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Soundcard and/or amp to amplify the microphone

Oni07R
Go to solution Solved by Oni07R,

FYI, Syba is just an OEM rebrander - there's nothing inherently good about a product just because "it's Syba." Couldn't hurt to try out that cheapo unit, but it's probably not any better than an onboard solution.

 

I own and use a "Best Connectivity" Syba DAC, but am not very familiar with how well the microphone connection performs as I use a USB mic.

 

Well, the idea to go for a cheapo USB card came from this video:

 

I ordered a 3,50 euro cheapo card from eBay. It should arrive next week and I will tell you if it was good enough to fix the issue.

 

PS: I will use the USB card ONLY for the microphone, I know it sucks for headphones but fortunately I don't need "help" for them :P

Yesterday I've received the ModMic 4.0 and I feel satisfied about it BUT it is very very silent.

I don't want to use the microphone boost slider (in windows settings) because it adds a lot of white noise.

I listened to Linus and Logan's (TekSyndicate) recording and they are very loud even with the mic distant from the mouth.

 

I guess the problem is my onboard sound card, a Realtek ALC898.

 

I know that most of middle-high mobos nowadays have a good onboard card but my mobo (from 2012, an ASRock Z77 Extreme6) doesn't and I'm not planning to change it for a while.

 

So I'm looking for a solution, which may be an internal PCI card, an external small USB card or maybe even a DAC/AMP card if the price is low.

Suggestions?

 

TL;DR: I need something to amplify the microphone because onboard "microphone boost slider" creates white noise. I'm not looking for anything professional, just something to makes it louder without losing quality.

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Well, I found that DAC/AMP from Syba on Amazon US but not in Italy.

What about cheapo USB "pendrive-like" soundcards?

I remember that Linus stated he was using the one included with his AT headset to record with ModMic 4.0.

 

PS: I don't know what Logan (TekSyndicate) is using in his review, but his recording is absolutely beautiful!! O_O

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Does your post mean that Syba DAC/AMP is the best quality/price solution?

I read some reviews on Amazon US saying that it does not amplify that much. Many of them also state that Creative Sound Blaster (don't remember which one) was both cheaper and better.

But I read a lot of post mentioning Xonar cards on LTT forums.

Soooooo I'm confused :P

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Does your post mean that Syba DAC/AMP is the best quality/price solution?

I read some reviews on Amazon US saying that it does not amplify that much. Many of them also state that Creative Sound Blaster (don't remember which one) was both cheaper and better.

But I read a lot of post mentioning Xonar cards on LTT forums.

Soooooo I'm confused :P

 

Depends on the sensitivity of the headphones. Generally it's good tho.

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Well, my headphones have 50 Ohms of impedance but I mainly need an amplifier for the microphone rather than headphones (wierd but true).

I don't know if it may help, but the ModMic 4.0 has 2200 Ohms (yep, 2,2k) of impedance.

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Edited message, I then understood (by reading on LTT forums) that soundcards are the "evil" :P

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I saw some pretty awesome ModMic recordings with this soundcard:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MSS6CS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001MSS6CS&linkCode=as2&tag=viciocompu-20

 

Does anyone know it/own it?

Still Syba but even cheaper! :D

 

FYI, Syba is just an OEM rebrander - there's nothing inherently good about a product just because "it's Syba." Couldn't hurt to try out that cheapo unit, but it's probably not any better than an onboard solution.

 

I own and use a "Best Connectivity" Syba DAC, but am not very familiar with how well the microphone connection performs as I use a USB mic.

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FYI, Syba is just an OEM rebrander - there's nothing inherently good about a product just because "it's Syba." Couldn't hurt to try out that cheapo unit, but it's probably not any better than an onboard solution.

 

I own and use a "Best Connectivity" Syba DAC, but am not very familiar with how well the microphone connection performs as I use a USB mic.

 

Well, the idea to go for a cheapo USB card came from this video:

 

I ordered a 3,50 euro cheapo card from eBay. It should arrive next week and I will tell you if it was good enough to fix the issue.

 

PS: I will use the USB card ONLY for the microphone, I know it sucks for headphones but fortunately I don't need "help" for them :P

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  • 2 weeks later...

The cheap USB sound card arrived today and... wow :D

Now ModMic 4.0 sounds perfectly and I really love it.

 

The cheap USB sound card I bought:

http://www.ebay.it/itm/160612635510?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

 

A bug thanks again to the "guy in the video who solved the issue" xD

 

Awesome!

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