EXT Sound Card Recommendations

I'm ripping songs and the sound card in my inexpensive PC, just doesn't sound good at all. I'm on a
time constraint and can't give up my PC to have an new one installed. I've seen several Ext sound cards out
there and I'm looking to see if anyone has used one.

If you have one, do you like it and what is it? I'll use it just for music and not gaming.

Thanks.

 

In that case, you'd be far better served by using an external USB DAC. The one I'm using, for instance, also has a headphone amplifier onboard.

No budget was mentioned but I'll get the ball rolling by showing you what I'm using as an example of what would resolve your issue in 2 ways ; you'll have a better DAC than the one you're using currently via your sound card, and the bundled headphone amplifier will allow you to use better quality headphones to their fullest extent. The T1 Aune for $219.

https://www.amazon.com/Aune-Second-Generation-Amplifier-Decoder/dp/B00IWK8FK2/

 

I'm recording off my various streaming services and YouTube. I'm using Audacity as a recorder. The sound card on my computer is beginning to flutter and lose
some bottom end. I was thinking about a quick fix and it seemed an Ext sound card was the way to go, but I'm open to suggestions. Budget would be $100 and headphones aren't important. Thanks!

 

Guess you'll need to temper your expectations, in such a case. For $100, you're unlikely to get a massive quality difference.

The big players are Asus and Creative Labs/Sound Blaster. Basically, the external nature of those devices removes from the equation the EMI/RFI the rest of your PC hardware could be emitting and which could potentially find itself in the recording/playback. So by its nature, things should be cleaner. As far as SQ is concerned, you're best to buy used to maximize your gains in that department.

There isn't a specific one that'd be head & shoulders above of the rest of the pack. DACs' SQ will differ but the caliber of the DACs won't vary greatly as long as you stick with the big players as mentioned above.

Having said that, what you're referring to in regards to losing some bottom-end and some slight fluttering doesn't sound right (no pun intended). Something is amiss. Either something was installed or a configuration was changed which triggered this change. If you're handy with PCs, you could use another hard drive to reinstall Windows on and test your SQ on that installation. If it's unchanged, there theoretically could be something wrong with the soundcard but aside from digital-based artifacts like distortions, I've personally not encountered that sort of thing... and frankly, those would be analog-based sound changes which is why I don't believe the soundcard is acting wonky.

My 2 cents.

 

Thanks Strat-Mangler! I appreciate the input.

 

I am very happy with my Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 high quality internal (PCIe) sound card. $120 now. The Sound BlasterX AE-5 is a SABRE32 Ultra Class PCIe DAC which is perfect for hi-resolution audio for games, music, and movies. It delivers up to 32-bit 384kHz playback with a 122dB SNR, ultra-low distortion and jitter.

Sound BlasterX AE-5

 

https://www.amazon.com/Steinberg-UR...keywords=steinberg+ur22&qid=1575723547&sr=8-4

Steinberg UR22 MKII - Been using this for a few years. External connects via USB. Works great for anything.

 

EXT in the title stands for "external". Pointless to recommend an internal component for this reason and others I explained thoroughly.

 

When you say ripping do you mean CDs or vinyl?

 

CDs.

 

I just had to buy an external sound card as my laptop has no Line In jack. I just needed it to transfer reel tapes to the computer. SO I didn't spend much, as for sound it seems fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LM0U2S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1