Need some sort of external DAC

Ash0787

Ash0787

Ash0787

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Joined
17 Nov 2013
Posts
423
I just changed my main system from ATX form to mITX with a Asus ROG z97 board and the 'supreme FX' is not very supreme at all, from the marketing I expected that it would be similar to one of the full size Asus sound cards
( I have the essence STX )

So I probably need something that I can connect via usb that will be significantly better than the realtek chip, however that seems to defeat the purpose of having a highly transportable pc ....
I do have extra room in the case though which could fit something about the size of a standard hard drive and there are cable holes at the back that could passthrough several thin cables outside of the case, so I might be able to have an internal external sound device if that makes sense

I dont really know anything about audio things though, I always just buy the various asus PCI slot sound cards

I dont need to connect to a complicated audio system, just 2.0 speakers or headphones.

What I find odd though is my PSVita and MSI GX740 laptop have very good
audio quality compared to this motherboard and they dont exactly have 4 inch long shielded sound cards
 
I'd rather not spend more than my other sound card is worth so under £150, less would be good though as this is becoming a secondary computer, however I dont want to buy something that is cheap and then have to buy a more expensive one later because its not good enough

I was intitially drawn to this one but its quite expensive and I dont think it would be able to go inside the case, seems excessive for what I want
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-026-AS&groupid=701&catid=1925
 
Another thing I didnt explain fully is I would prefer it to run off USB power ( it can be several usb cables ) rather than requiring a seperate mains power cable,
definitely dont want a battery powered one ( seen some small portable ones ). I dont know if that requirement will limit the quality of what I can get though.

Just did some searching and Xonar Essence is rated 20w, USB 3.0 cables can provide 4.5w
 
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Its does look like it will do exactly what I want, I think the recessed circular dial on the top looks bad though, prefer the appearance of the super expensive Asus one and the Topping VX1, but those are both mains powered ones
 
sorry I meant the silver finger dial on the xonar, prefer the 'knob' style on the side of the expensive Asus one

I did see the cambridge audio one but it didnt stand out to me just looking at it, the finish looked a bit rough and could only see two massive plus and minus buttons It does look like it would be good though, its approximately what I'm looking for, but reluctant at the £99 price point. There is a shop that sells them about 15 miles away so I can inquire to see if it can be better price.
 
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that seems like it could be another good option but its more expensive and seems less popular

sending someone tommorow to see if I can get one of the cambridge audio
ones, they look like they might even be small and light enough to attach to the case side panel with double sided tape or something
 
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