Hey, Jow Forums

Hey, Jow Forums.

Are there actually any good sound cards for PC or is it just a meme? Do they even make a huge difference?

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There are okay cards, external DACs and onboard chipsets and then there are good ones.
This isn't 1994 anymore. But a good external DAC or a good sound card can give slightly better sound output over cheap and shitty ones.

what's the source of that gif?

By the way it uses the palette for the water animation, I'd say something-something Amiga.
But it's probably a new time remtition just made to look like it.

i saw some asus soundcard with 1/4 inch jacks that would have been appealing to me a while ago before i got my dac. apart from that i cant see any point in getting a sound card

sound cards don't make any difference

Well, as far as noise levels and bass reproduction go, yes they do. Same with a higher end external DAC compared to a cheap chink one.

It's a meme, your mobos integrated one is very good on its own. I suggest investing into a good headset or a stereo system instead.

After having just gone through the process of getting a batter sound system, I would recommend an external DAC over an internal card any day of the week. Internal sound cards tend to be more expensive, have less options, and are less capable in general than their external counterparts, though there are always exceptions.

I went for a JDS labs OLDAC because it fit the rest of my system and was cheap. In all honesty though, you won't hear a ton of difference from just a DAC unless you have an amp and headphones of similar or superior quality.

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>Well, as far as noise levels and bass reproduction go, yes they do

Not for "reproduction" or noise levels no, they don't. You're outputting a digital signal, there is no difference in any component more or less. There is 0 noise. Bass reproduction is 100% accurate because the signal is digital.

If you do not understand this don't give advice on this.

You should take your own advice. Of course the fucking signal is digital. It's the conversion of that digital signal to the analogue signal that matters. You can absolutely have loss when converting that signal depending on the quality of the components used, and the algorithms/hardware used by the unit to convert the signal.

Look into multi-bit, delta-sigma, and R-2R discreet ladder DACs to begin to see the difference that the components make.

>Of course the fucking signal is digital. It's the conversion of that digital signal to the analogue signal that matters

a sound card doesn't do this.

Sound cards come with an audio chip and a DAC on them at their most basic. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to connect speakers or headphones as those don't run on digital signals. .

Are you retarded? A sound card has a DAC on it and that's what we are talking about.
We are not talking about things like optical out (that's pretty outdated these days).

There's where the differences in noise and bass reproduction come from.

10/10
300 guaranteed replies

You don't connect speakers or headphones to a sound card. You use the appropriate interface device in between. If we're talking any measure of quality you're doing it right to begin with and not plugging earbuds or "desktop speakers" into your sound card.

The question asked was: Is there any difference in the signal a sound card produces

The answer is: No

This is because the sound card is always used to output digital sound to a device like a DAC, amplifier, etc.

So basically the advice that culminates from that is this: Do not ever buy a sound card based on the integrated DAC or whatever, because you're doing it wrong.

>Internal sound cards tend to be more expensive, have less options, and are less capable in general than their external counterparts
Usually it's the opposite. Internal cards are multichannel when similar priced external DACs are not. Internal cards have ridiculous drivers with endless options for every autist to go crazy about. Also less capable? They usually employ the same audio ICs and DACs.
But yes they are more expensive, but you don't need a silly USB connection to use your sound card/DAC.

t. USB DAC user (but I prefer high end sound cards any day unless it's just for headphones or stereo speakers)

>You're moving the goalpost

I am absolutely not, the goalpost has been a fucking rock from the beginning. You don't buy a sound card to use its integrated DAC. That is not a realistic, advisable, smart, or economical use-case scenario.

>You're moving the goalpost.
>he STILL replies to the dumbest bait in years
Are you okay? Do you have brain damage? You do realize nobody is dumb enough to think that sound cards don't have DACs.
If he would actually think you buy a sound card for digital out, he probably confuses USB sound cards (not USB DACs) and real internal PCI/PCIe sound cards.

That's fair, I guess I should have prefaced that with 'at the same price point', and I was really only looking to spend at most $200 unless I was getting balanced outs

I use a Xonar U3 external USB soundcard for my headset. It actually hugely improved the mic and sound quality. I wasn't expecting it.

+1 for an external DAC. You should be able to get a decent one for around $100.

>If he would actually think you buy a sound card for digital out

That was never the conversation.

>Do they even make a huge difference?

Was OP's question. The answer for the most likely use case scenario is no. The answer in the other use case scenario is no. For a person with average equipment the DAC on integrated sound vs. an average type of sound card is going to produce sound that is 100% the same in listener perception.

This is reality and audiophile jerkoffs of course want to try to sell someone a sound card. He would spend 129 bucks or whatever and be able to tell zero difference unless he fooled himself into thinking so like you.

>You don't buy a sound card to use its integrated DAC. That is not a realistic, advisable, smart, or economical use-case scenario.
You DO realize digital output uses compression for multi channel? Something you'd buy a sound card and use it's DAC for. Heck it even uses compression for high bitrate stereo.

I concede sound cards are good for multi channel audio especially

>That was never the conversation.
>You don't buy a sound card to use its integrated DAC.

>For a person with average equipment the DAC on integrated sound vs. an average type of sound card is going to produce sound that is 100% the same in listener perception.
A higher end one, like a external DAC with a power supply or internal sound card with a 'above average' DAC and OPAMP for example WILL give you better bass reproduction as it can simply deliver more voltage in a shorter amount of time when needed. This is just one example of differences OP asked about.
Also depending on the circuitry, the noise level will be different, something you can perceive pretty easily.

>sine waves are the same as square waves
And the retard of fhe year award goes to...

>A higher end one, like a external DAC with a power supply

can you fucking read? why respond to what i'm talking about with "YES BUT THIS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THING..."

retard ahoy.

I use an Essence STX, it works well for me. Has the headphone amplifier built in with different gain settings, and you can roll the OP amps to change the sound a bit.

A good external one will always be better I think, but this works great for me pc, and mid range headphones