External sound solution for PC

BuffetSlayer

BuffetSlayer

BuffetSlayer

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19 Jun 2012
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Hi all

Having had a poor experience with an internal sound card, I am now looking for advice for an external solution.

I am not really too knowledgable on audio equipment and I am finding I have 1 main question with regard to DAC's: Do they act as a sound card? Or do I need an external sound card with a DAC?

Essentially I am looking for something that has the same features as a premium internal PCI-e sound card but in an external format.

Features that are a must are headphone and mic capabilities as I will be using this to communicate with team members in Tribes Ascend. Obviously it has to operate as a sound card too!

I will be using Qpad QH-90 headphones with the built in mic (I can happily stick on a couple of 3.5mm - 6.3mm converter plugs so 3.5mm jacks are not essential, although I am not sure how that will effect mic input - will it make it weaker?).

So far I am considering the Sound Blaster XI-FI HD, or the Asus Xonar U7

However, I have also seen the the Asus Essence STU, but I am not sure if that will provide what I need?

Price wise, it really all depends on the gear. I dont mind paying £50-£100 for your garden variety equipment, but likewise I also dont mind spending £200-£250 on some higher quality equipment.

My sound requirements are fairly basic so I am not sure if higher quality equipment will be wasted. That said, I like good quality sound. I dont care about catchy sales blurb, I just want great sound quality. Clarity with well balanced sound is more important to me than headline grabbing 'features'.

The equipment will be used for:

  • Single player gaming
  • Multiplayer online gaming (where clear mic input is an absolute must, I cannot stress that enough!)
  • Occasional music

I have a home cinema system for movies, music and suchlike, so my PC really is a dedicated gaming system.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

Buff
 
A DAC is effectively sound card without all the other features that go along with sound card. The advantage of a DAC is that there are no separate drivers needed and being outside of the PC, the conversion from digital to analogue is done free of any EMI present inside the case. DACs are just stereo output and have no microphone input, so you're going need an external sound card for headset use.

Either a Xonar U7 or a X-Fi HD will be a good choice. The Essence STU is a DAC and headphone amp, no microphone inputs. Even if microphone input was not required and you were considering a STU, it would really only be beneficial with high end headphones.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have seen some DAC's that have microphone inputs, such as the Prodigy Cube and Syba USB 2.0.

Does anyone know if these would be preferable over the external sound card options?

Cheers
 
Both are sound cards are they comprise more than just a DAC. DAC stands for digital to analogue converter. For such a device to have a microphone input, which is would be an analogue one, it must also have a ADC (analogue to digital converter). Sound cards have both DAC and ADC, whereas a DAC is just output only. That doesn't really matter though, just trying to clarify the difference between a sound card and a DAC.

I suppose the advantage of the two you mentioned is that they are plug and play, and don't require an extra drivers, which would be the case with the Creative and Asus offerings. I'd probably avoid the Syba. Those cheap little USB things OK for basic audio or for use with a cheap headset. You might as well just use onboard audio, than use one of them. The Prodigy Cube looks pretty good and at £60 is a decent price. Looks like a good alternative if you want to avoid having to use extra drivers or software.
 
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OK thanks for the info. Just wanted to check about line in sockets on a DAC.

If I were to use a 3.5mm female to 2x male RCA splitter, could I use the line in feature as a mic? Or is the line in feature on these DACs simply to put the sound from an external source through to speakers/headphones after amplification? IE it would not be possible to use line in on voice communication programs like Mumble/Teamspeak?

Audiotrak also do a better version of the Cube, called the Dr.Dac3 (catchy name! :p ) but it has no dedicated mic input, only line in capability.

Cheers
 
Line-in can be used for microphone, as it's intended for recording just as a dedicated microphone port is. Microphone sockets I think supply some power for the microphone and are also more sensitive than line-in. Line-in is normally used for line level sources, so anything with RCA basically. It would work, but how well, is the question.
 
OK, so that would be a bit of a gamble then!

Just out of interest, do you know if the input power of a headphone mounted mic would suffer when using a converter plug from 3.5mm to 6.3mm?

I think the Creative Labs Xi-Fi HD external sound card may be the one for me to get, but it uses 6.3mm sockets. My gaming headphones (with Mic) use two 3.5mm jacks and my mic impedance is 2.2k Ohm.

I still like the look of some of the better DAC/AMP systems but few and far between have dedicated mic input and the ones that do have to be ordered from Korea, so returns and warranty will be dubious.
 
None what so ever. Such an adaptor is bridging a very short gap, so a smaller plug can be fitted into a larger socket. That would be no different than adding a short extension to the cable. You'd have to introduce a very very long cable to see a power drop off.
 
OK.

I have found a product called the O2+ODAC combo made by a US company called JDS Labs ( http://www.jdslabs.com/products/48/o2-odac-combo/ ).

It seems quite a nifty piece of kit and has a 3.5mm analog input.

I have emailed JDS to ask if the analog input can be used for a mic, and if the unit has an ADC (it does not list it in the specs though).

We will see what they say, but for the unit + power supply + delivery it is coming in at £217 (ish). No doubt I will be hit again by HM customs when it lands though! For the money, though, it seems a nice bit of kit although it does seem to have far less connectivity options than I would expect.

That said, people who have used it say it is a great bit of kit.
 
For your Tribes Ascend stuff, I would just look at a headset+mic that uses USB. For music and proper speakers, look at a DAC with USB (or SPDIF/Optical if your mobo does that).
You'll broaden your choice considerably.

I personally went with Firestone Audio kit for my amp+DAC combo. Sweet as a nut.
 
skyripper said:
For your Tribes Ascend stuff, I would just look at a headset+mic that uses USB. For music and proper speakers, look at a DAC with USB (or SPDIF/Optical if your mobo does that).
You'll broaden your choice considerably.

I personally went with Firestone Audio kit for my amp+DAC combo. Sweet as a nut.
Click to expand...

Hi mate

Trouble is I have only just bought my QH-90's. So dropping another wad on a USB headset + Amp/DAC is going to be hard to justify to the wife!

I have a set of Sennheiser HD-555's for proper music. They wont set the world alight, but then I am not an 'audiophile' so they do me just fine :)

I have a home entertainment system for movies and music. Again, it isn't audiophile standard but good enough.

I believe my mobo does support optical, so that would be an avenue to explore, thanks for the idea! :D

Cheers

Buff
 
£200+ is lot of money for a specialist product, especially when you consider the cost of the headset. Why don't you just go for a X-Fi HD or Xonar U7?
 
Yeah. I got an email back and they said it cannot be used for mic input :(

(I don't get why an analog input cannot be used as a mic but then I don't really know much about audio systems)

That said I could connect the mic to my onboard audio and my headphones to the DAC.

But to be honest, that seems like a bit of faff, and I have already spent nearly 2.5k to build this PC.

So I ask myself - am I likely to be able to tell the difference between something like a xi-fi HD and an O2+ODAC? Yes probably, but more to the point will I care?

I think a xi-fi HD or a U7 will be perfectly adequate, and as much as I would love a cool and high spec DAC/AMP on my desk I cant really justify it cost wise when essentially it is just for games.

No, I think you are right. I will probably get either the U7 or the xi-fi HD. If I am going to invest in a DAC/AMP I will get one for the main system downstairs as I think having one on my PC will be wasted.

So the question now is.....which one?

xi-fi HD or U7?

Discuss!! :p

Thanks for all of the input so far, it has been really helpful.

Cheers

Buff
 
Going by the first part of your post, I was going to say that connecting the microphone to your onboard audio and then the headphone part to a DAC, is an option. I do this, albeit not with a headset. I have a microphone connected to my onboard audio and my headphones to a DAC/headphone amp. You'd likely need an extension for the microphone cable, which would work perfectly fine.

I'm not sure the difference between a X-Fi HD and the O2 DAC, would be enough to justify the extra cost. If it was for music with a pair of really nice fairly high end headphones, then maybe it would. For gaming with a headset, it would be overkill in my opinion.

I'd probably favour the X-Fi HD, only because Creative products tend to be better when it comes to gaming.
 
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