#Best external sound card 2016 gaming Pc
The connection between your PC and and external DAC is usually USB.
The DAC and Preamp are built into an internal sound card, or you can use an external DAC and connect that to an AVR. Lots of people prefer optical (SPDIF and/or TOSLINK) outputs from the PC going to an AVR because this connection type has inherent low noise and can carry 7.1 signals if you wish.ĭigital music files -> DAC -> PREAMP -> AMP -> SPEAKERS Some sound cards (like the Asus XONAR) are basically completed shielded to overcome this. Yes, to a certain extent, the power and RF inside your PC case will cause a bit of noise in the audio. OEMs can't spend a lot of money on audio when the MB sells for $100 or less. Yes, typically the DAC (digital to analog converter) on a PC motherboard is not very good. It pretty much depends how you want to do the space/money/flexibility (AVRs obviously give you way more input options) tradeoffs.Ĭlick to expand.Ok, a number of questions in this post. Or a higher-end combo unit like the Peachtree Decco or Nova. You can get a small external DAC and small amp (look up T-amp) that are much desk-friendlier even together than a big rack-sized AVR. Well, soundbars aren't a good idea, but pretty much any combo will work (and there are some active studio monitors with USB inputs, meaning they actually do combine all three elements into one unit).ĪVR DACs are generally excellent these days, and any of them will have plenty of power for your needs: their problem is size, and the fact that you don't need all the video circuitry they have (although economies of scale may make them more price-efficient for you anyway). Some people want them all in one (soundbar). Some people obsess over having a separate specialized component for each stage. I suggested two good active alternatives. Passive speakers are not necessarily better than active (sort of the opposite, in fact, when you hit five figures). Active speakers (studio monitors etc.) are amp + speakers. You need three elements to get from one side to the other:ĭAC (digital - from USB, optical, HDMI, or other - to analog converter)Ī sound card is a DAC that sits inside your PC (not optimal, IMO, given the power flying around in there). Also, if you have any idea of what budget you're looking at can help too. You mention whole house audio but that you decided to focus on PC playback, so I didn't know how much output you need. I haven't been keeping up a lot on DACs lately, but Nuforce has a $99 one that is supposed to be great.ĭ'oh, other people have pretty much said most of what I posted. In short, you should be able to get a very nice quality 2 channel DAC setup, be it sound card or DAC for roughly $100-200. As for sound cards, there are some very good ones now, The Xonar Essence cards, Auzentech makes a few very good ones, and even Creative's new Titanium HD are supposed to be excellent. Since you're focus is music you could also consider external DACs. There's quite a bit of routes you can go.
#Best external sound card 2016 gaming software
Not sure if there's any software on the PC that you can buy to play it. Fair warning that you'll want to check out the internals (or have a good repairman check it out) and replace any parts that might need it or even just clean it up (contacts for instance can get dirty/corroded).Īs others said, SACD will likely be out unless you get a hardware player. You can find some excellent sounding, powerful amps for cheap. Oh, and something to consider is how much bass you like, you might want a sub.Īs far as amps, I would actually recommend checking Craigslist and pawn shops in your area for some cheap vintage ones (say 70s or so era). But, you should be able to get good speakers any way you go, you'll just have to spend a bit to get really decent ones. They won't be cheap, but it might work out well as you could end up spending that much for bookshelf speakers and an amp. OP, you can actually get some great speakers that have built in amps if you look into some of the studio monitors. Do I even need a discrete sound card ? If so, what do you recommend? Or would some sort of audio interface be better than a sound card? I wouldn't be doing any recording, just listening. I would be playing mostly lossless files, CDs, and also would like to occasionally listen to SACD discs (if this is possible). With high quality speakers, I started to think of what else I might need to feed the speakers high quality input (or is that output?) I am thinking of splurging for Swan speakers: Thus, I'd like to get the most out of my computer for music sound quality. I was thinking of going the whole hog and getting a seperate high end complete home audio system, but then I thought I'd rather still listen to music on my computer and use it as my main music listening source. Hi, I've been using a pair of Altec Lansing 2.0 speakers for several years, and they have served me well.