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Audio Interface or AMP/DAC?

smallie
By smallie
in Audio
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I'm really new to audio, and picked up a pair of ATH-M50x's a few weeks ago. I love the headphones, but when there is nothing playing I can hear a quiet buzzing noise, and am thinking it's due to not having a soundcard or external audio majig.

 

I'm not sure wether to get a Audio Interface like the Scarlett Focusrite 2i2 or an AMP/DAC like the Schiit Stack (lol). What would you guys recommend? 

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I can hear a quiet buzzing noise

This is called EMI (electromgnetic interference)

You can easily fix this by buying a cheap sound card, such as the ASUS Xonar DG which only costs $30 :)

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This is called EMI (electromgnetic interference)

You can easily fix this by buying a cheap sound card, such as the ASUS Xonar DG which only costs $30 :)

 

Yeah, I'd like to get into audio though and want a decent starting setup if that makes sense.

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Yeah, I'd like to get into audio though and want a decent starting setup if that makes sense.

Xonar sound cards are great. Linus recommends them over Creative any day.

Just look at all the different xonar cards and find which one will work best for you :)

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I would recommend an external DAC over a soundcard as internal soundcards don't shield as well from interference. 

A budget would help determine what to get.

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buzzing can also be caused by dodgy earths in your system and low quality PSU's.  More information would be good. The last thing you want to do is spend money on a card/dac or something only to find the issue is something else.

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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This is called EMI (electromgnetic interference)

You can easily fix this by buying a cheap sound card, such as the ASUS Xonar DG which only costs $30 :)

Or

Try moving things on your rear IO.

 

I had my mouse plugged in next to my audio outputs, and every time i moved the mouse i would get interference.

 

Just try moving anything close to the output if possible, by the schiit fulla or whatever it is if it doesn't work

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Or

Try moving things on your rear IO.

 

I had my mouse plugged in next to my audio outputs, and every time i moved the mouse i would get interference.

 

Just try moving anything close to the output if possible, by the schiit fulla or whatever it is if it doesn't work

I had issues with my modmic picking up EMI from both front and rear input jacks. Sound card completely fixed it.

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I wouldn't suggest dropping so much on an audio interface or a Schiit stack when there's plenty of good cheaper options. Syba DAC is my personal favorite, but Monoprice's Desktop headphone amp has a few more connection options, looks a bit nicer, and has a gain switch for some harder to drive headphones.

 

I had issues with my modmic picking up EMI from both front and rear input jacks. Sound card completely fixed it.

 

There's a 50/50 shot of soundcards fixing the issue and being just as prone to the same problem.

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I wouldn't suggest dropping so much on an audio interface or a Schiit stack when there's plenty of good cheaper options. Syba DAC is my personal favorite, but Monoprice's Desktop headphone amp has a few more connection options, looks a bit nicer, and has a gain switch for some harder to drive headphones.

 

 

There's a 50/50 shot of soundcards fixing the issue and being just as prone to the same problem.

99% of the time the problem is the onboard sound DAC...

Sure a sound card isnt as 100% as an external DAC+AMP, but it will remove any EMI issues for sure. (unless the problem is your sound system, of course)

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99% of the time the problem is the onboard sound DAC...

Sure a sound card isnt as 100% as an external DAC+AMP, but it will remove any EMI issues for sure. (unless the problem is your sound system, of course)

 

 

Soundcards can still be susceptible to noise from other components inside the PC like coil whine from GPU's or interference from other components, you may have a less chance at having those issues compared to onboard, but atleast you know with an external solution it's shielded and outside of the case.

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Soundcards can still be susceptible to noise from other components inside the PC like coil whine from GPU's or interference from other components, you may have a less chance at having those issues compared to onboard, but atleast you know with an external solution it's shielded and outside of the case.

The EMI comes from having the audio circuits crossing over power delivery and other circuits micrometers away. When you have a sound card all those circuits are several centimetres away, which is several hundred times farther.

Obviously there can still be some residual background EMI inside the case, but it is thousands of times less than onboard audio.

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Is it me or is this exceptionally tiresome.

I don't know if you noticed but I stopped a lot of posting in the Audio forum because I was getting tired of posting the same shit day in day out and half the time people would get offended, upset and call me a troll or whatever. The  reality I was just giving people the honest truth of the situation so they didn't waste their time or money on insignificant products with only a marginal chance of improving the problem.

 

I guess the problem is dumb shits are dumb and don't want to hear the truth because it makes them look stupid after spending money on a particular solution or even simply making a post recommending one only to be told they were wrong.

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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I don't know if you noticed but I stopped a lot of posting in the Audio forum because I was getting tired of posting the same shit day in day out and half the time people would get offended, upset and call me a troll or whatever. The  reality I was just giving people the honest truth of the situation so they didn't waste their time or money on insignificant products with only a marginal chance of improving the problem.

 

I guess the problem is dumb shits are dumb and don't want to hear the truth because it makes them look stupid after spending money on a particular solution or even simply making a post recommending one only to be told they were wrong.

 

I didn't notice because I took a hiatus myself. Can't blame you.

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