[geardoc]

This thing has quite a "cute" factor:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/prod...udioadvantage/

Looks like it has an optical and headphone out.

 

[episiarch]

Yep. I like it.

I haven't A/B'd it against my other sound-out options, but based on only a little bit of semi-disciplined listening I think it's pretty good, certainly quite good for the price. Bass was very present, midrange sounded right, treble went high enough to catch detailed cymbal work.

However the above assessment was made listening through an amp. The package touts that the Micro includes some kind of headphone amplifier, but IMO it is no better an amp than you would find on any ordinary soundcard. For best sound quality I suggest amping the output.

I really like the included drivers, which do a better-than-I-expected job of simulating 3d sound through 2-channel headphones. Listening to music with the 5.1-surround speaker simulation turned on does give an extra sense of space that can be very nice. For gaming the EAX-compatible 3D sound simulation works amazingly well - I played Far Cry with it for a little while and found it impressively immersive (and it didn't affect my framerate).

It does have both optical and stereo-out, but only one at a time, through an unusual plug-within-a-plug arrangement.

 

[lini]

Nice thingy for the price, indeed. Frequency response is a bit off, though (falls some 4 dB from 3 - 19.5 kHz). THD and SNR qere quite alright. Chip inside is the C-Media CM102. And, of course, it resamples 44.1 kHz stuff. A review in German will be in c't 2/05.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[episiarch]

Yesterday I A/B'd it against the on-board sound in my (mid-2004 vintage) Compaq Evo PC at work. Wow, wow, wow! The on-board sound is not bad, but the teensy Turtle Beach unit absolutely spanks it. The lows go very deep and solid, the highs are good, and the mids have clarity and presence far beyond what I heard from the on-board sound. "It sounds like she's right next to me," commented the friend I had listen in on some jazz vocals.

I highly recommend this device to anyone looking for a no-fuss way to improve on the sound of their desktop or laptop PC on a budget. Again, this is just a $30 unit at list price, sold for something like $24 at NewEgg and other discounters, and it comes with nifty virtual-3D drivers and optical-out besides. You really get a lot for the money, and it's a lot less trouble than installing and configuring the similarly-priced ChainTech internal board. (I haven't A/B'd this against my ChainTech at home, but might get around to that this weekend if anybody indicates interest in the result.)

I tried it both amped and unamped. The sound was a big improvement over this PC's built-in either way, but for best quality I definitely recommend amping it (sounded great with my "work amp," a current-model Headsave Home-Vibe, 8620/24V).