Soundbars are worth their weight in gold compared to the manufacturer speakers that come with most desktops, smart TVs, and laptops.

However, a lot more consideration goes into hooking a soundbar up to a PC rather than a TV.

So does that mean they aren’t worth considering?

Are Soundbars Worth it for PCs?

Soundbars are well worth it for PCs, especially if you’re into music production, gaming, streaming, and anything else where sound quality is at a premium. Of course, not just any soundbar will do as it’s a case of getting exactly what you pay for. 

The aim is to improve the quality of sound coming from your PC, not give yourself a headache trying to set up and get everything in good working order.

Most people purchase soundbars for their smart TVs, however, they’re perfectly capable of providing high-quality sound for your PC.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Soundbar for your PC

There is a lot of real estate to cover here as there are several things worth considering.

For one, a PC isn’t a TV, so it’s not like you would set your soundbar up in the same way.

A soundbar is generally pretty sizable as well, so you will have to determine a place for it. 

You don’t want to go for the cheapest soundbar available either. It may be tempting to do so, especially if you just unloaded your bank account on a brand new PC.

Plus, you will want a soundbar that utilizes the best technology based on the ports available on your PC.

Will Any Type of Soundbar Work with My PC?

Any soundbar will work, however, it’s not just any soundbar that will do. Picking a good soundbar means going with something that can take advantage of your PC’s capabilities.

Does it have Bluetooth capability? If you’re a gamer, is Bluetooth what you want, considering the fact that Bluetooth is not always the best option when it comes to latency?

What are your connectivity options?

Even pretty standard computers come with an HDMI port and if all you have is a 3.5mm, you may as well not even bother, unless you just want some small, external speakers. Does your PC have an optical port? 

That’s just the tip of the iceberg and, as you can see, although any soundbar will work with a PC, it’s not just any soundbar that you want to pick up.

Connectivity Options

Wired or wireless is where you want to start. If you’re gaming, wired is the best because you can expect to get the least amount of latency.

If you’re running podcasts or twitch streaming, Bluetooth is fine but you want to make sure that both your PC and your soundbar are running off of the latest generation of Bluetooth. 

Most of the time, the audio processing is taken care of by the audio card on the PC, however, you can also equip the external speakers with a sound card and a D/A converter.

The 3.5mm AUX port is good but it’s not going to give you the best sound quality, as HDMI and optical are superior. 

  • 3.5mm audio port (Simplest setup with low sound quality) 
  • Optical port (superior to all but HDMI, however, PCs don’t often have this port)
  • HDMI (Fastest and highest quality sound but often a little confusing to configure in the audio settings)
  • Bluetooth (5.0 has excellent audio capabilities but it’s subject to latency. The better the Bluetooth tech, the better the audio speed and quality will be)
  • USB-C (often used in lieu of a 3.5mm jack)

Quality of Sound

HDMI is going to give the highest quality sound while Bluetooth is going to give you the highest convenience. Almost all soundbars are equipped to connect to either HDMI or Bluetooth and especially 3.5mm Aux ports. 

Depending on your setup, it’s best to go with HDMI, especially if you can work it out so that you don’t have a cluster of cables and you can set your soundbar up in a reasonable and convenient manner.

You’ll have to go into your audio settings and change the default speakers to HDMI. 

Optical is very high quality as well, however, you don’t often find optical ports on most PCs. Higher-end PCs usually offer them but even then, it’s not a foregone conclusion that you will have the option.

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Size and Design

Here is where you will find that it’s more trouble than you thought. It’s an easy thing to mount a soundbar underneath a flat-screen TV on the wall.

Plugging it in and setting it up around a PC isn’t always as easy.

If you’re limited in terms of space, you can try something like the Cinebar One, which has superior sound technology packed into a small form factor.

Plus, there are soundbars that are made for smaller platforms, including PCs. 

If you lack the space, you can certainly opt for something smaller. Another option besides the Cinebat is the Taotronics PC Soundbar, which is more specifically designed for PCs and is highly portable. It also uses Bluetooth 5.0.

Price

Soundbars are certainly an example of getting exactly what you pay for and fortunately, you can find some of the best soundbars available for PC use without going over $300. 

  • Anker Nebula Soundbar
  • Creative Stage Soundbar
  • Sound BlasterX Katana
  • Razer Leviathan

Most of these options are small, easy to fit in with your PC setup, and come with 5.1 channel surround sound.

Some come with the additional woofer as well, but they remain small and can easily be placed down in a corner or out of the way. 

The best part about all of these more compact soundbars for PCs is that you won’t have to spend an arm and a leg to purchase one.

These are not thousand-dollar sound systems but retain a high level of quality and longevity.

Placement for Best Sound Quality

Most PC soundbars are designed to sit directly in front of you, especially if you want true sound immersion.

Some of the options come with additional subwoofers or tweeters but these aren’t difficult to place in a basic desk setup scenario with your PC.

Consider Audio Latency if you Plan on Gaming

Many soundbars on the market have a very high minimum audio latency which might be fine for watching video but will be quite noticeable when gaming.

There can also be encoding issues between your monitor and the soundbar.

If you’re playing audio through your monitor’s speakers, the monitor is doing all the processing, so it can wait to send the video and audio at the same time after all the processing has finished.

But when you use a soundbar, it makes it a lot more likely that you’ll experience sync issues. That’s because it’s no longer one device taking care of everything; your monitor will be encoding the video and your soundbar will be decoding the audio.

And what can often happen is your monitor will process and send out the video before your soundbar has processed and sent out the audio, leading to an on-screen audiovisual mismatch.

You’ll find workarounds for these latency issues online but by getting yourself a gaming soundbar, like the Razer Leviathan, you should be able to avoid them altogether.

Audio latency can also be an issue with wireless connectivity options.

If you aren’t gaming, it’s not so much of a concern but if you are gaming, then a wired setup is going to be the most dependable setup that you can go with. 

Bluetooth is constantly developing and improving and we are now up to Bluetooth 5.2. 

As time goes by, the kind of latency that you can expect with Bluetooth is decreasing, however, Bluetooth is highly disruptable as well. 

If you have a smart home, for instance, there are so many things that can run interference with your Bluetooth signal.

To play it safe, as a gamer, stick with a wired setup using an HDMI cable or an optical (if available).

Consider Speakers if You Have the Space

Good bookshelf speakers and an amplifier will give you a better sound field compared to soundbars and if you have the space, you certainly should consider that option.

Shopping around for a deal, you’d be surprised how little you’d pick up a good set of speakers and an A/V receiver for.

You’ll get better sound quality right off the bat and you can always add to your setup later.

An older Dennon stereo receiver and a newer set of Infinity/JBL bookshelf speakers would give you awesome sound quality and shouldn’t cost much more than a couple of hundred dollars.

Of course, this all adds up to personal preference and available space. Some of the above-listed soundbars come with additional woofers. If you have the extra space and you want a more immersive experience, then go for it.

Keep in mind, that several of the soundbar options come with 5.1 channel surround sound. That means that there are a series of speakers built into each soundbar. In a sense, you’re getting multiple speakers with a single soundbar. 

If you prefer a 7.1 or a 9.1 channel set up and you have the room for it, your computer will support it.

Is a Budget Soundbar Worth it for a PC?

A budget soundbar is perfectly fine, so long as you understand that if you are looking for something that will provide you with a more immersive gaming experience, you may not appreciate the lackluster results. 

However, any of the four soundbars listed above will be more than enough to run well with any setup you put it to and these aren’t inordinately expensive soundbars.

The LG Ultragear GP9 is a $500 soundbar but the difference between it and the $125 Creative Stage 2.1 is minimal unless you are working in sound production. 

You can even find soundbars as low as $50, such as the RedDragon GS560. However, with something that low, you will recognize a difference.

The best advice is to exercise caution with budget soundbars for PCs.

You will be able to find something that squares with your needs but you do run the risk of getting a disastrous result for your money if you aren’t too careful.

Do your homework and you will find that there are budget soundbar opportunities.

Final Thoughts

Soundbars are certainly worth it for your PC, especially if you really want the best in immersive entertainment.

They’re easy to set up and generally pretty easy to make space for if you’re especially creative and don’t have much space, to begin with.