Need some recommendations. Prob thinking on a soundcard?

[RiskyBomberPT]

Hi guys.

 

I built a desktop by this summer. My very first one.

 

I came from an Acer laptop. (Aspire 5742G if its worth mentioning)

 

On my desktop I am using the onboard sound from my Asrock 970 Pro3 (rev2.0).

 

I noticed that my sound is kind of bassier on my desktop than on my laptop. Also, the laptop has a little more audible mids than my desktop. The sound is imho more "crisp" on the laptop. Sooooo... because I don't like the "downgrade" and I do tend to use a lot more my desktop now than my laptop, I would like to know if it's worth upgrading my desktop with a soundcard or if I should buy some new speakers (my actual ones, that I am using for this comparison on the sound inbeetween both computers, are the Logitech X-210, they are old but still rocking some amazing sound).

 

I don't have much money available, so it should be like about 60-70€ if just one component or about 100€ if both, but I don't think it is needed to buy a soundcard and speakers... I guess maybe one of them is just enouf? Since the sound is good on these speakers with my laptop and not with my desktop, maybe it should be better to buy the soundcard because the sound quality issue prob comes from the onboard sound.

 

So I would like to know what you recommend me. In case I should buy a soundcard, do you know any good one for a budget? I don't quite need those sorround features and stuff, just one good quality one for my speakers. I listen to a lot of different musics from Rock and Metal to Dubstep and DnB, if that is important.

 

 

BTW, the bigger PCI slot is with the graphics card and the very tiny one with the Wifi. So the soundcard should fit one of the remaining ones.

 

 

Sorry if I'm a bit newb in all this things and sorry for my big text and my mistakes (I'm not good in english). Thank you for your patience and help

 

 

I hope I didn't miss any detail, you can ask me anything tho

[EmoRarity]

Save your cash, getting anything will not help you, more so on speakers then headphones. If you want an explanation I can give one.
(Audya points for asking a question properly.)

[RiskyBomberPT]

So you think it is not worth the money for the upgrade I will get? Well you are the specialist here so I will accept that! Thank you sir

[Cheesebaron]

A start could be to get something like the FiiO E10, but that will take up most of your budget. You would need a better set of speakers or good headphones to serve it justice. I've had a pair of X-210, they are not very detailed or anything, but for the price I guess they are OK. But if you really want to hear a difference the speakers would need an upgrade, but that is not anywhere near your budget.

[RiskyBomberPT]

I see, but the problem here is that they sounded better on the laptop so I was thinking that maybe the onboard audio in the 970 Pro3 is a bit trash..

 

But yes, this speakers are not the best of course, but they cost me like 35€ some years ago, they were quite a good deal by the time I bought them.

 

 

Edit: I saw you pointed me at a DAC, I don't quite know how they work. They work as an external soundcard right? There is any advantage from a soundcard to a DAC or vice-versa?

[Cheesebaron]

Yes it is a DAC, the advantages it has is mainly that it is able the be used on different computers without having to have a PCI-e port. It also sounds pretty decent and you will be able to drive headphones of it as well.

[RiskyBomberPT]

Could you please name a few of them in about the price range and quality of the one you said earlier? About 80€ is ok for me and maybe I can get one. But the one you mentioned isn't being sold anywhere near where I live and I don't trust on Amazon (don't kill me please ).

 

I also have some headphones, but I don't use them a lot. I have the 5H-v2 for gaming (they sound poor but they are so damn comfortable for long sessions of gaming!) and some cheap Philips headphones that I just know they have a nice freq range, 32ohms and nice quality for listening music for the price (they were like 30€ or so and they have a good detail on the sound).

 

 

Edit: So you can see, I can ear more details in the mid range with my phone than with my desktop. Its very noticeable. Also the bass is more aggressive on the desktop. This can be corrected by using the DAC instead of the onboard audio right?

[ShearMe]

If you want a DAC for speakers, get something cheaper than the FiiO E10 like the Behringer UCA 202