Reddit reviews ASUS Xonar U3 Sound Cards (XONAR_U3/UAD/B/A),Black

Ich nehme mal an dass du eher im günstigeren Bereich bleiben willst. In dem Fall geht meine Empfehlung an die Asus Xonar U3. Klar, etwas teurer als deine bisherigen Karten, dafür aber von einem größeren Hersteller und mit Sicherheit ausdauernder als deine aktuellen.

Note: Evtl. musst du erst einen Treiber installieren bevor die Soundkarte korrekt funktioniert. Guckst du hier. Und für den Fall dass du Linux nutzt, die Xonar-Serie funktioniert meistens out-of-the-Box :)

I own a Marantz PM5004 Amplifier and Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 Bookshelf Speakers and have about £100 - £150 to spend on some new speakers. I have seen that What HiFi have awarded Best Budget Standmount Speakers 2013 to the Q Acoustics 2020i and I'm wondering if these are a worthwhile upgrade from the speakers I currently own. My only concerns are that I had not heard of this company prior to seeing them on What HiFi (but that could well be my ignorance) and two of their Best Buy awards went to this company which started to make me a little suspicious. The speakers are also quite old (?) now, released in 2011. I would appreciate a bit of advice on this upgrade or if alternative speakers would be more appropriate.

Thanks in anticipation!

tl;dr are Q Acoustics 2020i a worthwhile upgrade from Wharfedale Diamond 9.0?

Additional info: I listen to mostly Rock and Electronic music, using an Asus Xonar U3 USB DAC and my music is encoded at 190 Kbps VBR (which is likely unnecessary info but gives an idea of how much little I care about sound quality)

You could get the 598's, a cheap USB DAC like the Fiio e10, and use Razer Surround for 7.1.

Alternatively you could get the Asus Xonar U3 and use the Dolby on there. It will be about the same.

Will this be good enough?

https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-External-Converter-Adapter-Desktops/dp/B06XP5R449/ref=zg_bs_3015427011_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0588R0YE2P6TRRJ0CRT1

Or maybe should I take this?

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Xonar-Sound-Cards-XONAR_U3/dp/B004ZI5E1S

I saw this as a cheap USB-C one but it might be crap

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSC/dp/B071HJ98Q6#customerReviews

You can get a USB soundcard and those work really well in windows. I have a Asus xonar (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Xonaru3-Mobile-USB-Soundcard/dp/B004ZI5E1S) and the sound is better for me compared to the headphone jack.

While I'm not sure what the problem is in your setup, I can recommend using a cheap USB soundcard like the Asus Xonar U3 to connect your ModMic to your PC.

This way you can get rid of interference from the motherboard's circuitry and possibly (as you suggested) from the PSU as well.

Source: Using a ModMic with the above soundcard right now :)

This is the newer version http://cdn.mobilesyrup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/HTC-Vive-Pre-20.jpg

its just an usb hub I think. One is input and one is output.
It has a 3.5 audio jack aswell but thats audio over hdmi (=no microphone?) and its basically just an extension cable.

All the audio stuff is done in Windows.

I am sure every USB soundcard would work but my main problem is that I want one with good sound. Thats why I am here :D

These are the 3 more expensive ones that I found on Amazon

http://www.amazon.de/Asus-externe-Soundkarte-Digital-Support/dp/B004ZI5E1S

http://www.amazon.de/Creative-Blaster-Externe-USB-Soundkarte-schwarz/dp/B00JFRHLOM

http://www.amazon.de/Soundkarte-Virtuelles-Surround-Tablet-PC-10-kompatibel/dp/B017NH8M0C

and I have no idea which one I should choose.

I had the same issue when using my motherboards built in soundcard so I bought one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Xonaru3-Mobile-USB-Soundcard/dp/B004ZI5E1S and it fixed it. some motherboards have absolutely awful soundcards especially for microphones.

Headphones I've used the past 10 years.

• ATH-AD700 - Discontinued now, but cheap used, open back, under $50, one of the biggest soundstage, but lacks bass
  
• ATH-AD700X - updated revision of the ad700, under $100 on sale, tiny bit better bass. The stock pad made my ears sore since it touches the driver. I replaced it with memoryfoam BrainWavz pad, and they feel much better. Puts less pressure on my eyeglasses too.
  
• ATH-M50X - My go-to music headphone, but I use it for travel gaming too since they fold up nicely and closeback for noise isolation.
  
• ATH-AD900X - Better version of AD700X
  
• Philips Fidelio X2 - About $200 on sale, a little bit less soundstage than AD700X, but much better bass. If you can splurge, I highly recommend this. They are balanced type headphones. Basically replaced the the M50X for music listening and AD700X/AD900X for gaming. It feels really nice, pad fits much better than the AD700X. I forget I am actually wearing headphones. If this is too expensive, SHP9500, is a cheaper alternative at 1/3 the cost.
  
• All of the headphones listed above are low impedance meaning you don't need an amp to get good sound output.
  
• Most gaming specific headphones aren't that good for the price. You're paying mostly for the marketing. Get any decent audiophile headphone and it will be much better.
  
   
  
  Virtual surround sound I've used
  
  
• Xonar U3 - Got this to replace my broken mobo sound, but found out it does virtual surround sound. Basically simulates 5.1/7.1 sound on a 2 channel headphone. Used it for many years gaming. Sounds awesome with good headphone that has big soundstage. Nice to hear directional audio to know here footsteps are at in games. Also acts like an amp with boost mode for high impedance headphones.
  
• Razer Surround Sound - free, but the worst virtual surround sound I've heard. Things sound muffled.
  
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi - Upgraded to this, it has better virtual surround sound technology.
  
   
  
  Hate wired headphone?
  
  
• How to convert wired phones into wireless gaming one
  
   
  
  Microphone
  
  
• ModMic - Used this for many many years, but got tired of wires dangling around
  
• Blue Yeti - Audio quality is so much better than the modmic, but it is big. Use a mic stand or arm.

Any suggestion for a onboard audio repalcement? the onboard audio for my new dell xps8930 desktop is really bad. the max volume is really low compare to my old desktop and their MaxxAudio software dont offer that much adjustment either.

Do you guys think this usb sound card is a good replacement option? any suggestion is appreciated. i mostly use a speaker (Logitech Z200) currently

I use my HD555s w/ a modmic on ps4 with this usb sound card from Asus. It was the only setup that worked for me, the controller did not.

It's very possible that it sounds worse than your onboard sound and/or that it will bring its own problems. I would at least get something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Xonaru3-Mobile-USB-Soundcard/dp/B004ZI5E1S/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1397071822&sr=1-1&keywords=Xonar+U3