Author Topic: USB DAC? (Read 9498 times)

alaricljs · « **Reply #50 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 10:42:19 »

I have a plantronics USB "soundcard" basically stereo out and mic in. I am looking forward to replacing it since I've switched from a cheap headphone amp to a Pimeta v2 I built. With the new amp I can hear the background hiss from the dongle and I don't like it. I don't know how much better/worse that CL dongle might be, but I don't expect much.

thegunner100 · « **Reply #51 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 10:47:44 »

I'd recommend going for an internal soundcard over a USB one. What are your options for a internal soundcard from the store?

thegunner100 · « **Reply #52 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 10:50:48 »

The gain from the Pimeta v2 could be the cause of the background hiss, if you are using more sensitive headphones rather than from the plntronics usb soundcard itself.

alaricljs · « **Reply #53 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 10:52:13 »

With no input my Pimeta at 85% or less is dead silent. Need to figure out where the buzz in 1 channel is above that. Of course, I don't need 85% unless I want to bleed.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #54 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 11:07:05 »

Quote from: thegunner100 on Thu, 20 June 2013, 10:47:44

I'd recommend going for an internal soundcard over a USB one. What are your options for a internal soundcard from the store?

Pretty much the basic http://www.czc.cz/zvukove-karty/produkty But I wouldn't buy something with Xfi, since I won't use it or appreciate it in games.

I also found these: http://www.czc.cz/creative-labs-gigaworks-t20-series-ii_2/61827/produkt?q-c-0-f_2025863=s2.0&q-category-id=0bqs53vn1uj5caci4i1qdjta39&q-c-1-producer=sfsj1ie63a8f1lbr5vis0875387

thegunner100 · « **Reply #55 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 11:49:38 »

Go for the xonar DG. it is a much better than the usb soundcard if you're going to be using a desktop. Soundcards aren't just for gaming; they're also used for dacs, which can be decent for their price. I'm not too familiar with speakers, so I can't say much about the t20.

@alaricljs, the noise could just be from the USB interface itself.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #56 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 12:07:03 »

OK, this looks good. And what headset would you recommend? I don't think I should use this SC with my senns and cord extension. The headset with long cable and volume control on the cable would be better choise IMHO.

thegunner100 · « **Reply #57 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 12:18:48 »

Im not sure, I assumed that you would just use your px 100 II with the sound card. You could try using autohotkey to bind some keys to control your volume. Then you could just save your money up for something better later.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #58 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 12:27:56 »

Oh, I see I didn't get you at the first time

The card seems perfet and what I've read it even includes built in amp. But with my PX100 I will need a cord extension, since their cable is ment for a mp3 player and therefore it is quite short

My Keycool has it's own key binds to control volume and to mute the volume. So I can use them.

thegunner100 · « **Reply #59 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 12:35:00 »

Ahh okay so that's what you meant. Yeah, just get an extension cable or you could get that koss cable w/ the volume control as well.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #60 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 12:43:37 »

Quote from: thegunner100 on Thu, 20 June 2013, 12:35:00

Ahh okay so that's what you meant. Yeah, just get an extension cable or you could get that koss cable w/ the volume control as well.

That's right! I almost forgot

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #61 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 13:00:59 »

OK, assume, that I will buy the sound card. When I have enough money and buy for example Sennheiser HD 518, can I plug them directly to the soundcard and listen to them?

thegunner100 · « **Reply #62 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 13:10:04 »

Yep, you could also use the sound card as a dac-only and plug an external amp to it, or use the sound card's optical out to output to a dac/amp as well.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #63 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 14:55:17 »

Quote from: thegunner100 on Thu, 20 June 2013, 13:10:04

Yep, you could also use the sound card as a dac-only and plug an external amp to it, or use the sound card's optical out to output to a dac/amp as well.

No no, I mean, if I can just plug better headphones in the soundcard.

thegunner100 · « **Reply #64 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 14:56:35 »

Yes, of course.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #65 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 15:10:27 »

Great, thank you for that advic

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #66 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 16:20:38 »

One more question, if I use the sound card and connect the headset with signinificant background noise (when connected MB sound output), would the background noise disappear? Or it doesn't work that way?

thegunner100 · « **Reply #67 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 16:39:03 »

Yes, the sound card should be less noisy than the mobo's built in amp/dac. Only one way to find out!

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #68 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 16:41:36 »

OK, I have a little bit old gaming headset. I will try it right after my senns

But check out this cute little thingy: http://www.czc.cz/fiio-d5/131115/produkt?q-c-0-productType=sP%C5%99%C3%ADslu%C5%A1enstv%C3%AD

What do you think?

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #69 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 16:49:42 »

Quote from: SOROBORU88 on Thu, 20 June 2013, 16:41:36

OK, I have a little bit old gaming headset. I will try it right after my senns

But check out this cute little thingy: http://www.czc.cz/fiio-d5/131115/produkt?q-c-0-productType=sP%C5%99%C3%ADslu%C5%A1enstv%C3%AD

What do you think?

Never mind, the reviews are too bad for this little guy

The sound card for the same price is much better and more quality solution

thegunner100 · « **Reply #70 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 16:56:57 »

Best part about the xonar DG is that it also supports dolby headphone, which you can enable for gaming.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #71 on:** Thu, 20 June 2013, 17:22:31 »

Sounds great (no pun intended). From what I've read so far good sound card is the basic. Even though D90 is a basic model.

davkol · « **Reply #72 on:** Sat, 22 June 2013, 14:31:57 »

...or you could just get an used SB Live. Usually 10 EUR shipped, and sounds great (especially considering the price).

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #73 on:** Mon, 24 June 2013, 04:18:48 »

Quote from: davkol on Sat, 22 June 2013, 14:31:57

...or you could just get an used SB Live. Usually 10 EUR shipped, and sounds great (especially considering the price).

Thank you for your advice, good Sir. But I don't have a good experience buying used items. The Xonar DG looks just fine and the price is great.

I was reading some threads on head-fi, or overclock, I don't know, but I found these headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-AD500.

I would like the know the comparison between those and Sennheiser HD518.

I personally like Sennheiser, but I saw many of those purple Audio-Technicas in many pictures around many keyboard phorums...

Second thing, when I have xonar, does it work with those external AMPS/DACS? Or the soundcard can't be used with external devices, since external devices takes the signal via USB?

davkol · « **Reply #74 on:** Mon, 24 June 2013, 04:32:41 »

I have the ATH-AD500. It's f-ing huge and doesn't fit on my small head without a mod; otherwise, it's considered to be one of the most comfortable pairs of headphones (same design as AD700). The sound is very neutral, with big sound stage and weak bass. I like that for orchestral/ambient/folk music, but definitely not metal.

Based on my experience with HD 565, I guess HD 558 would be better universal cans.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #75 on:** Mon, 24 June 2013, 04:39:18 »

Well, that escalated quickly

But 558 are so damn expensive around here! What about HD518?

davkol · « **Reply #76 on:** Mon, 24 June 2013, 04:45:19 »

I used to ask the same question, but I was told they were much worse.

HD 558 aren't that much more expensive than say AD500. 3 kCZK vs. 2.6 kCZK.

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #77 on:** Mon, 24 June 2013, 04:55:17 »

Well, I did some research and you were right (as always

). I could get them for 3k CZK, but only if I knew, that they won't be an overkill for Xonar DG. But I like the fact, that they are considered "allaround".

thegunner100 · « **Reply #78 on:** Wed, 03 July 2013, 17:24:36 »

So what did you end up getting?

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #79 on:** Thu, 04 July 2013, 15:57:28 »

Quote from: thegunner100 on Wed, 03 July 2013, 17:24:36

So what did you end up getting?

Nothing yet

I had problems with furniture, had to buy new table for my dad and my notebook went bat-**** crazy... But Xonar and Senns are still a number one option

thegunner100 · « **Reply #80 on:** Thu, 04 July 2013, 16:46:04 »

Ahh I see, sorry to hear that

SOROBORU88 · « **Reply #81 on:** Fri, 05 July 2013, 02:02:14 »

Nothing to by sorry about

Helping my father is always my prime concern

And it was because of computer/notebook switcheroo. The idea of headphones was just postponed

Notebook seems fine, it stopped to overheat so I assume it's ok

oTurtlez · « **Reply #82 on:** Mon, 08 July 2013, 09:10:59 »

In case you're still looking, pay attention to Massdrop for DACs, Amps, and sound gear all in all. Get stuff at a nice discount. They'll be running the Aune T1 GB again soon enough and there'll be enough people in that one to get that back down to 109.99 again. That's the best bang for your buck IMO. I got one myself and I absolutely love it. Check it out.

davkol · « **Reply #83 on:** Mon, 08 July 2013, 10:35:54 »

Quote from: oTurtlez on Mon, 08 July 2013, 09:10:59

In case you're still looking, pay attention to Massdrop for DACs, Amps, and sound gear all in all. Get stuff at a nice discount. They'll be running the Aune T1 GB again soon enough and there'll be enough people in that one to get that back down to 109.99 again. That's the best bang for your buck IMO. I got one myself and I absolutely love it. Check it out.

I was thinking of joining the E17&E9K massdrops, but even the lowest price wasn't worth it, if I considered shipping to the Czech Republic, VAT and lack of warranty.

oTurtlez · « **Reply #84 on:** Wed, 10 July 2013, 08:35:27 »

Quote from: davkol on Mon, 08 July 2013, 10:35:54

Quote from: oTurtlez on Mon, 08 July 2013, 09:10:59
In case you're still looking, pay attention to Massdrop for DACs, Amps, and sound gear all in all. Get stuff at a nice discount. They'll be running the Aune T1 GB again soon enough and there'll be enough people in that one to get that back down to 109.99 again. That's the best bang for your buck IMO. I got one myself and I absolutely love it. Check it out.

I was thinking of joining the E17&E9K massdrops, but even the lowest price wasn't worth it, if I considered shipping to the Czech Republic, VAT and lack of warranty.

The Aune is back up and already at the lowest price tier. If you want a great sounding DAC Amp combo, that's your (anyone's) best choice. I believe it still carries manufacturers warranty.

davkol · « **Reply #85 on:** Wed, 10 July 2013, 17:08:43 »

Yeah, I sure do want to ship stuff abroad in case something breaks.

thegunner100 · « **Reply #86 on:** Wed, 10 July 2013, 17:32:07 »

The Aune T1s are made in China.

rootwyrm · « **Reply #87 on:** Sat, 13 July 2013, 23:23:13 »

Xonar DX should be at the absolute bottom of your list, period. Buggy drivers, extremely low quality components, extremely bad frequency response clipping and gapping. It is complete and utter crap.

If you want a good, reliable sound card for high quality sound your choices are M-Audio Audiophile 192 (strictly 2/2 pro audio and DO NOT use for gaming, amp required as well) or an HT|OMEGA. I've been using HT|OMEGA for a number of years and not only are the rock solid reliable, the sound quality is flat out unmatchable even before you swap the OpAmps, and the price is lower because you're not paying for marketing budget and hype.

And this is true of all HT|OMEGAs cards. I'm running a Striker 5.1 in one system for near-pro (it's a little weak on the high), Claro II for semi-pro, and I used to listen to the Halo XT (that's the version with the headphone amp) daily.

Honestly, you might be better off going with the Halo XT since it's got all the bits in it already. I've been poking around at the various USB DACs for several weeks now, and they're just not very good. Not till you start dropping several hundred dollars or accept a ridiculous amount of latency.

News:

Author Topic: USB DAC? (Read 9498 times)