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MR14

Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 4,830
Loc:
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Affordable PC Audio Soundcard
#21809266 - 06/15/15 04:47 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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So I've been using Tascam US122-MKII as my soundcard for ages its drivers are messed up. It makes this crackling noise really frequently and I need to unplug and re-plug the usb interface in again.
All users experience the same issue and the company haven't addressed the problem,I need to buy something new.
It needs to be able to have line in/s for my 2 desktop monitors and a headphone aux input for extra headphones would be nice.

Any suggestions? Budget is low for this since I don't need it to do anything fancy other then connect everything and work OK
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millzy


Registered: 05/12/10
Posts: 12,404
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: MR14]
#21809306 - 06/15/15 05:13 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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i've had a novation nio 2|4 for years that sounds awesome with my event ALP5 monitors.
-------------------- I'm up to my ears in unwritten words. - J.D. Salinger
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Psychonautica
Cuddly Wuddly Fuccboi


Registered: 04/20/15
Posts: 10,854
Loc: Free Soul & IISkuNkII
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: millzy]
#21809323 - 06/15/15 05:24 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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I've always used sound blaster products.
-------------------- The chances of you even being born, Were forty million to one. There's two parts of the statistic And I want you to live through one 3/8/95 - 7/10/15 Rest In Paradise, Brother. Sheekle said: yeah, i said i was afraid of psychonautica

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makaveli8x8
Stranger

Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 21,636
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
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get a used soundcard off ebay, sound blaster is what i always used to buy, i got the nice shit with remotes, was cool for that time period.
anyways look up some of there top of the line products from like 5 years ago and you will find it on ebay for like $20
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  We were sent to hell for eternity Ø h® We play on earth to pass the time Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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MR14

Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 4,830
Loc:
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: makaveli8x8]
#21813468 - 06/16/15 05:23 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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My speakers are plugged in via RCA cable, so If I get RCA to 3.5mm cable I can plug it into Soundblaster??
I came across this which looks like it would get the job done...
Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface
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Shroomslip
Architekt



Registered: 11/25/12
Posts: 23,651
Last seen: 1 hour, 2 minutes
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: MR14]
#21813470 - 06/16/15 05:27 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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People actually buy standalone sound cards still? Last 2 computers I've bought and the one I have currently that I built all have onboard 7.1.. Something I'm missing here?
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With my face against the floor I can’t see who knocked me out of the way. I don’t want to get back up but I have to so it might as well be today. Nothing appeals to me no one feels like me, I’m too busy being calm to disappear. I’m in no shape to be alone contrary to the shit that you might hear. You can't wake up, this is not a dream. You're part of a machine, you are not a human being With your face all made up, living on a screen. Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline
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MR14

Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 4,830
Loc:
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: Shroomslip]
#21813476 - 06/16/15 05:31 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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I think the quality might be better (don't hold me to this claim) and in my case I can control volume & extra headphone adapter
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,672
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: MR14]
#21813565 - 06/16/15 06:52 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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The quality of a dedicated sound card will nearly always be better than onboard audio. However, for 99.9% of the home users, this generally isn't a real concern. If it is (e.g. if you use audio from high quality sources and require equally high quality output), a dedicated sound card is the way to go. And yes, 3.5mm to RCA works fine. There will be quality differences between cables, but they are mostly associated with physical durability than with audio quality.
For high-end audio, an external sound card with its own regulated power supply (including good dc-dc converters that use the power from the USB port) is a requirement.
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MR14

Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 4,830
Loc:
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: koraks]
#21813583 - 06/16/15 07:09 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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A basic soundblaster soundcard & RCA to 3.5mm should be able to connect my 2 desktop speakers and extra headphones right ?
It would be neat for a volume control as well, hence why I'm leaning towards the Behringer USB sound card solution
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,672
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: MR14]
#21813593 - 06/16/15 07:18 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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Provided it has both a speaker and a headphone output, yes. The speaker output would connect to any amplifier/receiver. Volume control is generally done through software as you know. Hardware volume control on top of that would only make some sense for the headphone output, but I personally wouldn't let that limit my options as software control is much easier anyway (and can be controlled by e.g. a multimedia keyboard with a volume control).
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Shroomism
Space Travellin



Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: MR14]
#21813682 - 06/16/15 07:53 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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Em, generally speaking if you have a somewhat modern enthusiast motherboard, these will usually have very high quality audio controllers generally making an external sound card completely superfluous. The onboard audio on some new motherboards is better than some soundblaster cards, not to mention possibly running into IRQ issues and whatnot if running it on an older motherboard. Unless you need it for a specific purpose like super high end audio/recording or something, for the majority of people a sound card is completely unnecessary. Unless you have a failed audio controller on the board, or a cheap POS dell motherboard or something.
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,672
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: Shroomism]
#21814188 - 06/16/15 11:09 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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One of the main issues with sound quality in pc hardware is superimposed noise from the power sully. Hence the relevance of external sound cards and my emphasis on proper power supply filtering for audio components. Onboard audio tends to be very crappy in that respect!
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MR14

Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 4,830
Loc:
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: Shroomism]
#21815549 - 06/16/15 04:51 PM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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My motherboard is Asrock z68 Extreme7 gen3 (7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
I will buy a RCA to 3.5mm cable today and plug everything in my on board card and see what kind of sound I get from it
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chameleon303



Registered: 10/06/09
Posts: 1,703
Loc: Arcane Sanctuary
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: MR14]
#21815575 - 06/16/15 04:56 PM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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creative sb0460 xtreme music (not audio) it's 7.1 and works with my old i/o front pannel and speaker setup, love it!
got mine for a tenner as was a great upgrade for the cost
i am now using a dragonfly dac though most the time
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MR14

Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 4,830
Loc:
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Re: Affordable PC Audio Soundcard [Re: chameleon303]
#21817942 - 06/17/15 06:57 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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I picked up a RCA to 3.5mm cable today and am using my motherboards soundcard.
Playback Sound is surprisingly good, however due to the bulky-ness of the rca adapter I can't fit my headphones in the port besides it.
All I'll need to do is remove the panel getting in the way on the case and I should be able to turn the RCA adapter sideways so I can fit it in.

Volume control via windows volume control is a tad boring, I'm going to try and find something I can pin on my screen and control it digitally
Recommendations are welcome !
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