.95).

Sony HDR-PJ200 5.3MP HD Flash Memory Camcorder for $389 with free shipping at BuyDig (normally $439).

Pentax K-01 Digital SLR 16MP Camera w/ 40mm Lens for $549.99 with free shipping at Crutchfield (normally $649.99).

Cool Stuff:

Free Watch! Magazine (6 issues).

Looking to turn your laptop, smartphone or tablet into a portable party machine? Edifier may have what you need with the release of Sound To Go PLUS, an all-in-one micro speaker system with a built-in rechargeable Lithium Ion battery and a soft protective carrying pouch for safe transportation while on-the-go.

"Sound To Go PLUS is a self-contained portable mini speaker system that delivers exceptional audio performance above and beyond any built in laptop or tablet speaker.  Sound To Go PLUS is a great solution for home, business and travel use," the company said on Thursday.

Encased in a brushed aluminum chassis, Sound To Go PLUS features a two-channel stereo with two full range 1.25-inch drivers on each channel (magnetically shielded). It also features a built-in ‘Class D’ amplifier and a 3 x 1.25-inch magnetically oval passive radiator (5Ω). An auxiliary input enables the use of multiple host devices such as ‘smartphones’ and iPads (any MP3 enabled device).

The product page specifically states it has USB audio streaming capabilities in addition to the auxiliary input. The battery promises up to 10 hours of playback, and its overall size is 10.28 x 3.6 x 4.4-inches, weighing a mere .82 pounds.

Here are additional specifications:
* Total power output: RMS 1W x 2
* THD + N (testing level): 0% Signal to noise ratio:≥75dBA
* Frequency response: 20Hz - 20KHz Distortion: ≤1%
* Input sensitivity: USB -- 800mV ± 50mV (THD+N=1%) AUX -- 500mV ± 50mV (THD+N=1%)

Sound To Go PLUS can be purchased from Edifier here for $49.99 USD, and at retailers across North America.

_{Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback}

Top Deals

This is one of the lowest prices we have seen on a Core i5 desktop and it's not some stripped bargain model either. Your Inspiron 620 deal comes well configured with 6GB of RAM, a 1 Terabyte hard drive, Wireless-N, and even in-home warranty service. Just add your own monitor (like the Viewsonic 24" 1080p below!) and you've got one amazing bargain system. You'll have to hurry though, this super-low price ends soon!  

Dell Inspiron 620 Core i5-2320 3GHz Quad-core Mini Tower w/6GB RAM, 1TB HDD & Wireless-N for $449 with free shipping (normally $666 - use coupon code BWCFFS7$H$FDF1).

500GB Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 Portable Drive (E05A050CAU3XS) for $73.99 with free shipping (normally $89.99 - use coupon code NKH4$SPHK4$B93).

Laptops:

17.3" Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition Core i7-3610QM 2.3GHz Quad-core 3D Laptop w/8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Blu-ray, 1080p LCD, GeForce GT 650M, Backlit Keyboard & 3D glasses for $1,275 with free shipping (normally $1,439 - use coupon code 4J4XPNDZ1PKR2B).

15.6" HP ENVY 6z-1000 AMD A6-4455M 2.6GHz Dual-core Sleekbook w/4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Radeon HD 7500G, Bluetooth & Backlit Keyboard for $584 with free shipping (normally $759 - use coupon code NBV3228).

15.6" Lenovo Essengial G580 (218982U) Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz Dual-core Ivy Bridge Laptop w/8GB RAM, 1TB HDD for $599 with free shipping (normally $849 - use coupon code DOORBUSTERDEAL).

Free $100 Gift Card on ALL Dell 15.6" Vostro 3560, 14" Vostro 3460 & 13.3" Vostro 3360 Laptops.

14" Lenovo ThinkPad T430s Core i3-2370M 2.4GHz thin & light Laptop (Customizable Ivy Bridge) for $774 with free shipping (normally $879 - use coupon code THINK725).

14" Dell Vostro 3450 Core i7-2640M 2.8GHz Dual-core Laptop w/4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Backlit Keyboard & Windows 7 Professional for $744 with free shipping (normally $1,044).

11.6" Samsung Series 9 (NP900X1B-A02US) Core i3-2357M 1.3GHz Ultra-thin Laptop w/2GB RAM, 64GB SSD for $599.99 with free shipping (normally $799).

Top Core i7 Laptop Deals.

Desktops:

23" Dell Inspiron One 2330 Core i7-3770s 3.1GHz Quad-core Ivy Bridge 1080p All-in-one PC w/8GB RAM, 2TB HDD, Wireless Keyboard + Mouse for $1,099.99 with free shipping (normally $1,199.99).

Dell Vostro 470 Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-core Ivy Bridge Desktop w/4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, WIndows 7 Professional & $100 Gift Card for $549 with free shipping (normally $679 - use coupon code W9D06J14FX10WM).

Best Dell Desktop Deals.

Computing Hardware & Peripherals:

750GB Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 Portable Drive (E05A075CAU3XS) for $79.99 with free shipping (normally $99.99).

320GB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 2.5" Ultra-portable Hard Drive for $49.99 with free shipping (normally $59.99).

ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 450Mbps Gigabit Router for $175 with free shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code BGSaveACool5).

Dell 1130n Network Laser Printer for $114 with free shipping (normally $180 - use coupon codes 0FG3BPSZ829JBJ and RX$T7MTF1$BLB8).

HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw Color Printer for $180 with free shipping (normally $250 - use coupon code 20LOGICBUY).

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor for $264.99 with free shipping (normally $289.99 - use coupon code XQC66418).

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge Quad Core 3.40GHz Unlocked Processor for $209.99 (normally $229.99 - use coupon code UZV66433).

AMD FX-8150 3.60GHz Eight Core Unlocked Retail CPU for $187.99 with free shipping (normally $199.99 - use coupon code WHD66742).

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz Quad-Core BE CPU + Thermaltake Cooler for $74.99 (normally $99.99 - use coupon code DJJ66721).

AMD FX-8150 3.60GHz Eight Core Unlocked CPU for $319.99 with free shipping (normally $329.99 - use coupon code YFT66241).

27" Planar PX2710MW 1080p 2ms LCD Monitor w/ HDMI & 3-year warranty for $210 with free shipping (normally $470 - use coupon code M204?DCBS5GL21).

23.6" Viewsonic VA2448M-LED 1080p LED-Backlit Monitor for $160 with free shipping (normally $200).

20" Dell P2012H Professional LED-backlit LCD Monitor w/3-year Advanced Exchange Warranty for $132 with free shipping (normally $179 - use coupon code RX$T7MTF1$BLB8)

Gaming:

Cohesion XP 10.2 Gaming Chair for $70 (normally $150).

Game of Thrones (Xbox 360 or PS3) for $20 with free shipping (normally $40).

Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360) for $15 with free shipping (normally $20).

Assassin's Creed Revelations (Xbox 360 or PS3) for $10 (normally $15).

Home Entertainment:

65" Panasonic VIERA TCP65VT30 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV for $2,090 with free shipping (normally $2400).

55" Westinghouse VR-5535Z 55" 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV for $700 (normally $850).

50" LG 50PA5500 1080p Plasma HDTV for $650 with free shipping (normally $800).

50" Toshiba 50L5200 120Hz 1080p LED HDTV for $699.99 with free shipping (normally $1,000 - use coupon code: MRB66442).

47" JVC JLC47BC3000 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for $600 with free shipping (normally $750).

42" Panasonic VIERA TC-L42E50 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV for $598 with free shipping (normally $750).

40" Toshiba 40E220U 1080p LCD HDTV for $375 with free shipping (normally $400 - use coupon code BGSaveACool15).

Sony SAVS310 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System for $175 with free shipping (normally $250 - use coupon code: ZAR66664).

Samsung HT-D5300 Blu-ray 5.1-channel 3D WiFi Home Theater System (Refurbished) for $200 with free shipping (normally $350 - use coupon code MMQ66838).

Movies:

Ocean's 12 & Ocean's 13 (Blu-ray) for $8 with free shipping (normally $14).

Pre-Order Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled (10-Disc Blu-ray Collector's Set) for $140 with free shipping (normally $219).

Phones & Tablets:

9.7" Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 (22911PU) Dual-core 16GB Android 4.0 Tablet for $299 with free shipping (normally $439 - use coupon code USPS21P719).

Droid RAZR 16GB 4G LTE Smartphone [w/new 2-year Verizon contract] for $0 with free shipping (normally $200).

Motorola Atrix 2 4G Smartphone [w/new 2-year AT&T contract] for $0 with free shipping (normally $100).

Hosting & Domains:

Roundup of GoDaddy.com Coupons for Hosting & Domain Orders.

Personal Portables and Cameras:

12MP Olympus PEN E-PL2 Red DSLR Camera w/ 14-42mm Lens for $349 with free shipping (normally $399 - use coupon code buydigcool10off).

16MP Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W650 Digital Camera w/ 8GB Memory Card & Carrying Case for $120 with free shipping (normally $150).

10MP Nikon CoolPix P100 Digital Camera (Refurbished) for $190 with free shipping (normally $249).

iOS Apps:

Hyper Snake for $0 (normally $1)

Oflow - creative ideas for $0 (normally $1).

Trunk Notes for $1 (noramlly $4),

Cool Stuff:

7-day 24 Hour Fitness Pass for $0.

Electronic House Magazine (8 print issues) for $0.