Do integrated speakers exist?

This is probably way off-topic, but do integrated pc speakers (not the "beep" kind..) exist for desktop PC's?

I'm building a "mobile" box, and the only cables I need so far are power and monitor output. I also got a headset but I've never been a fan, so I wondered if I can put the speakers inside the case, maybe on a drive bay?

I can probably use some old speakers and pull it off messing with some cables, but I was looking for a neat solution.

Any ideas?

Guido

Posted 2012-02-07T18:43:37.133

Reputation: 51

This isn't really a product because the sound quality would be questionable unless it's a custom chassis designed to accommodate the speakers (some OEM PCs are like this). There may be such a product but I've never seen it, and would be willing to bet you'd get better sound from even a cheap pair of headphones. If you're willing to break out your toolbox and do some serious modding, well, that's another story... – Shinrai – 2012-02-07T18:56:36.037

Look into some of the speakers for portable MP3 players, they have passive ones (the phillips) that would squeak out "some sound" without extra amplifications off the headphone jack. then powered ones that normally use battery, that could easily use the 5V of the PSU, like ones that use 4xAA batts? The many that use internal li-ion battery , the battery should NOT be left in the units, over time that would be bad, but they could probably be used also, mabey add in a minor voltage drop with simple diodes, and remove the internal battery. costs about $20-30, and time. – Psycogeek – 2012-02-07T19:02:22.200

Such devices do exist and have seen them in use on some custom desktops systems. They fit a 5.5" drive bay. As noted, sound is not great – Dave M – 2012-02-07T19:08:19.587

bay speakers exist search term "5.25 bay speakers" – Psycogeek – 2012-02-07T19:08:42.020

Note that speakers tend to have magnets, and the better sounding ones tend to have bigger ones. Potential data loss issue when placed in HD bays... – horatio – 2012-02-07T19:18:07.100

Answers

You could try a 5.25" bay speaker kit like this one.

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CharlieRB

Posted 2012-02-07T18:43:37.133

Reputation: 21 303

With the proper drivers, integrated motherboard speakers actually can produce some decent sound, if you have a driver that can take advantage of that. I remember that back in the day on my old 486SX running Windows 3.11, the box didn't have a sound card, so to get sound working, I found a driver that let it use the integrated motherboard speaker as an audio device. The sound quality was very tinny, but it sounded just fine. For your purposes this might be adequate (provided that your motherboard has an on-board speaker). I have not seeked out any audio drivers for later versions of Windows that would do this, however, so you would have to investigate that yourself.

Did a quick search and Microsoft has a KB article that describes a download that fulfills just this feature, albeit it's for Windows 95/98/ME, so it probably won't work on modern, NT-based systems. However, something like this would be what I'd look for, provided you have an integrated PC speaker.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138857

Ben Richards

Posted 2012-02-07T18:43:37.133

Reputation: 11 662

They did remove some of the functionality from Windows 7 to communicate with the driver that does the PC speaker in windows 7. It re-routs it though your normal audio driver. – Scott Chamberlain – 2012-02-07T20:00:05.083

@ScottChamberlain The idea is that the driver would see the PC speaker as a regular audio device and service it as such. The 'beep' interrupt is unrelated. – Ben Richards – 2012-02-07T22:04:09.370

Most small form factor computers from Lenovo that I've worked with produce full audio range (not just system "beeps") from their built-in case speakers.

The speakers are good enough for voice, but are underwhelming for music of any sort. They connect to the speaker jumper on the motherboard. On a "normal" mainboard it could probably be connected to the front panel audio riser.

music2myear

Posted 2012-02-07T18:43:37.133

Reputation: 34 957