Dedicated Sound Cards

[it_geek]

? lost , JBL QTDUO using 3.5mm is bad ?

USB better ?

eh ... LOST

care to explain

how come USB in this case is much better than on board 3.5mm

I was rather bamboozled when you chose to plug in your JBL speakers via 3.5mm, which is an analog interface.

Even without reading through the extremely technical stuff that @wwenze posted... your instruction manual very clearly states that your speaker works via USB as an audio input too.

As others have mentioned, because your speaker uses a digital input, you should take advantage of it. A quick diagram will illustrate this (D for Digital and A for analogue)

Via 3.5mm cable
JBL TAS5760 (D) -> 3.5 mm cable (A) -> Soundcard 3.5mm port/Onboard 3.5mm sound port (A) -> Soundchip A/D Signal Processor (D) -> I/Os in your system (D)

The more analogue hops there are in the loop, the more "noise" you introduce into the transmission and the lower your quality each time you have to switch between A/D.

Via USB
JBL TAS5760 (D) -> USB Cable (D) -> I/Os in your system (D)

See how much quicker this is? Not the most accurate flowchart because I did miss out a few steps but you get the point.

This question would probably be more relevant to me since I cannot rely on a digital input... Sonos Play 5 Gen 1 user here

 

[tsteo77]

Does anyone sell them these days since everything is on board ?

if so , recommend me a good card.

I have just recently bought the JBL QUANTUM DUO PC GAMING SPEAKER

On board sound is good , just thinking if I should get a dedicated and if people do sell it these days

I recommend SBZ soundcard > https://sg.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z

Most onboard sound chip this days sound reasonable well but if you want good audio quality and performance, get a soundcard. A good D/A convertor with decent analog cable will not sound worst than a low grade D/A convertor connected via optical/usb. And also decent soundcard has high S/N ratio.

Btw, are you the one i advised in previous thread to try out T40 series 2 or R1280dbs speaker ?

 

[86technie]

Err.. I rather TS sell off that speaker and get R1280dbs.
JBL speaker heavy emphasis on bass which was why I don't recommend it.
R1280DBs even with onboard sound can sound decent.

 

[Yongkit]

"Gaming" speaker normally emphasis on heavy bass

 

[hyperfuse]

Err.. I rather TS sell off that speaker and get R1280dbs.
JBL speaker heavy emphasis on bass which was why I don't recommend it.
R1280DBs even with onboard sound can sound decent.

Yea bro, i follow your recommendation. Love how the R1280dbs wood accents match my setup.

The audio is also well balanced and bass is decent. I am not an audiophile but mids are very clear. Love it. Much better than all those "gaming" speakers that are ewww..

Best of all, damn affordable for a good quality studio monitor bookshelf speakers. Really thanks for the recommendation! hehe

i have an old creative usb sound card that i plug the 3.5mm jack into. I set the 62hz eq and the bass is thumping as well for PC desktop usage. Of course cant be compared to my soundbar at my TV with a dedicated soundbar but is enough for pc usage.

 

[86technie]

Yea bro, i follow your recommendation. Love how the R1280dbs wood accents match my setup.

The audio is also well balanced and bass is decent. I am not an audiophile but mids are very clear. Love it. Much better than all those "gaming" speakers that are ewww..

Best of all, damn affordable for a good quality studio monitor bookshelf speakers. Really thanks for the recommendation! hehe

i have an old creative usb sound card that i plug the 3.5mm jack into. I set the 62hz eq and the bass is thumping as well for PC desktop usage. Of course cant be compared to my soundbar at my TV with a dedicated soundbar but is enough for pc usage.

Nice, if you are using desktop you can consider upgrading to SBZ soundcard.
The one you are using I think is X-Fi surround?

 

[hyperfuse]

Nice, if you are using desktop you can consider upgrading to SBZ soundcard.
The one you are using I think is X-Fi surround?

not xi fi surround.

its creative sb play. super old. i think got more than 10 years old but still functioning fine haha. cant find this anymore. however i find that the EQ for this version 1 of SBplay...the bass really good sia. I was using this long time ago with my gaming headset, the hyperx cloud 2 previously, when i set the eq for the bass slider, my headset literally thumps and vibrate when the bass hits. Not sure whether the v2 and v3 of this has the same driver or settings, but i kinda like it.

I also actually bought the creative soundblasterX G5 external soundcard amp, but cant get that same bass thumping feel when i EQ it with its software. Though on spec wise, the G5 surely smashes the 10 year old creative sb play, somehow i still go back to that cheap sb play v1 haha... I dont merely see statistic or numbers that audiophiles test their stuff, if it sounds good to my ear, thats all that matters haha..

i sold that Creative G5 away.

 

[86technie]

Newer Creative sound card there is Bass option to increase bass output.
I set the bass to around 10 - 20% speed and the bass is much louder.

Creative usb sound card like X4/X3 have such feature along with EQ, cheaper one like G3 not sure.

 

[Yongkit]

Envy everyone have such a good speaker and sound card

 

[hyperfuse]

Newer Creative sound card there is Bass option to increase bass output.
I set the bass to around 10 - 20% speed and the bass is much louder.

Creative usb sound card like X4/X3 have such feature along with EQ, cheaper one like G3 not sure.

As I mentioned the creative g5 which is a 200 usb dac, also got some bass options but when I set it, doesnt give that thumping feel leh..dont know ba.

 

[Lastwishes]

As I mentioned the creative g5 which is a 200 usb dac, also got some bass options but when I set it, doesnt give that thumping feel leh..dont know ba.

Try Equalizer APO + Peace for eq-ing the bass.

Internal soundcards are good all-in-ones for gaming, but I find USB DACs to be better for music overall, but not all usb dacs are made equal. There's also the caveat that the rest of the audio chain (i.e. headphone amp for headphones, speaker amps for speakers) needs to be matched properly.

I've just swapped out my Asus Essence STX (I just couldn't find a substantial upgrade) which I've been using for almost 10 years for the Khadas Tone Board which is a pretty decent budget dac that punches above its price.

 

[Yongkit]

headphone amp for headphones, speaker amps for speakers) needs to be matched properly.

. With proper amp use I prefer tight bass than deep bass.