Recommended source setup for desktop with subwoofer? And how to connect it all/what accessories to get?

[kawauso]

That looks like it would work fine. It's basically similar to my config. I would experiment with different crossover points and slopes. It's common to have second order filters at least, and by using EQAPO you can even have third, fourth, eight order filters if you want them. Just do multiple low or high pass filters in series. think at least two high pass filters would be typical, and if you're using a high frequency that both the speakers and subs can play easily like 100hz, you might try four filters. This requres more output at the center frequency compared to one filter but it results in less content above that frequency going to the sub. The best settings may be a compromise depending on your speakers and where you position them. It is also ok to use different number of filters for the high pass and low pass to account for those speakers' natural roll-offs and the low pass built in to the sub (if it can't be disabled).
You might notice that with Windows set to 5.1, some apps or games might output 5.1 signals that this mixing is applied to. You don't have a center or surround speakers so you may have to deal with that in order to hear everything. The LFE signal level needs to be higher than the bass from other speakers. Downmixing to stereo costs headroom but you can set it up to be toggled when you need to. A group of filters can be stored in a text file that you can toggle at once with the control > include filter. If you're only using apps that output stereo, you may not have to think about that at all.
Also, be aware there may or may not be a low pass built into the lfe channel on your sound card. If so, you pretty much have to use that channel for the sub in a full 5.1 setup, but otherwise you may prefer to use any of the other channels.

For those who aren't using EQAPO, Windows can also do this for you. When you set up your speakers to a 5.1 configuration for example, you can uncheck speakers that are not present - for example if you have 4.1 with no center, you uncheck the center speaker in the wizard and it will be mixed into left and right for you.

I tried creating a crossover like this using Equalizer APO.
Since I’m used to Dirac, doing manual EQ was pretty tough — but honestly, I had fun with it!
The sound turned out surprisingly good.

 

[Jiraya369]

From my reading, the Amp Pro only had issues with 2 ohms in combination with difficult phase angles. The C6B doesn't actually get down to 2 ohms and, at least by reading, doesn't seem to simultaneously have difficult phase angles when it bottoms out at 2.6 ohms. But the Amp Ultra certainly does put any worry about that to rest and gets you extra power (and the nice screen) to boot, so go for it I say.

What would be using Bluetooth for? Listening to music stored on the phone? Some streaming service? For most use cases there's no need to even use Bluetooth.

yeah bluetooth via phone, my speakers will be firing directly towards my bed. I'd like to just move to bed and get a moderately good sound quality at least. Convenience, yk?

and i wouldn't really want to overspend tbh. Now what you said has gotten me a little confused about the Pro vs Ultra lol, i don't really need more than 50-70W.

 

[kawauso]

That looks like it would work fine. It's basically similar to my config. I would experiment with different crossover points and slopes. It's common to have second order filters at least, and by using EQAPO you can even have third, fourth, eight order filters if you want them. Just do multiple low or high pass filters in series. think at least two high pass filters would be typical, and if you're using a high frequency that both the speakers and subs can play easily like 100hz, you might try four filters. This requres more output at the center frequency compared to one filter but it results in less content above that frequency going to the sub. The best settings may be a compromise depending on your speakers and where you position them. It is also ok to use different number of filters for the high pass and low pass to account for those speakers' natural roll-offs and the low pass built in to the sub (if it can't be disabled).
You might notice that with Windows set to 5.1, some apps or games might output 5.1 signals that this mixing is applied to. You don't have a center or surround speakers so you may have to deal with that in order to hear everything. The LFE signal level needs to be higher than the bass from other speakers. Downmixing to stereo costs headroom but you can set it up to be toggled when you need to. A group of filters can be stored in a text file that you can toggle at once with the control > include filter. If you're only using apps that output stereo, you may not have to think about that at all.
Also, be aware there may or may not be a low pass built into the lfe channel on your sound card. If so, you pretty much have to use that channel for the sub in a full 5.1 setup, but otherwise you may prefer to use any of the other channels.

For those who aren't using EQAPO, Windows can also do this for you. When you set up your speakers to a 5.1 configuration for example, you can uncheck speakers that are not present - for example if you have 4.1 with no center, you uncheck the center speaker in the wizard and it will be mixed into left and right for you.

If you stack four LPFs and HPFs, does that make it a 24 dB/oct Linkwitz-Riley?
Once you start caring about these details, it really becomes a rabbit hole.

 

[Jiraya369]

If you stack four LPFs and HPFs, does that make it a 24 dB/oct Linkwitz-Riley?
Once you start caring about these details, it really becomes a rabbit hole.
View attachment 488063

bro's going down the eq rabbit hole


RIP : your sanity

 

[kawauso]

bro's going down the eq rabbit hole


RIP : your sanity

Hey Jiraya369,
Why not fall into the rabbit hole yourself and try a multichannel DAC for PC?
If you put in the effort, it could actually sound better than the WiiM Amp Pro.
Even something inexpensive like a Sound Blaster or similar DAC would work fine.

Honestly, using an auto EQ like Dirac is the smarter move — you’re basically buying back your time.
But still, it’s worth struggling through it once, haha.

 

[Jiraya369]

Hey Jiraya369,
Why not fall into the rabbit hole yourself and try a multichannel DAC for PC?
If you put in the effort, it could actually sound better than the WiiM Amp Pro.
Even something inexpensive like a Sound Blaster or similar DAC would work fine.

Honestly, using an auto EQ like Dirac is the smarter move — you’re basically buying back your time.
But still, it’s worth struggling through it once, haha.

bro's trynna take me down the rabbit hole with him

i'm actually stretching my budget a bit for these speakers, i can't really go too far which is why i was initially looking at headphones. Good thing is i can just do it all later

 

[kawauso]

bro's trynna take me down the rabbit hole with him

i'm actually stretching my budget a bit for these speakers, i can't really go too far which is why i was initially looking at headphones. Good thing is i can just do it all later

If budget’s tight, a Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro with a Fosi V3 Stereo still costs less than one PA5 II lol.
You can even hook up a WiiM Mini to the optical input — boom, instant high-performance network player with DSP.
Kawauso’s got a kinda similar setup too — shiny PC, Sound Blaster card, WiiM Pro, all running sweet across the network lol.

 

[Jiraya369]

If budget’s tight, a Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro with a Fosi V3 Stereo still costs less than one PA5 II lol.
You can even hook up a WiiM Mini to the optical input — boom, instant high-performance network player with DSP.
Kawauso’s got a kinda similar setup too — shiny PC, Sound Blaster card, WiiM Pro, all running sweet across the network lol.
View attachment 488064

looks pretty!

oh and the only reason i was considering the pa5 ii was cus i had a really good deal where im living and it's cheaper than a za3 rn, 130 USD. Otherwise the Fosi was what I would've gone for!

 

[kawauso]

looks pretty!

oh and the only reason i was considering the pa5 ii was cus i had a really good deal where im living and it's cheaper than a za3 rn, 130 USD. Otherwise the Fosi was what I would've gone for!

By the way, I’m driving these big Revel speakers with a Fosi Audio V3 — and it gets loud lol.
No noise or hum at all. Sure, since the amp’s output depends a bit on load, the treble response might shift slightly, but honestly it’s nothing to worry about. And if it ever does bother you, you can easily fix it with a shelf filter on PC EQ.
The PA5 II would be totally fine too. Personally, I don’t think ultra-high SINAD beyond a certain point really matters, but I get that comforting feeling of “over-spec’d gear” — plus it looks way better than the Fosi lol.
This V3 looks kinda ugly, so I just hide it away anyway lol.

Fosi Audio V3 Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio V3 stereo amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $89.99 with stock 32 volt supply. Price goes up to $109.99 with the 48 volt supply. There is a $10 discount coupon right now. Despite its budget price, the V3...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[kawauso]

I think Jiraya369 really wants to go with the WiiM Amp Pro, but if you connect it from your PC via optical,
it’ll only be recognized as a 2-channel DAC, so there’s no expandability.
The subwoofer output is also mono — just one channel.
Someday you’ll probably remember what Kawauso-nee said and go, “oh, that’s what she meant,” lol.

 

[Jiraya369]

I think Jiraya369 really wants to go with the WiiM Amp Pro, but if you connect it from your PC via optical,
it’ll only be recognized as a 2-channel DAC, so there’s no expandability.
The subwoofer output is also mono — just one channel.
Someday you’ll probably remember what Kawauso-nee said and go, “oh, that’s what she meant,” lol.

ahahaha brother honestly, the one thing i REALLY wanted, from the bottom of my heart, was just a Topping DX5 II, that thing just nearly did everything i would've wanted with my current gear and even for an active/passive pair of speakers, the main issue was just subwoofer bass management and that's it. To get power even a Fosi V3, as you thoughtfully said, would be good enough for my modest needs! But firstly I wanted more "just to be safe" in terms of power and wanted the Topping because of the mega sale going on near me.

The Wiim Amp Pro was my first choice, before knowing that the Topping's DAC can be used for speakers lol but when I heard it'd need an amp for speakers I just shifted to Wiim, when i learned the Wiim had no direct PC connection that's when I got lost LOL and now I'm back to the Wiim Amp Pro again haha

And trust me my friend, I take your words quite seriously, you're the one who pushed me towards speakers with your reassuring words! It's just that the only expansions I would do are either in the form of a subwoofer, an addition of a second subwoofer or just "upgrades" to the DAC/amp. I am not looking for a multi-channel setup any time soon, even a speaker is a bit of a hurdle for someone like me with house mates and stuff lol but I can manage em. And I'm just wondering if all this hassle is worth it because adding a sub is like a death sentence for most shared spaces but I'm quite diplomatic and can find proper timings for subwoofer playback so all is going to be well. The issue with adding multiple subs is that I literally have no proper space to put them lmao, i can accommodate one but others would be impossible to place in a proper manner.

Again, I appreciate your input, I truly do my friend, it's just that I think for now, I have locked in to a proper decision that has the least amount of cons with the most amount of pros. Every time you say something my decisions get swayed lol I go "hmmm bro raised a good point I need to look into that"

 

[kawauso]

ahahaha brother honestly, the one thing i REALLY wanted, from the bottom of my heart, was just a Topping DX5 II, that thing just nearly did everything i would've wanted with my current gear and even for an active/passive pair of speakers, the main issue was just subwoofer bass management and that's it. To get power even a Fosi V3, as you thoughtfully said, would be good enough for my modest needs! But firstly I wanted more "just to be safe" in terms of power and wanted the Topping because of the mega sale going on near me.

The Wiim Amp Pro was my first choice, before knowing that the Topping's DAC can be used for speakers lol but when I heard it'd need an amp for speakers I just shifted to Wiim, when i learned the Wiim had no direct PC connection that's when I got lost LOL and now I'm back to the Wiim Amp Pro again haha

And trust me my friend, I take your words quite seriously, you're the one who pushed me towards speakers with your reassuring words! It's just that the only expansions I would do are either in the form of a subwoofer, an addition of a second subwoofer or just "upgrades" to the DAC/amp. I am not looking for a multi-channel setup any time soon, even a speaker is a bit of a hurdle for someone like me with house mates and stuff lol but I can manage em. And I'm just wondering if all this hassle is worth it because adding a sub is like a death sentence for most shared spaces but I'm quite diplomatic and can find proper timings for subwoofer playback so all is going to be well. The issue with adding multiple subs is that I literally have no proper space to put them lmao, i can accommodate one but others would be impossible to place in a proper manner.

Again, I appreciate your input, I truly do my friend, it's just that I think for now, I have locked in to a proper decision that has the least amount of cons with the most amount of pros. Every time you say something my decisions get swayed lol I go "hmmm bro raised a good point I need to look into that"

y the way, I saw someone using Revel Salon 2 for desktop audio lol.
So yeah, C6B should be totally fine too haha (I mean, probably ?).
Still deciding between F6Bs and C6B?
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hoto-of-your-desktop-setup.29756/post-1551948

I really like the LS50 Meta as well — especially when EQ’d, it sounds fantastic.
But honestly, the AsciLab line looks really promising.

I’m planning to add an AsciLab to this collection too.

 

[Jiraya369]

y the way, I saw someone using Revel Salon 2 for desktop audio lol.
So yeah, C6B should be totally fine too haha (I mean, probably ?).
Still deciding between F6Bs and C6B?
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...hoto-of-your-desktop-setup.29756/post-1551948

I really like the LS50 Meta as well — especially when EQ’d, it sounds fantastic.
But honestly, the AsciLab line looks really promising.

I’m planning to add an AsciLab to this collection too.
View attachment 488074
View attachment 488075

OMG that thread is INSANE! thanks for the link! Loved looking at some of the pics and the Revel guy must have something in his head loose (in a nice way!) ahahaha positively insane!

and wow your setup looks quite cute my friend, idk half the speakers here. Would love to see more pics of your beautiful setups haha! Kinda curious, as you're Japanese, I thought you'd have more Japanese stuff, like some Sony things or something from Technics. I see people raving about Sony IEMs all the time for example. Have you ever dabbled in that stuff?

Oh and the LS50 Wireless II is what got me into the speaker game! I saw Crinacle doing a review of it and he mentioned Erin's Audio Corner and that's how I found this website or, understood the things on this website. I knew this place before.

I was initially thinking of getting the LS50 Wireless 2 after like a few years cus i didnt know ANYTHING about amps and stuff, KH310 A was an endgame. Then looked at the LSX II LT as a potential one, got scared off by the active amps failing so i looked at the LS50 Meta and ended up thinking about the R3 Meta/Q Concerto Meta and finally landed on the Ascilab just a few weeks ago lol. Went through a whole journey LOL. Was thinking of the LS50 again due to the point source nature being absolutely perfect for nearfield but meh, I'm just gonna push the speakers away on my table and it'll work. If it weren't for you I'd have just forgotten about speakers and went back to headphones lol

 

[kawauso]

OMG that thread is INSANE! thanks for the link! Loved looking at some of the pics and the Revel guy must have something in his head loose (in a nice way!) ahahaha positively insane!

and wow your setup looks quite cute my friend, idk half the speakers here. Would love to see more pics of your beautiful setups haha! Kinda curious, as you're Japanese, I thought you'd have more Japanese stuff, like some Sony things or something from Technics. I see people raving about Sony IEMs all the time for example. Have you ever dabbled in that stuff?

Oh and the LS50 Wireless II is what got me into the speaker game! I saw Crinacle doing a review of it and he mentioned Erin's Audio Corner and that's how I found this website or, understood the things on this website. I knew this place before.

I was initially thinking of getting the LS50 Wireless 2 after like a few years cus i didnt know ANYTHING about amps and stuff, KH310 A was an endgame. Then looked at the LSX II LT as a potential one, got scared off by the active amps failing so i looked at the LS50 Meta and ended up thinking about the R3 Meta/Q Concerto Meta and finally landed on the Ascilab just a few weeks ago lol. Went through a whole journey LOL. Was thinking of the LS50 again due to the point source nature being absolutely perfect for nearfield but meh, I'm just gonna push the speakers away on my table and it'll work. If it weren't for you I'd have just forgotten about speakers and went back to headphones lol

Yeah, Japanese speakers in general feel a bit behind in terms of scientific design.
They tend to focus too much on on-axis response, and their directivity often isn’t that great — so I’m honestly not a big fan of them.
For sources and amps, though, I think Japanese brands are very solid. Reliable performance, and they look beautiful too.

The Sony XM5 is decent, yeah, but personally I think the Crinacle Zero 2 absolutely beats it.
Even the AirPods Pro 3 with spatial audio on sounded surprisingly good to me.

By the way, I also love JBL speakers — maybe check out this blog if you’re interested!

『JBL Kingdom Story 1: Welcoming K2 S9900』

I enjoy the sound of my JBL Kingdom in Fukushima as much as that of my KEF King…

ameblo.jp

Also, where are you from by the way? You mentioned you don’t live in the US — somewhere in South Asia maybe?

 

[kyuu]

yeah bluetooth via phone, my speakers will be firing directly towards my bed. I'd like to just move to bed and get a moderately good sound quality at least. Convenience, yk?

Right but what are you playing on your phone? If it's music stored on your phone, a streaming service like Spotify or Tidal, or from a NAS or the like, you don't need Bluetooth for any of that. For example, for Tidal you can use Tidal Connect to play it directly from the Wiim (while controlling the playback from your phone).

 

[10PSPMemSticksForMiku2007]

what are second order filters? how does that translate into db/octave or a q slope? i only know these 2

thanks for the great answers and omg i read your username and saw your pfp. It's miku!!!

Hi, I'm glad to find another Miku enjoyer here. Many of those trance, dubstep and heavy electronic songs lead to my interest in subwoofers and then audio generally. Love Camellia and Clean Tears.
Orders and slope are related. You can add 6db/octave for every "order" so a common second order filter is 12db/octave. Check the Wikipdia article "Roll-Off" for more.

Because this thread's title is "source setup for desktop," I figured you had a stationary desktop computer with surround sound analog output. In addition to left and right speakers, a surround sound card would have separate channels for subwoofer, center, and rear speakers that can be repurposed for digital crossover use using EqualizerAPO.

A laptop can still be used this way, but you would need a DAC with more than two channels. There are 8-channel USB dacs on Amazon for $30. I haven't tried them but the reviews are good. The sound blasters and focusrite devices mentioned earlier are good but they cost over $100.

I haven't used Peace. I use the configurator GUI that comes with EqualizerAPO which kawauso showed earlier. If you look at his pictures you'll see how to use the copy filter and how to use the channel selector. By default a filter applies to all channels, but using that selector you can choose which ones it applies to. So you can copy your left and right signals into the sub channel, and afterwards you can high pass the mains, low pass the subs, then apply any equalization to the speakers separately or to the system as a whole.

It is a little technical to setup a pc-based crossover but really not too hard. The advantage is that it's free or low-cost, quick to set up and adjust, you have unlimited DSP filters, there's no latency, and the quality is excellent.

The disadvantage is it's a PC-centric setup. The PC needs to be on to process and play audio. If there's no preamp or AVR, you need to adjust the volume with the PC. There's no built-in bluetooth. There's no remote. You can get around some of this by remotely controlling your whole pc or just your media library app with a phone, or running a upnp reciever, or connecting a bluetooth reciever to your pc's input. This is fine for me but I understand why you might prefer the wiim amp even if it costs more. The convenience and ease of use is there.

I'm just looking at the cost of the wiim amp which is $300, but you can go on fosi audio's official ebay store to get a TPA3116D2 2x50 watt amp with power supply for $50 and one of these 8ch dacs for $30, the savings are enough to buy a umik-1 and still come out ahead. Alternatively you'd have $210 to put towards a second subwoofer.

 

[10PSPMemSticksForMiku2007]

If you stack four LPFs and HPFs, does that make it a 24 dB/oct Linkwitz-Riley?
Once you start caring about these details, it really becomes a rabbit hole.

You can adjust the Q from the drop down box that says "Fixed Q" to make different types of filters but you normally want to keep it at .7071. Your standard filters in EQAPO are second order and there is actually no easy option for first order. If you want that, you can make custom biquads to define it. That's explained here.

 

[Jiraya369]

Hi, I'm glad to find another Miku enjoyer here. Many of those trance, dubstep and heavy electronic songs lead to my interest in subwoofers and then audio generally. Love Camellia and Clean Tears.
Orders and slope are related. You can add 6db/octave for every "order" so a common second order filter is 12db/octave. Check the Wikipdia article "Roll-Off" for more.

Because this thread's title is "source setup for desktop," I figured you had a stationary desktop computer with surround sound analog output. In addition to left and right speakers, a surround sound card would have separate channels for subwoofer, center, and rear speakers that can be repurposed for digital crossover use using EqualizerAPO.

A laptop can still be used this way, but you would need a DAC with more than two channels. There are 8-channel USB dacs on Amazon for $30. I haven't tried them but the reviews are good. The sound blasters and focusrite devices mentioned earlier are good but they cost over $100.

I haven't used Peace. I use the configurator GUI that comes with EqualizerAPO which kawauso showed earlier. If you look at his pictures you'll see how to use the copy filter and how to use the channel selector. By default a filter applies to all channels, but using that selector you can choose which ones it applies to. So you can copy your left and right signals into the sub channel, and afterwards you can high pass the mains, low pass the subs, then apply any equalization to the speakers separately or to the system as a whole.

It is a little technical to setup a pc-based crossover but really not too hard. The advantage is that it's free or low-cost, quick to set up and adjust, you have unlimited DSP filters, there's no latency, and the quality is excellent.

The disadvantage is it's a PC-centric setup. The PC needs to be on to process and play audio. If there's no preamp or AVR, you need to adjust the volume with the PC. There's no built-in bluetooth. There's no remote. You can get around some of this by remotely controlling your whole pc or just your media library app with a phone, or running a upnp reciever, or connecting a bluetooth reciever to your pc's input. This is fine for me but I understand why you might prefer the wiim amp even if it costs more. The convenience and ease of use is there.

I'm just looking at the cost of the wiim amp which is $300, but you can go on fosi audio's official ebay store to get a TPA3116D2 2x50 watt amp with power supply for $50 and one of these 8ch dacs for $30, the savings are enough to buy a umik-1 and still come out ahead. Alternatively you'd have $210 to put towards a second subwoofer.

Thanks for the answer, I'm not gonna pose and act like I know Miku and all her stuff, I just love the fanart/fan media in general people make of her and Touhou lol, I really like her design, absolutely top notch. I'll check those artists out someday, thank you.

I get ordered filters now, I just couldnt find anything while googling earlier

Now, I'm just looking to get a stereo setup with a subwoofer, that's it. And yes! EQAPO is GOATED! it allows me to eq left and right channels independently and also a lot of other channels. Peace allows this as well.

And the main issue with the focusrite stuff is that
A.) They're expensive
B.) they're not necessarily better than the alternatives, in fact worse in a lot of cases I saw amir's review of the focusrite 2 gen4 and it just seemed like a waste of money at that price.

If it were possible to just use my DX5 II as a DAC and somehow input both the subs and speakers, I'd have been able to make manual sub crossovers easily. But it seems I can not do that, it'll all just be recognised as one source and that's why I'm going with the Wiim Amp Pro. One little box with internal power supply, just plug and play so to speak. And I'd like to use my phone as well. So it'd be worthwhile investment but a DX5 II + an amp was my dream setup lol, a shame that i can't have a super clean setup but oh well.

Thanks for the answer again!

 

[Jiraya369]

Right but what are you playing on your phone? If it's music stored on your phone, a streaming service like Spotify or Tidal, or from a NAS or the like, you don't need Bluetooth for any of that. For example, for Tidal you can use Tidal Connect to play it directly from the Wiim (while controlling the playback from your phone).

music on phone, perhaps yt or some insta

so bluetooth is there for that but since you're saying stuff like that exists, im intrigued now! thank you i'll see what's good.

 

[Jiraya369]

Yeah, Japanese speakers in general feel a bit behind in terms of scientific design.
They tend to focus too much on on-axis response, and their directivity often isn’t that great — so I’m honestly not a big fan of them.
For sources and amps, though, I think Japanese brands are very solid. Reliable performance, and they look beautiful too.

The Sony XM5 is decent, yeah, but personally I think the Crinacle Zero 2 absolutely beats it.
Even the AirPods Pro 3 with spatial audio on sounded surprisingly good to me.

By the way, I also love JBL speakers — maybe check out this blog if you’re interested!

『JBL Kingdom Story 1: Welcoming K2 S9900』

I enjoy the sound of my JBL Kingdom in Fukushima as much as that of my KEF King…

ameblo.jp

Also, where are you from by the way? You mentioned you don’t live in the US — somewhere in South Asia maybe?

oh wow japanese stuff is behind in terms of speakers eh?

and dang someone else who likes crinacle's stuff haha! I use the Moondrop x Crinacle DUSK, pretty much my iem endgame lol

JBL speakers? At first I was confused cus when i hear JBL i think of a boombox or those small wireless speakers but WOW i forgot they're part of Harman and that the whole harman group just makes esoteric stuff in general. But their research makes their products great as well lol. But yeowzers the prices! I went through your page, brilliant writing! And DANG the prices are sky high! They're not just endgame, they're endgame for my endgame lmaoo

Oh and sorryyyy I can't really disclose much personal info, I use this name on a number of sites and forums and I don't want to keep a lingering trail, my government is quite nosy with most stuff and I can't imagine what someone who's mad at what i said to them would do.