I got some Logitech v70 speakers for Christmas and I brought them over so I could listen to my music without using headphones. When I got here, I found that the previous tenants left some computer speakers. They were the typical ones that plug into the headphone output and plug into the wall. Because they had longer cords and were a little easier to place, I used them when I first got here. On a whim, I went back to the Logitechs. They’re USB powered, so they are a little more limited in volume, but wow, they sound much better.
I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m skipping the analog amp section in the computer. Usually, that’s designed to power headphones. These speakers take a digital signal out of the computer and convert it into an analog signal and them amplify them off of the 5v rail of the USB port. I see a lot of promise in this approach and I think that I will explore this in my DIY projects when I get back home. I own a really nice CD player, I’ve never heard a better stand alone player. I have heard better performance with an external D/A convertor, but those are hampered with the ancient (by technology standards) SPDIF standards that are used for digital playback. The USB connection can avoid all of the problems that the traditional connection has. If you reclock at the DAC, there is no jitter (mistiming between the source and processor) and there isn’t any weird cable impedance issues either. It can be much cheaper to boot. Combine that with the convience of having your entire music collection at your fingertips and that makes for a dream for music junkies like myself. I can see retiring the Denon CD player and replacing it with a computer based system. The old CD player is getting cantankerous in its old age, combine a USB DAC with a nice tube amp and I can see a type of audio nirvana on my horizon!