20 Best External Sound Card For Dj (2023 Updated)

I got the G6 to use with my gaming PC, but I quickly found it to be just as enjoyable to use with my Nintendo Switch. As I moved away from “gaming headsets,” I became more and more interested in better sound quality.

I didn’t want to sacrifice sound quality just for the convenience of having a microphone attached to the headphones, so I got the Philips SHP9500 + V-Moda Boompro microphone combination and the SoundBlasterX G6 to power it all.

The difference is night and day; much cleaner audio that’s not altered in any way that gaming headset manufacturers impose on the audio characteristics of their headsets (with the exception of a few newer headsets that literally use some great monitoring headphones, just rebranded/repurposed aka HyperX) Not only does the G6 get much louder than my motherboard audio, it has the ability to simulate a 5.

1 or 7. 1 surround sound system. Once enabled in Windows 10, it’ll feed the G6 with 5/7 audio outputs, which will then be processed by the G6 and outputted as surround sound. The result is incredible.

In Apex Legends for example, I can pinpoint directional audio to within 5 degrees of where it’s coming from. The audio characteristics can be customized in the SBX software to whatever sound profile you like with an incredible level of versatility.

There is a dedicated “SBX” button that will toggle a selected profile on or off and if you hold that button for a few seconds, it’ll turn on Direct Mode, with turns off all sound processing for pure unaltered audio (mainly for music).

However, Direct Mode will disable the microphone input, unfortunately. Another key feature of the G6 is the “Scout Mode” button that turns the bass way down and increases the high frequencies so that footsteps are much louder.

I tried this feature but didn’t enjoy it very much. I preferred to use the gaming profile preset with the SBX button, but it is a nice feature for people who want to use it nonetheless. The only drawback is the side tone function where it’ll play your voice back into your headphones so you can hear yourself talking and not yell into the mic.

There is perceptible lag in the playback, so it’s actually more distracting than if it is simply turned off. Switching off all audio processing to voice input helps a ton, but still, the lag is present and gets annoying.

Pairing it up with the Switch is extremely easy as the Switch natively supports USB audio output. The Switch’s audio output is sometimes too weak and doesn’t get very loud, but with the G6, you can use the Hi gain toggle and get as loud as your ears can handle without any audio distortion.

I even figured out how to connect my Switch and phone together using the G6 to get game audio and discord audio through the same headphones. In closing, I can safely say that the audio quality and versatility of the SBX G6 is absolutely worth the value.

Even though my Aorus Master Z390 motherboard has a fantastic DAC/Amp built in (ALC1220 + ESS SABRE 9118 with WIMA capacitors), the ability to enable 5. 1/7. 1 audio for much better directional audio is a feature every gamer should experience.

3000% better than just using standard laptop speakers even though for now i’m listening through a set of Head Phones until i can afford a stereo to plug it into. Lots of choices to tweak for your own listening pleasure as i’ve really only scratched the surface so to speak in using all the options available, even with DJ Headphones one notices the difference in sound.

Will have to wait until i get surround speakers for a more in depth review. Sound Card can get hot over time not sure if it is the same if you have it turned up very loud. I like the endless rotary knob for volume, push button on/off.

It comes boxed with 3 or 4 (can’t remember which), cords and an adapter for larger sockets all gold plated. I thought the packaging was a little over the top as the inside of the box is done in a suede like material.

I would have liked a click on click off plastic surround with screws to mount it somewhere out of the road of other peripherals but still able ease of access to the unit and still see the light(s) illuminating from it.

The good: – Amazing quality with no electrical interference artifacts from your computer from the audio or recording line. – Can handle bother higher and lower Ohms / Impedance for larger and smaller headphones.

– Plug & Play on gaming devices and computers. – External volume knob that can adjust the mic & headphone / speaker audio. – Top LED can be set to a custom color, turned off, or set to different effects such as pulse or beat with music.

– Quality constructed material. – Supports Surround Sound – Native Equalizer from the Sound Blaster Command application. The Bad – The front LED color can’t be customized. – Retails New around $180 in 2021 Overall, you’re getting what you paid for from a Trusted manufacturer who has dominated the PC audio industry for a very long time.

I use the SB Z in my Windows 10 PC. I use the SPDIF Out to supply my external DAC, and this works great. Using the Windows Volume Mixer, I can sum all the various sources of sound generated by apps on the PC.

But here’s the cool part: I can also sum in the output of an external streamer, like a BlueSound Node. The streamer feeds the SB Z’s SPDIF input. Within the SB Z app, Mixer, on the PC, i enable the SPDIF input, while under Advanced Features, I select Play stereo mix to digital output.

Fabulous! Thanks, Sound Blaster! Thanks B&H!.

This card used with the elgato has been a life saver. If you have a dual pc one gaming one streaming then this will help with all of the audio issues. Use digital out from the gaming to the input of this card which is in the streaming pc and then in the sound settings make sure to check listen to this device.

Plug your headset into the streaming pc and select it as output and the sound blaster digital in as input. There you go all is working sounds great as well.

I an hearing impaired as a result of my service in Viet Nam. (Think guns, bombs and explosions) The VA has furnished me very functional hearing assist devices, which sends the audio from the computer directly into my hearing aids by means of an adapter using Bluetooth technology.

The audio equipment found on motherboards is second rate, resulting in garbled, undecipherable human voices. After I got it configured, the Sound Blaster card cleared up the garbled human voices instantly.

Bought this one to replace my original Hyperx Cloud usb soundcard that miraculously broke out from nowhere, and the sound that comes through is absolute garbage! Absolutely HORRIBLE compared to my old “original” usb soundcard that came together with the original product.

I recommend to buy a new headset together with the original soundcard, or one of the headsets that come with the 3. 5mm jack. I have now ordered the HyperX Alpha headset and hope for a better result.

Other than this the Hyper X Cloud have been the Best headset ive ever used Do NOT buy this product if you care for sound, buy a new.

Perfect sound especially the 7. 1 3D Sound, a bit heavy on the bass but all in all excellent sound card. Works perfectly with most of my headphones and headsets. Just make sure to balance all the audio settings and volumes on everything.

Once that’s all done you’ll get the perfect balance of sound.

Works great after going to HyperX website to install latest driver , which reprograms the sound cards volume control. Without this new driver the sound volume is to low and the virtual sound is weak.

Has long cord length for good remote location placement.

Was going to get one of the much more expensive options as this one looked a bit cheapy for quality recording and playback work, but I’ve been delighted with it. The audio quality is really very good, very clean and clear across all audible frequencies.

Setup is as easy as it ever could be, you literally plug it in and it works. No drivers needed, no silly bloatware. No noticeable lag on the USB. Also it doesn’t say on the specs but it supports 24-bit conversion on both record and play.

Maximum sampling rate is 48khz, and that’s fine for most stuff. Genuinely really pleased with it. If you put Bose on it and charged 10 times more, I’d be none the wiser.

I wasn’t happy with the whole Realtek/Windows 10 thing & the fight to get a 5. 1 speaker set working properly. I recently bought a set of Logitech Z607 speakers and have been disappointed with the output.

There were flashes of goodness but it was inconsistent. The main complaint was the subwoofer seemed pretty capable but never seemed to get utilized. After hunting around a bit for sound cards, I came across this one.

I just received it today, and following the advice posted by DaveE1 on this site got things plugged in & tuned up. Now the drum and bass actually has some bass (OK, the speaker set isn’t great, but at least it’s being fully utilized now).

I bought the StarTech external soundcard to overcome the shortcomings of the inbuilt Dell soundcard in my PC in respect of distortion and extraneous PC generated noise. I use it for stereo recording and playing with external audio equipment but have not used the surround sound features.

It was plug and play compatible with my Windows 10 system and also with Ubuntu Linux on another computer. I did note that the default signal routing to headphone or front loudspeaker was operating system dependent, with Linux it was transparent and easy, but with Windows 10 it was the usual fight against the system and I always have to plug the phones in the front LS output.

The signals out are of course all low level and not for direct loudspeker drive but more than adequate for phones. The audio quality is really excellent- this judgement from an analogue audiophile. I usually avoid digital sources but I must say that the transparency of the sound and superb fidelity is a relevation.

Direct comparison of computer output versus StarTech leaves you in absolutely no doubt that this is vastly superior, the PC output leaves you disatisfied wile StarTech has your foot tapping. I listen to serious classical music and Jazz but also do speech recordings to send to isolated friends.

I have not used the SPDIF interface as yet. I think it only acts as an input, at least as far as Windows 10 is concerned but there were indications that it may output from a Linux source however I was not able to test that out.

I was a little puzzled by reference to the TOSLINK input/ output as being “feedthrough”- this suggests that it can input but act as a link in a daisychain. This feature requires greater clarification in the instructions.

In summary, if you want great headphone audio quality (you may need to use Front Speaker rather than phones- operating system dependent) this is an excellent product. The record input can be via line or microphone (using only the right socket gives default mono), if you have a stereo mike with a stereo jack you will require an adaptor to two single pole jacks at the input.

The controls interface directly with the PC and set output volume and mute. If you grapple with surround sound on your PC interface I see no reason why this should not work but the idiosyncrasies of Windows 10 are another matter.

This is highly recommended, and for any Radio-Hams out there I also use this as the audio interface for amateur radio digital modes.

My HyperX Alpha Cloud headphones stopped working with my PC windows 10. Older headphones worked but not my new HyperX. Could not figure it out. Maybe some upgrade in windows 10. So i started looking at external DAC amps.

I bought this G6 dongle after reading a few reviews and thought it would do until i upgraded my Motherboard and computer. My Motherboard is 2014 vintage, although it is still a pretty fast PC with an RTX video card in it.

I did not have great expectations for the G1 but i was very impressed. My mic works now. People can hear me. I dynamic improvement of the sound was huge. Obviously my motherboard sound is deficient. It was built on a Soundblaster Core 3di.

I guess that things have improved a lot since then. For $28 this is well worth the money. Should have done it a long time ago. I am looking at moving to a G6 since now i am wondering if my speakers which are hooked up to the optical output on my computer are not giving me the sound that they could.

Perfect for what I needed. I’ve gotten back into PC gaming recently with my new gaming laptop but my favorite and most comfortable headphones are a nice pair of Sennheisers. The problem with that is that they are too sensitive and I was getting all kinds of random noise and distortion from the regular headphone jack.

Looked for an external sound card to use; found this one, and now I’m super happy. No more noise or distortion, really nice sound stage, and I can play for hours with my comfy headphones. Super happy with this purchase!.

This dongle adapter has fantastic sound quality, which I expect from a Creative device since the 90s. I bought this so I didn’t have to constantly crouch under my desk to plug inbetween my speakers and a headset.

Sure, my chassis had an audio input, but it didn’t quite agree with Windows 10, This saved me countless effort! Now I can just use the quick selection for Windows 10 sound and switch between my speakers and headset no problem.

Very happy!.

I have had a sound card in every single PC I have built; and Creative has always been my “go-to” for quality products and sound when it comes to gaming PCs. I do not like gaming with headphones and use a surround sound setup on my gaming PC, so I am in a somewhat niche setup for “gaming sound” these days.

Motherboard sound has always sounded terrible to me, no matter how many times or on how many different setups I try it on. I moved my old Creative Sound Blaster Z to my entertainment PC for the optical out for DTS and movies; so I needed a replacement sound card for my main gaming PC with solid hardware components and good software.

I decided to go with this card because I have it paired with a Logitech Z906 5. 1 surround sound speaker setup over the analog signal wiring (Optical has a slight delay so I do not use it for gaming).

This sound card has much improved sound over my older Sound Blaster Z and the audio positioning using a 5. 1 speaker setup is very good. Music sounds great as well. Of course, sound is so subjective to the individual listening to it; but I am very happy with the quality of this product.

Sound blaster’s new software is so much nicer than the old versions and setting up this card with great sound between gaming and music was a very easy task. If looks are also your thing with PCs, this sound card looks very nice in a darker motherboard setup (which I have).

The lighting is not a distraction and the graphite look of the card is nice. Worth noting; I do have this in an X570 motherboard with a 5950x CPU using PCIe 4. 0 on my RTX 3090. After the latest BIOS patches, I do NOT have any of the channel swapping; sound stopping, card disconnecting, etc.

issues that so many have reported over the last year or so (I had them originally as well earlier in the year on both my SBXz and this card). At least for me, all these issues were resolved shortly after I bought this new sound card with a Bios update on my motherboard.

From my understanding, this was not on creatives end.

I had a SB-Zx prior to this which I bought when I put together my new build. After putting this in I noticed sounds were “clearer” of sorts. Maybe it was creative’s crystalizer software or maybe it was the jump to a better physical soundcard build quality, but going from an older, simpler logitech 5.

1 setup to a logitech z906 definitely let me sit and hear differences in audio quality. I’m no audiophile, but I do have a thing for sound quality in the games I play and I things are just better with this soundcard for a lack of appropriate words.

Plus, a nephew of mine has expressed interest to his mom about having a computer and with that I had reason to buy a new toy and give him my old soundcard. Figured I’d buy myself something nice and give him the older but still plenty adequate component.

9/10 $200+ is a lot of money for a soundcard, but knowing it’ll last for a while makes the cost bearable.

I added this to a Alienware Desktop that was already fairly tricked out. I did this due to the fact I didn’t think the sound output was as good as it should be on my Adam professional monitors using the integrated sound card.

The difference wasn’t just good, it was amazing. Tighter bass, smoother midrange and better defined highs. I expected a difference, but wasn’t expecting such a huge difference. Plus the mic on the controller is handy for business conference calls.

Product features are covered by other reviewers. I don’t care about features and am primarily interested in sound quality. I’ve done a tonne of random A-B-C testing with this Sound Blaster G3, the SupremeFX onboard audio on my Asus B550-F Gaming motherboard, and finally my Ifi Zen V2 DAC that I’ve been using for quite a while with my Sennheiser HD599 headphones.

I knew the G3 would be somewhere in the middle but was curious exactly how it would perform in comparison. Here’s my conclusions: As you’d expect, onboard audio is average at best. Even on an expensive motherboard.

It’s a device that makes a collection of noises to replicate music, nothing more. The musical notes don’t sing to you. It’s pretty lifeless and the muddy bass booms in a valiant effort to cover up that fact.

Far from a goosebump experience. As the most expensive challenger (more than twice the cost of the G3), the Ifi Zen V2 DAC makes music shine with clarity. Here the bass is no longer fighting for centre stage and rather has enough punch to simply compliment the mids and highs, as it should be with neutral sound processing.

Instead of “waiting for the good bits” of the song, you actually find yourself spending the whole song appreciating details in each individual note and instrument. It’s made to be a real listening experience.

The Sound Blaster G3 falls somewhere in the middle, and goes a long way toward fixing the problems of onboard audio. In fact I was impressed by how decent the experience was. You still get an emphasis on bass like the onboard audio, but in this case it is actually controlled and less muddy.

There’s actual life and detail in the mids and highs. The G3 beats onboard hands-down. Granted the G3 detail is less detailed than the Zen (as if you’re listening with socks on your ears), but at no point do I think the G3 sucks in comparison.

A lot of the musical enjoyment is still there, it’s simply less of a pure listening experience than the Zen. I don’t think it would take much distraction to forget that I’m listening on a sub-$100 USB device.

So considering it offers pretty good audio quality and can be used on any USB device, I’d call it a good purchase. Of course you can always upgrade to a serious DAC later on and keep using the G3 for portable uses.

The one point to note is that the G3 can only do up to 24 bit 96 kHz, which is still a limitation, even though bitrate is proven to contribute very little in real world performance. Not enough to bother me.

This was good for the price. The gaming sound mode worked well for making meetings sound better by making vocals more forward in the sound stage. The musical mode left more to be desired. I ultimately returned this because it didn’t drive my headphones as well as I’d hoped and because I use my headset for listening for music more than I do for games or meetings.

Also this would be a better design if it had a USB C female input instead of an external usb c male cord. This design made desktop use awkward.

Tried this as an option to connect my guitar and headphones at the same time. Worked well with MainStage and Logic Pro X with the included USB-C to USB-A Adapter. Included optical cable was a surprise and nice addition! One star off cause it feels kinda cheap.

Thought it was metal, it’s plastic.

To start, I have heard of issues with the Sound Blaster software in Windows, but since I don’t own a copy of Windows, I cannot confirm not deny this. I purchased this specifically for recording through the line-in jack on the card.

I have a Yamaha MiG 16/4 mixer running into it with a 1/4″ > 3. 5mm adapter on it, getting L/R channels. With the mixer off, the noise level is ~70dB, so that’s the card itself (I do have this card directly above my GPU, which is a noise issue when recording, but that’s on me, not the card.

) All testing was done with the FX features turned OFF (via alsamixer, giving direct hardware control. ) I knew that the Integrated audio on my board (Sound Blaster Cinema 3) was really good, but the line-in was lacking, thus the whole reason I bought this sound card.

On the line-out, you can notice a small difference (I did an A/B test by patching both the X-AE 5 and the Integrated into my mixer and toggling each line in Pulseaudio). I tested it with some ATH-M50x headphones, so I could tell pretty well.

If I were just playing audio, I would’ve stuck with the Integrated (Again though, really high-quality Integrated audio, the regular motherboard will see a huge improvement. ) The line-in, however, that’s where I saw the biggest improvement.

I saw the noise level drop a good 10dB when I set both the Integrated and X-AE5 to the same levels. The latency of input went down a good ~12ms, and there is WAY LESS distortion when nearing the 0dB point.

Running sine waves from a Moog shows that really well, both in ear and on wave spectrum. Normal USB ADCs/Interfaces can have who-knows-what tacked into it for “Audio Normalization. ” But I know this X-AE5 has all that turned off, which is a huge peace of mind for all the analog stuff I patch itno it.

One thing people might like, the EQ’ing on this card is NOT software. It is pure hardware (reference AlsaMixer picture). This cannot be said of any integrated sound cards, and some dedicated cards as well.

I actually wouldn’t feel bad about runnign the dedicated EQ settings if I had to (I have an external EQ, so I don’t. ) Sure, the X-AE7 is a huge step up from this on paper, but if you’re just looking for good audio-out, then just get this.

Recording is superb too when you set it up properly (Windows can do. Anything with this card, I have no idea, and I have no idea how you’d turn everything off hardware-wise in Windows. ) Buy it, slap it in, run it, enjoy it.

You have my word.

My trusty Sound Blaster Z failed not too long ago. It was a great performing card, but I think being butted up against the back of my GPU, the EMF more in likely damaged it. For a little more than the price of a new Z or Z SE, I could get this.

I figured why not. Couldn’t be worse. Installation was easy as expected, it’s the same size as my old Z so it doesn’t encroach on my vertically mounted GPU. But c’mon, it’s 2021, can Creative and Razer just ditch the molex connector already? SATA is fine.

The software is about the same, just with a fresh coat of paint. If you’re used to Creative SB cards, it’ll be familiar. Plenty of things to tweak. There is no EMF buzzing from the adjacent GPU, even with my Sampson SR850s on.

I love the headphone switch toggle, I can keep the headphones plugged in on the front, and just use a toggle when I need to, like if I’m going to use my microphone. Speaking of that, the noise cancellation abilities of this card is far superior to the SB Z.

I use a Cherry MX blue keyboard with a Neewer NW750 condenser microphone. With the Z, every key press and click would be heard, even with the noise canceling toggle turned on. With the AE-5, people can hear only my loudest key presses, and my voice doesn’t come through as compressed, and that’s with the noise canceling slider on minimum.

Other than that, it just sounds overall great. The bass is tighter than on my Z, although if you want the dirty bass back, you can adjust that too. Drivers and software installs and runs perfectly fine on Windows 11.

I have an Asus TUF Gaming Z590M-Plus Mobo, and while it has a decent Realtek sound chip on the board, I was hearing some negative sound when the volume was above 40% and my GPU is running an overclocking profile.

I can’t explain it. Since installing this card, not only is the negative sound gone, but sound, whether watching a movie, YouTube, Twitch, listening to music, this card is solid. It performs very well.

I also like the fact that I can play with the RGB with this card. Now, even though this card comes with an RGB strip and has a MOLEX connector on the back, unless you are running the included RGB strip, you do not need to plug in a MOLEX cable into the card.

You will not see that written in the instruction manual, so figured I share this now. I think another review mentioned this as well. If you are looking for more crisp sound, and getting tired of the cheap performance of onboard sound, I would recommend looking at this card for smoother sound performance.

I’ve given up on ever winning Micro Center’s lottery for completing these reviews but will make an exception for this little device. It greatly improves my PC’s audio quality and allows a seemingly infinite blend of sound and volume mixes for different applications (music, movies, games).

It’s small and easily portable for travel and laptop use. My only minor gripe is that the user manual is quite terse, so you need to fool around to get a sense of what the different combinations of switches and app options can offer.

Seems solidly built and supported by Creative Labs, with whom I’ve had good experience in the past.

I’m using it in Linux where it works well out of the box but I can’t use any of the advanced features that I see in the documentation. That was expected so I won’t hold back any stars for this 🙂 I won’t comment on the sound quality as I don’t have a good ear for that judgement.

It sounds good overall and had no problem with any of the headphones I tried. What I liked about it is the Line Out that is automatically active when the headphones are disconnected. The volume knob is actually a multimedia input button that is recognized by Linux just fine.

I was hoping it would isolate the audio output from the ground but there was still a level of noise when the speaker had both a USB charging + audio in from G6/Line out. If you are running a similar setup consider adding to your shopping basket a Monacor FG-35 (that worked well for me) or a similar device.

Obviously not needed for headphones!.

I had been running an old internal sound card from Creative since 2010. My cats were playing around and got caught in my headphone cable and torqued the card out of the PCI slot, ruining it. I needed a replacement.

I found this pretty quickly. It sounds better than the old card. I was always sort of put off by external DACs before, but this one is sleek and minimalist and fits in fine with my setup. The software that is used with it is not required but is needed to unlock some of the special features with audio processing.

If you have good headphones or speakers you don’t need any of that stuff. I use some of it in games, however. This software is much less bloated than what was needed for my old sound card. Other than in games I’m using the direct stereo mode.

The lights that indicate mode on the unit itself are a nice touch and the ability to switch them without bringing the software to the front is nice. The headphone amp is very good. Highly recommend this thing.

it is a nice and useful A HEADPHONE DAC. if you have a mid or high-end headphone or a headphone with SXfi support this is a really cool sound card. As well Software is very useful and it has really cool features.

İf you don’t have Dolby support speaker and you have plan the use this sound card only with speaker no need to buy this device onboard audio is enough for a standard speaker. For headphone and Dolby speakers, yes you should buy this DAC.

This is an Excellent sounding DAC/DSP which as comply my spectations. It sound wonderful with excellent synergy with ones from Beyerdynamic DT990 with T90 drivers and earpads, and Denon AH-D5000 cable installed.

The soundstage is phenomenal and the speed is very fast. faster what my other portable source which isnt lowend. I was blow away with that setup and with the Super XFi activated with the default headphone in the list; specially in movies and with some stereo material and mono (i havent tested still much material).

This have multiple options for personalize, and is easy to use and configure. The only downside that i have, is that it have a slight noise in some low frequencies in high gain, and sometimes in low gain too, when i have the SXFI selected.

it could be the unit what i received. For best use and results, you did have to do all what this have in the manual.

For the Samsung Odyssey+ it’s a common issue to get crackling or distorted sound depending on your rig. Originally I was using onboard FidelityFX sound which came with the motherboard and VR tends to hog up USB ports with both the headset, BT adapter, wifi adapter, etc.

I wanted to take some of the bandwidth away from USB and decided to try dedicated PCI-E sound. It had been a few months since I touched VR on account of having to encounter the sound issue and MS’s spatial sound (windows sonic for headphones) is just janky.

I did get a powered USB hub for the VR unit and followed all of the secret codes to eliminate the distorted sound/cracking issue common to this particular VR unit. Lo and behold, after I installed the sound card the very first time I used VR in months there was no issue with that annoying sound.

I’ve eliminated the power issue, and any potential USB bottlenecking. Any remaining sound issues are with MS’s spatial sound (windows sonic for headphones). It’s worth mentioning I’m on Win 10 build 1809 fall creator update and have disabled updates that will take complete control over the operating system, including video card updates I do not want, as well as tailored advertising which most people do not want.

It would be nice to live in a world where I’m not beaten up with advertising no matter where I go, but for now I will settle for an operating system I do have some control over since that’s better than keeping my eyes shut 24 hours a day or while driving.

When my monitor (with speakers) died I got a new one without speakers. The old one was using HDMI and worked fine. Unfortunately the new one lacked speakers and I discovered that when I plugged my speakers into the computers on board card they wouldn’t work.

I purchased this Sound Blaster card to see if this would fix the problem. In short, it is the best I’ve seen. It was an easy installation and the sound is far superior to what I had before. I give it 5 stars for ease of installation and quality of product.

Been using Sound Blaster cards since the 90s. I have an audio interface, which I use for a microphone input, that doesn’t play nice via USB with some Windows 10 programs. Needed a low-cost but effective solution with a relatively low noise floor for a LINE IN input as USB would not work.

My older Sound Blaster card was the older PCI format and needed a PCIe connection to modern motherboards. On-board (motherboard) inputs work, but almost always provide very high noise in the signal. These Sound Blaster cards are very silent and with my ears I am getting almost the same quality with the LINE IN compared to a USB input from a good audio interface (Focusrite, Universal Audio, etc.

). Highly recommend for clean sound in or out.

I run a tri-amp system that predominantly plays all channel stereo from my. flac library. I am most definitely an audiophile and there is certainly a SQ improvement using this device. I have a 3. 5mm spdif to optical audio hooked straight to amp 1 as opposed to laptop media port (? Is that what it’s called) to HDMI to TV then optical out to amp 1.

I recommend setting the main volume to 85% player at 100% then adjust amps from there. Last night I set up Dolby Atmos for headphones free trial plugin, enabled 7. 1 virtual surround and hooked my velodyne cans to this device.

I was blown away with the AC3-encoded Valerian and the city of 1000 planets swarming around the headphones. Top notch product, startech. Hurry up and make an android app/plugin so I can enjoy my. flacs on my LG g5 with neutron! Also, send me some devices to review on my blog.

You guys rock!.

Let’s get the good stuff out of the way – It was easy to install in the PCI / USB slot – Easy to conect to speakers – Now the bad – I should have checked before I bought it so this is on me but it has no HD Audio Pins for my PC Case’s Headphones and Mic jacks.

That said, The sound quality is really just okay and when you try to turn it up to evn a moderate volume it feedbacks into a fairly loud hum. Strange. The volume below the feedback is pretty low – I checked all my settings, the card s settings, and sound system parameters to see where / if I had something turned down – even the EQ – Nothing was low – Same setting as with my previous Creative SB1040 Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-E Sound Card – (( The reason the Audio card was replaced is due to the WIFI Card I hade failed, was only single Band and any Dual Band or even 5.

0Ghz Card was only available in PCIe, The Sound Card was in one of two slots, the second is covered by a rather wide Video Card – So I had to go with a PCIe WIFI Card and get a Sound Card that fit a PCI/USB Slot )) – Glad this card was under 20 Bucks, it’s garbage.

I replaced it with a ASUS Xonar DG 5. 1 Sound Card and it is on par with the CL Audigy – and it HAS the HD Audio Pins so I can once again use my case’s features. (See my review for that Card on it’s Home Essentials Direct Page).

I had trouble getting it to work with Windows 10 Pro x64, but after using chat in StarTech support, the tech used a remote admin program that worked better than TeamViewer 12 (which I use often to help friends).

The whole ordeal, from first contact to end was less than 10 minutes and it’s working great (and no longer generically). I think the problem was that I ran the setup. exe file in the root folder, which failed, then device manager / update driver / point to (again) root with “check subfolders” which usually works for everything, but neither worked.

The tech did the dev. mgr / update driver thing, but pointed directly to “Vista x64” instead. I think it was grabbing an XP driver when I let it choose for itself. If anyone has this problem, try pointing to Vista x64 before calling the tech.

Either that or I had a corrupt. zip, although I watched the tech download the very same file I did. Either way, the sound quality is far superior to the MB. (ASRock Killer Fatal1ty 990FX) which has a pretty decent card built in to begin with.

Best $30 I spent in a while. Now to plug in my Audio-Technica HD headphones!.

I have an old headset that doesn’t pick up quiet noises anymore. After hours of searching I came across this amplifier which carries across multiple platforms. This has a simple setup and works great on PC but I had to use a work around for my Xbox microphone.

The 2 methods that I got working both require the optical output of the Xbox for audio (cable included). The first requires an available PC with mic communication going through the amp and uses Microsoft’s Xbox app to chat.

The second either uses a secondary mic into the controller (may need a 4 pin adapter), or in my case purchase a splitter cable (1-female -> 2-male) with the mic going to my controller. The problem with splitting a headset cable and having to sources (audio from amp to headset and mic from headset to controller) is you create interference from having a split ground loop and get a droning sound in your ears.

To solve this you will also need a 3. 5mm ground loop isolator on the audio to your headset. Hope this helps :).

A strange review. When this works it is outstanding and if your buying for a computer you shouldn’t have to many issues. I however brought this to use exclusively for my xbox x. When it arrived I made a point of registering it through creative so that I wouldn’t have any problems.

When I first tried to use it however it wouldn’t work at all until it was updated and software added via the computer. After that it would work OK (via optical) but you had no volume control. After contacting Creative they just kept coming back with standard formatted replies and said to reset the unit.

Well when you reset the unit via the computer it actually works and works well. The only problem is each time you want to use it you have to unplug it from the xbox into the computer, reset,and then back into the xbox and it works fine.

But when you come back to it you have to repeat the process again so it is more painful than it is worth.

I’ve been blown away at how good some of my old Windows Media Audio files sound when played through this device. I know some of that is the audio engine and the virtual 5. 1, but the level of detail is certainly from the higher quality DAC.

The built-in USB port is unnecessary, as any machine you would use this with other than a tablet will have ports available. No way a serious gamer would connect an input device to the port, nor would anyone use it for data xfer.

The port may also be the reason for system instability in some installations.

I love this item. I enjoy surround sound and never really heard it in a headset before until now. If you don’t intend on linking with others in a local LAN party, this is perfect for 7. 1. Download the software of their website and you’re good to go.

Fully adjustable EQ and you can preset your button to I think 4 presets. Overall great product for the price in my opinion.

This is a decent gaming amp DAC. The software suite is basic but provides a good amount of control and the virtualized surround sound is good. This cannot drive audiophile gear but a good improvement for any gaming level audio gear.

I’m running my SENNHEISER – GSP 300 EPOS headset through these and could hear a major improvement. $80 well spent? Maybe. Would I buy again? Probably. The improvement of my headset was worth it to me.

Don’t expect some audiophile quality but if you want a nice upgrade it’s worth it.

Our telephone system is located in the same equipment closet as the server and router. I previously relied upon a continuously running disc player or radio as the input(s) for the Back Ground Music (BGM)/Music On Hold (MOH) telephone functions.

Since the stations frequently changed their programming or the disc players were not designed for continuous use, I needed to replace the source(s) with a better solution. Sound files for these functions are typically less than 20MB each.

The server uses hybrid disc drives, storing more frequently used tracks in solid state memory. This would apply to the sound track(s). Furthermore, disk drives are rated for continuous use, upwards of five years depending upon the quality one purchases.

The five year drives are sold through major hardware distributors — not the typical box store. Microsoft Server OS and Intel server boards are not designed for desktop computer software, unless one runs such in a virtual desktop environment created on the server.

Since the server OS does support sound for alerts and notifications, typically “wav” files, I reasoned a very simple sound board or USB audio stick may be a solution. The USB audio adapter installed itself within a minute or two.

One needs patience. I then began the testing for player software the server could support. I needed a very basic player which handled a variety of file formats and the ability to play the selection continuously (loop).

I discovered most of the contemporary software will not run on the server OS; I discovered that older software could work, such as RealPlayer (version from 2005), which runs independently of an internet connection.

The MOH/BGM works perfectly. I have the stereo leads combined for mono input into the telephone system. Basic testing without using a resistive mixer provides very ample volume to drive the 600 ohm input of the telephone system.

Got this to help my mic output properly but it came with no instructions whatsoever. It’s all that’s in the box besides a USB extender (didn’t know it came with it but i won’t complain) I’ve had a lot of issues setting this thing up and to the average person, they’ll probably come into the same problems.

I plugged it in to the back of my computer (all usb ports eventually) and came to find that only the speakers i plugged into it would work, plugging in my mic wouldn’t even show up sound as i checked.

Since this didn’t come with anything i had no idea if i had to press the buttons for something to work, so i messed around with it and still to no avail. Eventually i found out that i had to actually disable/forget the other sound options i have showing up on my speaker/recording settings in my sound tab on windows.

For some reason this made it work. It’s a hard problem to look up as well. As for now, it works fine. I don’t think i’ll be able to mess with the other settings anymore but i’ll cross that bridge when i come to it.

This is cheap, and will work with just about anything. This is 2. 1 though, not for surround sound.

About a week after I got my laptop, I somehow got tangled in the headphones and ripped them violently from the jack, and was never able to get any reaction from it again. I struggled to hear certain movies and school webinars on the built-in speakers, so I started looking for an external device.

I saw all kinds of expensive gadgets, but I’m kind of on a budget so I didn’t linger on those sites. I’ve bought plenty of things from walmart. com, and was never disappointed so I came here. After a short search, I found the wonderfully magnificent Sabrent USB-SBCV External Sound Box.

It’s about the size of a regular USB storage device, maybe a bit wider. When you plug it into your port, a beautiful, bright blue beacon of hope cuts through the night. Sorry for being dramatic, but there really is a bright blue LED light that comes on to show you that it’s ready for use.

All you do is plug it in and you’re done! The crystal clear audio output is amazing, and a lot better than my speakers. It also comes with a USB connector cable in case the length of your headphone cord doesn’t offer a comfortable listening session.

Quite honestly, this device is worth a lot more than what is listed, but I thank Walmart and Sabrent for not being greedy! I love this device, and you can’t go wrong by buying it.

I had the most difficult time finding a sound card that work with my Razer Tiamat 7. 1. A lot of audiophiles claim the 7. 1 Tiamat is silly because of all the drivers inside the headset, therefore making true 7.

1 sound terrible or something, I don’t know. I personally love my Razer Tiamat 7. 1 , Music sounds amazing, and I feel like i’m engulfed in whatever i’m doing because of my headset. Anyways: This soundcard is compatible with the Tiamat 7.

1, it’s a little time consuming to insert the cords into all the right jacks so I will post a photograph of how I have my set up later to save you time if you have the same headset. After so much research on the Tiamat 7.

1 and other sound cards, people always have an issue with it. Aside from the compatibility, sound is great! I cannot say I have any complaints other than the sound card being big. I would definitely buy this again if it broke, or went faulty.

I Recommend it 10 thumbs up.

I got this to replace the on-board MSI audio (which was too quiet). However, I have 3 problems with this product. 1. It requires a separate 6-pin connector. I don’t know why I needs this, other sound cards do not require this.

2. The driver software (under Win10) is terrible and simply does not work as required. 3. This sound card makes a switching/clicking noises all the time when the PC is turned on/off. Not a problem, but annoying.

I got rid of this and purchased a SoundBlaster ZX instead, which is excellent.

Had some audio issues and was considering to go for a dedicated solution. Was looking between the ASUS Soar and the Raid version, and eventually settled for the SOAR. I’m more than happy with my choice.

The sound reproduction is very good, even though I’m only using a 2. 1 system. The microphone clarity is very good. The software ASUS provides is of a good quality which gives ample choices even to the initiate in the sound domain.

If I had to choose again, I’d still get the Soar.

Overall it’s good, does everything it’s supposed to and the app to control it is good. The only thing that’s not very good is the microphone monitoring, there is a slight delay before you hear yourself and the voice that comes back at you is terrible sounding.

The voice that goes through to the computer (i. e. to other people) is good, just what you hear of yourself is pretty bad. More of an annoyance but it is one of the reasons I got this, as I wanted mic monitoring.

Having trouble with laptop sound. This fixed it and having USB type A and C means I can use it for all kinds of devices. Creates cleaner sound for my IEM’s on my mobile phone. I could hear the sound floor on it but this removed it.

Gave up after two attempts. Best I was able to get was extreme static and lagging playback. Drivers were up-to-date, all other audio devices/drivers were disabled. Googled problem and other solutions involved shielding card, installing in port far away from graphics card (not an option) or using a front plug in (not willing to go there).

Have owned and been happy with Creative sound cards in past; maybe this works for other computer set ups, does not for mine (Dell XPS 8940, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, Windows 11, etc. ).

I’ve been using USB sound for a good number of years now and have really enjoyed it. However, my inner computer tinkerer was getting a little restless after having built my Ryzen 7 2700x system last summer so I decided to experiment with a sound card again.

Simple install into your PCI-E slot of your choice. The card isn’t tall at all and allayed my fears of possibly cutting off fan air draw to my RX 580. Windows 10 detected and installed drivers straightaway.

Sounded a little funny at first through my HyperX Cloud Stinger wired headset; later downloaded the newest drivers and the Audigy FX Control Panel software bundle from the Creative website. The Creative-loaded Windows drivers actually ended up disabling the sound card; I ended up rolling back to the initial Win10 automatically installed drivers, and it was working again.

Did a couple of clicks on the Audigy Control Panel software and BAM! Sounded instantly better, clearer and much more crisp. I now prefer using this Audigy sound card over USB-generated sound as it seems more clear; games and music are more nuanced and sounds all over the ranges seem better and enhanced vs.

the USB sets. If a sound card at this low price point is this good, I can’t imagine how much better the more expensive cards would be with greater dynamic range capabilities. Very much recommended.

After many years of on-board sound and a couple years of faffing with via drivers that are not totally Windows 10 compatible I decided the time had come to get a new sound card. Only needing 5. 1 and a line in and mic input that works I decided to stick to a budget model.

I have logitech x-530 speakers attached to the card so it’s not audiophile level by any means. Finally I have PC, turntable and TV (console) utilising the speakers even if for the most part making the most of the SBX Pro Suite’s 3D Surround feature to fill stereo sound through the 5.

1 rear speakers in a pro logic type manner. It’s not perfect but it beats flat sounding stereo in most cases. Hard to say if this sounds better than my old Via VT 2021 on board sound. The software certainly works better and I now have the ability to run all my audio equipment as I want.

I did have some trouble that took a few hours trouble shooting. I installed the driver from the disc, allowed the software to check for updates (which it found none) and after it had finished I had no sound at all.

The annoying thing was that the default windows drivers worked but obviously I was missing the creative software I needed to fill the,,, audio to my rear satellites and create profiles to quickly switch up settings for film/music etc.

Soafter a bit of googling which didn’t actually answer my particular issue I happened on to the device in device manager and told it from there to update the driver, checking the Internet. To my surprise it now found and installed a new driver.

One reboot later and I have sound. So watch the drivers for this card, even if you tell it in installation to get the latest ones. I’ve spent several hours setting up the sound for each device I’m running through my computer to take advantage of my surround system and I’m really happy with the results.

Thank you Creative Sound Blaster, you’re still making great, cheap cards that fit my needs.

I am using the X-Fi Surround 5. 1 Pro in a home theatre environment and my experiences with this sound card have been relatively good. Those coming from integrated chipsets such as those produced by Realtek will hear a noticeable difference in audio quality coming from the speakers.

One will appreciate being able to hook up 5. 1 speakers to nearly any laptop via USB as most laptops can only output 2. 1 unless using HDMI. If using Windows 7/8, installation is quick and easy as drivers will automatically be downloaded from Microsoft’s servers meaning you won’t have to go through any setup wizards.

Very useful if you are using a company laptop computer and don’t have administrator rights which would be required to install drivers. My one small gripe, which is possibly a driver issue, is that occasionally the sound card will disconnect/reconnect to the computer, causing the speakers to produce a loud ‘thud’ noise.

Furthermore, this can cause applications to output to the default in-built sound and restarting the application seems to be one of the only ways to get sound output from the X-Fi again. This malfunction occurs when using Microsoft-provided or Creative drivers in Windows 8.

I have not tested this card with other operating systems so I cannot comment if it affects anything other than Windows 8. Overall, this is a high quality product as you’d expect from Creative and it will certainly not disappoint.

The sound produced by the unit is fine, but there are a few serious drawbacks. First (and worst), the unit puts a full-volume “POP” on all speakers upon turn-on and turn-off. I have to NOT turn on the amplifier until after Windows “comes up”, and I must turn off the amplifier before Windows shuts down.

Second, the software (driver?) doesn’t function consistently from one start-up to another and I sometimes need to re-boot the computer to get it to work. Even when it does work it seems a bit flaky. I still have not figured out the pattern to this anomaly, and I intend to continue looking for a better device to replace this one.

I do not recommend it to anyone.

This card is from 2008, which I unfortunately was not aware of when I purchased it. The CD that came with it couldn’t even be read by my two-month old computer. When I searched the website for drivers, it said this sound card is not being updated for Windows 10.

I worked with it for close to two hours, but the sound was horrendous. I’m glad I didn’t spend much money on it, but because I waited too long to install it into my system, or attempt to anyway, I missed the refund window.

The money part is on me, but the auction listing discription was terrible compared to the product I received.