Built-In Audio vs USB DAC / Audio Interface - Is there really a difference? (ft. MSI PRO Z690-A) 

Correction: The dynamic range of the main out of the Babyface PRO FS is actually 125.5 dB(A) as shown in its review. The graph will be adjusted in future videos. A few were interested in the audio codecs, here you go: - MSI PRO Z690-A: Realtek ALC897 - ASRock Z370 Taichi: Realtek ALC1220 - ASRock P67 Pro3: Realtek ALC892

SOOO much information. Thank you! I could never had made it through all the testing and recording.

Thank you, this topic was on my mind for a past few weeks. Happy to see your opinion 😄

My problems with ob audio has always been around the unbalanced outputs and the ground loop. Great video as usual!

Great video as usual. This answered a whole lot of questions I had about PC audio.

just here to say thank's for all that work !! I don't think people realize how much work went into that video

If audio quality in our devices and equipment was as clear and precise as your videos, we'd never have anything to complain about. Excellent work as usual. 👍😎

The biggest benefit I've noticed to having an audio interface is really just the ability to connect xlr mics and instrument line in. If you don't need those features onboard audio with good speakers or headphones is probably just fine.

This is the only channel for detailed review of Audio Gear, especially Audio Interface. I would love to hear reviews of DAC, Loudspeakers, Headphones.

Thanks for this Review! No matter how it turns out it is super interesting to see how they perform to get some idea what die "baselines" is.

Great video keep delivering on great content🌍

I've had a Wave XLR interface for some time now and have been in the market for some new headphones after my old low impedance ones broke. I have been contemplating going with higher impedance options but didn't know what impedance headphones that the Wave XLR could drive. The massive table you provided which included the Wave XLR was very helpful!

Danke! Das Thema war für mich schon seit langem interessant!

Finally a video about audio, i love you!!!

Absolutely great!. Thanks for your valuable analysis.

Thanks for an useful and educational video here, Julian, excellent job, as usual. Would you also consider measuring/evaluating something more in between of an audio interface and built-in DAC to devices such as the DAC dongles (e.g. Apple Lightning headphone adapter, USB-C to RCA audio cables, AudioQuest DragonFly series, ...)? I can hear subtle differences between them but not sure how they compare to other means of getting audio out of devices.

amazing content I learned so much

Thank you for listing the RME Babyface Pro FS. I had purchased one a couple years ago to do the reverse: convert analog to digital so I could have a clean recording without PC hiss/noise. I hadn't made the connection in my mind that it was capable of the reverse, taking digital sound and converting it to analog. All I needed to do was download the PC drivers for it. You just saved me a few hundred dollars!

Great point with the interference on on-board audio. There have been stories in my voice over group that have complained about maddening inexplicable buzzing when not using their external audio device.

Great work! Im not surprised with the findings. The only reason i got an audio interface in the first place was laptop audio jack output. I used to have a budget HP laptop, the sound is audibly different compared to line out of Presonus USB 96(not the greatest, i know). As i went in further into audio, getting a SHP9500, the audio will crackle when connected to the laptop audio jack especially on highly compressed, closed to clipping songs, no such problem connected to Dac/amp. But not all laptops have problems, AFAIK the 2016 MacBook was definitely a class above other laptops of its time in audio jack output and also price

I moved to external usb audio interface several years ago because tired of noise and interferences on bulit-in audio. USB as digital interface solves this issue completely. Also it enables to connect both headphones and dynamics and switch between them with physical switch what is very convenient and usable all time.

Thank you! It would be great to have test/measurements on top level audio interfaces, like UAD Apollo!

First time I've ever seen my UMC22 measured. And it is such a great thing to see!

Hey, really enjoy your approach with all your reviews! It is very informative and entertaining, Keep it up. One thing I would really enjoy to see is if you ever found a way to take your analytical approach to measuring Audio Interfaces and finding a way to do so with speakers and / or headphones. I get that may tough but it would be so helpful!

Great vid!! I always wished for somebody to cover this topic. I would recommend to check some higher end Gigabyte(AORUS branded) motherboards- they frequently use good audio codecs. Eagerly awaiting the headphone amp and DAC tests!

Thank you for your time. A bit over my head, but I got the main idea. :)

Thank you for a really helpful video.

Thank you for making this video, I cant thank you enough. 👍

I look forward to your DAC and amplifier videos to help make choices of these devices less of a minefield. Thank you as always for your professional and indepth testing and result reporting.

thanks , just what i was looking for

Excelent!! Thanks!!

Great video thanks

Interesting - a very thought provoking video! I look forward to your DAC / headphone amp reviews. I'd be interested in seeing a review of the Benchmark DAC 3 HGC (if you can get hold of one)

fantastic work. thank you.

I swear, I can fall asleep to you speaking about anything, and that's a compliment.

Cool. Thank you for making this. This explains some behavior I've been seeing.

You read my mind, Julian! Thank you :3

For me the "crazy night and day" difference was definitely noise to start with. raising the volume was always a constant woosh of white noise. But the biggest benefit of course comes from using studio monitors instead of PC speakers or gaming headsets. Also everyone notices the sound clarity when talking over a good static mic instead of USB mics that tend to still have that old landline phone distorsion because crap capsules. Having mic gain, and main volume controls is also super handy ofc :) Now, thinking back about the sound blaster days, yea, the motheboard audio is just stellar ^^

Great video, Julian! I would also be very interested in a comparison between audio interfaces with good headphone outputs (motu m2, audient Id14 mkII) and dedicated DAC /amps in a similar price range (fiio k5 pro ess, iFi zen etc). I would like to see how these compare when using mid-fi headphones (senn hd6** serios, akg k712 pro etc) maybe even high end ones. Thank you and congrats for all your videos and tests!

Your vids have been very help full. thank you!!! Please take a look at the Creative EA-9 soundcard. I think that there will be same conclusion to be drawn from a product like this.

Another great, practical review. 👍 Please consider reviewing the Behringer Flow 8.

I was using sound cards for years back in the day because I believed that a sound card would give better sound as well as better performance (offload from CPU). The sound was indeed WAY better. But these days I don't bother with one in favour of onboard sound because for me, they've don't crackle/breakup anymore and work fine for basic gaming, videos and music.

One thing that wasn’t discussed was susceptibility to electronic interference. I have had more than one MB that would make terrible audio when near an active cell phone for instance, and this was with shielded coax cables going to the headset.

thanks for this

The very competent motherboard choiche clearly shows your experience in more than one subject.

Julian, absolutely excellent and scientific content as usual, something that is very rarely seen on youtube, you are a reference point. Any chance to check any of the Arturia Audiofuse "professional" series? You really measured it all apart from these two popular ones.

That is what I've said all the time to my friends! Thank you!

Conclusions are spot on. I was running sensitive M-Audio low distortion headphones for a long time. No noise and plenty of power to drive them at earlobe resonating levels. In my case, extra audio device would have been waste for just listening. I only changed this setup because using small closed headphones for many many hours per day is not good for your ears' health (sweaty, warm, cramped).

You Re the best!!

Great video, please make a video about the best dac/headphone amp/mic input compact devices for gaming but also desktop devices for beginner audiophiles like Schiit Hel2 or Schiit Fulla 3

Interesting. Thanks.

Nice Logo! Reminds me of mine!

you’re a sound-card whisperer .. thank you for the effort ..

There were some PCs I didn't really notice much of a difference when switching between the internal MoBo DAC to an external one. However, on my ThinkPad laptop the difference between using the built in jack or an external DAC is huge

Liked & commented EVEN BEFORE watching! Julian Krause vids are always special occasions to look forwards to! :D (P.S. Extra points for providing system build info, as a PC enthusiast myself, but I would have liked if you also listed the audio chips used in these motherboards, most probably Realtek & such.)

Ty Julian

very good video, thank you! Sound Blaster X5 is decent (considering the cost) especially with 4.4mm balanced output

Totally agree with this. I like my home theater audio set up more properly, but for my PC I opted for the EPOS Sennheiser DAC for its 3d audio space processing. It's really good, but for music and movies, it doesn't hold a candle to proper DACs for sure.

Great content! Interesting to see how far integrated audio has come! If they could improve the headphone output, mobo audio would be totally acceptable.

Good video, I started recording in the late 90s using a Peavey console and connecting it to the stereo line input (obviously unbalanced) of a creative soundblaster sound card on a Pentium II, when some motherboards still did not have built-in audio. Low noise and acceptable quality, much better than recording on a cassette , ha. Nowadays with such cheap and good adc/dac chips it should be almost impossible for any sound card (built-in or not) to sound bad. Greetings from Argentina.

Of all my Dacs I tend to use my Asus Essence soundcard with its software the most. Superb and even allows matching to any of my four headphones.

Depending on the Mainboard they have separate DACs for the front Audio, my X570 Aorus Master for example has an ESS SABRE9118 for the front Audio so that you can use high impedance headphones

Super interesting! Would you consider doing a similar test on Thunderbolt docks with their own built-in audio interface, like the CalDigit TS4 (i.e. the CMedia CM6533) or the Kensington SD5700T (not sure about the audio chip in this one)? I'm really curious in particular about whether the isolation from noise is better (because it's "outside the PC" and therefore isolated from the graphics card and CPU) or worse (because it's next to all that other I/O hardware like USB and DisplayPort).

Some Gigabyte and ASUS motherboards are using ESS Sabers. I have the ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore motherboard and it has a ESS SABRE9018Q2C DAC. The specs says it has audio clarity capable of -115dB THD and 121dB DNR. Also the audio jacks are color illuminated! It's the first time I've seen that and it's a clever touch.

Super interesting thanks for sharing! I wonder if you would be interested in doing similar video with a couple of smart phones, I often run my HD600s off my old moto G4 and while I haven't done a proper AB test, I don't feel like there are any significant differences jumping out at me when compared to my interface. The output level is also not an issue, I usually run them at below half volume, despite the fact they are 300 ohm headphones.

really thanks for these video. i really was been asking me the same for a couple time. i would love to see a video about the same aspect but on the microphone in, and if there are a really great difference on the adc from the motherboard and a external soundcard?

Me and a colleague discussed this exact thing at work today. Scary how the algorithm knows your every thought.

I have MSI Z690-A too and I ran into issue with low output, it was way lower compared to what I was used to with my X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI card or old integrated sound I used in the past like SoundStorm (MCP-T + ALC650). I had to crank Windows volume to 100 and it was barely ok vs 54 on X-Fi even on high sensitivity 32Ohm earphones like Pi 3.14. This made me actually check if Windows 11 has build in EU volume limit as the sound felt close, if not below, my EU limited old Sandisk Sansa M250 player. Also the sound felt a bit peaky. I fixed the output with cheap Douk U3 headphone amp (1300mW at 32Ohm), tried highly recommended Apple's USB C DAC dongle, but while output was much better it had harsh treble, finally ending with old FX Audio DAC X6... which was fine (high output, no peaky sound) until I connected HD600 to it and it felt kind of boring, low bass, compressed sound, so I'm back to ALC897/892 that is onboard MSI with Douk U3. Honestly I think I will build a music listening PC from old parts with that X-Fi in it and some amp.

I had to get a DAC solution a few years back because there was a lot of electrical interference from my PC using analogue lines. Going digital got rid of the constant click and pop noises. I ended up importing a ARC DAC AMP by Mayflower Electronics. Costed a fair bit, but it comes with a 10 year warranty (iirc) and now I can use headphones with audible results and 10 x the comfort.

Measurements match my experiences (started my audio journey with a few IEMs and my laptop/phone 10 years ago; tried various other sources and driver types including speakers since then). I never owned a desktop pc, but for laptops and mobile phones sound quality used to be almost guaranteed to be bad. In recent years this has shifted to become acceptable, and in some cases (like the LG Quad phones), positively pleasing. There are still slight variations across audio quality in every device model though. Personally, for more serious listening I have owned many DAC/Amp combos, stacks and standalone units since 9 years ago; some comparable with regular native laptop/mobile phone quality and others around the LG Quad standard (although I have tried better at the audio shop I worked part-time at and also at meets like CanJam). Using a Motu M2 now as I type this, really happy with the quality and functionality to price ratio it offers :)

Some mobos have built in headphone amps that can drive 600ohm headphones but it's usually a feature that has to be turned on using the proprietary software (usually realtek audio manager)

I am on the verge of buying new headphones but don't have enough budget for an amp right now, thankfully I have a good motherboard, but I was unsure as if I my audio codec was good enough. You took time an tested all this audio codecs when literally no one did that, I really love you man, now I'll just buy my headphones and wait for my amp without feeling uncomfortable, thanks!

I would love to see this tested with some portable devices. Ipad, laptop, cell phone... Could be cool to test things like if bluetooth degrades the sound.

Thank you for your thoroughness and clear explanations. I elected to go external USB DAC with a headphone amp, and small amp with speakers a few years ago and in my set up with a now aged €400 motherboard it still made a noticeable difference in terms of sound quality.

Hi Julian, could you review Mixer Interfaces such as Mackie Onyx 12, Tascam Model 12, Presonus 12 ARC? No one ever talks about how well the convertors, preamps and latency of such products perform, yet they seem to pack so much value compared to regular interfaces which may only offer less I/Os at the same price. Love your channel, keep up the great work!

I use a x370 Taichi optically connected to a Marantz HD DAC +Hifiman Amandas. Love the combo

Thanks for the work Julian. Can you do tests to Apollo twin x, mk 2, mk 1 and Apollo solo? It would be really an interesting video. I would like to ask you for advice about buying an audio interface. After watching your videos and analyzing your legendary table, I realized that motu m2 / m4 is the top one, not counting RME babyface pro fs, Motu ultralite-mk5, although this is also quite debatable. In general, I want to take an audio interface for recording, editing vocals, mixing tracks, etc. Which audio interface would you recommend and take for personal use and why? I generally liked Motu m2 (m4), Volt 276 (476), Arturia minifuse 1 (2). But recently discovered the world of apollo. So I’m thinking whether it’s worth it to overpay so much and take apollo solo. I would like to see your tests and comparisons. In general, something like this.

Great video! Thanks for your effort. That would be really cool to see a video where you compare Apple Mac computers' built-in outputs vs USB DACs. Core Audio system in Macs are actually very solid.

Hello Julian, thanks for your scientific measurements. I find them interesting as well as helpful. Would the internal headphone amp on a laptop perform similarly to the PCs you tested here? Thanks.

I bought MOTU M2 specifically for my guitar but I use it as my main audio output for gaming, music etc and never looked back. Sound cards are getting better and have some interesting features, but if you really care about quality, switching to interface is no brainer.

Thanks for covering the laptop audio out. Is it possible to do a investigation on audio input for recording?

My approach is to just connect my audio reciever to my PC via SPDIF. The signal is digital so the motherboard can cheap out on DACs to their heart's content and not bother me.

Very nice. Julian can you test laptops (including Macbooks) as well please? Also I can't wait to see the comparison with entry level Hifi DACs, like those from JDS Labs, Schiit, Topping, etc

another option if you cant afford a usb dac is a simple USB audio adapter for like $10. i found that fixed my interference issues before i got my motu interface. also, from my experience, front panel usually has interference, most pc case manufacturers run the audio cables next to rgb power cables thus making the efforts of the motherboard manufacturer go to waste.

Thanks

My suggestion for future video... What makes a Mastering DAC a Mastering DAC?? The output gain?? The Freq response?? Having the fact a lot of the interfaces you review has almost linear response what's the difference vs pricey mastering DACs (lavry, benchmark, HEDD, Prism, Dangerous etc..)? It's ok to master with any of the interfaces you suggest? Thanks!

I loved my E-MU 0202 back in a day, but they dropped the support and PCI motherboards aren't a thing anymore. Now I use Steinberg UR22mkII for the balanced lines. You can clearly hear a lot of noise from the onboard audio with a decent pair of headphones.

Another slam dunk from Mr Krause♫

Regarding your point that some people may prefer bloated bass from their headphone output, I think it comes down to the fact that they're used to feeiling soundwaves through their body so when headphones are set loud they feel like the an accentuated bass response is closer to a normal experience of listening to music through speakers. If you EQ your headphones by ear and then compare that with the sound from your monitors it's quite likely that you will be surprised that you've dialed more bass to the latter thinking that sounded "neutral". As for on interfaces, I'm stuck with an old E-MU here and the card lacks headphone output - but has DSP effects applicable to any stage so I can even put eq and reverb to my output signal, something that almost all modern interfaces lack and it bothers me - so for headphones I use the realtek interface from my motherboard. When I built this pc that headphones output sounded weak and progressively lacking volume towards the lower frequencies, but then a driver update came and it became louder and more or less flat. That seemed pretty weird to me.

For years I was using a Asus Xonar Essence ST soundcard (I don't even remember why I got myself a soundcard) and it was fantastic. At some point I switched my motherboard, but because the soundcard uses a PCI port, it wasn't compatible. So transitional I used the on-board soundcard, a SupremeFX chip, which luckily had a build-in amp, so my headphones could be used. The sound was at the beginning quite lacking, but with time and a bit of tweaking I got used to it. After a few month I finally bought a new soundcard, the Soundblaster AE-9 (took so long because the new Xonar cards had mutiple issus with windows and AMD, so I need to search for a good alternative) and the difference to the on-board sound is like night and day, it's really not comparable. What I'm saying is, yes, a on-board soundcard is usable, but if anybody wants anything more than listening to music from at example youtube, a dedicated DAC is necessary. On-board soundcards have come a long way and it's nice that they're becoming decent, but the difference is like between a on-board integrated graphics chip and dedicated video card. A graphics chip is also usable, but not really comparable to a video card and the same is with sound cards.

Really interesting video. I would like to know if you have a website with those results as there is none in the description. Also do you have a video on how you test, and if not, plz make one.

Vielen Dank!

Dear Julian! Would you be so kind to do a review about Tascam 208i interface? I think that's an interesting one about its prize! Thank you for your work!

I use a hand me down gaming PC with a decent motherboard, the sound going thru it from Amazon music to my vintage amp and bookshelf speakers is pretty good.

The Behringer UMC 202HD i use for recording produces ok sound on the outputs/headphone, but it gets straight into distortion territory after 2o clock on the headphonejack with my DT770Pro 250Ohms, so they are ok on that interface to a certain degree, but nothing beats my Soundblaster AE-7 for listening, more power much cleaner sound and pretty much no distortion at all up to the max. Onboard Audio is the ALC1220DB on my X570Aorus Pro, but that cant compete, not even with the UMC202. Front is blerg and Rear is ok-ish when "amped" on lvl 3, but still much quieter on max, than even half AE-7 output, not to mention that the onboard chip doesnt sound as clean and crisp anyways and the dynamic range and noise levels are just superb on the AE-7 and atleast my RTX3080Aorus Master 12GB does not induce any noise or whine, but that one has high quality mosfets and VRMs and so does the BQ! SP11 850W Platinum PSU with still enuff headroom and clean voltages and low ripple, so that the VRMs on the card have less to do. Also i think that the connectors for the GPU and the AE-7 are on completly seperate lanes, so also less crosstalk there.

been using interface for a long time now (7 year+). best decision ever made.

I'd love a review of the Tascam Model 12.

I have no issues with built-in audio quality (creative & realtek), it's just I find over time they die. Thx for the review.

From back in the the day, after comparing the integrated audio to a proper audio interface, i hold this grudge against any integrated audio chip. First is the noise from other components in the PC. I re-test once in a while with new hardware, still the same - even the "premium shielding" doesn't work... And the next thing is the quality itself. I'm not sure if it's placebo or not, but I swear the audio is messed up to my ears no matter the chip. I guess as you have identified, one thing is the boosted bass and possibly the lower dynamic range. I can't properly identify it myself (except the too bassy sound maybe), so I appreciate your extensive tests and graphs. Confirms my bias against it, although I don't care much if other people don't pay attention to it. To each their own.

Great! Thanks!