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Best sound card under 200$?

Actuosity
By Actuosity
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Im wondering what the best sound card you can get under 200$ is. Im not interested in one that has a headphone amp or if it doesn't do optical out.

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You are going to need to explain better what you are wanting to do. You say you don't want a headphone amp so I assume you are not using headphones but you want optical out. If you are going to use optical out then the sound card is not doing anything so buy the cheapest thing you can get.

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If your motherboard is fairly new and has optical out then I see no actual reason to have a standalone DAC. Just use what's onboard. the realtek chip-set DAC is already really high quality and if you're going to be using optical out then there won't be any output impedance.

Mind letting us know what motherboard you have? Could be that you don't need to buy anything at all :)

export PS1='\[\033[1;30m\]┌╼ \[\033[1;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[1;30m\] ╾╼ \[\033[0;34m\]\w\[\033[0;36m\]\n\[\033[1;30m\]└╼ \[\033[1;37m\]'


"All your threads are belong to /dev/null"


| 80's Terminal Keyboard Conversion | $5 Graphics Card Silence Mod Tutorial | 485KH/s R9 270X | The Smallest Ethernet Cable | Ass Pennies | My Screenfetch |

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You are going to need to explain better what you are wanting to do. You say you don't want a headphone amp so I assume you are not using headphones but you want optical out. If you are going to use optical out then the sound card is not doing anything so buy the cheapest thing you can get.

I don't want a headphone amp because My headphones came with their own amp. Im looking for the optical / spdif out for my headphone amp instead of using usb and also I want it for 5.1 surround

and a higher sound quality than my on board.

Realtek ALC1150 Audio Channels 7.1 Channels   That's my current onboard audio.
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If your motherboard is fairly new and has optical out then I see no actual reason to have a standalone DAC. Just use what's onboard. the realtek chip-set DAC is already really high quality and if you're going to be using optical out then there won't be any output impedance.

Mind letting us know what motherboard you have? Could be that you don't need to buy anything at all :)

and I do require and optical out as my motherboard doesn't have one. That's what this is really about unless in your opinion there isn't much difference between usb and optical out. I am using the MSI G43 Gamming with

Realtek ALC1150 Audio Channels 7.1 Channels  
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I don't want a headphone amp because My headphones came with their own amp. Im looking for the optical / spdif out for my headphone amp instead of using usb and also I want it for 5.1 surround

and a higher sound quality than my on board.

Realtek ALC1150 Audio Channels 7.1 Channels   That's my current onboard audio.

 

If you are using optical out then the sound card is making no changes to the audio and simply passing it through to the other end. A sound cards primary function is to work as a digital to analog converter if you use optical it is not converting anything therefore you would have absolutely no change in audio quality from your onboard to a sound card. That portion is not an opinion on audio quality but a function of the devices.

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and I do require and optical out as my motherboard doesn't have one. That's what this is really about unless in your opinion there isn't much difference between usb and optical out. I am using the MSI G43 Gamming with

Realtek ALC1150 Audio Channels 7.1 Channels  

 

 

There isn't really much of a difference between the usb and optical out, they're both digital signals that will require conversion to analog at some point. If all you need is an optical out then you can just grab a cheap Xonar DG or DGX, which ever is most convenient because the DG is Pci and the DGX is Pci-e. The quality you'll get from and optical out on one of those will be the same as a $300 sound card, it's an unprocessed and un-amplified digital signal, doesn't require expensive card to do it. There's really nothing special about them :)

 

noooooooo

 

Please refrain from worshiping this video, just use what you've learnt to help the guy.

export PS1='\[\033[1;30m\]┌╼ \[\033[1;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[1;30m\] ╾╼ \[\033[0;34m\]\w\[\033[0;36m\]\n\[\033[1;30m\]└╼ \[\033[1;37m\]'


"All your threads are belong to /dev/null"


| 80's Terminal Keyboard Conversion | $5 Graphics Card Silence Mod Tutorial | 485KH/s R9 270X | The Smallest Ethernet Cable | Ass Pennies | My Screenfetch |

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Fiio E10

I agree. It's the best Amp/DAC for the money unless you want to go with something like an Asus Xonar Essence One. As an owner and frequent user of the E10, it will fit 99% of people's need in an upgraded audio solution.

Worship the Lord GabeN for he is your one true god!!!!

The Lord's Prayer

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I don't want a headphone amp because My headphones came with their own amp. Im looking for the optical / spdif out for my headphone amp instead of using usb and also I want it for 5.1 surround

and a higher sound quality than my on board.

Realtek ALC1150 Audio Channels 7.1 Channels   That's my current onboard audio.

 

 

what motherboard?  Most ATX variants of the ALC1150 have optical outputs, so I'm guessing it's a mini or ITX form factor?

 

Are these a USB headset with an optional optical input you'd like to use with this soundcard?  I'm not sure that would lead to much improvement over the USB connection.  In fact, if it's got a fancy Dolby headphone or other surround protocol that you like built into the headset's drivers, you can usually ONLY use it with USB anyways.  Not that you need any of that either, just a thought.

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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what motherboard?  Most ATX variants of the ALC1150 have optical outputs, so I'm guessing it's a mini or ITX form factor?

 

Are these a USB headset with an optional optical input you'd like to use with this soundcard?  I'm not sure that would lead to much improvement over the USB connection.  In fact, if it's got a fancy Dolby headphone or other surround protocol that you like built into the headset's drivers, you can usually ONLY use it with USB anyways.  Not that you need any of that either, just a thought.

Im using Astro A40's with their amp

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Why do people keep recommending USB dacs for him. Read his post in no way would a usb dac do what he is wanting. If you are using the Astro A40's just use them with the supplied amp you are not going to get any better performance out of another solution. As others have said USB or Optical it will make no difference as the signal is still digital and no processing is occurring until it hits the mix amp.

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Im using Astro A40's with their amp

 

look into a nice pair of headphones first, that's my advice.  Or even better, just keep what you have.  Using optical isn't going to dramatically improve your experience, but a nice pair of headphones on even your onboard can be a very big deal indeed.

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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noooooooo

ww.youtube.com/watch?v=d1rXcJuEsy0

There are many things wrong with this video especially given that is does not apply to the OP's question in any way, shape or form.

 

 

 

and I do require and optical out as my motherboard doesn't have one. That's what this is really about unless in your opinion there isn't much difference between usb and optical out. I am using the MSI G43 Gamming with

Realtek ALC1150 Audio Channels 7.1 Channels  

 

In your case I really don't think you will notice a benefit over using the USB cable.  One thing that might be inferior about usb is if it is passing dirty power which your DAC is unable to filter out.  This would be translated to more static noise when no sound is playing.  However unless you unplug the usb from the system and plug it in to a cleaner power source, switching to the Optical SPDIF will not be any better.

 

If you are using optical out then the sound card is making no changes to the audio and simply passing it through to the other end. A sound cards primary function is to work as a digital to analog converter if you use optical it is not converting anything therefore you would have absolutely no change in audio quality from your onboard to a sound card. That portion is not an opinion on audio quality but a function of the devices.

I believe some sound card actually do make changes to the digital signal before they convert it to analog.  This is usually more along the lines of sound affects though which is not really what the OP is looking for.  Also I believe there can be problems with timing the digital signal and other highly technical differences that most people won't notice or care about.

 

So I would say don't bother with the optical input.  It's just there for use with "cough, cough, consoles".

1 Timothy 1:15

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look into a nice pair of headphones first, that's my advice.  Or even better, just keep what you have.  Using optical isn't going to dramatically improve your experience, but a nice pair of headphones on even your onboard can be a very big deal indeed.

Astro A40's are a nice pair of gamming headphones.. lol

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Im not interested in one that has a headphone amp or if it doesn't do optical out.

 

You can buy the most expensive sound card in the world but it won't make a difference in the sound if you use optical. It's just passing the digital signal along. Buy the cheapest card that has optical.

 

 

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