USB Sound Cards Explained: Tech, Benefits, Do I Need One?

[SOAREVERSOR]

I wanted USB DAC only, then i can swap and change amps at will without changing the whole thing.

https://jdslabs.com/ they have dacs, amps, and eqs
https://www.tpdz.net/ they have dacs and amps

https://www.headphones.com/collections/ifi/products/ifi-audio-zen-dac-zen-can-launch-edition-bundle this is a stand alone dac and a stand alone amp

Why do you need it though? why not just phone to headphones? does the widget improve the sound so much over the phone? If the phones output is flat is that not good enough?

one of the best sounding phones, i still have is the iphone 4s, no widget or dongle needed, just a fairly good set of wired 3.5mm headphones.

Most fashionista stuff i see is the stuff with fancy expensive cables, which apparently make all the difference.

To me a lot of it seems unnecessary expense for the sake of slightly better sound quality which does not seem worth the $300 headphones for some plus the cost of the widget on top.

i cba with anything extra but my phone and a pair of wireless AKG's though i guess you people would say they sound like shit.

Again, wires aren't fashionable and generally higher end headphones are going to ship with higher end wires regardless so it's a moot point. The fasionable stuff is wireless/bt overears with leather and fancy metals, think air Pods Max type stuff. Wired stuff is only for those who know and most people don't.

As for why, that's actually pretty easy. Ever since they removed the headphone jack there have been issues. You're going to be using a dongle anyways. That lightning to 3.5 adapter has a DAC in it, just not that great of a one. There are actually better tiny dongles than the apple one as well. If you see the picture I posted that isn't that big. Also those apple dongles break all the time. With the DAC if the tiny sleeved cable breaks you can replace the cable, and again connects to my laptop as well. It's a nice little solution.

The sound quality is much better as well. The headphones in that picture are moondroop blessing 2s. If I went with even the airpods pro (apples best IEM) they only have a single dynamic driver per pod (and not that good of one at that) and then suffer bluetooth and ANC as well to add to the audio hurt. The moondroops have a much better dynamic driver, and two balanced armature drivers in each IEM. This allows for much better sound quality even on crappy youtube videos. It's night and day between the two. Go up a level in the moondrops and they swap one of the balanced for an electrostatic driver, go up another and there are 4 balanced armatures and low frequence balanced armature a side. You get what you pay for.

The kicker with drivers though is power. The better better driver tech reveals much more sound, but also needs more power. And higher quality drivers within that tech require more power. The more drivers you have the more power you need as well. Which is a good pair of IEMs will make anything sound better but to stretch their legs you're going to need more power, a better DAC, and better source material. Phones do support lossless now, comedically the iphone does but none of their headphones do because they connect via bluetooth and their drivers just aren't capable of it.

When you are talking desktop setups you have electrostatic > planar magnetic > dynamic. The power rules apply all the same but shockingly so. The really high end headphones get run off an amp with dedicated circuts per side.

For portable audio the truly high end comes in dedicated high res players, these are known as DAPs and range from a few hundred up to thousands. They are all in one DACs, AMPs, have built in software EQ and run various version of android with a screen as well. Take a smartphone make it twice as thick and strip out everything but the OS, audio components, and screen.

I'd never recommend anything in the 1k range for any part of the audio chain unless you can just set money on fire. But bumping yourself up into the few hundred range for headphones and investing in a good DAC AMP is a good idea. Many stores will let you try it and send it back if you don't like it.

Ideally my iphone would have a headphone jack and properly power my IEMs, that's not the case. Ideally I could run my good heaphones off my onboard audio, that's also not the case. There's simply too much resistence in them. Will they run, yeah sure. Do they sound the same as with an amp, fuck no. On the other hand I use powered studio monitors as speakers at home so they don't need an amp at all!

 

[WhiteNoise]

This is the right kind of sponsored article - detailed breakdown of the tech, simplified explanations for the average consumer, and the sponsors products used as examples within the context of the article


I still have their original USB soundcard/DAC/headphone amplifier, interestingly it still works fine on windows 10/11 with a basic driver (but no software, last i checked)
View attachment 246540

I have that as well. It's in my kitchen attached to an HP Mini pc. I bought mine new when it was released and have been using it for years on one PC or another. Mine is used with Windows 10 as well.

On my main rig though I do use a Wyred 4 Sound DAC, Pre, and from there, several amps. I think onboard audio on a good mobo is plenty fine for output to a good DAC. I use USB out as of now though.

 

[chr0nos]

Guys, please help. I have G6 and I can't even notice any difference compared to my onboard 2013 mobo.

I've tried lossless 24bit FLAC with WASAPI. My speaker is Swans M50W Mk.I

Make a new thread, then ill try to help

 

[Deleted member 24505]

https://jdslabs.com/ they have dacs, amps, and eqs
https://www.tpdz.net/ they have dacs and amps

https://www.headphones.com/collections/ifi/products/ifi-audio-zen-dac-zen-can-launch-edition-bundle this is a stand alone dac and a stand alone amp



Again, wires aren't fashionable and generally higher end headphones are going to ship with higher end wires regardless so it's a moot point. The fasionable stuff is wireless/bt overears with leather and fancy metals, think air Pods Max type stuff. Wired stuff is only for those who know and most people don't.

As for why, that's actually pretty easy. Ever since they removed the headphone jack there have been issues. You're going to be using a dongle anyways. That lightning to 3.5 adapter has a DAC in it, just not that great of a one. There are actually better tiny dongles than the apple one as well. If you see the picture I posted that isn't that big. Also those apple dongles break all the time. With the DAC if the tiny sleeved cable breaks you can replace the cable, and again connects to my laptop as well. It's a nice little solution.

The sound quality is much better as well. The headphones in that picture are moondroop blessing 2s. If I went with even the airpods pro (apples best IEM) they only have a single dynamic driver per pod (and not that good of one at that) and then suffer bluetooth and ANC as well to add to the audio hurt. The moondroops have a much better dynamic driver, and two balanced armature drivers in each IEM. This allows for much better sound quality even on crappy youtube videos. It's night and day between the two. Go up a level in the moondrops and they swap one of the balanced for an electrostatic driver, go up another and there are 4 balanced armatures and low frequence balanced armature a side. You get what you pay for.

The kicker with drivers though is power. The better better driver tech reveals much more sound, but also needs more power. And higher quality drivers within that tech require more power. The more drivers you have the more power you need as well. Which is a good pair of IEMs will make anything sound better but to stretch their legs you're going to need more power, a better DAC, and better source material. Phones do support lossless now, comedically the iphone does but none of their headphones do because they connect via bluetooth and their drivers just aren't capable of it.

When you are talking desktop setups you have electrostatic > planar magnetic > dynamic. The power rules apply all the same but shockingly so. The really high end headphones get run off an amp with dedicated circuts per side.

For portable audio the truly high end comes in dedicated high res players, these are known as DAPs and range from a few hundred up to thousands. They are all in one DACs, AMPs, have built in software EQ and run various version of android with a screen as well. Take a smartphone make it twice as thick and strip out everything but the OS, audio components, and screen.

I'd never recommend anything in the 1k range for any part of the audio chain unless you can just set money on fire. But bumping yourself up into the few hundred range for headphones and investing in a good DAC AMP is a good idea. Many stores will let you try it and send it back if you don't like it.

Ideally my iphone would have a headphone jack and properly power my IEMs, that's not the case. Ideally I could run my good heaphones off my onboard audio, that's also not the case. There's simply too much resistence in them. Will they run, yeah sure. Do they sound the same as with an amp, fuck no. On the other hand I use powered studio monitors as speakers at home so they don't need an amp at all!

It sounds to me like the opposite of what you are saying. The IEMs with fancy cables are the fashionable stuff. I see far more of that type of stuff on amazon etc than i do normal wireless headphones. What normal person is going to buy headphones with 5 drivers in them? none they wouldn't even know how many drivers are in them. It's the audioista's that are buying all that stuff. Which is fine, you stick to that and i will stick to my normal plebian stuff. I don't mind and don't mind being looked down on by the audioista's for my crappy audio enjoyment. I enjoy my music the way i listen, i don't need IEMs with fancy cables and 5 drivers to do that, you do the same ok.

I mean read this description-KATO adopts modernist aesthetic design combining light and shadow, I spat my coffee laughing, do people take in this crap.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

It sounds to me like the opposite of what you are saying. The IEMs with fancy cables are the fashionable stuff. I see far more of that type of stuff on amazon etc than i do normal wireless headphones. What normal person is going to buy headphones with 5 drivers in them? none they wouldn't even know how many drivers are in them. It's the audioista's that are buying all that stuff. Which is fine, you stick to that and i will stick to my normal plebian stuff. I don't mind and don't mind being looked down on by the audioista's for my crappy audio enjoyment. I enjoy my music the way i listen, i don't need IEMs with fancy cables and 5 drivers to do that, you do the same ok.

I mean read this description-KATO adopts modernist aesthetic design combining light and shadow, I spat my coffee laughing, do people take in this crap.

More drivers doesn't make something look fashionable, you can't even tell by looking at it. The fashionable stuff is wireless/BT overears made with leather and metals that looks like it came out of an art gallery. That is what a good 90% of the population thinks is better because its wireless, and made with premium materials. Wires are not fashionable, resin is not fashionable. You look like a dork that didn't keep up with the times. This is just as most of the population thinks desktops are antiquated bullshit for dorks and poors and thin and light laptops are where it's at. It's also why a macbook is more fashionable than a Windows laptop, an iPhone more fashionable than an android, a apple watch vs a gshock.

You take the train or use the wifi in a coffee shop and all the "beautiful people" in the nice clothes who are obviously into fashion and their looks, it's all airpods, bose (ugh), and similar wireless/bt/anc gear. Wireless and BT, airpods, overears with leather and metal, that's fashionable and trendy. Wires are "look at this dork stuck in 2005". The vast majority of stuff is airpods now anyways.

As for Amazon, blame China! See here's the thing, because wired headphones are not fashionable a lot of people don't care about the brand. So the vast majority of stuff on Amazon is cheap earbuds from China or ChiFi IEMs from China. It's for poor people and broke people. Airpods is the cool thing, the fashionable thing is overear wireless that run from 300-500 bucks. Hell there are overear wireless headphones called "urbanista".

People have mentioned Shure. Here is a pair of Shure IEMs, these are not fashionable. Now here is a pair of shure wireless BT headphones, now these are fashionista. Except the IEMs will slaughter the other pair. Guess which one is sold with tech specs and no pictures of people... the IEMs. Guess which one is sold with pictures of beautiful and fashionable people... the wireless BT.

I'm sorry but you couldn't be more completely wrong about this on every single level. You keep telling yourself that the high end IEMs and wires are fashionable the wireless stuff is not. But that's flat out the exact opposite. In fact it's so insanely wrong the companies making the products advertising reflects it. IEM = tech specs and white papers. Wireless/BT = pictures of beautiful people working out or dressed fashionable and articles about the hip people who wear them!

EDIT- adding Etymotic reference IEMs for studio mastering, these are dorkus maximus, but sure, the stupid looking stuff sold with charts if fashionable but the wireless stuff sold with pretty people pictures is not!

 

[Deleted member 24505]

It's not about looks, it's about what people blather on about on forums, and its IEM's expensive cables for them and what external pocket DAC they are using. I am not bothered about looks, how many drivers they have or if your cable is OFC or what, but you obviously are. that is fine by me.

You don't like BT stuff, fine, does not mean it is crap. There is a lot of shit on Amazon spouting multi drivers and ofc litz cables etc, look at the quote i posted, from a amazon advert. If you like to wear multi driver IEMs with a ofc silver plaited yes plaited, not plated cable, fine, enjoy them. Like i said, i will stick to my plebian AKG wired, when battery is flat/wireless headphones, that don't have leather or metal. They sound ok to my potato ears but obviously not upto your standards.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

It's not about looks, it's about what people blather on about on forums, and its IEM's expensive cables for them and what external pocket DAC they are using. I am not bothered about looks, how many drivers they have or if your cable is OFC or what, but you obviously are. that is fine by me.

You don't like BT stuff, fine, does not mean it is crap. There is a lot of shit on Amazon spouting multi drivers and ofc litz cables etc, look at the quote i posted, from a amazon advert. If you like to wear multi driver IEMs with a ofc silver plaited cable, fine, enjoy them. Like i said, i will stick to my plebian AKG wired, when battery is flat/wireless headphones, that don't have leather or metal. They sound ok to my potato ears but obviously not upto your standards.

Computer forums and audiophile forums are not fashionable. It's nerd land. That is the exact opposite of fashionable. And talking about how many drivers you're headphones have or what kind of DAC and cables you have is no less stupid and silly than talking about how many cores your CPU has, what kind of GPU you have, and how giant copper coolers are better than the aluminium ones that come with the CPU.

Unless you want to argue that getting some intel core i3, 8gb ram, OEM cooler, intel integrated graphics to a 60hz 16ms TN monitor is really geat and everybody rocking anything more than that is just doing that to be a "fashionista" and how bluetooth mini laser mouse and chicklet keyboard is just as good as a wired mechnical keyboard and high DPI optical mouse. Anybody who has anything more is just doing it to be fashionable and there is no use in having anything better. That is the exact argument you are making here!

So, I hope you have a potato computer or you are a fashionista!

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Computer forums and audiophile forums are not fashionable. It's nerd land. That is the exact opposite of fashionable. And talking about how many drivers you're headphones have or what kind of DAC and cables you have is no less stupid and silly than talking about how many cores your CPU has, what kind of GPU you have, and how giant copper coolers are better than the aluminium ones that come with the CPU.

Unless you want to argue that getting some intel core i3, 8gb ram, OEM cooler, intel integrated graphics to a 60hz 16ms TN monitor is really geat and everybody rocking anything more than that is just doing that to be a "fashionista" and how bluetooth mini laser mouse and chicklet keyboard is just as good as a wired mechnical keyboard and high DPI optical mouse. Anybody who has anything more is just doing it to be fashionable and there is no use in having anything better. That is the exact argument you are making here!

So, I hope you have a potato computer or you are a fashionista!

Whatever. Has you dummy slipped out or something?

We were talking about portable audio stuff, wtf are you blathering on about now?

Carry on i am out.

 

[chrcoluk]

Couple of months ago I decided to buy a G6 to replace my aging xonar d2x which was misbehaving badly. I originally wanted a schiit fulla or hel but it would have costed me almost double the msrp to get it here in Greece.

I was sceptical because I don't exactly hold sound blaster to high regard but every review praised the thing way too much.

And tbh they weren't wrong. This little dacamp is awesome if all you need it good stereo and not multichannel and dont wanna spend more than a hundred bucks give or take.

In same boat, like most people stero is wjat I want, under 200 cost also want, so thanks.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

In same boat, like most people stero is wjat I want, under 200 cost also want, so thanks.

EPOS took over sennheisers gaming stuff so here https://www.eposaudio.com/en/us/gaming/products/sound-cards-and-amplifiers the GSX 1000 is highly respected for gaming.

 

[Tech Ninja]

All sound cards are garbage.

optical out to a proper audio grade DAC to proper audio grade self powered studio monitors.

 

[JonM78]

Still bringing up Vista, enjoy living in the past?

I've been using Creative Soundcards since the Sound Blaster 16 and never had issues with drivers. Most people that do have messed up Windows installations.

I had an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum back when Windows Vista came out. Turned my $200 sound card into crap. But I managed with it after understanding the changes that Microsoft had made with the audio components in Vista.

I too never had any drivers issues while running Creative audio cards.

 

[Pictus]

In same boat, like most people stero is wjat I want, under 200 cost also want, so thanks.

PreSonus Studio 24c £106.00

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PreSonus-Studio-24c-USB-C-Interface/dp/B07L9MWWDK

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I had an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum back when Windows Vista came out. Turned my $200 sound card into crap. But I managed with it after understanding the changes that Microsoft had made with the audio components in Vista.

I too never had any drivers issues while running Creative audio cards.

Kinda, but no. Vista nuked EAX into the ground. But that doesn't change the fact that your soundcard has a better dac, opamps, caps, amplification, and a slew of other things that set it apart from onboard. That's what counts. EAX is also killed by atmos and dolby now. DACs that support this fall squarely into gaming but you don't really want that as it's largely shit. You want stereo.



I sort of use use the Sennheiser HD 280 pro which are studio over ears as a reference. The more juice you throw at them the better they sound. It's better in stereo than tossing effects at it. You want DAC/AMP not all sorts of software gimicks.

PreSonus Studio 24c £106.00

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PreSonus-Studio-24c-USB-C-Interface/dp/B07L9MWWDK

I have that as well (in storage) and a set of powered monitors from them (also in storage) presonus makes good stuff on the cheap.

 

[Mussels]

You want stereo.

^This. Just this.

Games already include various pseudo surround sound technologies, mixing and matching them usually just ends up a muddled mess (and you get the same audio effects destroying music, movies, youtube etc)

 

[Deleted member 24505]

^This. Just this.

Games already include various pseudo surround sound technologies, mixing and matching them usually just ends up a muddled mess (and you get the same audio effects destroying music, movies, youtube etc)

Agree. Plus i just can't be arsed with setting up the extra speakers etc.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

(couldnt comment on the creative promo post so i'll comment here)

IMO If Creative were serious about shifting their products and get more people onboard. Maybe a deeper discount would have gotten people to consider. 15% is better than nothing but its still basically the cost of P&P at the end of the day. Very few people are going to take the promo seriously.

 

[JustBenching]

Whatever. Has you dummy slipped out or something?

We were talking about portable audio stuff, wtf are you blathering on about now?

Carry on i am out.

Well, a very good portable dap is smaller than your phone. Its also a necessity cause some iems just sound crap on a phone. I have the shure se846 with a fiio m11, and yeah, tried them on the phone and they just sound disgusting.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Well, a very good portable dap is smaller than your phone. Its also a necessity cause some iems just sound crap on a phone. I have the shure se846 with a fiio m11, and yeah, tried them on the phone and they just sound disgusting.

Maybe so, but i don't want to have to use or buy anything extra. Sound quality when i am out is just not that important to me. As it is i probably only use my phone to listen to music a few times a week.

90% of the people i see when out are using normal wired or wireless headphones. People using fancy IEMs and some portable box for them are defiantly in the minority, which is why to me they are probably the ones more bothered about looks than normal bods.

As i have said a few times, if that is what you like, fine, but not for me. Also i have never seen a single person wearing wireless headphones with metal bands and leather pads, maybe my area does not have any of these "fashion" victims.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Agree. Plus i just can't be arsed with setting up the extra speakers etc.

The speaker situation is different as at that point you're looking at a receiver for multiples and it can actually do surround sound. The issue is with virtualized 7.1 type solutions spat through headphones.

Well, a very good portable dap is smaller than your phone. Its also a necessity cause some iems just sound crap on a phone. I have the shure se846 with a fiio m11, and yeah, tried them on the phone and they just sound disgusting.

AAA battery size or smaller

Maybe so, but i don't want to have to use or buy anything extra. Sound quality when i am out is just not that important to me. As it is i probably only use my phone to listen to music a few times a week.

90% of the people i see when out are using normal wired or wireless headphones. People using fancy IEMs and some portable box for them are defiantly in the minority, which is why to me they are probably the ones more bothered about looks than normal bods.

As i have said a few times, if that is what you like, fine, but not for me. Also i have never seen a single person wearing wireless headphones with metal bands and leather pads, maybe my area does not have any of these "fashion" victims.

Again it's not a box. You seem to have built up this strawman in your head that isn't even remotely based in reality and then keep wailing on it. Wail on something worth wailing on. You also stated that it was forums that made you think it was about looks, you know like having a high end GPU would be about good looks cause they talk about it on forums. You're all over the place trying to justify your same strawman.

 

[trsttte]

Again it's not a box. You seem to have built up this strawman in your head that isn't even remotely based in reality and then keep wailing on it. Wail on something worth wailing on.

Sure, but it's still and extra macguffin to tangle along with the headphone cable in your pocket. If you enjoy it all the power to you, but for listening on the go I as well most people will always prefer the convenience and more than good enough quality of a decent pair of bluetooth headphones or regular cabled headphones for the lucky ones to still have an headphone jack in the phone (i'm streaming spotify and the experience is poluted with city noises anyway, I don't need ultra transparency high quality with magic dust on top)

 

[Deleted member 24505]

The speaker situation is different as at that point you're looking at a reciever for multiples and it can actually do surround sound. The issue is with virtualized 7.1 type solutions spat through headphones.


AAA battery size or smaller



Again it's not a box. You seem to have built up this strawman in your head that isn't even remotely based in reality and then keep wailing on it. Wail on something worth wailing on. You also stated that it was forums that made you think it was about looks, you know like having a high end GPU would be about good looks cause they talk about it on forums. You're all over the place trying to justify your same strawman.




View attachment 246931

The silver thing is what? a small box however small it is, it is something extra hanging off your phone lead. you are a bit angry aren't you? maybe you need to "do something" to calm yourself down. Or plug your stupid looking headphones in along with your box and listen to something calming.

Sure, but it's still and extra macguffin to tangle along with the headphone cable in your pocket. If you enjoy it all the power to you, but for listening on the go I as well most people will always prefer the convenience and more than good enough quality of a decent pair of bluetooth headphones or regular cabled headphones for the lucky ones to still have an headphone jack in the phone (i'm streaming spotify and the experience is poluted with city noises anyway, I don't need ultra transparency high quality with magic dust on top)

Thank you, exactly what i mean but the member does not seem to get it.

 

[95Viper]

Stop the insults in the thread... and, take your insult fest to PMs.

 

[Primordiarch]

Make a new thread, then ill try to help

Thanks, here it is: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...compared-to-2013-motherboards-onboard.294729/

 

[chrcoluk]

EPOS took over sennheisers gaming stuff so here https://www.eposaudio.com/en/us/gaming/products/sound-cards-and-amplifiers the GSX 1000 is highly respected for gaming.

Seems fairly low spec no optical in/out, limited 24bit and I cannot find SNR info in spec sheet at all.