# internal soundcard better than onboard sound



## gasolin (Mar 8, 2022)

Im thinking of downgrading tidal hifi plus to tidal hifi and there for only need 16 or 24 bit and 44.1khz and rca or mini jack out, which i don't have other than onboard sound.

Internal on my msi B550 a-pro

What can be recommned that is better than onboard sound that doesn't cost a furtune under 100 euros

At the moment  i have a cheap soundcard, a phono stage,audio source selector and a mini bt amp on top of my hifi rack, i want to keep it more simple, less cluttered


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## oobymach (Mar 8, 2022)

Ifi just released a new DAC, 32bit 384khz and fairly inexpensive for the quality you get.









						ZEN Air DAC by iFi audio - The desktop DAC/amp to make everyday audio sound better.
					

A breathe of fresh Air. Get the best audio quality from your phone, tablet or computer.




					ifi-audio.com


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## gasolin (Mar 8, 2022)

release date looks interesting although i was looking for an internal soundcard


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## oobymach (Mar 8, 2022)

Not much internal that is great for cheap except Creative, higher end pcie 1x cards can be expensive.



			https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=712-P1-AN01-KR
		







						Creative Sound Blaster Sound cards - PC gaming and Entertainment - Creative Labs (Pan Euro)
					

Sound Blaster sound cards for PC gaming and entertainment audio. A wide range of Z-series, Recon3D series, Sound BlasterAxx series & X-Fi series are  available. Includes Internal sound cards & External (USB) sound cards for the best audio and gaming exper.



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## gasolin (Mar 8, 2022)

okay, it would just keep the top of my rack less cluttered with an internal soundcard


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 8, 2022)

i'm using a usb Cambridge audio dac, imo better than a internal soundcard. That IFI dac is a cracker and better than near any internal soundcard.


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## gasolin (Mar 8, 2022)

Just can't find the ifi zen air dac in europe, the cheapest i can find is for 200 euros


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 8, 2022)

gasolin said:


> Just can't find the ifi zen air dac in europe, the cheapest i can find is for 200 euros



You not got richer sounds in denmark?


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## gasolin (Mar 8, 2022)

Tigger said:


> You not got richer sounds in denmark?


No richer sound in europe

It's also as i can see very new

iFi Zen Blue V2 HiFi Bluetooth 5.0 Receiver Desktop DAC on amazon de, is 159 euros or £132


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 8, 2022)

gasolin said:


> No richer sound in europe
> 
> It's also as i can see very new



Look for this one in europe. this is very good.
https://www.richersounds.com/ifi-audio-zen-dac-v2.html


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## gasolin (Mar 8, 2022)

Tigger said:


> Look for this one in europe. this is very good.
> https://www.richersounds.com/ifi-audio-zen-dac-v2.html



Same price as the iFi Zen Blue V2 HiFi Bluetooth 5.0 Receiver Desktop DAC on amazon.de, is 159 euros or £132

Another comparison, shiit modi is $129 in usa, in europe it's $147


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## joemama (Mar 9, 2022)

Maybe you should check out the DAC and soundcard rankings from Audio science review here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Audio_Equipment_Reviews/
Their reviews are pretty detailed about these audio stuff


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## GamerGuy (Mar 9, 2022)

joemama said:


> Maybe you should check out the DAC and soundcard rankings from Audio science review here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Audio_Equipment_Reviews/
> Their reviews are pretty detailed about these audio stuff


Yahoo! My iFi Micro iDSD Black Label made the cut!


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## xcescxa (Mar 9, 2022)

A Dac is most definitely not better than a soundcard, if you thing otherwise you are messed up in your head. 

Obviously better than internal close this pls


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## Jetster (Mar 9, 2022)

Nelkotic said:


> A Dac is most definitely not better than a soundcard, if you thing otherwise you are messed up in your head.
> 
> Obviously better than internal close this pls


This is easily disputed. A DAC is just a tool, there are stand alone DACs and ones integrated into amps which cost thousands.  A sound card is located inside a case and the analog signal can suffer from interference. Which brings me too my next point. GPUs carry a digital sound signal, HDMI allowing *up to 8 channels* of uncompressed audio why would you not want to take advantage of this?

OP: As far as a budget sound card, I always like ASUS Xonar. Small, affordable and sound pretty good


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 9, 2022)

Nelkotic said:


> A Dac is most definitely not better than a soundcard, if you thing otherwise you are messed up in your head.
> 
> Obviously better than internal close this pls



So what do you use then?

Close this because you have spoken?  

The AE-5 is a DAC/headphone amp so IS a DAC so your statement is wrong.

Most good soundcards are in effect a USB DAC on a PCIe board.


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## claes (Mar 9, 2022)

This is the user that went out of their way to buy an ancient sound card, discovered there were no drivers for it, and then reverted to Windows 7 to get it to work. I wouldn’t waste your time.






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						[Subjective Benchmark Part 1] Op Amps comparison in voltage gain stage
					

Disclaimer:  This article represents my impressions on the different operational amplifiers tested, for a given topology. The operational...




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