Cheap laptop audio upgrade?
Jan 10, 2010 at 8:45 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 5

mikeaj

Headphoneus Supremus
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My laptop headphone out jack picks up a lot of noise, which I gather is quite a common problem. I'm fairly convinced that my onboard audio (Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD) isn't too hot anyway. Ever since I picked up the Klipsch Custom 2 IEMs for $70 a little while ago, the noise has been much more noticeable, so I'm looking for a solution. Since the onboard audio is no good anyway, I figure that trying to shield the wires to reduce noise is not a worthwhile endeavor. This means I'm going to buy something, but what? Sound card? External DAC?

Btw despite the name, the C2 is not custom--though it did originally retail for $200 before being quickly discontinued. They're 16 ohm, 112 dB SPL/mW.

My laptop has a PCMCIA slot, an ExpressCard slot, a few USB slots, and a FireWire slot. I don't use a desktop computer, so my laptop gets a lot of use both at home and school/work. Portability is thus important. Mostly I listen to classical and some jazz music, and I play some games. However, none of the games I play involve 3D locational audio, so I'm not interested in EAX soundcard options or anything like that. I don't use speakers or have any worth mentioning, I don't foresee other upgrades in the near future, and I don't need microphone in or optical out or anything other than the 3.5mm headphone jack out.

Let's set my maximum price range at $80, though $30-$40 would be better. I'm not expecting great sound quality, just a modest upgrade from onboard audio that would eliminate the hissing noise I'm getting from the existing headphone out.

Essentially, I'm looking for what's appropriate to match the C2. Since it's only 16 ohms, would it be possible to go laptop -> DAC -> C2 without an amp?

I've seen that the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro is a popular cheap USB sound card at around $30. However, I'm wary of the lack of volume control and the fact that it's supposed to amplify the signal by quite a bit. My system volume is currently set to about 4 to 10 out of 50, and that's with my applications set to 50% volume (I listen to things quieter than most). Could it be too loud?

Ideas and suggestions? Thanks.
 
Jan 11, 2010 at 5:57 AM Post #2 of 5
I think that's a pretty hard budget to work with. I'm not sure you can drive any headphones decently with output from a DAC and no amp. Your best bet would probably be some PCMCIA sound card, hopefully that would reduce the noise.
 
Jan 11, 2010 at 8:13 AM Post #3 of 5
You might be able to find an old pcmcia Echo Indigo DJ (or IO) card for under $100. I would still be using that if my laptop had the proper card slot. At the $40 end, pretty much your only options are a DIY dac like the Bantam, or the Turtle Beach Micro or Siberia SteelSeries. For maybe $60 you can look at the HotAudio line of dacs. FiiO should be releasing their E7 amp/dac in February and it looks like it'll be about $80. The current flavour of the Month is the Nuforce uDAC at $99.
 
Jan 11, 2010 at 3:21 PM Post #4 of 5
I noticed that the HotAudio line is for 32+ ohms headphones when I was looking around. Is there a problem using 16 ohms IEMs with similar products designed for headphones with higher impedance?

Essentially, my main goal is to get a system with inaudible noise because it's really distracting me right now. I've seen RMAA results for different products online, e.g. Echo Indigo, Creative X-Fi Surround, Creative Xmod, and TBAAM. Is the "noise level, (dB)" figure indicative of the noise floor that I am currently perceiving as the hiss? i.e. I want a product with a low noise level to fix the hissing, as well as other good properties?

In that case, I'm thinking about getting the Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 and turning off all the silly effects after trying them out maybe once. This seems like an interesting mod to try for the future, anyhow.

edit: I've been unable to find the Echo Indigo (original or DJ or I/O) for less than around ~$100 sadly, though I didn't search super-hard. I've seen X-Fi Surround for $52.50 incl. shipping, Xmod for $24.99 incl. shipping, and TBAAM for around $25 incl. shipping (I stopped looking for this once I saw the Xmod for that same price). Comments?
 
Jan 12, 2010 at 12:47 AM Post #5 of 5
i'd recommend behringer's uca202 for $30. solved my buzzing headphone jack problem and was less noisy than the tbaam for me. also no driver issues, unlike some m-audio offerings. another usb alternative would be edirol, but it's slightly more expensive.
 

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