Good external sound card?

[reubenno]

Hello, I am thinking about upgrading my motherboard sound card that came built in (Asrock Extreme4 z77). I have been looking at the Creative X-Fi Go and this seems like a good option as my budget is around £10-£20. I will need a soundcard which supports headphones, speakers and a microphone (unless I use the microphone jack on the front panel of my PC)
Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

 

[techgeek]

I assume by external sound card, you mean one that is connected via USB? Is there some reason you aren't considering a sound card?

USB can add some latency, a PCI-e card would be much better. ASUS makes some really nice sound cards (Xonar) and have cards in all price ranges.

 

[reubenno]

I assume by external sound card, you mean one that is connected via USB? Is there some reason you aren't considering a sound card?

USB can add some latency, a PCI-e card would be much better. ASUS makes some really nice sound cards (Xonar) and have cards in all price ranges.

I am trying to save space in my computer as I am going to potentially crossfire in the future. Yes I am referring to the USB sound cards and I was thinking about that option due to the easiness of plugging in my headphones from the front of my PC. I do have a wireless card installed that is not necessary as I am using ethernet but I would like to keep in it my PC. Is it worth it to get the internal card and if so would you recommend a creative soundcard?

Thanks for the help

 

[techgeek]

My issue with Creative is they are quick to dump driver support for perfectly good working hardware when a new OS comes out. People that had the Sound Blaster Audigy 1/2 got screwed with the move to Vista and it took a third party (Daniel_K) to give serviceable drivers for Vista. It's not that their products are bad, just their loyalty to their customers is lacking. I'm not quite sure they will ever live that one down. If you can't tell, I was one of those people. I had a Audigy 2.

I would look as ASUS Xonar. They are well respected and reviewed.

If I had to pick a Creative product, I'd probably go with the Sound Blaster Z series. Maybe the Recon3D as well.

 

[reubenno]

My issue with Creative is they are quick to dump driver support for perfectly good working hardware when a new OS comes out. People that had the Sound Blaster Audigy 1/2 got screwed with the move to Vista and it took a third party (Daniel_K) to give serviceable drivers for Vista. It's not that their products are bad, just their loyalty to their customers is lacking. I'm not quite sure they will ever live that one down. If you can't tell, I was one of those people. I had a Audigy 2.

I would look as ASUS Xonar. They are well respected and reviewed.

If I had to pick a Creative product, I'd probably go with the Sound Blaster Z series. Maybe the Recon3D as well.

Okay thanks, I'll stick with Asus then. I'll have a look at PCI cards if there is a large difference between quality.

 

[reubenno]

The Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 looks good and its £25, would this be a sensible option?

 

[techgeek]

That looks like a reasonably priced card. You mentioned headphones, and if that is a selling feature, this one has a headphone amp. It should provide better sound than what you have on your motherboard.

Had a look at some reviews quickly and they were generally positive.

 

[reubenno]

That looks like a reasonably priced card. You mentioned headphones, and if that is a selling feature, this one has a headphone amp. It should provide better sound than what you have on your motherboard.

Had a look at some reviews quickly and they were generally positive.

Yeah I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 449s so the headphone amp is a great feature. The reviews on amazon say that its much better than the onboard audio but I'll need to check if i have an available PCI slot.
Thanks again

 

[techgeek]

I know that you probably meant to say PCI-e, but I thought I would mention the mistake in case you thought it was a PCI card.

 

[reubenno]

I know that you probably meant to say PCI-e, but I thought I would mention the mistake in case you thought it was a PCI card.

Ah yeah, I meant the PCI-e, thanks for the heads up

 

[mickypheonix]

Hi reubenno
slightly more than your budget , but a really good card with great software control
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Blaster-Audigy-Sound-Studio/dp/B00F8VB0G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399719362&sr=8-1&keywords=creative+pcie

 

[reubenno]

Hi reubenno
slightly more than your budget , but a really good card with great software control
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Blaster-Audigy-Sound-Studio/dp/B00F8VB0G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399719362&sr=8-1&keywords=creative+pcie

That does look good and I can probably stretch to that price however I have heard that Creative aren't very good regarding drivers? (correct me if I'm wrong. How would this compare to the Asus Xonar DGX as that is the card I am looking at purchasing.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[mickypheonix]

i have used creative for many many years and have never had any issues with drivers

 

[mickypheonix]

Th Xonar is also a good choice so basically down to personal preference

 

[Musicmiamia]

There are many USB external sound cards in the market which is convenient to connect headphones and microphones, you can search this keywords on Amazon and Ebay. Normally, this kind of USB external sound card may not support to connect with speaker if your budget is £10-£20. According to your budget, I’d like to recommend you a new cost-effective brand, you may not familiar with it. But its user experience is not bad. That’s KS100 from XOX USB sound card (which is an audio manufacturer). This model can support headphone and more than one microphones at the same time. Anyway hope this may help you.