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Does a Laptop Sound Card or DAP Produce More Power and Better SQ?

post #1 of 5
8/7/11 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 

I've always been curious to know which piece of hardware is statistically able to produce more power and better SQ through its headphone out unamped: a standard laptop sound card (using a HQ audio player like foobar2000) or a HQ DAP, such as a Cowon/Sansa DAP.

 

Anyone have an idea?

 

Just for a reference, I listed the specifications for the Cowon/Sansa DAPs below...

 

Cowon J3/S9:

- 29mW + 29mW (16 ohms)
- 16-32 ohms
- 20Hz to 20,000Hz

 

Sansa Fuze/Fuze+/Clip/Clip+:

- 18mW + 18mW (16 ohms)
- 16-32 ohms
- 20Hz to 20,000Hz


Edited by BassInMyFace - 8/9/11 at 2:08pm
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post #2 of 5
8/8/11 at 6:24am
Thread Starter 

Anyone have an idea?

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post #3 of 5
8/8/11 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 

No one huh?

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post #4 of 5
8/9/11 at 2:14pm
Thread Starter 

Edited for simplicity.

 

What is the general consensus think?

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post #5 of 5
8/13/11 at 12:28am

They are very close though modern laptops may in most cases sound better. Most DAP's that I have heard had kind of a conjested sound to them. So did older laptops as well with the AC97 codecs whereas the high definition audio from newer laptops does do considerably better with liss of a conjested sound. In terms of output power it is a tossup between the laptops & the DAP's but I give a slight edge to the laptop due to higher voltage powersupply. The only problem with the laptop in terms of sound qualty is that some laptops have poor noise isolation so you may hear it when you move the mouse or are doing somthing that require a lot of CPU cycles though I have to say I have heard similar from HDD based DAP when accessing the HDD.

 

Hear in mind though that intel HD audio still does not equal a true high end desktop soundcard or USB DAC in terms of quality.

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