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Chinese $10 USB Audio Controller Review (I'm serious) - Page 2

post #16 of 129
9/28/06 at 1:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dknightd
I liked the OP's review. I wouldn't buy one because I'm not in the market for a cheap usb solution - yet. It is rediculus that you can spend $1000 on a laptop and have the sound bettered by a $10 device, but, that seems to be the case. I'd rather spend $1020 and have decent sound built in, but that does not seem to be a priority to most buyers. . .
Well it's hard with laptops, there is allot crammed into a small space. If things aren't properly shielded or poorly laid out, it introduces interference to the embedded sound chip. I have seen this happen on cheap laptops as well as expensive laptops.
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post #17 of 129
9/28/06 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by d-cee
iirc they all use the c-media chip only so i imagine the only difference is the casing =D i picked mine up locally for AUS$15 pretty sweet
Well, basically these thingies are indeed all very similar. However, not all are equally good for direct headphone connection, 'cause of differences in output cap size/capacity - the ones with underdimensioned output caps will show significantly more bass roll-off with low impedance phones...

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini
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post #18 of 129
9/28/06 at 8:16pm
Do these and the TBAAM have optical outputs?

thanks,
Garrett
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post #19 of 129
9/28/06 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spudman
How does $8 with free shipping sound?

http://ledshoppe.com/Product/com/CA4017.htm
Nice Find! grabbing this instead of building a longer interconnect :P
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post #20 of 129
9/30/06 at 4:39pm
Nice little review, seems like for $10 you couldn't go wrong.
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post #21 of 129
9/30/06 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
Honestly, you can't go wrong at all. This $10 is spent on an alienware, which originally cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $4000. (I spent a tenth that cause I'm poor but you get the idea) Absurd that this $10 couldnt put a better chip in the thing in the first place. Ah well.

And this one has spdif out, not optical. At least thats what the box said, I don't have a dac to actually mess around with. I mean, the $10 is worth it for the comedic material on the box alone!
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post #22 of 129
10/1/06 at 5:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kramer5150
Do these and the TBAAM have optical outputs?
The TBAAM does have an optical out, but it resamples to 48khz internally. Then it downsamples. No joke.

It sounds pretty awful if you have a high end DAC and fones. Its internal amp is not bad for $30.

I personally recommend an M-Audio Transit or HagUSB.
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post #23 of 129
10/7/06 at 6:59pm
Anyone know how this would compare to integrated AC97 sound? (Outputting to Sennheiser 497s)
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post #24 of 129
10/7/06 at 7:34pm
The Realtek AC97 laptop sound is a horrible sound card. I don't know why they even bother with it
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post #25 of 129
10/7/06 at 8:13pm
I was just cruising around and saw their USB powered drumming santa.

Needless to say....my girlfriend is now getting one for christmas...
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post #26 of 129
10/7/06 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmyl930
Anyone know how this would compare to integrated AC97 sound? (Outputting to Sennheiser 497s)
Thats exactly what I was comparing it to, get one now! It'll drive those headphones WAY better with a much lower noise floor
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post #27 of 129
10/10/06 at 4:23pm
I just got mine.

Firstly, I have a mini-rca split, running to a reciever, which then powers a pair of speakers.

Completely distorted. Beyond Belief.


Then I ran this to my SR80's. They sound good, but there's only two volume settings, Non-existent, and VERY loud.

Is it just me?
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post #28 of 129
10/10/06 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
well because the thing is so powerful fine-tuning of volume is harder than it probably should be. I just went into my audio settings in control panel and turned wave down to 1/3rd, then you can get decent control with just the software volume.
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post #29 of 129
10/10/06 at 11:39pm
I have a "Realtek HD Audio" integrated sound card on my laptop. It crackles occasionally and that's annoying.

How is this "bass boost"? Is it at least un-excessive?
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post #30 of 129
10/11/06 at 3:51am
Thread Starter 
well I've only used it with my K81DJ, HD580 (of a friends) and my Paradigm Titan V4s. Personally I didnt find a problem with it, but I enjoy a bit of colour in the bottom end. Since its a PC source, on tracks I was listening to with my old PX100 (forgot those) I put a bit of an EQ on it (musiKcube has a good one) and it evened out nicely. Keep in mind this IS a $10 source so it's not going to be spectacular. However it drove those HD580s better than a yammie stereo amp did...
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