Sound Blaster Z is selling for $100 on Newegg.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2F83MX8711
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2F83MX8711
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
I'm talking about buying a $50 sound card and you guys are recommending a $500 alternative.
Am I being trolled?
I'm just looking for something equivalent to my XtremeGamer.
1. Current card is a Sound Blaster ZxR - still supports Alchemy for EAX on older games.. even in Windows 10.
2. SNR is better - Motherboard Realtek ALC1150 115dB - ZxR 124dB
3. Headphone amp that actually can power real headphones
4. Dedicated headphone plug - able to change between speakers and headphones without unplugging/plugging in cables or using a switch box
I'm sure there is more, but that is all I am using at the moment.
There are two main things that you have to consider.
-Functionality
-DAC
Functionality refers to any features on the card that you might make use of. Stuff like Virtual surround sound that can either downmix 7.1 down to 2 for great headphone surround, or upmix stereo content into 7.1 for a multi-channel setup. There are many examples, and plenty of people make use of those features, but they are all optional and you will never "need" anything more than onboard.
The DAC is where the analog audio signal is actually created, so this has a huge impact on the sound. Anything that already outputs analog audio already has a DAC, but there are many possibilities where you can upgrade to a better DAC. This does not have to be directly related to which features you need. If you have a soundcard and you like it's features for example, you can use the DAC on the soundcard or you can use a different DAC instead by simply running a digital cable from your soundcard to an external DAC. Some external DACs can plug into a computer via USB basically making them an external soundcard (and bypassing any other sound device you already have).
How can audio travel via USB?
isn't all audio ouput generated by your (onboard) audio card?
Digitally.
Nope. There's audio in digital streams going here and there, but it isn't 'generated' until it hits a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). A 'USB soundcard' or 'USB DAC' is just that, including the Modi, as well as say USB Soundblasters, USB headsets, and even in displays these days.
By using an external DAC, be it USB, SP/DIF, or say a receiver over HDMI, you get that first analog stage out of the PC. This means less potential noise, which may matter.
And it may not.
Well, it's a DAC. That's basically all anything that does sound output does these days. The DACs are actually pretty good onboard, the bigger issue is the environment of the implementation. Motherboard manufacturers tend to take shortcuts. When they don't, stuff works pretty well.
You want to be sure, you put the stuff outside. Not that big of a deal? Plug it into the board.
Not necessarily. My onboard audio is physically isolated from the motherboard and it has the Creative 3D chip most new Creative cards have.Sound cards like Xonar STX are pretty cheap when you consider how long those won't need replacing and quality they offer.
Using on-board audio is degrading to ones soul
Not necessarily. My onboard audio is physically isolated from the motherboard and it has the Creative 3D chip most new Creative cards have.
This is still Realtek ALC sound codec and Creative stuff is software-only.Not necessarily. My onboard audio is physically isolated from the motherboard and it has the Creative 3D chip most new Creative cards have.
My current motherboards onboard sound is physically separated from the rest of the motherboard and it uses the same Creative chip Soundblaster cards used at that time (perhaps even currently). I'm willing to bet that many of the problems people associate with onboard sound stem from unearthed wall sockets, dirty mains power and/or broken power supplies. Most computer power supplies are junk by audio standards.While I did not read all the responses.
In midrange to high end motherboards have discrete circuitry and swapable components that allow onboard to rival some dedicated sound cards.
Now if you are looking for sound production or use high end headphones or similar then dedicated DAC amps/preamps may be your route.
Personally I have had no problems with the performance of onboard sound for a good while now.
My current motherboards onboard sound is physically separated from the rest of the motherboard and it uses the same Creative chip Soundblaster cards used at that time (perhaps even currently). I'm willing to bet that many of the problems people associate with onboard sound stem from unearthed wall sockets, dirty mains power and/or broken power supplies. Most computer power supplies are junk by audio standards.
Mind you we are not talking about some audio-voodoo stuff here or having to spend terrible amounts of money. We are talking about getting cheap dedicated hardware that does the thing it was designed for properly or choosing instead some integrated solution that was from the start made to be as cheap as possible and just produce audible sound, nothing more.
To address the 'audio voodoo', above say ~US$200 for DAC and Amp, which is what good sound cards generally go for, you're paying for flexibility, features, and perhaps niche levels of power output / super low noise for using less common headphones / IEMs.
The very best I'd recommend for pure desktop use + gaming would be the US$269 Mayflower Arc MK2, and you're paying a bit more for features: in this case, you're paying for a standard-setting headphone output with the best mic input on the market bar nicer audio interfaces, all in a compact, driverless, USB-powered package:
I feel like USB powered devices (excluding maybe USB C devices that draw more power) don't necessarily have the juice for a good HP amp.
The Mayflower unit looks like one of the better ones, but I don't know why you would limit your power budget like that.
Your motherboard uses Realtek ALC1150 as D/A chip.My current motherboards onboard sound is physically separated from the rest of the motherboard and it uses the same Creative chip Soundblaster cards used at that time (perhaps even currently). I'm willing to bet that many of the problems people associate with onboard sound stem from unearthed wall sockets, dirty mains power and/or broken power supplies. Most computer power supplies are junk by audio standards.
Actually you're correct. I remembered wrong, probably confused it with the motherboard my sons machine has. It had the Creative 3D chip (and used to be my computer). I use an USB headset for gaming anyway so the quality of the onboard audio does not concern me. Most people do not have good enough speakers/amps connected to their computers to really need to be concerned about differences with DACs.USB is more than enough for DAC with headphone amp
I can charge Meizu MX4 Pro while playing Sennheiser HD545 (and even more so HD600 for that matter) at full power while it plays Tidal at highest quality over Wifi and I use phone at the same time.
And let me be clear, Meizu MX4 Pro is as strong as anyone will ever need need to listen to music. Most people will need to lower volume because 100% is near pain threshold. Xonar STX at full power out of its headphone amp is pretty much comparable in power.
Your motherboard uses Realtek ALC1150 as D/A chip.
Soundblaster cards use proper D/A chips. Even very cheap Audigy SE uses very good Wolfson WM8768 and PCI-E iterations of this card use similar D/A.
Soundblaster AE-5 uses ESS ES9016K2M, which is brother/sister of D/A chip that my Meizu phone uses.
Soundblaster ZXR uses TI PCM1794 which is brother/sister to D/A chips that Xonar STX and Tempotec Serenade use.
Soundblaster Z/ZX uses Cirrus Logic CS4398-CZZ
Asus SupermeFX from Z97-Pro Gamer uses Realtek ALC1150 which to my knowledge no Creative card ever used. They did not fall so low...
This reminds me of a discussion on Hospital records forum. People were asking for hi-res versions of their Drum&Bass records. LE just commented back that the samples the musicians use for the music are regular mp3:s sometimes ripped from 60 year old records so playing the music back in hires would yield no benefit.I'm a DJ and Producer, and quite honestly... onboard audio is fine for casual listening, at least if you're talking a good quality motherboard. The quality of onboard audio has really gone up in recent years.
I still use my Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 for serious production work, and I use the Traktor S4's built-in sound for DJing, but it's not so much because of the sound quality, per se, it's because of all the inputs/outputs, and the routing configurations I can do with them. Last time I bought a dedicated board (an Auzentech Prelude), but this new build I just did, I didn't even bother. I use the onboard for just regular use, and the professional stuff for mixing/producing.
This reminds me of a discussion on Hospital records forum. People were asking for hi-res versions of their Drum&Bass records. LE just commented back that the samples the musicians use for the music are regular mp3:s sometimes ripped from 60 year old records so playing the music back in hires would yield no benefit.
Many people are stuck with formats and stats like S/N without deeper understanding of what's really important.
Most of these can be handled by external USB breakout box "sound cards" like the Komplete 6.
I've been looking closer at the Motu M2, which is near the top of its price class at US$169, but, includes both balanced and single-ended outputs, MIDI passthrough, dual combo XLR / TRS inputs with independent 48V phantom power triggering, and last but not least 32bit float recording for 'gainless' input.
It also looks nice, has a very nice display, has a USB-C connection, and is built with great components all around.
The only place I'm expecting it to be limited is the same as all bus-powered interfaces and most portable recorders, which is the inability to drive higher-impedance headphones. You usually want to stick to less than 50Ω with this class of devices, but generally speaking that's enough. If it's not, you can hook up a balanced headphone amp to it to do that job.
I tend to prefer Native Instruments for most of my equipment. But this is as much due to the software side of the equation as the hardware side. I use Komplete (still on 11, not 12, because $) and Traktor.
I see that asus is advertising good audio for its z270 prime board. Do I still need a separate sound card to get better audio for music and games, or it's just not needed? Nothing audiophile, but still, I don't like crappy popping sound.
Most interfaces seem to be on about the same level with respect to recording quality and hardware arrangement. I mention the Motu stuff mostly because of three features that aren't really common yet, being the 32bit float, independent 48v selectors, and the display.
However, none of that is critical, just nice to have, and I do rather much understand that the hardware is only part of the equation .
Plus 1 for MOTU but I like RME
110dB vs 115dB is not the issue here and never was. Differences between good DACs are minuscule and if anything larger differences can be only heard when plugging headphones directly to DACs due to different analog circuits.Actually you're correct. I remembered wrong, probably confused it with the motherboard my sons machine has. It had the Creative 3D chip (and used to be my computer). I use an USB headset for gaming anyway so the quality of the onboard audio does not concern me. Most people do not have good enough speakers/amps connected to their computers to really need to be concerned about differences with DACs.
It's funny to see people picker about 110db S/N vs 115db of DACs while they use amps that have 98db or less S/N and listen to recordings made on analog masters that have a 70-75db S/N