USB Audio

[Blumf]

That Chi-Fi thread reminds me, could do with better audio on my laptop, just for some middling Sennheiser headphones, nothing too fancy.

The built in audio is passable but meh, and on occasion I'd like to bump it up a notch.

So what's good?

[QDRPHNC]

DID SOMEONE SAY CHI-FI?

Fiio do nice desktop amps.

Also.

[Blumf]

Hummm... that FiiO K3 looks tempting. Bit more than I need, but I think it might be useful later on.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'm willing to bet nearly all of those chinese headphone amps are all using the same CMOY design and just have varying superficial bells and whistles to make them appear posher.

Is size a constraint? Will you only be using a laptop? Would you ever like a decent audio in as well?

Because a focusrite scarlett would work in that case.

[Blumf]

Because a focusrite scarlett would work in that case.

Not bad, but way overkill for my requirements. Don't need the inputs, or full on balanced outs.

[QDRPHNC]

Did you look at the Linsoul page I linked to? They had a Zishan for $50.

[Blumf]

The iBasso DC02 on there looks interesting there. But the optical out on the K3 is potentially useful for me.

[Non Stop Dancer]

Old faithful, the behringer uca202. Recommended by no less than professional audio engineering legend no sleep.

[Captain Z]

Old faithful, the behringer uca202. Recommended by no less than professional audio engineering legend no sleep.

Yeah. I was looking for one of these earlier in the year and after weighing up numerous higher spec options I gave up and went with this, by far the cheapest. I have no frame of comparison other than my laptop's own built-in sound, but absolutely no complaints so far.

I was going to go with one of the below alternatives simply because it looks a bit nicer, but in the end the place I was buying from didn't have them in stock for the foreseeable future.

https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Behringer-U-Phoria-UM2/art-PCM0012134-000
https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Behringer-U-Phoria-UMC22/art-PCM0012133-000

[Blumf]

Hummm... that FiiO K3 looks tempting. Bit more than I need, but I think it might be useful later on.

Well, it turned up:

Nice unit, okay size, bit light.

Plugged straight into a Linux Mint 20 system and it worked without issue.[nb]Also tried a Slackware 14.2 system, and it works, but PulseAudio on there needs lots of jiggling because it's old. The ALSA drivers picked it up fine though[/nb]

Using some Sennheiser HD250 headphones (nothing amazing, but I like Sennheiser's sound for the price) on a Dell Inspiron 15 3000. The Dell's inbuilt audio is perfunctory, but nowhere near good, worse than my previous Lenovo and that wasn't anything special. The K3 gives a definite improvement, details pop out more and there's less noise, I'm pretty sure I'm reaching the limits on the headphones. On the down side, the volume is lower, even on the higher gain setting, and the bass is lacking. There is a bass-boost switch, but it does muddy the sound somewhat.

So, for 80 odd quid, I think it could be better. Puts it in the 75-80% range. Like the features, and it is an improvement, but the circuitry could do with some more oomph.

[NoSleep]

If you just want something to plug some headphones into, then:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-U-Control-UCA202-Ultra-Low-Interface/dp/B000KW2YEI/cab-21

It also has phono outs so you can plug into the back of your hifi.

EDIT: didn't read the last few posts, too late. UCA202 has an optical out, too.

[NoSleep]

Old faithful, the behringer uca202. Recommended by no less than professional audio engineering legend no sleep.

It's a huge upgrade from the native sound of computers and as cheap as can be, although the price has now gone up from the former £20-25.

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

FiiO k3 is great if you've got a decent set of headphones.