USB soundcard recommendations please

[david25]

Hello, thanks for the recent cable help.

I'm now looking for an external USB soundcard

• Budget 50-150
• Happy to look at a DAC but must have mic input
• Good stable driver support, Creative reviews on Amazon are all over the place
• It will be driving headphones/headset under £100

Overall, looking for something better than onboard RealTek ALC897.

Thank you

 

[david25]

Many thanks for the suggestions!

Time to do some research.

 

[david25]

Definitely entirely whacked up prioritities, if some expensive "DAC" is used with cheap propably gamer headphones.

Sorry, I just mentioned 50-150 as a guideline to give experts on here some flexibility in their recommendations. Of course if I buy something over 100, then I can consider better headphones to match!

 

[david25]

Usage is Skype, Zoom, Youtube, compressed music and images of 44Khz CDs

 

[david25]

Do you need / want sound isolation?
This will dictate open/closed

Do you need / want wireless or happy with wired headphones?

I'm happy with open wired headphones, currently using semi-closed ones, Sennheiser Century SC 665 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078GN8NWP/

 

[david25]

So already have a £146 headset.

To answer your original question the Creative G6 meets all these points.

It does not have USB inputs

That's OK, this headset is dual use, the 3.5mm jack plugs into an optional USB cable. I am guessing a proper USB device will have better sound compared to the electronics built into the volume control.

 

[david25]

If I understood the pictures of the headphone, it is a 3.5 jack headphone, which then connects to a USB dongle/control.
If that is the case, you can simply ditch the dongle and connect straight to the G6.
You would lose the control options of the dongle, obviously, but that would be all.
The G6 has a USB port, but that is used only to supply power or to connect it to a device (which will transfer data and power).
There's no other way to supply power to it.
Depending how a person uses the G6, the rear input and output comes into play.
For my PC, USB, them speakers uses the rear output which can be either mini optical or 3.5 jack, and front headphone 3.5 jack.
For my PS5, when I tested it, USB to Console, as the PS5 doesn't have an optical output (really, Sony?). The PS5 recognized it and worked well.

Yep, my bet is the G6 has better sound quality compared to the USB dongle. I will look to find one on ebay or the creative refurb shop.