Sound cards, DACs, and amps are all highly discussed topics in the PC and audiophile worlds. Here's what I think you need to know about them... Sponsor message: For a free audiobook of your choice go to audible.com/techquickie.
I always wondered why my speakers had that hissing noise and why it grows when I start applications. Thanks Linus, these are super dope and informative!
I think you forgot to mention that if you aren't an audiophile, and there isn't anything physically wrong with your speakers/motherboard ect, then you probably don't need any of this.
^This is true. The majority of people are fine with listening to beats out of their computer. They are missing out, but if they go to a mid-high end audio store and can't tell / appreciate the difference they shouldn't buy anything different!
Once you try high-fi and summit-fi gear, there is no going back! I have a FiiO E10K DAC + Schiit Asgard 2 + HiFiMan HE-400 planar magnetics and it's nirvana, man... My end game setup will be Ragnarok + Yggdrasil + LCD-2's. I'm almost there Q_Q
There's been a flood of newbie audiophiles in recent years and more than people realize. While the percentage of audiophiles to non-audiophiles is still very small, the number has been increasing dramatically... sadly, thanks to the popularity of Beats. Anyway, my current setup is Sennheiser HD700 + Meridian Explorer² + Schiit Vali. It's a relatively expensive setup, but well worth the money. If people stop to think about it, a $500-$1,000 investment in high sound quality is extremely important. You need good sound for gaming, music, movie and stream video-watching, content production, etc. In my opinion, it's an essential part of everyone's tech setup. You don't have to upgrade sound nearly as often as graphic cards, either.
Wow Linus, your timing is impeccable. I'm just about to buy a Amp/DAC combo, and I've been surfing around a lot to find out more about what I need. This is perfect, thank you!
I don't need amplification. But would love as clean sound as I can get. If I buy just a dac without volume control, and connect it to my blue yeti which has volume control. Will the yeti then intefere with the sound/make it worse?
do sound cards convert to analog or just process the digital audio differently? I ask because I'd like to use both an internal sound card to process and output a high quality digital output and then from there run it into an external amp and DAC.
So.. I dont have a problem with my onboard sound.. No hissing, no distortion and (at least in my opinion) Good Sound, i dont know if a new soundcard would make a big difference though. What do you guys think ? Should i get a soundcard or nah ?
I'd say buy the FiiO E10K from a website you can return it to. It's a USB DAC/AMP combo, it provides enough power for most high sensitivity/low impedance headphones, it has very clean sound and it's a very popular product so chances are you will hear a difference with: 1. High quality files i.e. 320kbps MP3 or FLAC 2. High fidelity headphones
Well I purchased a sound card for my PC and rarely use it, has lots of noise coming off it, onboard is far better if you set up a good EQ. I wouldn't buy another sound card unless it was external
***** If you aren't hearing any distortion or interference and it sounds fine then keep what you have. If you don't find yourself needing any more inputs/outputs than you have then you're good. If you know someone with a high quality audio set up then ask if you can listen. Also as Fixedup89 said onboard soundcards are definitely not the way to go, you want something external.
So, if I plug my PC in my HT via optical digital from my onboard audio and plug my headphones on my HT I'll be fine and no problems as mentioned in the video?
....bit hypocritical saying improving your cars engine is a statement about your junk. Isn't this a channel, forum, and community for tech enthusiasts who 'supe' up computers? Was a bit miffed by that. I like to do both.
Always used external soundcards. Fast Track Pro did the job for years and was amazing. Now that it's started to show it's age, I upgraded to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and it's incredible!
Pretty good round up. More concise than I could ever manage. A dedicated headphone amplifier is also a good idea if you want to subtract the headphone from the main speaker part of the circuit.
Linus you're so amazing! if only you knew the amounts of people you helped build their first PC ((including me))and teach on more complicated computer stuff :3 stay strong bro you're my hero!
now good question. I have rog ally conected to monitor by HDMI and as monitor do not have speakers i use sound bar conected to monitor headphone jack. this odd setup because on same monitor conected my desctop by display port. and it gives me audio same way. so on hdmi and display port they transfer analog audio or there is DAC in monitor?
So is it between a sound card OR a DAC & amp, or can I connect all of them together? I need the sound card to fix my mic hissing, but could I add an amp later down the line for my headphones?
Just bought a Fiio E10K and it makes a world of difference compared to my onboard. So much more detail and depth in the music I have been missing all this time.
Awesome Linus. Also, crosstalk is also a large issue with on-board solutions which is much less an issue with DACs, AMPs or combo units. Not only does less crosstalk make stereo music more enjoyable, but it also makes directional sound in games far more accurate and use-able.
I have MSI Z97-Gaming 5 LGA 1150 Intel Z97, please do tell me if i should configuring or if i should install some fancy driver for taking full advantage of it ? currently i have installed realtek driver
Will Buying an external or internal DAC provide higher volume then Mother board built in card? Right now I have the audio technica ath m40x headphones and the volume is low also the quality listening from my phone is much better then from my pc
there's never enough coverage on topics! if he stopped trying to be funny and used video , motion audiable cues for things then he could explain it alot quicker then us just seeing he mouth moving
Being an audiophile is pretty easy, you just have to never be satisfied with your audio and tell everyone that the audio they have is crap even if they can't tell the difference. Seriously though this stuff is only useful to people that work with it, I don't understand why some take it as a hobby, sounds super dumb.
Jay Anderson Mostly because the market forces them, this one is a conscious choice.
9 лет назад
JukaDominator The market doesn't force anyone to buy anything. Knowing that Im posting this on ltt video I know Im doomed to hate, but it is exactly like buying a high end graphics card. Those few FPS that you get for double the price really don't matter. Same goes for sound. That little extra frequency range or lower noise floor really won't matter, but if you're an enthusiast you'll want it just because.
I am looking into getting an external amp & dac and have ended up on the asus xonar essence STU. There are few places to get one from after what i have seen. Any tips on where to get it? And are there any similar ones that would be a good alternative to the STU?
most of the latest realteks are good enough for most of the users. getting a fancy soundcard doesn't make your crappy headphone/speaker setup sound good. it's actually garbage in > garbage out theory !
Of course it is if you're not an audiophile or a producer... Producers tho won't get an audio card but an external audio interface (beginners) and other much more expensive solutions. Also sound engineers and producers will ground every single component inside the case and the case itself and every other electronic device to minimize the noise as much as they can.
berzu21 Exactly. I started noticing this when I got a MBP as laptop (yeah shame on me, w/e). The audio chips in those are significantly better and made the onboard audio on my desktop PC sound downright crappy. This was the main reason why I went for a USB headset. They have their own DAC built in so if you pick a nice USB headset it's already a lot better. I still haven't gotten a solution that's a bit more robust but it's something I'm saving up for.
Depends, I have had onboard sound that had a lot of static. However the one i have now, an Asus board with the sound components on a separate corner of the mother board, is a lot better. I think buying a usb sound card can be worth it if you have a cheap motherboard.
especially when it a matter of driver support. windows natively supports pretty much every on-board chip. where some like creative believe in pump and dump where they give driver support for the first 6 months and after that you're supposed to by a new card with you're OS.
SO BASICALLY, good audio and computers are pretty much incompatible because of some issue we haven't resolved yet involving interference when outputting audio. External Dacs+Amps aid in this by taking the data and turning it into the audio signal externally?
So owning an x99 Gaming G1 motherboard with the dedicated sound PCB and a switch to turn up the on-board amp.. Should I still get a DAC to plug in a hi-fi system?
I have headphones Sennheiser HD 598, but my sound card is shit! Which card i need for it? I am looking for Audiotrak Prodigy HD2 Advance DE, is it good card for my HD 598 or not? I should look for the better choice?
Do I need a DAC? I have an ASRock Z77 Extreme4 mobo and a pair of ATH-M50s. No noticeable audio problems but I'm wondering if a DAC would boost audio quality even higher. I mostly use Spotify premium but listen to lossless versions of my favourite songs.
I'm new to the audio world in computing, I would like to purchase Sennheiser HD650 headphones although they are 300ohms meaning they'll need an Amp of some sort that will drive them. Would i need a DAC (Digital to Anolog Converter) as well as an Amp? Please someone inform me. Thanks
I use an optical audio cable, which goes into an astro external mixamp. Would I notice the difference if I was to buy a sound card? or shall I keep using my motherboards Built in sound? (motherboard: asus PRIME-X370-PRO Mixamp: astro mixamp pro tr)
Hi Teckquickie i want to buy a new laptop that is faster dan my old one because its getting very slow (old one: asus K50IN) but what should i be looking at when shearching for a new laptop that is fast do i need to look at the ram,i3,i5,... Or what laptop do you recoment (500-600 euro) Thnx !!
What's the difference between a DAC and Audio Interface ? I have a Audio Interface with 6 IN's & Out's from Native Instruments called The Komplete Audio 6. If i use the DT-770 Pro 250 Ohm's on my audio interface will it work perfectly.
Since Techquickie was meant to host to host short videos that can be shared with non-tech savvy people, you need to remember to briefly clarify what certain abbreviations you use mean, (DAC, EMI, etc), either through the scripted writing or with a short on-screen text popup. Otherwise there would be some confusion for those who haven't watched a corresponding previous video.
I'm just wondering if my audio setup might have any downfalls as I heard people talking about double amplification. I have an asus xonar dgx which outputs to an av reciever (yamaha rx-v361) which then goes to my headphones (Ath-m50) and speakers. Would double amping the headphones be a bad thing as the audio signal passes through 2 components before it reaches the headphones?
Your setup is quite overkill, and av receivers are not usually the best at headphone audio logic (its usually more of an afterthought, most of the money you spend goes towards speaker amps). I think M50's easy enough to drive that going straight into your dgx is more than enough, but if you are planning to upgrade to some of the better headphones out there I suggest a dedicated headphone amp.
I am also driving some speakers with the amp, I was just wondering if it had any negative effects connecting the headphones through the amp as the dgx 3.5mm jack was taken up by the av receiver input.
ClanOfPhoenixs generally the concept of double amping doiesn't really make a difference. what an "amp" is is just to boost the signal strength of the source. so in the worse case it should sound no worse than the worst component in your system (which would most likely be the DGX. the thing is that the av reciever does not bring any benefits to the M50s. Those headphones are very easy to drive, and don't particularly enhance audiotechnica's style of headphones (generally you want to buy an amp that suits the nature of the headphone). Running them off the dgx is more than enough.
Hey guys what you suggest i would get to kill that static noise i'am hearing when turning the vol up ? Iam just gaming on my pc and some random music......
How does an external DAC eliminate static and other interference? The sound still has to be processed inside the computer and sent out to the DAC right?
If I use a external DAC like a Scarlett 2i2 for my studio monitors, instead of unbalanced RCA cables to Realtek chip, will that remove coil whine? Coil whine presents itself when moving the mouse through Chrome and playing games.
But Linus you didn't display any of the recommended sound quality devices you talked in your video! Can anyone mention the best DAC etc available out here in the market ? Thnx
I have Cyber Acoustic Ca 3602a speakers and I was wondering if I were to buy a sound card, like asus xonar will it improve the audio quality? I don't have headsets. Thank you!
I have an external sound card that i still get hissing from, it's super annoying. Its pretty old so i've been thinking about an upgrade but not sure what i want to get. Anyone with experience from the production side of music have any recommendations? I also use a pre-sonus audiobox and record guitars etc with it.
If I use an HDMI cable to transfer my PC audio into a separate AV receiver with headphones coming out the front, does that qualify as being the final solution that Linus mentioned - about having a separate DAC? I use 2 monitors, both of which use the DVI ports on my GPU, and I use the remaining HDMI port as a 'dummy' display for my receiver that is only used for the HD audio drivers.
Depends on the monitor, I'm currently using a TV/PC monitor and the tele stuff causes major interference for headphones plugged into the monitor, the speakers also have the same distortion but are never up high enough to hear it on a regular basis. Really as far as PCs go just plug your headphones/speakers into the back of your motherboard and stay away from your front case mounted audio ports as those will cause the same interference as my current tele set up. cheers.
been suffering from noise for a while.. tried a soundcard, didn't fix it.. got a external amp/dac (FiiO E07K) and solved it.. the E09K dock is pretty awesome aswell since its a dedicated amp that goes nice with the E07K..
Thanks, I like the analogy about the highway vs computer noise :) I came looking for more of a Sound Card Comparison, but this discussion still brings up MORE Questions, because I have Software which REQUIRES a High Performance Internal Sound Card, and at the same time everything I am using to Create the Music is geared towards an Audio Interface, some even come with one built into the equipment. So now we have the Question of how to Use MULTIPLE Sound Interfaces. I believe that is not really a problem as long as you select each individual Interface inside the Software Settings but it would be nice if someone knew everything about what I am talking about and could give me a little deeper insight on the matter.
My brother started hearing strange noises from his speaker. At first we thought Edward Snowden was trying to get in touch with him . Thank's Linus for clarifying.
