What are the main parameters to consider when purchasing computer speakers?

Some friends complain that some parameters or technical terms of speakers are really a headache. This kind of situation will be encountered not only when selecting speakers, but also when reading evaluation articles. The reason is that speakers are not as intuitive as CPU, graphics card and memory. So everyone is still a little overwhelmed.

Also, taking the current evaluation as an example, parameters and technical terms are only mentioned in a few languages. This is also because most people want to know what it sounds like, and it is generally considered that these parameters and terms are difficult to reflect. So, they are useless? Of course not! There is a good saying: existence is reasonable. What do these parameters and terms stand for? Bian Xiao will explain them one by one.

● Impedance and sensitivity

Impedance: English name is impedance, which is different from what we usually call resistance. In direct current, we call the obstruction of objects to current resistance. In alternating current, in addition to resistance, capacitance and inductance will also hinder the flow of current, which is called reactance. So the sum of resistance and reactance on the vector is called impedance (-_+,which is actually the combination of resistance and reactance? ~), its unit is ω.

Common rated impedances of speakers are 4 Ω, 6 Ω, 8 Ω,16 Ω, etc. At present, speakers are driven by transistors or integrated circuit power amplifiers, which generally do not need output transformers. Therefore, the impedance of the connecting horn is mostly in the range of 4- 16ω. In use, the impedance of the horn should be selected according to the requirements of the power amplifier.

Sensitivity: the English name is sensitivity, which refers to the sound pressure level that the speaker can emit when the power of 1 MW is input (the unit of sound pressure is decibel, and the greater the sound pressure, the greater the volume), and its unit is dB. In addition, it also means that high-sensitivity speakers at the same volume can show more sound details.

Because these two parameters have a lot of correlation, we usually combine impedance and sensitivity to judge whether the speaker is easy to be pushed. But fortunately, most of the multimedia speakers are active now, and it is generally not necessary to consider whether they can be pushed.

● Frequency divider

This is easy to understand, and what we usually call x frequency division is the same as it. Generally speaking, the performance of tri-band speakers should be better than that of dual-band speakers. This is because the three-frequency division adds an intermediate frequency speaker unit, which can make the intermediate frequency more rounded.

In addition, this can also reduce the power shared by the three speakers, so that the whole speaker can bear more power and output more volume. Of course, because of the addition of the midrange unit and frequency divider, the three-way speaker is more expensive than the two-way speaker of the same grade.

● Speaker aperture

The diameter of the speaker, that is, its diameter. The diameter of the woofer is generally 20-38cm, and there are also oversized diameters such as 60cm or 72cm. The aperture of tweeters is generally 2-6cm, and some loudspeakers are more than 9cm.

Although the larger the diameter of the woofer, the deeper the woofer, the better, but there are certain restrictions. Because the larger the caliber, the easier it is for the paper basin to deform when it vibrates, resulting in partial vibration and distortion. So when we pay attention to its size, we have to look at its design and other aspects.

● Weight

This is easy to understand, that is, the net weight of the speaker. Generally speaking, the heavier the speaker, the better the quality. This is because the heavier the speaker, the thicker the box board or the larger the magnetic steel inside, which will greatly help to improve the sound quality.

● Frequency response range

The frequency range of sound and audio that can be heard by human ears is 20Hz-20KHz, and almost all speakers on the market can reach it at present. But occasionally we will see that the minimum frequency response of some products is less than 20Hz, or the maximum frequency response is greater than 20 Hz. Some people may say that it doesn't matter. I can't hear you anyway. There is no need to promote this. In fact, headphones with a wider frequency response range will have better sound quality than this. Why is this?

If the frequency response range of a loudspeaker can only reach 20Hz-20KHz, then its two ends are actually the limits of its sound, so it is easy to be distorted. If the range exceeds 20 Hz-20 Hz, the sound that the human ear can hear is within its normal performance range, and the sound will be guaranteed. Therefore, in general, everyone should try to buy products with large time-frequency response range.

In addition, although some manufacturers marked the frequency response range of speakers, they did not mark its effective range. For example, one pair of speakers is marked with a frequency response range of 20Hz-20kHz, and the other pair is marked with a frequency response range of 30Hz- 17kHz 3dB. It seems that the frequency response of the latter is not as wide as the former, but in fact, the frequency response curve of the latter to the speaker shows that it only changes within 3 dB, so the latter is better than the former.

The parameters can only be said to be some basic qualities of the tested speaker, and everyone is more concerned about the actual performance of the speaker-sound quality. The commonly used terms of sound quality evaluation are: range, timbre, sound dyeing, distortion, transient response, resolution, layering, bass dive and elasticity. Now, let's take a look at them one by one.

● Scope

Range refers to the range between the highest tone and the lowest tone that a musical instrument or life can achieve. It can be seen that it is closely related to the frequency response range. I don't know about you, but in general, Bian Xiao regards the range that the speaker can pronounce normally as his own. The reason for this is to ensure that everyone can hear the truest part of the sound and discard the distorted parts at both ends. However, in practice, the alto is not represented by accurate numbers like the frequency response range, but by hearing, which will test everyone's ears.

● timbre

Tone can be simply interpreted as the "color" of sound. It's a little similar in color, but it's also cold and warm. However, this "color" is not seen with the eyes, but heard and felt with the ears. Generally speaking, warmer timbre means softer sound and comfortable sound; The colder the timbre, the harder or sharper the sound, which makes the vest cold. Besides these, sometimes the timbre can also be described as beautiful and noble. In a word, timbre shows a sense of beauty, which can be understood without words.

● Sound coloring and distortion

The reason why sound dyeing and distortion are put together is because the sound they show is not true. Now let's talk about distortion. Obviously, it means losing the original taste of sound, and this loss is deeper. For example, tone sandhi and out-of-tune are all distortions. Sound dyeing refers to adding some features to the original sound, just like painting. Although it is still the same color, it is divided into shades. Therefore, as long as the sound is dyed within a certain range, the sound quality will be improved to a certain extent. But beyond this range, it is distorted.

● Transient response and analytical force

In addition, we can often see the word resolution, which refers to the speaker's ability to express subtle changes in music. Bian Xiao believes that transient response should be regarded as an aspect of analytical ability, but it refers more to the change of sound, that is, full opening and full closing. Analytical power also includes the continuous melodious sound expression in the sound change. Therefore, Bian Xiao personally feels that it is more appropriate to combine the two.

● sense of hierarchy

If a speaker has a good sense of sound layering, it means that it can clearly separate the sounds of various instruments. If all kinds of sounds are mixed together and heard almost the same, it means that it has a poor sense of hierarchy. This is especially true for friends who love to watch war movies. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to hear only the explosion and not the bullets in a hot battle scene!

Bass dive and elasticity

Because most people prefer bass, there are many descriptions about bass, and the most common ones are bass dive and elasticity. The so-called bass dive refers to the lowest frequency that the speaker can play back. If you simply understand it, you can think of the richness, extensibility and sense of space of bass. Just like diving, you keep diving but you can't feel the bottom, which means bass diving is better.

As for elasticity, it is abstract and purely emotional. Generally speaking, this can be clearly shown by drumming. If the drum strength is not dry, but it makes people feel full, this bass will make people feel very comfortable, so it can be said that its elasticity is better.

Write it at the end of the article

Both parameters and terminology reflect the basic performance of a speaker, and everyone must understand it. Especially when we can't audition in person, it is more important for them to judge the quality of a box subjectively. It's like eating in a hotel. When you don't know what a dish tastes like, you must pay attention to its ingredients and whether it looks delicious or not.

Of course, it is better to listen, not listen, and then focus on the evaluation of these parameters and terms. This is the easiest and most convenient way for beginners!

As we all know, the speaker that converts electrical signals into acoustic signals to make people hear sounds is the most important part of home theater or stereo playback equipment, which not only occupies a large share of the total investment, but also is the most difficult one to choose among audio and AV equipment. The reason is that there are thousands of brands of speakers, which seems to make people feel at a loss, daunting and unable to start. However, speakers are by no means impossible to buy. You can judge its advantages and disadvantages by playing music and choose a good speaker with satisfactory price. As the saying goes: "Is it a mule or Deng? You have to take it out for a walk!" Speakers have to be put out to listen, and choose speakers based on listening! This paper mainly introduces the selection of speakers in two-channel and stereo systems. As for the front speaker, center speaker, surround speaker and subwoofer used in home theaters, although there is another emphasis on the selection criteria, it still conforms to the following principles, that is, any speaker that can play back good music will naturally perform well when playing back movie music.

First, the timbre is naturally balanced.

First of all, the sound of the speaker should be true. The reproduced vocals and instrumental sounds should be as close to the original sound as possible, and not too distorted. In this regard, perhaps the main criterion is that there should be an accurate pitch balance. The sound you hear should be smooth and silent (remember that most speakers always have a decline in low-frequency response), and there are no strongest and weakest sounds (peaks and valleys) that can be heard. Midrange and treble should not be too loud or hold back. You can find some instrumental music (such as piano music) with a wide frequency range to play. Pay attention to the change of timbre when listening to low, medium and high scales. A speaker with well-coordinated combination of pronunciation units, well-designed box and frequency division network and good scattering characteristics has much better acoustic effect than a speaker with some design defects. For example, when you can always hear the high-pitched unit as if a person is speaking, you can be sure that there is something wrong with this speaker.

Second, the sound characteristics

Although the overall sound characteristics of the speaker are very important, a good speaker should also perform well in the following special occasions:

Frequency balance: you can listen to different frequency bands in turn. The bass you hear should be compact, clear, accurate in tone, not buzzing, sloppy and unambiguous; As the main part of music, alto is more important. The sound of human voice and instrumental music should be natural and meticulous, not too loud or dull, not too bright or too light. The treble should be open, airy and extensible, without screaming or fading.

Analytical power: Listen carefully to the details in music, such as the attenuation of cymbals or piano sound, the hall sound of concert hall or jazz club. If you can't hear the bottom details clearly, it means that the speaker lacks transparency. Low-level resolution is very important in order to have a real and satisfactory playback effect. This is also the difference between a good speaker and a bad speaker.

Transient response: The speaker should be able to reproduce the transient in music. The sound response when playing the string drum or guitar is strong and accurate, and it can't make people feel "surprised", "excited" or "slow" or "dull". In addition, natural fading sounds, such as cymbals and the "tailing" of speech, should gradually weaken and come to an abrupt end. Dynamic range: Compare low-level and high-level sound reproduction. Ideally, the speaker should be able to play back continuously from the lowest sound to the strongest orchestral section, so as not to make the silent part unclear or the loud part feel a little overwhelmed.

Audio-visual positioning and sound stage (stereo): audio-visual positioning. Sound stage pays attention to whether instrumental music or human voice originates from space, and the prerequisite is that the speaker must be correctly positioned indoors. You can find some mono recordings to listen to, or you can focus on other performances of the speakers. Audio-visual speakers will "disappear" in the sound stage, so that listeners can't feel the beautiful and melodious music coming from a pair of speakers in front. The music blows on their faces, and the singer seems to be standing somewhere in the middle of the front, singing loudly.

Scattering characteristics: listen at different locations indoors. You can sit and stand to check the sound scattering in the vertical plane. At this point, the high notes you hear will inevitably change a lot. Some speakers are limited to a narrow range, while some speakers can get good audio-visual positioning in a wider range.

Thirdly, acoustic dyeing.

Some speakers have defects of "sound dyeing" or sound reproduction, which will be imposed on the reproduced music. For example, harsh voice, metallic treble, rough or uneven alto and so on due to poor box design. If you can hear this sound no matter what kind of recording product you play, then you can be sure that the speaker has added its inherent sound dye to the music you play. Usually, it is more tolerable to miss some sounds during playback than to add some sound dyes to music that were not available before. Some speakers intentionally add sound coloring, such as adding some bass components to make the treble brighter. Although such a speaker seems good at first glance, it will be bored or even bored after listening for a long time, so it is not worth buying.

Fourthly, the sound environment of the loudspeaker.

If you listen to the speakers in a video store in an inappropriate location, you will not be able to hear all the performance of the speakers. Because the positioning of the speaker in the room is very important, even if you move the speaker forward or backward a few centimeters, the low frequency response of the speaker will change greatly. When the speaker is placed in a room where the bass can be enhanced or weakened, the tone balance will change, or you will hear rich bass or no bass. Moreover, the positioning of the speaker is not accurate, which is not as good as the original audio-visual positioning sound. Unfortunately, some audio shops have to put speakers on the wall in rows because of their small storefronts, which can't give full play to the performance of speakers. What's more, even if the speakers in the store are placed correctly, it is still very different from the listening environment at home. Therefore, it is necessary to find a suitable location for the speaker at home, so that the speaker can give full play to its power and show its skills. If it is negotiated in advance, it is best to take the speaker home for audition and trial play before buying it, and leave it if it is suitable. If it is not suitable, return it or change it for another pair and try again.

Fifth, listen to familiar music.

Because the recording quality of CD records is far related, there are good and bad, so when you go to the video store to audition and buy speakers, you'd better bring more CD records with excellent recordings. Only in this way can we hear what is on the CD recording and what is held by the speaker when playing the sound. Because different recording levels are different, some are strong and some are weak, so we must use many different types of recordings to try and listen more, in order to compare the difference between instrumental sound and human voice and real sound.

Sixth, pay attention to coordination.

Speakers should also be coordinated with the listening room, audio equipment and listening hobbies. If the room is small, it is not suitable for matching large floor speakers. Because this will make the room too loud, and the bass may not be played. Conversely, if it is a big room, using a pair of small speakers will make you feel weak and speechless.

The amplifier that sells speakers should be "full of power". The loudspeaker sensitivity expressed in dB is an indicator in this respect. The higher the sensitivity, the louder the sound of the speaker when the input power is given. However, sensitivity only represents one aspect. The output power of the power amplifier, the size of the room and the volume of music you like to listen to at ordinary times are also important factors. Generally speaking, when listening to music, the average output of the power amplifier can be 10W, but for most home theaters, each channel of the power amplifier can be 40W to 100W (excluding the subwoofer channel).

As for the matching of speakers and other audio equipment, there is also a requirement of "suitable for every household". If the original audio equipment is high-end, such as tens of thousands or tens of thousands of Hi-Fi audio equipment, it is necessary and necessary to spend thousands or even1~ 20,000 yuan on speakers. If the original audio equipment is just ordinary equipment, then matching high-grade speakers can only be a blind man lighting-in vain.

Seven, should pay attention to quality rather than weight.

First of all, talk about the sound quality. As we all know, perch is hard to find, so we should pay more attention to quality, not weight, and prefer less. Too much distorted bass seems to be enjoyable for people who don't understand, but experts disdain it, because listening for a long time will be very tired and easy to get tired. So, you can't buy such a speaker.

Let's start with the specific speaker. Remember, the more expensive the speaker, the bigger the better. Generally, some carefully designed and manufactured small speakers have better performance than some giant speakers with many low-end units because they are equipped with high-quality speaker units and equipment. Small speakers are similar to "point sound sources", with more accurate audio-visual positioning and more suitable for small or medium listening rooms.

In addition to the speaker unit, besides the most common electric speakers, there are other types of speakers, each with its own characteristics, such as high-end flat magnetic speakers, electrostatic speakers, belt speakers and speakers with mixed design.

Don't worry, I'd rather spend more time.

As usual, one bite won't make you fat. You can't worry about choosing a speaker, and it is almost impossible to judge the benefits of a pair of speakers in 3~5 minutes. It takes a lot of time to listen to as many kinds of speakers as possible with all kinds of music. It can not only be well informed, but also improve the level of listening and evaluation, which is of great benefit to the choice of speakers. Bring your wife or invite friends to listen and give ideas, but you can't just listen to others and have no opinions of your own.

Nine, the same amount of comparison.

Psychoacoustics shows that when listening to a speaker, most people mistakenly think that a speaker with a loud voice is a good speaker. Therefore, it is stipulated in the test to compare at the same sound level. When auditioning in a video store, you should also compare the sound levels as much as possible, and if necessary, you can even buy a sound pressure level table to test. This kind of watch is a useful tool, and it will also come in handy when debugging the whole set of speakers used in home theaters in the future.

10. Only buy when you are infatuated.

It is difficult to find a pair of speakers with low bass feet, good audio-visual positioning and good sound reproduction effect, but it is always possible. I believe that if you follow the above terms, you will find such a speaker. The question is, is this really the speaker to buy? Is it a speaker that you won't regret after buying it? Have you used it to enjoy music for a long time? Be calm, and remember that only speakers that can really impress you, cheer you up, make your heart beat and fascinate you will make you forget where the speakers are when listening to songs. Only speakers with wonderful music are the ones you should buy.

A good speaker is not only conducive to the reproduction of sound. Its more important role is to transfer all the energy and enthusiasm in music and movie music to you, so that your heart can stir up and you can fully experience and feel the joy of listening to music! You should buy such a pair of speakers!