[santiclaws]

Am I seriously degrading the (probably already mediocre) sound by plugging my cans into the jack on my desktop speakers? Does it depend on the particular speakers? Or do speakers generally just act as an extension cord?

 

[plaidplatypus]

You should try plugging your headphones into the headphone jack of your soundcard (I'm assuming that's what you have your speakers plugged into) and let us know if it makes a difference.

 

[Iceroid]

Depends on the speakers you have. Back before I had an amp, I used to plug my old HD515's into my klipsch promedia headphone out vs the x-fi's direct out, it seemed to tighten up the bass and expand the soundstage. But don't expect those results out of every computer speaker set out there as the klipsch promedia actually have a mini headamp for their headphone jack.

 

[blue_misfit]

I had a very different experience plugging my 580s into my ProMedia 5.1's control puck headphone jack. It sounded HORRIBLE. All kinds of noise, especially when I adjusted the pots.

Of course, my speakers were an eBay special - and the pots are totally shot.