XM-I X-Mini capsule travel speakers Ask most people what they look for in a pair of travel speakers and they are likely to say they want something small and cheap but which nonetheless sounds like the stacks at Donnington. Once you take them out of the plastic tube they come in, it's hard not to be more than a little impressed with XM-I's X-Minimax active “ …
> I can understand needing the 3.5mm jack for playback with
> portable devices, but why can't they use the USB on its own
> when plugged into a computer?
Because that would make them more expensive. Getting power from USB is cheap and simple; I'm not an expert, but I'd expect piping digital audio over USB to require additional chippage including a DAC and some kind of firmware. You'd probably also need some way of delivering software to handle the computer's end of things (does anyone know if there is a generic USB digital audio specification, as there is for USB mass storage?)
To use via USB they would need to put in a USB sound card in the speakers which would lower the considerable profit margin!
And yes, they was "robbed" 8-) If someone thinks £30 is a good price to lose an item ... they are overpaid!!
For laptop-only users with rubbish built in speakers you could drop £3.81 on the following ...
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/102424
Note sure about the "chic" tag though 8-)
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
