Best audio output

[jm_bmw]

Hi everyone,

 

I need some guidance from the audiophiles out there. What I can do to improve source on this setup?

 

Speakers: Edifier R1100 (only input RCA)

Source: AW M15 laptop, has Realtek ALC289 on 3.5mm port (currently using to RCA) or Nvidia High Def Audio through HDMI 2.0 / miniDP 1.3. It also has USB-C Thunderbolt 3 and standard USB 3.1 type A ports.

Screen: Samsung Q80A 55" TV (only ouput digital audio)

 

Should I get and external audio card through USB? what you recommend?

[GuiltySpark_]

Just use the 3.5mm from the laptop. Theoretically speaking you could "improve" audio by getting a dedicated DAC but honestly.. with those speakers I'd be willing to bet you're never going to tell the difference between any of those options.

[shoutingsteve]

A USB external card will be best.  The sound data will stay digital all the way till it hits the external card, where it is than translated into an analogue signal to go to the amp inside your speaker.  You'll want to look for something with a high signal to noise ratio.

 

try this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FY45F2S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=xbit-20&linkId=3ed00bbf535de8fc8ec94a6720500afd&language=en_US

[jm_bmw]

54 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Just use the 3.5mm from the laptop. Theoretically speaking you could "improve" audio by getting a dedicated DAC but honestly.. with those speakers I'd be willing to bet you're never going to tell the difference between any of those options.

I had these speakers on a Z390 Elite before (Realtek ALC1220-VB) and did notice a diference/downgrade on the laptop. I am looking to get at least the same level of quality I had before. Either the laptop output is really poor or the speakers aren't that bad at all.

 

 

13 minutes ago, shoutingsteve said:

A USB external card will be best.  The sound data will stay digital all the way till it hits the external card, where it is than translated into an analogue signal to go to the amp inside your speaker.  You'll want to look for something with a high signal to noise ratio.

 

try this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FY45F2S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=xbit-20&linkId=3ed00bbf535de8fc8ec94a6720500afd&language=en_US

Thanks I think this will be the way to go but this card is way too expensive here, cost more than the speakers itself.

 

Do you think a simple one like this (Creative Sound Blaster Play! 3 - 24-bit / 96 kHz 93 dB) would perform better than the laptops ALC289? or at least on the same tier as ALC1220?

[GuiltySpark_]

5 minutes ago, jm_bmw said:

I had these speakers on a Z390 Elite before (Realtek ALC1220-VB) and did notice a diference/downgrade on the laptop. I am looking to get at least the same level of quality I had before. Either the laptop output is really poor or the speakers aren't that bad at all.

 

 

Thanks I think this will be the way to go but this card is way too expensive here, cost more than the speakers itself. 

 

Do you think a simple one like this (Creative Sound Blaster Play! 3 - 24-bit / 96 kHz 93 dB) would perform better than the laptops ALC289? or at least on the same tier as ALC1220?

If you're willing to spend $135 on a Creative device, spend less on an actual quality focused desktop DAC. You don't also need a headphone amplifier. (unless you do? didn't specify) 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Topping-D10s-ES9038Q2M-Desktop-Black/dp/B08CZ65188

[jm_bmw]

24 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

If you're willing to spend $135 on a Creative device, spend less on an actual quality focused desktop DAC. You don't also need a headphone amplifier. (unless you do? didn't specify) 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Topping-D10s-ES9038Q2M-Desktop-Black/dp/B08CZ65188

Definitelly not willing to spend that much, this was what shoutingsteve recommended. I am willing to spend $20-40 on something simple just to get same level of quality I had before on the Z390 board w ALC1220. Problem is a know zero about codecs lol... specs on these realtek chips are also hard to find.

 

Isn't something like this good enough? its only $20.

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-play-3

 

 

[saintlouisbagels]

2 hours ago, jm_bmw said:

I need some guidance from the audiophiles out there. What I can do to improve source on this setup?

Should I get and external audio card through USB? what would you recomend? I have zero knowledge on those.

The quickest answer:

Do not bother spending money to upgrade the signal path to your speakers.

At that low quality you're not going to hear a difference.

 

HOWEVER:

If you're getting a noisy output from the speakers (likely due to the headphone jack from your PC), then you should invest in a cheap DAC.

I have personal experience with this Behringer UCA202 and can recommend that it will eliminate a noisy headphone jack.

You would then use the RCA (red and white) outputs from the DAC and feed them to your speakers.

 

23 minutes ago, jm_bmw said:

Isn't something like this good enough? its only $20.

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-play-3

No, that is a DAC+headphone amp.

You want a clean analog signal to your speakers.

That device will output an amplified analog signal. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you're about to run the signal to an active pair of speakers which will further amplify your audio source. We don't want double amplification.

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by saint_louis_bagels

[shoutingsteve]

38 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

If you're willing to spend $135 on a Creative device, spend less on an actual quality focused desktop DAC. You don't also need a headphone amplifier. (unless you do? didn't specify) 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Topping-D10s-ES9038Q2M-Desktop-Black/dp/B08CZ65188

I agree.  the DAC is what is key in your ( @jm_bmw)'s situation.  As long as the signal leaves your computer as digital, your in for a world of improvement.

[shoutingsteve]

48 minutes ago, jm_bmw said:

I had these speakers on a Z390 Elite before (Realtek ALC1220-VB) and did notice a diference/downgrade on the laptop. I am looking to get at least the same level of quality I had before. Either the laptop output is really poor or the speakers aren't that bad at all.

 

 

Thanks I think this will be the way to go but this card is way too expensive here, cost more than the speakers itself.

 

Do you think a simple one like this (Creative Sound Blaster Play! 3 - 24-bit / 96 kHz 93 dB) would perform better than the laptops ALC289? or at least on the same tier as ALC1220?

That dongle is certaily going to be better than the onboard sound.  If you do go that route, download the software from creative labs, it's pretty great.  I used to have a creative sound card that fed into my speaker system and I was really happy with the software.  A little bit of extra hardware is going to go a long way.

[jm_bmw]

Thanks everyone, I will get a cheaper dac and try it out.

 

For basic information, what to look for in audio chip/decoder specs? I know ALC1220 is better than ALC1200 by its nomenclature (talking raltek) but it seems the same as saying "intel i5 is better than i3..." On cpus we classify performance by the number of cores, clock speeds, nanometer, techonologies and on... how this translates to audio solutions?

[shoutingsteve]

23 hours ago, jm_bmw said:

Thanks everyone, I will get a cheaper dac and try it out.

 

For basic information, what to look for in audio chip/decoder specs? I know ALC1220 is better than ALC1200 by its nomenclature (talking raltek) but it seems the same as saying "intel i5 is better than i3..." On cpus we classify performance by the number of cores, clock speeds, nanometer, techonologies and on... how this translates to audio solutions?

Typically newer is better for this kind of thing.  look at the release date of the chip.  Even my crappy onboard audio now is better that my 2012 dedicated audio card.

[jm_bmw]

On 7/12/2022 at 11:45 AM, shoutingsteve said:

Typically newer is better for this kind of thing.  look at the release date of the chip.  Even my crappy onboard audio now is better that my 2012 dedicated audio card.

Yeah... I found videos talking about bit depth, sample rate, chip implementation/path signal-quality on the board and so forth... but literally zero about how to classify those. I wanted to know what to look for, like we do with a CPU, mobo etc... everything seems so mysterious.

 

DACs for example, huge expensive ones vs small cheap (that looks like an ordinary cable extension). Can't be the same thing, has to sound better.

 

On 7/10/2022 at 11:58 PM, saint_louis_bagels said:

No, that is a DAC+headphone amp.

You want a clean analog signal to your speakers.

That device will output an amplified analog signal. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you're about to run the signal to an active pair of speakers which will further amplify your audio source. We don't want double amplification.

 

 

Yes it is an active speaker so I just need a clean signal to it. Is there any other DACs you know that does that? I didn't find this one in my region and everything else seems to be for headphones(amp included).

[saintlouisbagels]

2 hours ago, jm_bmw said:

Yeah... I found videos talking about bit depth, sample rate, chip implementation/path signal-quality on the board and so forth... but literally zero about how to classify those. I wanted to know what to look for, like we do with a CPU, mobo etc... everything seems so mysterious.

DACs for example, huge expensive ones vs small cheap (that looks like an ordinary cable extension). Can't be the same thing, has to sound better.

Do not waste your time learning about audio lol.

Being objective does not exist because there's a huge divide between objective measurements and subjective experiences.

No, there are plenty of ultra-expensive components that measure significantly worse than sub-$100 components.

 

2 hours ago, jm_bmw said:

Yes it is an active speaker so I just need a clean signal to it. Is there any other DACs you know that does that? I didn't find this one in my region and everything else seems to be for headphones(amp included).

What do you mean "are there DACs I know that does that" ??

All DACs do that if they have a "Line Out" output. Typically it's RCA (red and white) output.

The DAC that you suggested did not have a Line Out. It only output via a headphone jack, so it had to go through an amplification stage

 

You did not specify your region, so I cannot help you. You did not even specify if you had Amazon.

 

[jm_bmw]

On 7/14/2022 at 12:30 AM, saint_louis_bagels said:

Do not waste your time learning about audio lol.

Being objective does not exist because there's a huge divide between objective measurements and subjective experiences.

No, there are plenty of ultra-expensive components that measure significantly worse than sub-$100 components.

Let’s (for example) forget about subjective experiences. What do I look for in a decent audio setup? Spec wise?

 

On 7/14/2022 at 12:30 AM, saint_louis_bagels said:

What do you mean "are there DACs I know that does that" ??

All DACs do that if they have a "Line Out" output. Typically it's RCA (red and white) output.

The DAC that you suggested did not have a Line Out. It only output via a headphone jack, so it had to go through an amplification stage

Thanks for clarifying; I meant if you know any other models like the one you recommended. What I found here are either this style (USB to heaphone jack) or expensive for recording plus extra features that I don’t need.

 

On 7/14/2022 at 12:30 AM, saint_louis_bagels said:

You did not specify your region, so I cannot help you. You did not even specify if you had Amazon.

I am located in Brazil, I believe it is in my profile. We do have Amazon through BR domain: https://www.amazon.com.br/s?k=interface

 

 

BTW, is it possible to use a car HU as a PC DAC? Using USB from pc to front USB in the HU as input, leaving RCA signal to speakers (of course power it through a connector). HU built-in amp can be disabled under options.

 

[saintlouisbagels]

1 hour ago, jm_bmw said:

I am located in Brazil, I believe it is in my profile. We do have Amazon through BR domain: https://www.amazon.com.br/s?k=interfac

[jm_bmw]

1 hour ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

Really expensive compared to $25 in US... at this cost I could get this:

 

It goes back to my question, how to classify/identify audio equipment? which one is better?