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But, as always, you can pick up an adapter to work with either. Many external DACs have just 3.5mm jacks, but some will also have 6.3mm.
#Why external sound card for laptop Pc
Most external DACs connect to your PC via a USB cable and have a volume knob on the front as well as a jack for headphones and speakers. If we’re talking about music, however, everything from the quality of the recording to the mastering by the engineer to the file size to the quality of your headphones comes into play. In some cases, your positional audio may get better, making it easier to locate stealthy NPCs and other players. If we’re talking about gaming, an external DAC will help bring quieter sounds to the fore. For most of us, however, simply putting it on the desk next to or above the PC is enough.Īn external DAC is not a magical solution to your audio problems, however, and it’s good to understand what to expect. Some people are so concerned about interference that they try to put their external DAC as far away as they can from their PC case. A sound card, by comparison, is raised just above the motherboard but is still inside the case, which some audio geeks think is just as bad. That’s why many people favor an external DAC for their PC. It’s removed from all that electrical noise around the motherboard, thereby improving the audio quality. Some interference or “noise” is inevitable since you’re dealing with electrical equipment, but reducing the noise as much as possible is key for a better listening experience. If you have a good pair of headphones-or crank up the volume on an average pair during heavy computing loads-you can probably hear some of this interference. If you already have a DAC, why do you need another one? First, an external DAC is typically of higher quality than the DAC in your motherboard or USB headphones, offering better audio potential.īut we also have to go back to our original issue with the motherboard: All that electricity running through the board creates a high potential for what audiophiles call “noise,” which basically means interference that reduces the quality of the sound reproduction. Why You Might Want an External DAC The FiiO E10K FiiO You cannot get sound out of a PC or other digital device and into the human ear if there isn’t a DAC somewhere along the line to convert digital audio signals into analog. Motherboard audio has one, as do soundcards, smartphones, USB headphones, and other digital devices. That signal then travels to an amplifier, and then to your speakers or headphones where you hear it.Ī DAC is an essential component of any PC’s audio system.
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A DAC takes digital audio information and converts it to an analog signal. RELATED: Do You Need a Dedicated Sound Card for Your PC? What Is a DAC?ĭAC stands for digital-to-analog converter. That’s why onboard motherboard audio has shielding to protect itself as best it can from the rest of the board.Ī better alternative, however, is to move your audio delivery device (be it a sound card or external DAC) away from the source of all that interference. When that’s the case, it comes down to two primary choices: a sound card or an external DAC (digital-to-analog converter).Ī quality listening experience needs a minimum of electrical interference, which is a problem because a PC motherboard is a hotbed of electrical activity. Nevertheless, some people still want better sound than a motherboard can offer. A CPU’s integrated graphics processor simply isn’t up to the challenge. Contrast that with gaming, where if you want to play the newest AAA games at high frame rates, you need a graphics card.
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Your computer’s built-in sound is pretty good for most tasks.