Artistic Pebble 2.0 USB-Powered Desktop Audio system with Far-Subject Drivers and Passive Radiators for PCs and Laptops (White)

Almost perfect
When I replaced my monitor my new one didn’t come with internal speakers, only a headphone jack. I am accustomed to using airpods to monitor sound when I am editing and I’ve gotten into the habit of using them whenever I listen to anything on my computer, which actually other than editing isn’t very often. But a lot of websites are making increased use of videos which means to listen to them having a set of old fashioned speakers sounded like a good idea. I didn’t want (or need) super expensive speakers just to listen to a news clip or a social media clip so I started searching for a pair of small, attractive computer speakers and was dismayed that most of the cheap one were unattractive and barely above using a tin can in terms of sound quality. I stumbled on these hidden several pages in during my search, which is a shame because Creative practically invented the first small cheap computer speakers. I bought these more on how they look than anything else and had very low expectations how they would sound for a price well under twenty bucks. When they arrived I was impressed. The presentation was typical of Creative Labs, which is to say top notch. The documentation is superior and the look and feel is much better than expected.SOUND QUALITYBe realistic, you can’t reinvent physics and there is only so much you can do with a speaker this small. Typical of this company, rather than try to dazzle with phony equalizations that have an initial wow factor then sound tiresome and hard to listen to they have opted to have these sound natural for the content that comes out of most computers. That’s something that’s not easy to explain but don’t expect them to rock the room with bass or break glass with sizzling highs. Instead they just “sound good” and personally I am very happy with that sound. Part of that equation is they understand that the typical user of this pair will be sitting only 2-3 feet from the speakers, that required an entirely different approach to how they sound compared to speakers that are at the other end of a room. I didn’t believe my ears, I can’t imagine them sounding any better.HINTS1. Per Creative not all computers have enough juice to power these speakers to their full volumepotential. They suggest, and I agree, that if you can, rather than using one of the USB ports on your computer instead plug these into their own dedicated power transformer (the same kind you use to charge your phone or other USB device). For me doing that about doubled the sound volume.2. Where should you plug the mini audio cable into? Creative is kind of vague on that. With a lot of computers you might have more than one option, for example in my case my computer has both an audio line out jack, an audio headphone jack and an audio jack for headphones on my monitor. The last one is the least desirable because almost all monitors these days are using HDMI connectivity which is probably going to digitize and re-digitize an audio signal several times and try to optimize it for headphone listening. To a slightly lesser degree the headphone jack on your computer may try to output sound optimized for headphone listening. Your best choice if possible is to use the line level output. These are amplified speakers and they can deal with the kind of output from a line level jack, which is likely the purest and cleanest sound your computer is capable of outputting. Many computers autosense what’s plugged into a jack or will pop up a setup screen to let you choose how to use that jack. It turns out my computer (an HP workstation) offers a very sophisticated setup to fine-tune the speaker output even better than a graphic equalizer. The difference between using my monitor’s headphone jack and my computer line level jack was night and day, they made these speakers perform to their absolute fullest potential.3. That soft springy disk on the back of the speaker is called a passive radiator. In simple terms what it does is to act as a non-powered loudspeaker by capturing the vibrations of the actual speaker and replicating them in synchronous harmony and generally improving the bass performance. You can utilize these passive radiators to their full potential by experimenting a little how far away you place the back of the speaker from the wall behind your desk (if your desk is free-standing this doesn’t apply). While there isn’t a hard and fast best solution, I’ve found that with these a distance of about 8-10 inches sounds the best to me. By the way, the passive radiators are delicate and can be ruined if pressed on too hard or the rubber ring has a hole poked into it. Keep your fingers away from that area.ONE SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTCreative Labs is a very old and successful company and I am hardly qualified to tell them what to do, but there is one small thing they overlooked, possibly because no one has ever told them about it. It’s not major and certainly not a dealbreaker but it could have been designed slightly better. The issue is that the speaker is a sphere and the volume control is mounted at the lower lip of a crater on the face of it below the loudspeaker. When I put my fingers around the volume control to adjust it gravity causes the sphere to slightly tilt over toward the front, it has to because of the placement and angle of the volume control. Aesthetically I can’t think of a better location for the control, it looks beautiful where it is, and the current location is absolutely easy to reach for and adjust and I wouldn’t want to change either of those things. If I were in their design studio I would probably choose to counterbalance that tendency to tilt forward by putting a little weight inside toward the rear of the base, I don’t think it would require much.YES NO MAYBEI don’t consider tendency to tilt a flaw, just a minor issue. Moving beyond that these are beautiful, they sound great, they are well-made and they cost a fraction of what they’re worth when compared to the no-name junk in the same price category. When the true meaning of five stars is (and should be) a product that is best in class and near flawless in execution, these earn that rating hands down.

Good sound for a low price
I needed some external speakers for my PC and didn’t want to spend a lot of money. For the price these speakers are really very good. They’re nice and small and sound and look great. On/Off volume control is conveniently located on one of the speakers. The one big negative is the cable that connects the two speakers. It is very short and it’s permanently connected to the speakers so you can’t feed it through any holes or cable management.

A throwback brand for me
Haven’t purchased or even kept up with the Creative brand in a very long time, but I had a foray into their early “thousands” mp3 player lineup and their pc media center software, which made playing music as well as burning/ripping cds so easy and fun. I digest, I seen these little “Pebbles” and decided to consume. So far, only a few days, but super easy plug-and-play. Powered by USB and then the headphone jack plug to the audio out. Both speakers permanently wired to each, along with the usb power and h.phone jack wire. Wish they had more colour options. Sound quality, including low end is very nice. Setup can play more than loud enough. The price point yass and the fun/functional design fits perfect for my basic pc setup, as well I can switch to other devices in a jiffy, but may actually just purchase more in future. Thansk, CREATIVE! Great little speakers with big hearts.

Best budget speakers
Look amazing and also sound super good! I haven’t had a problem with them. The knob on the left speaker is a volume knob, there are no buttons as far as I know.Connect VIA USB and have an audio port thing to connect your computer! My monitor doesn’t have an audio jack so I connected it to my laptop, still works super well tho!The speakers have a sleek feel to them and have a very minimalistic feel to them! Overall good quality 😊 10/10 purchase

TLDR: For about 30$ CAD, you can’t beat the value of this speaker. It’s sleek, cheap, and sounds pretty good! Now I’m not a hardcore audiophile, but I do enjoy listening to music and this works amazing for what I need. Can highly recommend.Content:- Manuals- SpeakersSetup Process:This was super easy, plug in the USB A cable into any outlet (on your PC or to the wall) to power the speaker, and plug in the AUX connector to allow audio pass-through. A couple of things to note: If your PC or Laptop doesn’t automatically output through the Creative Pebble, you may need to go to your settings and change the audio output. Additionally, the Pebbles are set to mute out of the box, just make sure you turn the knob on the speaker to turn it on.Build Quality:It’s made of plastic, which is expected, but it doesn’t feel too cheap or poorly built. For the price, the quality of the plastic makes perfect sense, it’s decently solid and doesn’t feel like I’ll break anytime soon [If it does, I’ll update my review]. Overall, solid build quality, nothing crazy, but definitely good for the price.Sound Quality:If you aren’t an audiophile, then this will be more than enough. The sound is pretty good and can get pretty loud, but they do lack bass, which I expected, it’s not horrible and you can still hear the bass, it’s just not as good as other speakers out there. If you’re looking for a speaker specifically for songs with a lot of bass, you’d have better luck looking elsewhere, aside from this, it still sounds really good for $30.Aesthetic:Out of the box, these speakers look amazing, they’re sleek, modern, compact, and have a really nice white and brown-ish gold look: for a white setup, these would fit in perfectly. Not to mention, the size is pretty small so it can fit into almost any setup. My desk is on the smaller side of things, but they fit without issue and don’t get in the way of any of my other peripherals.All in all, for $30, this speaker beats my expectations, it has decent build quality, and solid sound quality, though not a lot of bass, but overall, it’s still an amazing speaker for the price. For almost all home users, I highly recommend this speaker, it’s a great choice overall.

El producto es buenísimo, tiene un volumen claro y fuerte, si le subes el volumen se llega a escuchar súper, fuerte y claro, tiene un diseñó bonito,faciles de usar, y por el precio no esperaba algo bueno, pero enserio wow wow wow me sorprendió, se los recomiendo vale la pena

Ich habe die Creative Pebble 2.0 Lautsprecher am 30. November 2024 für 19,49 Euro für die Computer meiner Kinder bestellt. Die Lautsprecher sind eine interessante Option für diejenigen, die eine kompakte und erschwingliche Audiolösung suchen. Als Upgrade von integrierten Laptop- oder Monitorlautsprechern bieten sie eine deutliche Verbesserung, jedoch stellen sie für Nutzer, die an leistungsfähigere 2.1-Systeme gewöhnt sind, eher ein Downgrade dar. Das war hier allerdings gewollt, da ich kein leistungsfähiges System haben wollte (u.a. wegen den Nachbarn).Positiv hervorzuheben ist das minimalistische und ansprechende Design der Lautsprecher. Die kugelförmige Gestalt, inspiriert von japanischen Zen-Steingärten, verleiht ihnen eine ästhetisch ansprechende Erscheinung, die sich gut in verschiedene Arbeitsumgebungen einfügt.Die einfache USB-Stromversorgung und der unkomplizierte Anschluss machen die Installation und Nutzung benutzerfreundlich.Für die Größe und Form ist die Klangqualität beeindruckend, jedoch darf man sich auch nicht zu viel erwarten. Audiophile oder Nutzer, die an kräftigere Basswiedergabe gewöhnt sind, sollten ihre Erwartungen entsprechend anpassen.Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die Creative Pebble 2.0 Lautsprecher für bestimmte Anwendungsszenarien, wie den Einsatz im Kinderzimmer oder als Upgrade von integrierten Lautsprechern, eine gute Wahl darstellen. Für anspruchsvollere Audionutzer oder als Ersatz für leistungsfähigere Systeme sind sie jedoch weniger geeignet.