Decent cheap PC speaker for work calls

You should get headphones or earbuds instead.

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You should get headphones or earbuds instead.

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this..

no one wants to hear you yelling like you're in a bathroom

This Steelseries Arctis 1 is under $50. I prefer wired over wireless. Over the ear, rather than in ear helps, especially when you're trying to understand people from overseas. Before I started using cans, I would find myself with my ear up near the screen of my work laptop trying to hear/understand what the hell certain people were saying.

You may be one of the few baws that understands that people couldn't always talk at the same time.

Thanks all I bought some bose eearbuds instead

Since everyone is recommending earbuds and a mic, I’ll go ahead and make a recommendation in line:


Blue Yeti is available and cheap. It attaches via USB to the computer and then has its own headphone port. You have a control for your gain/mic volume and one for headphone volume. It has a few “modes” on it, so you can make it more/less likely to pick up noise that isn’t directly in front of it. In terms of sound, it’s generally good. You could probably start a podcast using it and not have significant complaints about audio quality. Are there better? Of course. But not many at this price range.


In terms of headphones, it’s still really hard to beat the Monoprice DJ style headphone with a 10ft cord for bang for buck.


Now, if you’re on video, you probably want earbuds, depending on how your company would view you wearing over-ears. I still have two pairs of these, one which is a dozen years old. They hold up well and sound pretty decent for the price. They found themselves in the Head-Fi Hall of Fame (or some similar list of bests. They were included to represent a fantastic bang for the buck. Again, you can get much better headphones if you want to spend money. But at their price ($30 linked here), you’ll double or triple your investment before you surpass their quality.

If you want a speaker/mic combo, look at the Jabra Speak.

I bought a cheap soundbar that plugs into a USB port with big analog volume knob on top and called it day. Works great for work calls and random YouTube videos.

i *LOVE* that i can quickly turn down an overly-loud call or an unexpected browser tab that starts playing music or something while i'm doing something else without having to fumble around on the PC looking for the tiny-arse speaker icon or wait a maddeningly long time while my PC decides it wants to kill time opening the volume slider.

ANALOG VOLUME KNOB FTW.


I also have Sonos in my office that I use for background music while working.

I have a headset but rarely use it. No audio feedback issues so far.

Not sure ANC will help with that type of noise. I find ANC really drowns out constant background noise like on an airplane, an a/c or refrigerator running, or light noise in an otherwise quiet room etc. My experience is random noises 60ish dB and above, like people talking nearby, are still audible. Of course how loud the noise from your headphones is also aids in drowning out those other noises. But, my experience with it hasn't been putting on the headphones and turning on ANC is like stepping in a soundproof booth. I mostly use Sony WH1000XM4 headphones and Wyze Buds so maybe those just suck at ANC if it is supposed to be like being in a soundproof booth. I will say there is a noticeable difference between ANC on and off modes. So a fair amount of sound is canceled out or supressed. The Sonys are my daily driver and work much better than the buds, but that could just be my ear shape and not getting a good seal, or a good seal that will stay. At my local Best Buy you can try several sets out, probably not earbud types though.