New Posts All Forums:Forum Nav:

USB Soundcards? - Page 2

post #11 of 26

5/19/12 at 3:51pm

Nickum32
Audiophile

Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Manitowoc, WI
Posts: 143
Rep: 13 (Unique: 11)
Trader Rating: 2
Select All Posts By This User

It would be nicer if we could get more info, like what you use this for (gaming, music, movies...) and what you are plugging into it.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Intel i7 930 @ 4.0GHz	ASUS P6X58D Premium	Gigabyte HD 7970	6GB Corsair XMS DDR3 1600
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 3	WD Caviar Black	WD Caviar Black	Sony Optiarc 24x
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Corsair H50	Windows 7 Home Professional	Dell U2312HM x3	Razer BlackWidow Ultimate BF3 Edition
Power	Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad
Corsair TX850W	Cooler Master HAF 932 Custom Painted	Logitech G5	Razer Vespula
Audio	Audio	Other
V-Moda M-100 & HiFiMAN EF2A	Marantz HD880	MNPCTech Kandy Red Custom "Diamond Knurl" Case ...
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Intel i7 930 @ 4.0GHz	ASUS P6X58D Premium	Gigabyte HD 7970	6GB Corsair XMS DDR3 1600
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 3	WD Caviar Black	WD Caviar Black	Sony Optiarc 24x
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Corsair H50	Windows 7 Home Professional	Dell U2312HM x3	Razer BlackWidow Ultimate BF3 Edition
Power	Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad
Corsair TX850W	Cooler Master HAF 932 Custom Painted	Logitech G5	Razer Vespula
Audio	Audio	Other
V-Moda M-100 & HiFiMAN EF2A	Marantz HD880	MNPCTech Kandy Red Custom "Diamond Knurl" Case ...
View all

hide details

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Behringer UCA202 USB Audio Interface

More on Behringer UCA202 USB Audio Interface
- Too low to displaySee it

post #12 of 26

5/19/12 at 4:34pm

Simca
[ Has Quit OCN ]

Joined: Jun 2009
Location: The Nine Hells
Posts: 6,696
Rep: 835 (Unique: 587)
Reviews: 1
Trader Rating: 2
Select All Posts By This User

Music wise most external dacs will be as good or better than the dg. Gaming wise it's difficult to say. What type of games are we talking about? fps wise you should look into getting some kind of dolby gaming surround thing like the astro mixamp our turtle beach whatever. Pair that with an external dac and you're set.

Sent from my HTC Sensation XE using Tapatalk

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Intel i5 3570k @ 4.5GHz	Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H	NVIDIA EVGA GTX 670FTW	8GB G.Skill Sniper
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling
Samsung 830	OCZ Vertex 2	Samsung Spinpoint F3	Noctua NH-D14
OS	Monitor	Monitor	Keyboard
Microsoft Windows 8 Professional	Dell Ultrasharp u2410	Samsung 2333SW	Logitech G15
Power	Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad
Corsair AX850	CoolerMaster HAF 932 Advanced	Logitech G300	Razer Goliathus Extended Speed Edition
Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Denon AVR-1912	Objective DAC+Objective 2 Amp	Infinity Primus P153 by Harmon Kardon	Bowers & Wilkins 685
Audio	Audio	Audio	Other
HiFiMAN HE-500	Shure SE535 Limited Edition	Audio Technica AD700	NZXT Sleeved 2M LED Strip
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition	Asus M4A79T Deluxe	NVIDIA GTX 670 FTW	OCZ Platinum 4GB 1600 DDR3
Hard Drive	Cooling	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 90GB & Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB	Scythe MUGEN-2	Microsoft Windows 8 Professional	Dell UltraSharp u2410 & Samsung 2333SW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Logitech G15	OCZ GameXStream 700w	HAF 932 Advanced	Logitech G300
Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Denon AVR-1912	Harman Kardon Infinity Primus P153	HIFIMAN HE-400	Vsonic GR07
Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Shure SE-535 Limited Edition	Beyerdynamic DT880	ODAC/Objective 2 Amplfiier	Audio Technica AD700
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Intel i5 3570k @ 4.5GHz	Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H	NVIDIA EVGA GTX 670FTW	8GB G.Skill Sniper
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling
Samsung 830	OCZ Vertex 2	Samsung Spinpoint F3	Noctua NH-D14
OS	Monitor	Monitor	Keyboard
Microsoft Windows 8 Professional	Dell Ultrasharp u2410	Samsung 2333SW	Logitech G15
Power	Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad
Corsair AX850	CoolerMaster HAF 932 Advanced	Logitech G300	Razer Goliathus Extended Speed Edition
Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Denon AVR-1912	Objective DAC+Objective 2 Amp	Infinity Primus P153 by Harmon Kardon	Bowers & Wilkins 685
Audio	Audio	Audio	Other
HiFiMAN HE-500	Shure SE535 Limited Edition	Audio Technica AD700	NZXT Sleeved 2M LED Strip
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition	Asus M4A79T Deluxe	NVIDIA GTX 670 FTW	OCZ Platinum 4GB 1600 DDR3
Hard Drive	Cooling	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 90GB & Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB	Scythe MUGEN-2	Microsoft Windows 8 Professional	Dell UltraSharp u2410 & Samsung 2333SW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Logitech G15	OCZ GameXStream 700w	HAF 932 Advanced	Logitech G300
Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Denon AVR-1912	Harman Kardon Infinity Primus P153	HIFIMAN HE-400	Vsonic GR07
Audio	Audio	Audio	Audio
Shure SE-535 Limited Edition	Beyerdynamic DT880	ODAC/Objective 2 Amplfiier	Audio Technica AD700
View all

hide details

post #13 of 26

5/19/12 at 4:43pm

amvnz
PC Gamer

Joined: Mar 2011
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 249
Rep: 12 (Unique: 11)
Select All Posts By This User

I went from 2 GTX 570s and a Xonar Essence STX to 3 HD7970s and a Fiio E10 USB DAC/Headphone Amp and I am satisfied. I got some Ultrasone HFI 780 headphones and Corsair SP2500 speakers. I don't even know if the STX sounded better as i used onboard for a few days before I got the Fiio but the Fiio definitely sounds better than the onboard and the bass boost is nice!

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
[Intel] i7 2600k \| 4.8Ghz	[Asus] Maximus IV Extreme-Z \| Z68	[AMD] 3x Radeon HD7970 \| Tri-Fire \| Ghz Bios	[Corsair] Vengeance Low Profile \| 16GB 1600Mhz CL9
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling	OS
[Corsair] Force GT \| SSD 120GB	[Western Digital] Caviar Black \| HDD 2TB	[Corsair] H100 \| Push-Pull GELID Gamer Wing 12PL	[Windows 8] Professional x64
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
[Samsung] S27A950D \| 27" 120Hz 1920x1080	[Corsair] Vengeance K90 \| Mechanical O-ring Mod	[Seasonic] Platinum \| 1000w	[Silverstone] Raven RV03 \| Piece of shit case
Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio	Audio
[Corsair] Vengeance M90	[Razer] Scarab \| Hard	[Sony] MDR-XB 1000 \| [AntLion] Modmic	[Corsair] SP2500 Speakers \| 2.1
Audio	Other
[Fiio] E17 DAC Amp	[Asus] RT-N56U Router
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
[Intel] i7 2600k \| 4.8Ghz	[Asus] Maximus IV Extreme-Z \| Z68	[AMD] 3x Radeon HD7970 \| Tri-Fire \| Ghz Bios	[Corsair] Vengeance Low Profile \| 16GB 1600Mhz CL9
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling	OS
[Corsair] Force GT \| SSD 120GB	[Western Digital] Caviar Black \| HDD 2TB	[Corsair] H100 \| Push-Pull GELID Gamer Wing 12PL	[Windows 8] Professional x64
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
[Samsung] S27A950D \| 27" 120Hz 1920x1080	[Corsair] Vengeance K90 \| Mechanical O-ring Mod	[Seasonic] Platinum \| 1000w	[Silverstone] Raven RV03 \| Piece of shit case
Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio	Audio
[Corsair] Vengeance M90	[Razer] Scarab \| Hard	[Sony] MDR-XB 1000 \| [AntLion] Modmic	[Corsair] SP2500 Speakers \| 2.1
Audio	Other
[Fiio] E17 DAC Amp	[Asus] RT-N56U Router
View all

hide details

post #14 of 26

5/19/12 at 7:24pm

Thread Starter

iCrap
WaterCooler

Joined: Apr 2011
Location: Maryland
Posts: 5,304
Rep: 179 (Unique: 150)
Trader Rating: 20
Select All Posts By This User

I have an amp, 2 dayton speakers and a polk sub (forget the exact model numbers) I also plug in my ATH-M50s from time to time.
It will be used for mostly movies/videos, and FPS games (BF3, etc) So what should i be looking at?

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core i5 2500k	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3	Sapphire 7950 3GB	8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Crucial M4 256gb + 2TB RAID1	LG SATA / Sony External	XSPC Raystorm	2x Gelid Wing, 2x Gentle Typhoon AP15
OS	Monitor	Keyboard	Power
Windows 7 Ultimate	2x 27" Planar 1x Asus 24" Eyefinity	Ducky Shine (MX Brown)	Seasonic X750
Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
CM690 II Adv.	Logitech G700/400	Roccat Taito	FiiO E10 USB
Audio
Dayton B652 + Polk PSW10 / ATH-M50
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core i5 2500k	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3	Sapphire 7950 3GB	8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Crucial M4 256gb + 2TB RAID1	LG SATA / Sony External	XSPC Raystorm	2x Gelid Wing, 2x Gentle Typhoon AP15
OS	Monitor	Keyboard	Power
Windows 7 Ultimate	2x 27" Planar 1x Asus 24" Eyefinity	Ducky Shine (MX Brown)	Seasonic X750
Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
CM690 II Adv.	Logitech G700/400	Roccat Taito	FiiO E10 USB
Audio
Dayton B652 + Polk PSW10 / ATH-M50
View all

hide details

post #15 of 26

5/20/12 at 11:19am

Thread Starter

iCrap
WaterCooler

Joined: Apr 2011
Location: Maryland
Posts: 5,304
Rep: 179 (Unique: 150)
Trader Rating: 20
Select All Posts By This User

So should i be looking to get a USB Soundcard (such as the U3) AND an external DAC? I just want equal or better quality than my Xonar DG, while being able to unplug it and use it on my laptop or something if need be.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core i5 2500k	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3	Sapphire 7950 3GB	8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Crucial M4 256gb + 2TB RAID1	LG SATA / Sony External	XSPC Raystorm	2x Gelid Wing, 2x Gentle Typhoon AP15
OS	Monitor	Keyboard	Power
Windows 7 Ultimate	2x 27" Planar 1x Asus 24" Eyefinity	Ducky Shine (MX Brown)	Seasonic X750
Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
CM690 II Adv.	Logitech G700/400	Roccat Taito	FiiO E10 USB
Audio
Dayton B652 + Polk PSW10 / ATH-M50
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core i5 2500k	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3	Sapphire 7950 3GB	8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Crucial M4 256gb + 2TB RAID1	LG SATA / Sony External	XSPC Raystorm	2x Gelid Wing, 2x Gentle Typhoon AP15
OS	Monitor	Keyboard	Power
Windows 7 Ultimate	2x 27" Planar 1x Asus 24" Eyefinity	Ducky Shine (MX Brown)	Seasonic X750
Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
CM690 II Adv.	Logitech G700/400	Roccat Taito	FiiO E10 USB
Audio
Dayton B652 + Polk PSW10 / ATH-M50
View all

hide details

post #16 of 26

5/20/12 at 6:09pm

mikeaj
sometimes right

Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,700
Rep: 362 (Unique: 253)
Select All Posts By This User

A USB sound card is an external USB DAC, that generally may have some kind of integrated headphone buffer (amp), may support more than just stereo, and may support input (e.g. mic) connections as well. You want one or the other.

Here's a comparison of several cheaper USB sound cards (check the table, and also links to those reviews):
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/11/asus-u3-dac.html

Xonar U3 and X-Fi Go are the best and have different issues. From a pure SQ perspective, it's a tossup for running ATH-M50.

And the $75 FiiO E10, which is a step above in a few different ways:
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/fiio-e10-dac.html

But if you want to use CMSS-3D, you'll need an X-Fi product. If you want to use Dolby Headphone, then the Xonar U3 is probably the option to get.

post #17 of 26

5/20/12 at 6:12pm

FlighterPilot

Joined: Oct 2011
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 314
Rep: 22 (Unique: 20)
Select All Posts By This User

Get an external DAC/amp. This one gets recommended a lot, and it's usb powered: http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-total-bithead.php

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i5 2500k -- 4.8Ghz @ 1.34V	Asrock p67 extreme4 Gen3	SLI GTX 580's	Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz 7-8-8-24
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling	Cooling
120GB Intel 330	500GB Caviar Blue	Koolance CPU360 Block	EX240 Radiator
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Power
Koolance RP-1005 Res/Pump	Windows 7 Ultimate x64	Asus VG236HE 120hz	NZXT HALE90 850W
Case	Mouse	Audio	Audio
White Corsair 600T	Logitech M500	Klipsch Promedia 2.1	Beyerdynamics DT990 Pro
Audio
Yamaha RX-V1065
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i5 2500k -- 4.8Ghz @ 1.34V	Asrock p67 extreme4 Gen3	SLI GTX 580's	Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz 7-8-8-24
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling	Cooling
120GB Intel 330	500GB Caviar Blue	Koolance CPU360 Block	EX240 Radiator
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Power
Koolance RP-1005 Res/Pump	Windows 7 Ultimate x64	Asus VG236HE 120hz	NZXT HALE90 850W
Case	Mouse	Audio	Audio
White Corsair 600T	Logitech M500	Klipsch Promedia 2.1	Beyerdynamics DT990 Pro
Audio
Yamaha RX-V1065
View all

hide details

post #18 of 26

5/20/12 at 6:27pm

Thread Starter

iCrap
WaterCooler

Joined: Apr 2011
Location: Maryland
Posts: 5,304
Rep: 179 (Unique: 150)
Trader Rating: 20
Select All Posts By This User

Looking at the above suggestions now. Those will work both with my speakers and my ATHM50s right?

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core i5 2500k	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3	Sapphire 7950 3GB	8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Crucial M4 256gb + 2TB RAID1	LG SATA / Sony External	XSPC Raystorm	2x Gelid Wing, 2x Gentle Typhoon AP15
OS	Monitor	Keyboard	Power
Windows 7 Ultimate	2x 27" Planar 1x Asus 24" Eyefinity	Ducky Shine (MX Brown)	Seasonic X750
Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
CM690 II Adv.	Logitech G700/400	Roccat Taito	FiiO E10 USB
Audio
Dayton B652 + Polk PSW10 / ATH-M50
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core i5 2500k	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3	Sapphire 7950 3GB	8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Crucial M4 256gb + 2TB RAID1	LG SATA / Sony External	XSPC Raystorm	2x Gelid Wing, 2x Gentle Typhoon AP15
OS	Monitor	Keyboard	Power
Windows 7 Ultimate	2x 27" Planar 1x Asus 24" Eyefinity	Ducky Shine (MX Brown)	Seasonic X750
Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
CM690 II Adv.	Logitech G700/400	Roccat Taito	FiiO E10 USB
Audio
Dayton B652 + Polk PSW10 / ATH-M50
View all

hide details

post #19 of 26

5/20/12 at 6:30pm

ComradeNF

Joined: Mar 2011
Location: UC Davis, California
Posts: 4,159
Rep: 211 (Unique: 180)
Trader Rating: 28
Select All Posts By This User

I have the ASUS Xonar U3 and compared to my old Creative Titanium sound card they aren't very good. The Dolby Surround Sound is pretty bad for gaming compared to Creative's CMSS-3D. The equalizer isn't very good in my opinion compared to Creative's.

post #20 of 26

5/20/12 at 6:33pm

Xristo
Graphics Card Aficionado

Joined: Nov 2010
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 2,416
Rep: 82 (Unique: 68)
Select All Posts By This User

I have 6970 xfire on 8x 8x lanes , i bought myself a sound blaster 5.1 VX PCI sound card .. Fits perfectly inbetween the two cards

not an issue .

Usb sound cards suck .

Make sure you buy a pci sound card if you want xfire , dont shove your xonar in the 3rd pcie slot because you will probably have issues with your crossfire performance .

PCI are seperate lanes , nothing to do with the gpu's so this is the best route .. sounds better than my onboard realtek crap too !
Edited by Xristo - 5/20/12 at 6:35pm

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Intel™ core i7 870 @ 4301Mhz / Lapped	MSI™ P55 - GD80	2 x Sapphire™ 6970's Crossfire / Reference cool...	8GB DDR3 Kingston™ HyperX 2000Mhz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling	OS
WD™ Veloci Raptor 10k 160GB	WD™ 1 TB Storage Drive	Corsair™ H50 lapped / AS5 Thermal Compound	Microsoft™ Windows 7 ultimate x64
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
24" Samsung™ 50 series LED monitor BX2450 / 2ms...	Corsair™ Vengeance K90 mechanical keyboard	Antec™ True Power Quattro 1000w	Antec™ 1200 - Modified Window / Front Lcd fan c...
Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
Razer™ MAMBA 2012	Razer™ Goliathus	Creative™ Sound Blaster 5.1 VX PCI
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Intel™ core i7 870 @ 4301Mhz / Lapped	MSI™ P55 - GD80	2 x Sapphire™ 6970's Crossfire / Reference cool...	8GB DDR3 Kingston™ HyperX 2000Mhz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling	OS
WD™ Veloci Raptor 10k 160GB	WD™ 1 TB Storage Drive	Corsair™ H50 lapped / AS5 Thermal Compound	Microsoft™ Windows 7 ultimate x64
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
24" Samsung™ 50 series LED monitor BX2450 / 2ms...	Corsair™ Vengeance K90 mechanical keyboard	Antec™ True Power Quattro 1000w	Antec™ 1200 - Modified Window / Front Lcd fan c...
Mouse	Mouse Pad	Audio
Razer™ MAMBA 2012	Razer™ Goliathus	Creative™ Sound Blaster 5.1 VX PCI
View all

hide details

Start a New Thread

Subscribe Search This Thread

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Behringer UCA202 USB Audio Interface

More on Behringer UCA202 USB Audio Interface
- Too low to displaySee it

Review May contain Spoilers! I wrote a review for 2033 just recently, since I somehow ignored the game when it came out a few years ago. I finally played it a few months ago, and was completely...

This is an update of the original Fractal Design Arc Midi. The solid left panel has been replaced by a panel with a plexiglass window and the top USB ports are now USB-3.0. Let me state at the...

All in all great cooler for the money and has always worked reliably. Excellent for a backup cooling system or for low-cost budget computers, while still being able to overclock.

I've used this headset extensively for MAG on PS3. The sounds were wonderful, the mic was crisp, and the ability to adjust peoples voice volume is absolutely invaluable. For $100 ( or less ) this...

The Pros The reason this card is one of the better non-Tahiti 7870s is because of Gigabyte's custom PCB. Gigabyte took the 7870 and replaced it's memory chips with Hynix memory so they perform a...

Related Forum Threads

Related Reviews

Recent Reviews

USB Soundcards? - Page 2

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Recent Discussions

Recent Reviews

New Articles

Featured Sponsors

Related Forum Threads

Related Reviews

Recent Reviews

USB Soundcards? - Page 2

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Recent Discussions

Recent Reviews

New Articles