# Been Fiddling With cheap USB Sound Cards



## Robert-The-Rambler (May 8, 2011)

A while back I started a quest for "audiophile" sound with headphones on the cheap. My mission is built on the positive premise that this is 2011 and the components we have at our disposal are amazing, even the cheap ones, so with some experimentation and some patience we can find the right combo for our taste in audio that really makes us say man that sounds awesome for the money. My point of reference for a bit above budget for this experiment is the combo of the Soundblaster X-Fi USB HD Sound Card, FiiO E9, and Sennheiser HD 595 headphones. (That costs about $330) In that mad scientist kind of way I am trying to either confirm that reference combo is a great buy or find that hey dumbass you could have spent a lot less and got awesome sound. Either way I wanted to see what "cheap" sounds like these days.

My first USB Sound Card/DAC I started with is the SYBA SD-AUD20040. The Newegg link is here.

SYBA SD-AUD20040 7.1 Channels 48KHz USB Interface ...

This product is advertised as supporting 16 bit audio up to 48khz. I discovered a bit of a different story in Windows 7. With the generic Windows 7 drivers you can do 24 bit 96khz analog audio and everything in between either 16 bit or 24 bit in a variety of sample rates with stereo sound and no enhancements. Digital audio is limited to 16 bit 48khz.With the custom drivers from Syba's website you get only 16 bit audio but with even more available sample rates up to 192khz. You also get a control panel to set virtual surround effects or DSP settings very similar to onboard solutions in motherboards and Asus sound cards like the Xonar DS. The chipset used in this audio card is the C-Media 6206. I only used stereo playback and virtual 7.1 in headphones. Any other features are untested so I will reserve judgment. To any that know the answer to this question please chime in. I want to learn here. Why are there such different audio features available than advertised? I'm assuming every DAC these days has support for 24 bit 192khz audio so that might have something to do with it. Is it just the drivers or is it something more telling the card what bit rate and sample rate it is capable of? Why the hell would a company offer 16 bit at 192khz? That is an odd combo isn't it? Naturally I have it on all the time.

I apologize for the rambling here. I just drank 2 cups of coffee. I am amping my Sennheiser HD 595 headphones with the Behringer Mini AMP800. Its available at Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KU87SM/?tag=tec06d-20

Sound is so subjective and it is hard to describe in words but the AMP800 and Sennheiser HD 595 have a reputation for being more neutral and I can confirm that even with the SYBA SD-AUD20040. I've heard that cheap DACs have a reputation for sounding overly bright and harsher in higher frequencies. When I originally used the Sennheiser HD 515 the sound was quite harsh at times and the difference between the HD 515 and HD 595 is drastic at least with this gear for sure. I've read in other places like Head-Fi that the Behringer AMP800 has no bass and sibilance is present. I know that is totally untrue because in testing various gear I know the harshness and shrill was coming from the HD 515 and not the DAC or the AMP.


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## Robert-The-Rambler (May 8, 2011)

*The 2nd Experiment: Sabrent USB-SND8*

The second Cmedia CM6206 based USB DAC/Sound Card I put to the test and I'm listening to right now is the Sabrent USB-SND8 with same Behringer AMP800 and Sennheiser HD 595s.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D1PWGM/?tag=tec06d-20

The generic Windows 7 drivers again offer plain 24 bit 96khz audio in stereo. This time the drivers from Sabrent offer nothing different in bit rate or sample rate so it is the traditional 24 bit 96khz and I have it set to that. I'm using the 7.1 virtual surround with each virtual speaker set at -10 or I swear it will blow my head off.  Right now I'm listening to Expose's Greatest Hits. It is a good combo of dance music and soft rock. "I'll never get over you getting over me!!!!!" LOL

Before I get but you should have or could have just bought the Xonar DG with a built in headphone amp. For gaming I have other available sound cards in abundance and switching headphones from the back of the PC is not easily accessable and from the front headphone output it is very subject to noise and other bad degradations. An external USB DAC and amp combo is the best way to get the purest sound and convenient connection for headphone use. 

In short compared to the reference gear I mentioned in the X-Fi HD USB, FiiO E9, and the Sennheiser HD 595 the audio experience is certainly comparable with the headphones I have. Now if I had the 300ohm Sennheiser HD 650s it would have shifted probably much in favor of the reference gear but this is about "audiophile" cheap and $400 headphones need not apply that need a beefier amp.

A funny thing occured to me recently. I'm beginning to think that mentioning CD Audio and audiophile is an oxymoron. I don't know whether to blame the format or the recordings or both but I find that CD recording are thinner and harsher than even some of the MP3 I get over at ocrremix.org. Here is a funny one I like to listen, too. And no I'm not a serial killer.  Why can't everything be 24 bit 96khz? Is this all in my head?

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00824/


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