What are some good laptop speakers that have the capabilities of Surround Sound?

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ptr1959w

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Hi there, What could you guys recommend some great Surround Sound speakers for my Laptop, which is an HP Envy 15-ep0098 (I think that's it)? Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA
I may add the reason why is basically for my MSFS 2020...I have Win 11..
 
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ptr1959w said:
Hi there, What could you guys recommend some great Surround Sound speakers for my Laptop, which is an HP Envy 15-ep0098 (I think that's it)? Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA
I may add the reason why is basically for my MSFS 2020...I have Win 11..
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1. What is your budget?
2. Do you want surround sound for games or movies?
3. Do you currently have an audio device that can do surround sound? (like an external sound card, etc)
 
DoubleTap said:
1. What is your budget?
2. Do you want surround sound for games or movies?
3. Do you currently have an audio device that can do surround sound? (like an external sound card, etc)
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Hi, My budget is around $200. I would like the speakers for gaming...I don't have any audio devices...Thanks for the reply..
 
ptr1959w said:
Hi, My budget is around $200. I would like the speakers for gaming...I don't have any audio devices...Thanks for the reply..
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You have two problems:

1. You don't seem to have a device that can output surround sound
2. PC Surround Speakers are very rare and $200 is barely the range for decent stereo speakers

Steelseries makes a 5.1 PC Surround Speaker set that uses USB - so it includes the "sound card" - but it costs $550:
Arena 9:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KNWMGKF/

Logitech has this model for $129 but you would need a sound card with surround sound output ($100-150 probably) and it looks kind of terrible.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/speakers/z606-surround-sound-system.980-001328.html

If I was going to go back to a surround sound system (I had a solid home theater setup rigged up for PC gaming up until about 4 years ago) I strongly consider the Steel Series Arena 9. I can't find any reviews of it on Youtube but the 2.1 version seems to review pretty well for the price.

My advice would be to pony up for a good system or spend your $200 on a decent set of stereo speakers.
 
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Honestly going to a nicer stereo setup i personally found it to be a much more immersive experience than when I had surround sound. It is also easier to work with. And nothing worse than playing or watching a source that isnt setup for surround and you either play it out of just your front two speakers (which usually suck when you buy a surround sound 'kit') or you put all channel stereo and it just feels flat.

Good and cheap go opposite directions and how much you need to spend varies from person to person but as DoubleTap said you are looking at about 400ish for entry. That said my Sound blaster AE-5 is decent sound, can drive high impedance headphones and can be had decently cheap if you grab a used one off ebay.

Crap, nevermind you said laptop. you would need like a soundblaster X3
 
Darunion said:
Honestly going to a nicer stereo setup i personally found it to be a much more immersive experience than when I had surround sound. It is also easier to work with. And nothing worse than playing or watching a source that isnt setup for surround and you either play it out of just your front two speakers (which usually suck when you buy a surround sound 'kit') or you put all channel stereo and it just feels flat.

Good and cheap go opposite directions and how much you need to spend varies from person to person but as DoubleTap said you are looking at about 400ish for entry. That said my Sound blaster AE-5 is decent sound, can drive high impedance headphones and can be had decently cheap if you grab a used one off ebay.

Crap, nevermind you said laptop. you would need like a soundblaster X3
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I ran a nice 7.1 surround sound system for years with Kef speakers, the works. It worked great on Battlefield, Guild Wars 2 and Overwatch.

But when I started playing mainly Apex Legends, it just didn't sound right and I couldn't locate sounds like I could in the other games. I got a good headphone amp and it made all the difference. After that, I just transitioned to a high end 2.1 stereo system and never looked back.
 
You have 2 issues.

1) Surround PC speaker systems are now uncommon and expensive.
2) You don't have a multi-channel analog output from the laptop to use them anyway.

You could however get creative... :facepalm:... By doing following..

- A USB multi-channel capable external soundcard... Like the Creative Labs X3 or X4.
- Make a 4.0/4.1 surround system. Buy 2 sets of speakers systems to make the setup. Like say the Creative Pebble Plus(2.1) and the Creative Pebble 2.0.

That would stay just about in budget and get you a fairly well matched up 4.0/4.1 style system. Might need some cheap USB extension cables (as these speakers are powered using USB) and 3.5mm audio extension cables depending on placement etc.
 
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I use a pair of iLoud Micro Monitors for my MB Air's audio. They punch way above their weight for such little guys. Price currently runs about $350, but they go on sale quite often. I got mine for $180 during an open box sale from Musician's Friend last year. They were in perfect condition with just a little ripped cardboard on the box.

PXL_20230726_190707229.jpg
 
TrunksZero said:
You have 2 issues.

1) Surround PC speaker systems are now uncommon and expensive.
2) You don't have a multi-channel analog output from the laptop to use them anyway.

You could however get creative... :facepalm:... By doing following..

- A USB multi-channel capable external soundcard... Like the Creative Labs X3 or X4.
- Make a 4.0/4.1 surround system. Buy 2 sets of speakers systems to make the setup. Like say the Creative Pebble Plus(2.1) and the Creative Pebble 2.0.

That would stay just about in budget and get you a fairly well matched up 4.0/4.1 style system. Might need some cheap USB extension cables (as these speakers are powered using USB) and 3.5mm audio extension cables depending on placement etc.
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Hi, I have decided to go with what you have said about the Creative Sound Card and the Creative Pebble Plus(2.1) and the Creative Pebble 2.0..
 
ptr1959w said:
Hi, I have decided to go with what you have said about the Creative Sound Card and the Creative Pebble Plus(2.1) and the Creative Pebble 2.0..
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Cool. Can't wait to hear what you think. Worth noting that you can go with any speakers you like once you have the soundcard :)
 
tommyrick said:
I have an HP elite 8200 PC playing movies through the stereo headphone jack. Will I get surround sound if I hook the stereo sound jack into the Surround receiver to decode the signal? What I'm saying is, does all the sound information get passed through the stereo jack and then just needs a receiver to decode the signal into 5.1? Or am I thinking about that the wrong way?
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Allot of streaming services like say Netflix will encode the stereo with DolbyProLogic 2. Which a receiver can decode into 5.1. If your lucky, your PC might support DolbyDigital Live with ProLogic2 matrix encoding to do the same thing in real-time for gaming (or DTS's "Connect" with "Neo" that kinda does the same thing).
 
tommyrick said:
I have an HP elite 8200 PC playing movies through the stereo headphone jack. Will I get surround sound if I hook the stereo sound jack into the Surround receiver to decode the signal? What I'm saying is, does all the sound information get passed through the stereo jack and then just needs a receiver to decode the signal into 5.1? Or am I thinking about that the wrong way?
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You're thinking about it the wrong way. Your 3.5mm jacks outputs in stereo - but there are different devices to "enhance" stereo to make it feel like it has more depth.
TrunksZero said:
Allot of streaming services like say Netflix will encode the stereo with DolbyProLogic 2. Which a receiver can decode into 5.1. If your lucky, your PC might support DolbyDigital Live with ProLogic2 matrix encoding to do the same thing in real-time for gaming (or DTS's "Connect" with "Neo" that kinda does the same thing).
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Dolby Pro Logic II is a scheme for making stereo content sound like surround content.

AFAIK, most streaming platforms stream in Dolby Digital which is proper 5.1 surround. You need a proper surround system to listen to this.

1703888714821.png
 
DoubleTap said:
You're thinking about it the wrong way. Your 3.5mm jacks outputs in stereo - but there are different devices to "enhance" stereo to make it feel like it has more depth.

Dolby Pro Logic II is a scheme for making stereo content sound like surround content.

AFAIK, most streaming platforms stream in Dolby Digital which is proper 5.1 surround. You need a proper surround system to listen to this.

View attachment 623417
Click to expand...

When stereo content is encoded/matrixed with Pro-Logic 2 it can be properly decoded to a real independently addressable 5.1 set of sound channels. It's very clever tech and can also be a nice tool if your trying to save space on an encode and don't want to loose surround on an audio track. It can be used to do a simulated effect as well, which is why people some times get confused as to what it is. It will not sound as good as regular Dolby Digital, DTS or uncompressed 5.1 of course.
 
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