Correction: The dynamic range of the main out of the Babyface PRO FS is actually 125.5 dB(A) as shown in its review. The graph will be adjusted in future videos. A few were interested in the audio codecs, here you go: - MSI PRO Z690-A: Realtek ALC897 - ASRock Z370 Taichi: Realtek ALC1220 - ASRock P67 Pro3: Realtek ALC892
Thanks for the work Julian. Can you do tests to Apollo twin x, mk 2, mk 1 and Apollo solo? It would be really an interesting video. I would like to ask you for advice about buying an audio interface. After watching your videos and analyzing your legendary table, I realized that motu m2 / m4 is the top one, not counting RME babyface pro fs, Motu ultralite-mk5, although this is also quite debatable. In general, I want to take an audio interface for recording, editing vocals, mixing tracks, etc. Which audio interface would you recommend and take for personal use and why? I generally liked Motu m2 (m4), Volt 276 (476), Arturia minifuse 1 (2). But recently discovered the world of apollo. So I’m thinking whether it’s worth it to overpay so much and take apollo solo. I would like to see your tests and comparisons. In general, something like this.
Awesome test (nobody else bothers to actually test MBs audio at this point, which is sad :(). Isn't DSP used less important than DAC/ADC chip they actually use (or are they using build-in ones) ? You could try to source EVGA's Nu Audio, ASUS's Essence STX (II), AIM SC808 or Creative ZxR PCIe sound card(s), to have better chance of getting output levels on par with other devices you tested. I bet at least some people would like to know what is the difference between internal high quality sound card vs. external DAC or audio interface.
If audio quality in our devices and equipment was as clear and precise as your videos, we'd never have anything to complain about. Excellent work as usual. 👍😎
The biggest benefit I've noticed to having an audio interface is really just the ability to connect xlr mics and instrument line in. If you don't need those features onboard audio with good speakers or headphones is probably just fine.
Well, in video is explained about output impedance and influence to headphones. So besides dedicated device, which will be better quality without induced MB inner noises you also get separate audio controls (physical!) for headphones and monitors separately.
@@igg5589 Output impedance on modern motherboards is usually fairly low. My motherboard has only 2 ohm output impedance for speakers/headphone, which is fine for driving most headphones you can buy.
I moved to external usb audio interface several years ago because tired of noise and interferences on bulit-in audio. USB as digital interface solves this issue completely. Also it enables to connect both headphones and dynamics and switch between them with physical switch what is very convenient and usable all time.
@@ArdgalAlkeides Optical Cables falls into the same category as USB, it's digital, and free of noise that the PC components generate in the analog signal the goes to the P2 port.
I was using sound cards for years back in the day because I believed that a sound card would give better sound as well as better performance (offload from CPU). The sound was indeed WAY better. But these days I don't bother with one in favour of onboard sound because for me, they've don't crackle/breakup anymore and work fine for basic gaming, videos and music.
Keyword: basic. If you want more than the bare minimum you will need something better. And I think not an internal soundcard but external dac. I was never too worried about performance, but about interference, noise level and dynamics. And even today those are way better using in my case an AVR-1513 so far. A bit clunky though but you get what you pay for.
@@jamegumb7298 I've had none of those problems with any onboard sound since I dropped sound cards. It really depends on the board, I usually get decent quality/brand boards.
@@sadsismint Supermicro is not that bad. I have never had a soundcard put out actually dynamic sound. Just not working for me. I do have 4 PA speakers I built myself which thrive on a dynamic sound and very low noise floor, any onboard sound falls through.
@@xMaverickFPS The latency is 12ms for me on Win10, Ryzen 5600 and usb 2.0 full speed, usb 2.0 hi-speed should be even lower. Might be a thing to look out for when doing audio production, but not so much for playback. Any internal soundcard that does not have good chips can induce higher latency than that, so if you want low latency, watch which driver and soundcard you take, go shop at audio shops. For me not really an issue, as long as it stays below 16.6ms.
Julian, why didn't you at least test a mid-range Asus board? (such as Asus ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming) , which has ALC4080 with Savitech SV3H712 amplifier and SNR of 120db. It also powers headphones cleanly up to 600 ohm and is better than any £200 external headphone amp/dac that I've tried. This board you have is an entry level board, so you wouldn't expect top performance from it. So this is an apples to oranges comparison. You would need to be looking at the boards with ALC4080 chips
Hey Brudi, would be awesome if you could test dacs and amps available in EU. Like the stuff made by Pro-Ject for example. Schiit and JDS is nice and all but difficult and annoying to get.
Schiit gear is actually rather easy to get. While the schiit europe store is permantently out of stock, the official italian reseller (proaudioitalia) had most of schiits DACs and AMPs in stock when I bought my gear. They do not have an online shop though, you will need to send them an email, but they deliver to the entire EU.
Jesus, how many tests do you want in a jungle of tests, hundreds per day! And all those people doing these test, have to make a living!!!! Why don't you start using your own ears, instead of depending on reviewers mixed interest results. I am in the Neteland, i I want some Schitt, which i once did, its delivered tomorrow.
Yeah their distribution channels are "Schiit", I've tried to get hold of a Schiit Mani 2 for some time now. Topping are also nice DACs. Especially the Topping A90.
My approach is to just connect my audio reciever to my PC via SPDIF. The signal is digital so the motherboard can cheap out on DACs to their heart's content and not bother me.
How do you connect your PC to your receiver via SPDIF? Do you have a separate PCI board or do you still use an external DAC? I haven’t seen SPDIF in most PCs.
Liked & commented EVEN BEFORE watching! Julian Krause vids are always special occasions to look forwards to! :D (P.S. Extra points for providing system build info, as a PC enthusiast myself, but I would have liked if you also listed the audio chips used in these motherboards, most probably Realtek & such.)
Thanks for an useful and educational video here, Julian, excellent job, as usual. Would you also consider measuring/evaluating something more in between of an audio interface and built-in DAC to devices such as the DAC dongles (e.g. Apple Lightning headphone adapter, USB-C to RCA audio cables, AudioQuest DragonFly series, ...)? I can hear subtle differences between them but not sure how they compare to other means of getting audio out of devices.
GUYS PLEASE READ THIS It is not the motherboard, it is the drivers, when I build my pc, I did not install any audio drivers from my motherboards website but later I realized the audio quality was bad, I was hearing harsh treble frequencies, which caused ear fatigue, so researched alot, and then I just tried my headphones on my phone, they sounded way different, and then I installed drivers, sound got better
Julian everybody i go people say theres no audible diference between FLAC and CD , could you do a test compressing a original CD and make a flac and compare both with your analysis
Given that both provide exactly the same data to the DAC and also that the data will be buffered several times and also having a not totally prone-to-jitter-design of the DAC, the comparison between CD's PCM vs. FLAC wouldn't even show measureable differences, let alone audible ones.
Hi, do you know what would be better to use on a soundbar through hdmi, realtek alc4080 codec vs nvidia high definition audio. Would help me a lot a little explanation thanks for content. (motherboard-msi MAG z790 WIFI, gpu-4080, soundbar-sonos beam gen 1 with no extra speakers or subwoffer)
Great video, Julian! I would also be very interested in a comparison between audio interfaces with good headphone outputs (motu m2, audient Id14 mkII) and dedicated DAC /amps in a similar price range (fiio k5 pro ess, iFi zen etc). I would like to see how these compare when using mid-fi headphones (senn hd6** serios, akg k712 pro etc) maybe even high end ones. Thank you and congrats for all your videos and tests!
hey i have a DT1990 Pro and a Zen Dac V2. I tested the headphones on my Asus Strix X570 Mainboard and i think it sounds better on my Mainboard (Clearer Sound). Could be personal prefference. It also gets louder on the Mainboard.
@@ghst822 hey! Thank you for taking the time to comment. That's an unexpected impression. I have a motu m2 and an x570s tomahawk max (it's a pretty good mobo as well, although the strix may have better audio maybe) and akg k712 pro, and the motu sounds much clearer and with less distortion than the motherboard. I haven't checked which is louder, since both are plenty loud for me. Still curious about how the motu m2 headphone output compares to a dedicated dac/amp such as the fiio k5 pro ess or similar.
I wish there would be a better audichip from a modern mainboard. The z690 has the same chip as my 90€ b450 from 2019 (ALC897), its not bad but it has definitely more unwanted noise (Correct term would be higher noisefloor ? Sorry, IT guy here not a Audio Engineer) in recordings and a overwall "rougher" sound from headphones aswell in comparison with a cheap audio interface. And it was blind testet with 3 of my friends ^^ The newer ones like a ALC1220 or ALC4080 are well more isolated and have way better specs overall. But it also depends on how much is going on on your Mainboard aka interference. How many devices are connected (espacially the difference from used lanes (CPU or Chipset)), pci-e 3,4 or 5, how many drives are build in, build quality of the pcb and the corrosponding lanes and their isolation etc. But i guess we cant justify a purchase of a mainboard just for testing the audio :D
One thing that wasn’t discussed was susceptibility to electronic interference. I have had more than one MB that would make terrible audio when near an active cell phone for instance, and this was with shielded coax cables going to the headset.
From back in the the day, after comparing the integrated audio to a proper audio interface, i hold this grudge against any integrated audio chip. First is the noise from other components in the PC. I re-test once in a while with new hardware, still the same - even the "premium shielding" doesn't work... And the next thing is the quality itself. I'm not sure if it's placebo or not, but I swear the audio is messed up to my ears no matter the chip. I guess as you have identified, one thing is the boosted bass and possibly the lower dynamic range. I can't properly identify it myself (except the too bassy sound maybe), so I appreciate your extensive tests and graphs. Confirms my bias against it, although I don't care much if other people don't pay attention to it. To each their own.
The components in the PC actually don't add alot of noise necessarily. What is often the issue is power supply and power stages. Preamps are all highly vulnerable to dirty power, that's one reason audiophiles (correctly) focus on clean power. And switching power supplies, like all computers use, are notorious for being noisy unless the components are carefully selected.
Great vid!! I always wished for somebody to cover this topic. I would recommend to check some higher end Gigabyte(AORUS branded) motherboards- they frequently use good audio codecs. Eagerly awaiting the headphone amp and DAC tests!
Very nice. Julian can you test laptops (including Macbooks) as well please? Also I can't wait to see the comparison with entry level Hifi DACs, like those from JDS Labs, Schiit, Topping, etc
Some Gigabyte and ASUS motherboards are using ESS Sabers. I have the ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore motherboard and it has a ESS SABRE9018Q2C DAC. The specs says it has audio clarity capable of -115dB THD and 121dB DNR. Also the audio jacks are color illuminated! It's the first time I've seen that and it's a clever touch.
For me the "crazy night and day" difference was definitely noise to start with. raising the volume was always a constant woosh of white noise. But the biggest benefit of course comes from using studio monitors instead of PC speakers or gaming headsets. Also everyone notices the sound clarity when talking over a good static mic instead of USB mics that tend to still have that old landline phone distorsion because crap capsules. Having mic gain, and main volume controls is also super handy ofc :) Now, thinking back about the sound blaster days, yea, the motheboard audio is just stellar ^^
What an amazing video! If you are interestes for a video idea: I struggled a lot with ground loops with my scarlet 4i4 and my Hs5 Monitors and was only able to kinda fix that through essentially different outlets. Haven't found a good informational video about ground loops and noise issues, so maybe you are interested to change that 😇
Hey, that's a good idea. What cables are you using to cennect the interface to you monitors? Make sure that they are TRS to get a balanced connection. With a TS plug you are likely to end up with a ground loop.
@@JulianKrause thanks for the reply! I use a balanced XLR to TRS cable, with noise most likely leaking from the USB port, since there was way less audible noise from an unplugged laptop. It was a whole thing and still is confusing :D
I learned that apparently USB is connected to mains earth/ground… i guess that influences the ground loop situation too somehow… I would also love to learn more about this topic… never really understood it deeply… 🙏
Have you tried adding a 'ground loop isolator' in line on your Line Outs? This fixed a similar issue i was having when connecting Monitors direct to my PC using unbalanced cables. Isolators are about $20 so not much investment to troubleshoot ect.
@@bigdaz7272 ehhh the cheap ones are all designed for 3.5mm and to add two more adapters just introduces so many more potential issues. Thank you though, great suggestion!
Your vids have been very help full. thank you!!! Please take a look at the Creative EA-9 soundcard. I think that there will be same conclusion to be drawn from a product like this.
Honestly, a lot of past hardware used for hit records is way below current high end motherboard audio solutions. I currently have a motherboard with ALC 1220 dual dac and headphone amplifier with automatic impedance sensing, and its audio quality is certainly good enough for music making and loud enough for any headphones,which it has over your Taichi moterboard, admittedly a huge difference, along with dual dac. I do however use my external audio interface as it is so nice to have a physical volume control. But apart from the asio drivers, that's about all the difference.
Great video! Thanks for your effort. That would be really cool to see a video where you compare Apple Mac computers' built-in outputs vs USB DACs. Core Audio system in Macs are actually very solid.
True, and also their iDevices have very good audio stages. Ken Rockwell the camera guy, who also reviews audio equipment, put an iPhone through a slew of tests and found the DAC to be extremely quiet and flat responding.
They are just okay for consumer level use. We have all upgraded to the m1 units across the recording industry, an external soundcard is still mandatory.
Thanks for the work Julian. Can you do tests to Apollo twin x, mk 2, mk 1 and Apollo solo? It would be really an interesting video. I would like to ask you for advice about buying an audio interface. After watching your videos and analyzing your legendary table, I realized that motu m2 / m4 is the top one, not counting RME babyface pro fs, Motu ultralite-mk5, although this is also quite debatable. In general, I want to take an audio interface for recording, editing vocals, mixing tracks, etc. Which audio interface would you recommend and take for personal use and why? I generally liked Motu m2 (m4), Volt 276 (476), Arturia minifuse 1 (2). But recently discovered the world of apollo. So I’m thinking whether it’s worth it to overpay so much and take apollo solo. I would like to see your tests and comparisons. In general, something like this.
Just to share, I had an emergency need to monitor a network broadcast for two days using built-in audio on two high end all-in-one PCs while a SW manufacturer worked on a driver issue that wouldn’t talk to USB output. The computers were Lenovo and Dell. The speaker was a Fostex active monitor. Reconnecting the Focusrite Scarlett interface was to put it mildly, night to day. I can barely describe how horrible the computer audio was for each machine. Extreme freq resp difference, and very high, easily audible distortion. It was so unlistenable I spent much of a day just watching meters.
Great work! Im not surprised with the findings. The only reason i got an audio interface in the first place was laptop audio jack output. I used to have a budget HP laptop, the sound is audibly different compared to line out of Presonus USB 96(not the greatest, i know). As i went in further into audio, getting a SHP9500, the audio will crackle when connected to the laptop audio jack especially on highly compressed, closed to clipping songs, no such problem connected to Dac/amp. But not all laptops have problems, AFAIK the 2016 MacBook was definitely a class above other laptops of its time in audio jack output and also price
Conclusions are spot on. I was running sensitive M-Audio low distortion headphones for a long time. No noise and plenty of power to drive them at earlobe resonating levels. In my case, extra audio device would have been waste for just listening. I only changed this setup because using small closed headphones for many many hours per day is not good for your ears' health (sweaty, warm, cramped).
My suggestion for future video... What makes a Mastering DAC a Mastering DAC?? The output gain?? The Freq response?? Having the fact a lot of the interfaces you review has almost linear response what's the difference vs pricey mastering DACs (lavry, benchmark, HEDD, Prism, Dangerous etc..)? It's ok to master with any of the interfaces you suggest? Thanks!
The difference in sound quality while listening to Dark Side Of The Moon is night and day when using a quality dac and decent headphones....Throw in some high quality Dank and you're off to see the wizard !!!!!
Motherboard models are irrelevant. You need to list the on-board audio processor as these can vary from model to model and will directly impact performance. For example one of my motherboards has an ESS ES9023P with 120dB SNR stereo playback output and 113dB SNR recording input. Another board has Realtek ALC1200 Codec with 110 dB SNR multi-channel audio and a 102 dB SNR stereo line-in. Both are very good and have a high level out for high quality headphones, something not supported on all boards. And although these are both good examples on high end boards, this can vary quite a lot depending on which codec or processor the manufacturer chooses to hit a specific demographic and price point.
Sadly the implementation is often more important than the chip used. For example AKM 4993 can be found in 100-1k+ device but the level of SINAD they deliver can vary quite a bit.
Some mobos have built in headphone amps that can drive 600ohm headphones but it's usually a feature that has to be turned on using the proprietary software (usually realtek audio manager)
Hi im very confused can you just explain to me like im 5 , i have a z690 msi board also and i use my truth ear iems plugged into the back of my motherboard audio jack , if i buy a apple eu usb c to 3.5mm dongle and plug that into my motherboard type c slot and plug my iems into that dongle will my audio be much better ? Also i game and use the windows sound setting then in device properties i enable the loudness eq enhanchment and slide to shortest setting as it makes foot steps much louder in games i just wanted to mention it please can you help thank you
I'd be curious about NwAvGuy's "Objective2" DAC & Headphone amp combo. Also, I believe desktop is quite different from laptops, I've never had (much of an) issue with my desktop outputs, but my laptop's dual mic/headphone 3.5mm just plain sucks (and it's not been a cheap laptop!). Dunno if it just doesn't have the juice or if the signal is bad, but it's no joy and I instantly grab an external DAC when using it for anything audio.
Super interesting thanks for sharing! I wonder if you would be interested in doing similar video with a couple of smart phones, I often run my HD600s off my old moto G4 and while I haven't done a proper AB test, I don't feel like there are any significant differences jumping out at me when compared to my interface. The output level is also not an issue, I usually run them at below half volume, despite the fact they are 300 ohm headphones.
I can confirm that my onboard audio can no longer compete with a dedicated DAC Because the entire analog side blew up, froze my computer and stopped working a month ago SPDIF still works lol
another option if you cant afford a usb dac is a simple USB audio adapter for like $10. i found that fixed my interference issues before i got my motu interface. also, from my experience, front panel usually has interference, most pc case manufacturers run the audio cables next to rgb power cables thus making the efforts of the motherboard manufacturer go to waste.
I've always used an External DAC/AMP to drive both my PC speakers and headphones... It died on me yesterday and I had to use my Mobo output. I ordered a new DAC/AMP today. The quality of the audio really took a nosedive, I'm afraid I can't go back to Mobo output. That's the real downside to a dedicated DAC/AMP... You will be spoiled once you get one.
Is there any way you could test the Behringer XR18? It's getting old but is probably still the best bang for buck audio interface/mixer you can get under 2000 Euro. The GoXLR doesn't even compare remotely.
Absolutely need a re-do of this video comparing the Optical outs. I was previously under the assumption that optical out and usb out should provide identical performance. Recently added a Topping MX3S Class D DAC amp combo unit to my pc. The USB interface is very clearly superior to using optical. Why would this be? Isnt a digital signal supposed to be identical no matter where it is received from? Could the optical from my motherboard be sending onboard DAC's interpretation of the signal vs running straight digital via usb to the Topping?
many things aren't even considered here regarding on-board sound, like how glitchy sound drivers can be... faulty and sometimes causing system crashes, i don't want to deal with realtek audio ever again like yes, sure it works for the sole purpose for the average consumer to get some audio out of your computer but boy try to do anything more complex and you'll be rather spending a few bucks extra nice video!
My Asus X370 Pro board was measured to be reasonably good, but I'm getting weird intermittent right channel distortion. Oddly only appeared after a BIOS update, but stayed after rolling back. Driver versions didn't help. So I'm using an ODAC/O2 now.
Thank you, that confirms my impression. On a current high-end PC with a high-end mainboard, I can't hear any difference to the audio interface when I set the EQ of the sound card to neutral.
Came here after Steve from HWUB said concerning the value of high-end motherboards, if it's for audio, get a different solution anyways, like a USB DAC. Given that ASRock boasts about their "Purity Sound™4" and gold plated jacks on the Taichi and MSI is telling us they have "Audio Boost" for "studio quality audio", I expect perfection! After watching, I have to say Steve is right. Great analysis you have done, especially showing that front vs back connector can vary from board to board and the issue with cross-talk and interference from the GPU.
This is really an insightful video. Let me add, however, it would have been further more informative if you had indicated the audio codec for each of your motherboards tested: ALC1220 for Z370 Taichi, ALC892 for P67 Pro 3, and ALC897 for MSI Pro Z-690. No wonder Z370 Taichi performed better than the other two. I'm curious about how a motherboard with ALC4080 fares against external DACs. Now, given your analysis, it seems to me that, if you have a motherboard with a decent codec such as ALC4080, you might not need an external DAC but only a headphone amp.
my older Board Asus Prime Z390-A had better sound qulty maybe for the Built in DTX headphones X This New MSI MAG Tomahawk Z690 DDR4 I just bought sound is awful any tips? doesn't have the same Bass, and other qualities my Headphones use to have with he Asus Prime Z390-A
Nice video Julian.. How does the 12700k in your new Pc work for music related programs? Would be nice to have your opinion related to pc for music production or audio engineering. Cheers
My 33 ohm headphones at 100 volume on motherboard are quieter than using 30 volume from my DAC on lo gain. And everything sounds empty and tinny from mobo (could be volume issue still). I don't notice a difference on speakers, where there is no volume issue.
What is not commonly known is that some motherboards are closer to more 'proper' DACs, the Asrock in the video has uses an unnamed chipset with a 120db SNR which is pretty good compared to most lower end sound chips in other boards. Asus' Crosshair X570 series uses an ESS DAC (Sabre), and can drive some headphones pretty decently. However, these tend to have dedicated rear outputs, so the performance of their front output (which is connecting the case front output to the motherboard) will always be lower than the rear output.
I come here because I am having issues with the AUDIO INPUT!!! of my built in audio not the OUTPUT. I wanted to find out about recording IN with LINE IN Not with LINE OUT My LINE OUT on my Z690 board is fine but the LINE IN levels seem to DROP DOWN to very quiet after about 45 seconds and goes up randomly sometimes when I'm doing things in the computer and one of my primary use cases of my computeris to digitize my analog media to my computer and this worked fine on my 2014 MoBo, and on my 2008 MoBo in Win10 and Win Xp respectively I've tested this Z690-F board from Asus in both my WIn10 build and my wifes WIn11 build. so I know it isn't OS related.
I just purchased Z790 max motherboard with Nvidia 4090. I am trying to understand how to get the ATMOS signal out of my gaming PC to the AV receiver? (1) how do i use the audio connectors on the back of the motherboard or (2) the Nvidia 4090 HDMI out to AV receiver for just the audio) (3) is there another option? to connect to a 7.2 AV receiver so I can get full Atmos sound for the games I play? I will use the DisplayPort to my monitor to get 240FPS at 4K (I cant use the AV receiver's 4K /120FPS as my monitor supports 4K @ 240FPS). I am using a monitor *not* a TV so eARC is not possible. What is the preferred way to get the best audio / ATMOS from my PC to my AV receiver from my gaming PC while using DisplayPort not HDMI to my monitor. If this is not the right place to ask this type of question, where would be the right place?
As an amateur musician and gamer enthusiast, the onboard audio, for gaming and overall usage is more then enough, sound quality depends only on the speakers. Just for recording that we have a huge gap.
Very odd video. Biggest proof of a difference is structured subjective listening tests not any of what you said. Lacking that, use your ears. I own an ultra high end DAC and it absolutely blows away the level of equipment (in built or low to mid end external DAC) you’re talking about BY A MILE.
If your PC has a HDMI socket and outputs digital audio then pick the TOSLINK signal from your TV and feed it into a Soundbar or a YAMAHA 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound unit or a YAMAHA 7.1 Dolby Digital ATMOS system.
This has to be embarassing for Steinberg - Their UR22C is not better dynamic range than some people's motherboards. A non-audible factor with Windows PCs and DAWs is that some DAWs work best with ASIO drivers, or ONLY work with ASIO drivers, and ASIO4ALL can be problematic, and unreliable when used to provide an ASIO bridge to an ASIO only Windows DAW. Thus, a true audio interface is essential for certain DAWs, including Cubase.
I usually like your videos but I have to disagree masively with this one. A DAC or even a sound card makes a HUGE difference sound quality wise. Sound stage for example is nearly none existent with mobo sound.
Opinion from an AUDIOPHILE and Computer EXPERT I'm a sound tech w/ 30+ yrs experience and an audiophile. I connect my computer to my high-end audio gear. All Realtek sound cards .. every single one .. sounds like CRAP. Sure, the hewer "HD" ones sound marginally better than the older ones, but to my golden ears, the soundstage is so smeared and unfocused that I consider them all crap .. no matter what the measurements say. The best built-in single-chip sound cards use the CMI chipset. They sound superior in every way. It's a night-and-day difference. Yes, I've purchased $50 built-in sound cards just to get the CMI to replace my Realtek. Bonus -- CMI chips have Linux support. Julian says that built-in sound cards will be susceptible to ground loops which is very true, so it's better to hook up a USB sound card to both get better sound and eliminate any ground loop hum. I currently use a SSL 2+ and Focusrite Scarlett 4i4
The Behringer UMC 202HD i use for recording produces ok sound on the outputs/headphone, but it gets straight into distortion territory after 2o clock on the headphonejack with my DT770Pro 250Ohms, so they are ok on that interface to a certain degree, but nothing beats my Soundblaster AE-7 for listening, more power much cleaner sound and pretty much no distortion at all up to the max. Onboard Audio is the ALC1220DB on my X570Aorus Pro, but that cant compete, not even with the UMC202. Front is blerg and Rear is ok-ish when "amped" on lvl 3, but still much quieter on max, than even half AE-7 output, not to mention that the onboard chip doesnt sound as clean and crisp anyways and the dynamic range and noise levels are just superb on the AE-7 and atleast my RTX3080Aorus Master 12GB does not induce any noise or whine, but that one has high quality mosfets and VRMs and so does the BQ! SP11 850W Platinum PSU with still enuff headroom and clean voltages and low ripple, so that the VRMs on the card have less to do. Also i think that the connectors for the GPU and the AE-7 are on completly seperate lanes, so also less crosstalk there.
Onboard sound has improved from the AC97 days. AC97 was standard cheap mainboard soundchip of late 90s and early 2000. AC97 was just bad. Many manufacturer were cutting corners. Sometimes you could hear signales form your mouse input or spinning CD-ROM drive. Most common solution was to buy dedicated soundcard, something "high end" like Creative Audigy. But dedicated soundcards almost vanished for PCs soon after original XBOX/PS3 era. In terms of soundquality both consoles provided only the bare minimum to play DVDs and make gun go bang. Subsequently games stopped using soundcard features like EAX (simulate sound enviroments like small rooms, concert hall, outside,... ). PC soundcard sales dropped hard. Only hobbyist/creators needed a soundcard at all. Apple successful grabbed most of creators with better audio and even better marketing. A very sad time for pc audio the time. Since than audio progress basically limped along to this day. Are soundcards a thing anymore? I'm still using one. ;-)
This is nice and all but only stereo, I am trying to decide between getting a new receiver for 3.1.2 (got one but 5.1 only, clunky, would need Atmos/DTS:X because many reasons no object based open standard) or maybe standard 4.1 but want to avoid a big bulky machine, or getting something in 1U space (thin and compact, ideal) but I have not been able to find one except the audioDSP (look it up on YT, really cool idea) that I would then need to loop through chipamps in the same casing using an SMPS, assuming I can get all the parts for it because as luck would have it, the factory for one key component got torched to the ground. I tried looking for a CM6212, that is an option, but I am no good at KiCAD and trying to make a pcb for a multichannel usb dac that ideally would take mic in as well as do headphones is a big problem. For music these dac's are reat options, however when considering pc I would think the occassional film and game are also a thing, and more than stereo (4.0, 5.1) is a plus there especially for my faves like L4D2, GTFO, Payday, RO2, RS2. Where are the 4 channel amps that can take in usb straight from a pc? Got any options?
My M-audio audiophile 24/96 internal pci sound card clearly sounds better than the built in Realtek ALC892 chip in my Gigabyte Motherboard B150m. I guess your motherboards are all in the higher end but many pc's especially branded ones (as opposed to home built) have low end cheap motherboards in them. Measurements also don't say everything. For that critical listening is necessary. A cheap 10 dollar usb-c to headphone jack adapter may already significantly improve sound. It certainly does on my Lenovo Tablet (ok mine is a 15 dollar Sharkoon :p).
Very intersting...depends on how you use your interface...some have high grade clocks with good DAC's & ADC's,components & power supplies...PC's need a high grade soundcard which is old school...Audent interfaces have a good sound but what you do after with the signal is different for most people..if it sounds good it's good...numbers are not the be-all for sound quality...i play music & record and mix it & i am hifi daft...your ear's are the best measuring equipment when it comes to sound,numbers,meters, effects & things get you in the right ballpark but is not the be-all in sound quality...digital volume done without an analogue pot,in DSP mode, is not very good ,left & right channels are out a few db's at lower volumes......i use a Zen Dac ll with balanced Sehnheiser HD660S headphones or the balanced output into a mixer ,amp etc.... & it is night & day in sound quality ,no PC comes close in sound quality to a dedicated interface imo....some great albums have been done on PC's at home but you need more than just a good interface....👍
Nvidia cards have for quite a few generations had build in sound cards as well (nvidia high definition HD Audio) Would love to see your tests with those. I run an hdmi from my 4090 to an AVR for my surround.
I decided to plug my AI into my laptop. OK, I have no measurements, but I perceive a marked improvement in sound quality. OK, I don't know how much is real and how much is the placebo effect, but is it possible that laptops (mine dates to ~2016) have worse sound systems than the desktops used in this video?
Super interesting! Would you consider doing a similar test on Thunderbolt docks with their own built-in audio interface, like the CalDigit TS4 (i.e. the CMedia CM6533) or the Kensington SD5700T (not sure about the audio chip in this one)? I'm really curious in particular about whether the isolation from noise is better (because it's "outside the PC" and therefore isolated from the graphics card and CPU) or worse (because it's next to all that other I/O hardware like USB and DisplayPort).
Noise isn't the only reason to invest in a DAC, but also because a DAC can outlast many different generations of motherboards. My last DAC lasted through 2 motherboards. Why should our sound stage be treated with the same obsolescence as our CPU, RAM, chipset, and etc? I wish motherboard makers would create enthusiast level boards without a sound stage. Just give me an ultra high quality USB audio passthrough and allow me to stop me to stop wasting my hard won monies on a fancy sound stage that I don't even use! I recently upgraded my old Topping D2 DAC for an SMSL M500. I can not believe the difference. Mind numbingly better sounding. Better sounding than I thought it even could be. That's just the first gen, 384kHz model- now I need the MKIII. There isn't a single echo in my room- the walls are completely covered. I can not convey how important insulating your walls is for open audio (not headphones). It's even more important than your audio equipment itself. You can have a god tier audio system, and it will sound like pure garbo in an non-insulated room as the sound waves bounce off of the corners of the room and interfere with one another, altering the time at which they arrive at your ear drum, making everything non-coherent. Do not upgrade your audio system until you insulate your walls. You can use anything that is soft- heavy tapestries, coats and clothing, heavy window curtains, heck, even blankets. The corners are the most important areas to soften, but you want something like 80 to 90% coverage. This will do more for your audio quality than anything else you can do.
Ive been asking for years now. Why dont motherboard makers include a digital audio port that can handle more than 2 channels and can handle Dolby Atmos and DTSX? Optical is out. Analog outputs are out. So there is nothing. Right now all we can use is the HDMI output from a VIDEO CARD!? What? Motherboards need an HDMI like output that only handles audio. Not video.
you are my hero, omg i didn't even know this kind of testing existed, and picking up a z690 is driving me crazy (msi is the best budget but has no digital out, so I was looking for an usb audio card with optical out, without falling into the +100$ yet apple dongle is only for 3.5mm jacks, etc, many other combinations/setups down the rabbit hole of audiophiles/min maxers in pcmasterrace etc... too much electric lingo mixed with microchip/latest data, then the whole question of "audiophiles can fall for snake oil/ spend 300$ for diminishing returns" beyond that 50$ a gamer would spend (but he won't even tell in the first place audio quality changes). Holy fuck dont even get me started on having the idea "split the HDMI from the video out of my 3060 ti, and drive that shit into a hub/converter/home theatre", and then the first qquestion arises, on what does the nvidia "high def audio" out depend, another rabbit hole on the sellers of the nvidia microchip that is essambled in my case by MSI model x year x, or is it all depending on the chip, the same that need so much cooling, and it's not obvious because realtec has a separate chip in motherboard.. omg go figure the GA104 printed paths and what not... This is truly taxing me and i havent even start building my PC. thx for alleviating my searing stress lol
I figured I should post my experience here. I purchased a focusrite scarlet 8i6 and two Yamaha HS 7 monitors hook them up to the focusrite Via TSR to XLS cables and let me tell you something... in most of the games I play Diablo 2 Resurrected one of them being the most impressive I am noticing background ambient environmental sounds that I never ever heard ever in my life before on any game like I am now. Literally just take Diablo to resurrected for example on my monitors and the focus right, I can hear s*** that just simply did not exist on my Asus Prime z690 motherboard and my Logitech z313 2.1 speakers. It's as if a whole new world of environmental sounds that are loud crisp clean separate tracks it's unbelievable literally. I can't believe how much of a difference the audio interface with studio monitors is a stark contrast to what my old setup was. For me anyway and for my ears. I could 150% tell the difference it's amazing and I will never go backward. Completely worth the cost to upgrade. You can get focusrite used on Guitar Center for cheap as hell and also the Yamaha hs7s you can get used on guitar center. Guitar Center's website has a really good news section for really good money. Has pictures of the items you're buying and everything. All I'm saying is if you haven't heard an audio interface with good sounding monitors it is a complete and total upgrade in sound.
Did you ever think about doing an objective comparison of the sound quality of DAWS. Possibly putting the "Pro Tools sounds better" myth to rest, or surprisingly confirming the myth?
I am using samsung A73 5g mobile which has Type C connector. I want record audio from external mike. I have tried many jacks of type c to 3.5mm jacks but audio is not recorded. Pl suggest suitable jack n link for purchasing same
Hi This is Hariharan India. I need your help. Which motherboard built-in audio 7.1 high end quality produced. Which graphic card can be used for the best audio and video quality. I have used 7.2 channel home theatre system so I am planning for built good PC for only audio and video quality I am not play with any gaming.
No. There is no discernible difference to listeners in double-blind studies. Measuring with spectrum analyzers shows nothing in relation to actual human hearing. Also, “Flat response” is nonsense. Look up “Fletcher Munson.’ - An audio engineer with nearly 20 yes experience working with AD/DA and monitors that cost more than most peoples’ cars…. Twice over.
8:44 this isn't entirely correct. IIRC both GoldenSound and LTT found that other components can introduce audible noise, particularly under higher workloads EDIT: I just noticed that you did actually mention this at the end of the video
Pro Audio has Balanced Line Level outputs via TRS or XLR. This is where noise comes into play as grounding can be a big problem for motherboards. Literally if they just got rid of 3.5mm jacks and used 1/4in TRS, it would be night and day. Can you at least put more PreSonus interfaces on that list? Seem a bit biased only testing their cheapest one.
I would gladly offer you my Topping DX3pro+ for testing. I live in Switzerland, so shipping in Europe should be fine. You would have to send it back after testing though.
I have an external USB headphone amp and I also connect my graphics card with HDMI to an external surround sound amp. I disable the onboard audio on the motherboard because of the simple reason of not using it. It just take up resources. And I don't have to install drivers and crappy software from the manufacturer.
I bought my first interface, Motu M4, and I was preparing for a mind-blowing improvement in audio. After 1 day I went back to the laptop output. My headphones sounded very flat and boring when connected to the interface. Listening to the same techno track on the interface sounds simply depressing compared to the normal output. It's like classic music, no disrespect, but electronic music should feel exciting. If that is accuracy, well ...I don't need it.
Its like food. You can pay 500 buck for a really expensive, high quality and very healthy dish or you can pay 5 bucks and get a quationably unhealthy burger with soft-drink. But damn that burger taste fuckin good.
Why go for such low end.... like the cheapest MB. im not saying go for the Godlike, but at least something more midrange ,like theZ690 Edge which has a built in dac/ampli.
I have a few of these and they are awesome. Night and day difference compared to most of my computers. Some macbooks I have used do a decent job but tend to have a higher noise floor but definitely more power. Hard to beat with sensitive headphones.
Thank you for your thoroughness and clear explanations. I elected to go external USB DAC with a headphone amp, and small amp with speakers a few years ago and in my set up with a now aged €400 motherboard it still made a noticeable difference in terms of sound quality.
@@thedave7760 Bullshit cables that don’t do anything. What really makes a difference is the material for DAC cases. I recommend a wood enclosure for a warm, dark sound, but aluminum can also be a good option to boost the high end frequencies for treble lovers.
Correction: The dynamic range of the main out of the Babyface PRO FS is actually 125.5 dB(A) as shown in its review. The graph will be adjusted in future videos.
A few were interested in the audio codecs, here you go:
- MSI PRO Z690-A: Realtek ALC897
- ASRock Z370 Taichi: Realtek ALC1220
- ASRock P67 Pro3: Realtek ALC892
Thankyou kindly! Don't have to look them up myself now. Interestingly the audio quality does seem to correlate with codec versions.
Thanks for the work Julian.
Can you do tests to Apollo twin x, mk 2, mk 1 and Apollo solo? It would be really an interesting video.
I would like to ask you for advice about buying an audio interface. After watching your videos and analyzing your legendary table, I realized that motu m2 / m4 is the top one, not counting RME babyface pro fs, Motu ultralite-mk5, although this is also quite debatable.
In general, I want to take an audio interface for recording, editing vocals, mixing tracks, etc. Which audio interface would you recommend and take for personal use and why? I generally liked Motu m2 (m4), Volt 276 (476), Arturia minifuse 1 (2).
But recently discovered the world of apollo. So I’m thinking whether it’s worth it to overpay so much and take apollo solo. I would like to see your tests and comparisons. In general, something like this.
Your list of devices lacks such a popular model as the Yamaha AG03.
@@axefromrussia I love my Yamaha AG06
Awesome test (nobody else bothers to actually test MBs audio at this point, which is sad :().
Isn't DSP used less important than DAC/ADC chip they actually use (or are they using build-in ones) ?
You could try to source EVGA's Nu Audio, ASUS's Essence STX (II), AIM SC808 or Creative ZxR PCIe sound card(s), to have better chance of getting output levels on par with other devices you tested.
I bet at least some people would like to know what is the difference between internal high quality sound card vs. external DAC or audio interface.
If audio quality in our devices and equipment was as clear and precise as your videos, we'd never have anything to complain about. Excellent work as usual. 👍😎
The biggest benefit I've noticed to having an audio interface is really just the ability to connect xlr mics and instrument line in. If you don't need those features onboard audio with good speakers or headphones is probably just fine.
That's why I got my interface. for xlr mic and 250ohm headphones. Was satisfied with mb audio quality for years.
@@vivago727 what did you get?
Well, in video is explained about output impedance and influence to headphones. So besides dedicated device, which will be better quality without induced MB inner noises you also get separate audio controls (physical!) for headphones and monitors separately.
You can get passive boxes that can convert microphone and instruments to line-level, you don't strictly need an interface.
@@igg5589 Output impedance on modern motherboards is usually fairly low. My motherboard has only 2 ohm output impedance for speakers/headphone, which is fine for driving most headphones you can buy.
I moved to external usb audio interface several years ago because tired of noise and interferences on bulit-in audio. USB as digital interface solves this issue completely. Also it enables to connect both headphones and dynamics and switch between them with physical switch what is very convenient and usable all time.
@@ArdgalAlkeides Optical Cables falls into the same category as USB, it's digital, and free of noise that the PC components generate in the analog signal the goes to the P2 port.
I was using sound cards for years back in the day because I believed that a sound card would give better sound as well as better performance (offload from CPU).
The sound was indeed WAY better. But these days I don't bother with one in favour of onboard sound because for me, they've don't crackle/breakup anymore and work fine for basic gaming, videos and music.
Keyword: basic. If you want more than the bare minimum you will need something better. And I think not an internal soundcard but external dac.
I was never too worried about performance, but about interference, noise level and dynamics. And even today those are way better using in my case an AVR-1513 so far. A bit clunky though but you get what you pay for.
@@jamegumb7298 I've had none of those problems with any onboard sound since I dropped sound cards.
It really depends on the board, I usually get decent quality/brand boards.
@@sadsismint Supermicro is not that bad.
I have never had a soundcard put out actually dynamic sound. Just not working for me. I do have 4 PA speakers I built myself which thrive on a dynamic sound and very low noise floor, any onboard sound falls through.
@@jamegumb7298 DAC's and USB interfaces deal with latency. an internal PCI soundcard or PCI interface would be the best option for quality and latency
@@xMaverickFPS The latency is 12ms for me on Win10, Ryzen 5600 and usb 2.0 full speed, usb 2.0 hi-speed should be even lower. Might be a thing to look out for when doing audio production, but not so much for playback.
Any internal soundcard that does not have good chips can induce higher latency than that, so if you want low latency, watch which driver and soundcard you take, go shop at audio shops. For me not really an issue, as long as it stays below 16.6ms.
Julian, why didn't you at least test a mid-range Asus board? (such as Asus ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming) , which has ALC4080 with Savitech SV3H712 amplifier and SNR of 120db. It also powers headphones cleanly up to 600 ohm and is better than any £200 external headphone amp/dac that I've tried.
This board you have is an entry level board, so you wouldn't expect top performance from it. So this is an apples to oranges comparison. You would need to be looking at the boards with ALC4080 chips
Hey Brudi,
would be awesome if you could test dacs and amps available in EU. Like the stuff made by Pro-Ject for example. Schiit and JDS is nice and all but difficult and annoying to get.
true
Especially ones with mic-in. I think that is where on-board audio falls down more is in the mic input.
Schiit gear is actually rather easy to get. While the schiit europe store is permantently out of stock, the official italian reseller (proaudioitalia) had most of schiits DACs and AMPs in stock when I bought my gear. They do not have an online shop though, you will need to send them an email, but they deliver to the entire EU.
Jesus, how many tests do you want in a jungle of tests, hundreds per day! And all those people doing these test, have to make a living!!!! Why don't you start using your own ears, instead of depending on reviewers mixed interest results. I am in the Neteland, i I want some Schitt, which i once did, its delivered tomorrow.
Yeah their distribution channels are "Schiit", I've tried to get hold of a Schiit Mani 2 for some time now.
Topping are also nice DACs. Especially the Topping A90.
My approach is to just connect my audio reciever to my PC via SPDIF. The signal is digital so the motherboard can cheap out on DACs to their heart's content and not bother me.
How do you connect your PC to your receiver via SPDIF? Do you have a separate PCI board or do you still use an external DAC? I haven’t seen SPDIF in most PCs.
@@Riggy931 If not you can use HDMI, too, to connect your PC to a receiver.
Liked & commented EVEN BEFORE watching! Julian Krause vids are always special occasions to look forwards to! :D
(P.S. Extra points for providing system build info, as a PC enthusiast myself, but I would have liked if you also listed the audio chips used in these motherboards, most probably Realtek & such.)
Good point, I just pinned a comment :)
Thanks for an useful and educational video here, Julian, excellent job, as usual. Would you also consider measuring/evaluating something more in between of an audio interface and built-in DAC to devices such as the DAC dongles (e.g. Apple Lightning headphone adapter, USB-C to RCA audio cables, AudioQuest DragonFly series, ...)? I can hear subtle differences between them but not sure how they compare to other means of getting audio out of devices.
Maybe you should try also newer Realtek alc1220-vb or even Realtek alc4080 ??
My problems with ob audio has always been around the unbalanced outputs and the ground loop. Great video as usual!
I would love to see some data, especially impedance, for headphone output on some smartphones that still offers it, like Motorola, Realme, Xiaomi etc.
GUYS PLEASE READ THIS
It is not the motherboard, it is the drivers, when I build my pc, I did not install any audio drivers from my motherboards website but later I realized the audio quality was bad, I was hearing harsh treble frequencies, which caused ear fatigue, so researched alot, and then I just tried my headphones on my phone, they sounded way different, and then I installed drivers, sound got better
Julian everybody i go people say theres no audible diference between FLAC and CD , could you do a test compressing a original CD and make a flac and compare both with your analysis
Given that both provide exactly the same data to the DAC and also that the data will be buffered several times and also having a not totally prone-to-jitter-design of the DAC, the comparison between CD's PCM vs. FLAC wouldn't even show measureable differences, let alone audible ones.
Hi, do you know what would be better to use on a soundbar through hdmi, realtek alc4080 codec vs nvidia high definition audio. Would help me a lot a little explanation thanks for content. (motherboard-msi MAG z790 WIFI, gpu-4080, soundbar-sonos beam gen 1 with no extra speakers or subwoffer)
Great video, Julian!
I would also be very interested in a comparison between audio interfaces with good headphone outputs (motu m2, audient Id14 mkII) and dedicated DAC /amps in a similar price range (fiio k5 pro ess, iFi zen etc). I would like to see how these compare when using mid-fi headphones (senn hd6** serios, akg k712 pro etc) maybe even high end ones.
Thank you and congrats for all your videos and tests!
hey i have a DT1990 Pro and a Zen Dac V2. I tested the headphones on my Asus Strix X570 Mainboard and i think it sounds better on my Mainboard (Clearer Sound). Could be personal prefference. It also gets louder on the Mainboard.
@@ghst822 hey! Thank you for taking the time to comment. That's an unexpected impression. I have a motu m2 and an x570s tomahawk max (it's a pretty good mobo as well, although the strix may have better audio maybe) and akg k712 pro, and the motu sounds much clearer and with less distortion than the motherboard. I haven't checked which is louder, since both are plenty loud for me.
Still curious about how the motu m2 headphone output compares to a dedicated dac/amp such as the fiio k5 pro ess or similar.
I wish there would be a better audichip from a modern mainboard. The z690 has the same chip as my 90€ b450 from 2019 (ALC897), its not bad but it has definitely more unwanted noise (Correct term would be higher noisefloor ? Sorry, IT guy here not a Audio Engineer) in recordings and a overwall "rougher" sound from headphones aswell in comparison with a cheap audio interface. And it was blind testet with 3 of my friends ^^
The newer ones like a ALC1220 or ALC4080 are well more isolated and have way better specs overall.
But it also depends on how much is going on on your Mainboard aka interference. How many devices are connected (espacially the difference from used lanes (CPU or Chipset)), pci-e 3,4 or 5, how many drives are build in, build quality of the pcb and the corrosponding lanes and their isolation etc.
But i guess we cant justify a purchase of a mainboard just for testing the audio :D
One thing that wasn’t discussed was susceptibility to electronic interference. I have had more than one MB that would make terrible audio when near an active cell phone for instance, and this was with shielded coax cables going to the headset.
From back in the the day, after comparing the integrated audio to a proper audio interface, i hold this grudge against any integrated audio chip. First is the noise from other components in the PC. I re-test once in a while with new hardware, still the same - even the "premium shielding" doesn't work... And the next thing is the quality itself. I'm not sure if it's placebo or not, but I swear the audio is messed up to my ears no matter the chip. I guess as you have identified, one thing is the boosted bass and possibly the lower dynamic range. I can't properly identify it myself (except the too bassy sound maybe), so I appreciate your extensive tests and graphs. Confirms my bias against it, although I don't care much if other people don't pay attention to it. To each their own.
Even in recording the audio itself, it is audible. Outboard audio is better.
The components in the PC actually don't add alot of noise necessarily. What is often the issue is power supply and power stages. Preamps are all highly vulnerable to dirty power, that's one reason audiophiles (correctly) focus on clean power. And switching power supplies, like all computers use, are notorious for being noisy unless the components are carefully selected.
@@Magnulus76 I think Lasdernas is including the noisy PSU in "other components". Typically what folks do when complaining about PC noise.
Great vid!! I always wished for somebody to cover this topic.
I would recommend to check some higher end Gigabyte(AORUS branded) motherboards- they frequently use good audio codecs.
Eagerly awaiting the headphone amp and DAC tests!
Yeah it's strange he didn't even check, mention, or compare it to a mid-range one, like Asus' ALC4080 which measures fantastically.
Very nice. Julian can you test laptops (including Macbooks) as well please? Also I can't wait to see the comparison with entry level Hifi DACs, like those from JDS Labs, Schiit, Topping, etc
Do Macbooks still have headphone jacks? :p
@@_BangDroid_ The Pros do, with auto-detect voltage output
@@wywywywywywywy Non-pros do as well and they're at least subjectively rather good.
Casual Audio Hearers: 😊Competitive Audio Enjoyers: 😡
Some Gigabyte and ASUS motherboards are using ESS Sabers. I have the ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore motherboard and it has a ESS SABRE9018Q2C DAC. The specs says it has audio clarity capable of -115dB THD and 121dB DNR. Also the audio jacks are color illuminated! It's the first time I've seen that and it's a clever touch.
For me the "crazy night and day" difference was definitely noise to start with.
raising the volume was always a constant woosh of white noise.
But the biggest benefit of course comes from using studio monitors instead of PC speakers or gaming headsets.
Also everyone notices the sound clarity when talking over a good static mic instead of USB mics that tend to still have that old landline phone distorsion because crap capsules.
Having mic gain, and main volume controls is also super handy ofc :)
Now, thinking back about the sound blaster days, yea, the motheboard audio is just stellar ^^
What an amazing video! If you are interestes for a video idea: I struggled a lot with ground loops with my scarlet 4i4 and my Hs5 Monitors and was only able to kinda fix that through essentially different outlets. Haven't found a good informational video about ground loops and noise issues, so maybe you are interested to change that 😇
Hey, that's a good idea. What cables are you using to cennect the interface to you monitors? Make sure that they are TRS to get a balanced connection. With a TS plug you are likely to end up with a ground loop.
@@JulianKrause thanks for the reply! I use a balanced XLR to TRS cable, with noise most likely leaking from the USB port, since there was way less audible noise from an unplugged laptop. It was a whole thing and still is confusing :D
I learned that apparently USB is connected to mains earth/ground… i guess that influences the ground loop situation too somehow… I would also love to learn more about this topic… never really understood it deeply… 🙏
Have you tried adding a 'ground loop isolator' in line on your Line Outs? This fixed a similar issue i was having when connecting Monitors direct to my PC using unbalanced cables. Isolators are about $20 so not much investment to troubleshoot ect.
@@bigdaz7272 ehhh the cheap ones are all designed for 3.5mm and to add two more adapters just introduces so many more potential issues. Thank you though, great suggestion!
do a review of an apple usb c to 3,5 mm jack dongle
Your vids have been very help full. thank you!!!
Please take a look at the Creative EA-9 soundcard.
I think that there will be same conclusion to be drawn from a product like this.
Honestly, a lot of past hardware used for hit records is way below current high end motherboard audio solutions. I currently have a motherboard with ALC 1220 dual dac and headphone amplifier with automatic impedance sensing, and its audio quality is certainly good enough for music making and loud enough for any headphones,which it has over your Taichi moterboard, admittedly a huge difference, along with dual dac. I do however use my external audio interface as it is so nice to have a physical volume control. But apart from the asio drivers, that's about all the difference.
What motherboard do you have?
Great video! Thanks for your effort. That would be really cool to see a video where you compare Apple Mac computers' built-in outputs vs USB DACs. Core Audio system in Macs are actually very solid.
True, and also their iDevices have very good audio stages. Ken Rockwell the camera guy, who also reviews audio equipment, put an iPhone through a slew of tests and found the DAC to be extremely quiet and flat responding.
They are just okay for consumer level use. We have all upgraded to the m1 units across the recording industry, an external soundcard is still mandatory.
@@monsirto depends on use case, I’m an IT consultant and one of my clients does advertisement and music production on the Mac Pro trashcan.
Thanks for the work Julian.
Can you do tests to Apollo twin x, mk 2, mk 1 and Apollo solo? It would be really an interesting video.
I would like to ask you for advice about buying an audio interface. After watching your videos and analyzing your legendary table, I realized that motu m2 / m4 is the top one, not counting RME babyface pro fs, Motu ultralite-mk5, although this is also quite debatable.
In general, I want to take an audio interface for recording, editing vocals, mixing tracks, etc. Which audio interface would you recommend and take for personal use and why? I generally liked Motu m2 (m4), Volt 276 (476), Arturia minifuse 1 (2).
But recently discovered the world of apollo. So I’m thinking whether it’s worth it to overpay so much and take apollo solo. I would like to see your tests and comparisons. In general, something like this.
Just to share, I had an emergency need to monitor a network broadcast for two days using built-in audio on two high end all-in-one PCs while a SW manufacturer worked on a driver issue that wouldn’t talk to USB output. The computers were Lenovo and Dell. The speaker was a Fostex active monitor. Reconnecting the Focusrite Scarlett interface was to put it mildly, night to day. I can barely describe how horrible the computer audio was for each machine. Extreme freq resp difference, and very high, easily audible distortion. It was so unlistenable I spent much of a day just watching meters.
Usb audio is not using onboard sound. That was the USB headsets you were using.
@@WinZard Read a little more carefully. I do know what I’m talking about.
Great work! Im not surprised with the findings. The only reason i got an audio interface in the first place was laptop audio jack output. I used to have a budget HP laptop, the sound is audibly different compared to line out of Presonus USB 96(not the greatest, i know). As i went in further into audio, getting a SHP9500, the audio will crackle when connected to the laptop audio jack especially on highly compressed, closed to clipping songs, no such problem connected to Dac/amp. But not all laptops have problems, AFAIK the 2016 MacBook was definitely a class above other laptops of its time in audio jack output and also price
Conclusions are spot on. I was running sensitive M-Audio low distortion headphones for a long time. No noise and plenty of power to drive them at earlobe resonating levels. In my case, extra audio device would have been waste for just listening. I only changed this setup because using small closed headphones for many many hours per day is not good for your ears' health (sweaty, warm, cramped).
My suggestion for future video... What makes a Mastering DAC a Mastering DAC?? The output gain?? The Freq response?? Having the fact a lot of the interfaces you review has almost linear response what's the difference vs pricey mastering DACs (lavry, benchmark, HEDD, Prism, Dangerous etc..)? It's ok to master with any of the interfaces you suggest? Thanks!
The difference in sound quality while listening to Dark Side Of The Moon is night and day when using a quality dac and decent headphones....Throw in some high quality Dank and you're off to see the wizard !!!!!
Overrated album.
@@KonicaHexanon Thats not the point....In which flew right over your head
@@MIKEx2112 Still overrated.
@@KonicaHexanon you like black boys huh?
Motherboard models are irrelevant. You need to list the on-board audio processor as these can vary from model to model and will directly impact performance. For example one of my motherboards has an ESS ES9023P with 120dB SNR stereo playback output and 113dB SNR recording input. Another board has Realtek ALC1200 Codec with 110 dB SNR multi-channel audio and a 102 dB SNR stereo line-in. Both are very good and have a high level out for high quality headphones, something not supported on all boards. And although these are both good examples on high end boards, this can vary quite a lot depending on which codec or processor the manufacturer chooses to hit a specific demographic and price point.
Sadly the implementation is often more important than the chip used. For example AKM 4993 can be found in 100-1k+ device but the level of SINAD they deliver can vary quite a bit.
Some mobos have built in headphone amps that can drive 600ohm headphones but it's usually a feature that has to be turned on using the proprietary software (usually realtek audio manager)
I would check the specs from the Realtek ALC1887
Hi im very confused can you just explain to me like im 5 , i have a z690 msi board also and i use my truth ear iems plugged into the back of my motherboard audio jack , if i buy a apple eu usb c to 3.5mm dongle and plug that into my motherboard type c slot and plug my iems into that dongle will my audio be much better ? Also i game and use the windows sound setting then in device properties i enable the loudness eq enhanchment and slide to shortest setting as it makes foot steps much louder in games i just wanted to mention it please can you help thank you
I'd be curious about NwAvGuy's "Objective2" DAC & Headphone amp combo.
Also, I believe desktop is quite different from laptops, I've never had (much of an) issue with my desktop outputs, but my laptop's dual mic/headphone 3.5mm just plain sucks (and it's not been a cheap laptop!). Dunno if it just doesn't have the juice or if the signal is bad, but it's no joy and I instantly grab an external DAC when using it for anything audio.
Super interesting thanks for sharing! I wonder if you would be interested in doing similar video with a couple of smart phones, I often run my HD600s off my old moto G4 and while I haven't done a proper AB test, I don't feel like there are any significant differences jumping out at me when compared to my interface. The output level is also not an issue, I usually run them at below half volume, despite the fact they are 300 ohm headphones.
I can confirm that my onboard audio can no longer compete with a dedicated DAC
Because the entire analog side blew up, froze my computer and stopped working a month ago
SPDIF still works lol
another option if you cant afford a usb dac is a simple USB audio adapter for like $10. i found that fixed my interference issues before i got my motu interface. also, from my experience, front panel usually has interference, most pc case manufacturers run the audio cables next to rgb power cables thus making the efforts of the motherboard manufacturer go to waste.
I've always used an External DAC/AMP to drive both my PC speakers and headphones... It died on me yesterday and I had to use my Mobo output.
I ordered a new DAC/AMP today. The quality of the audio really took a nosedive, I'm afraid I can't go back to Mobo output. That's the real downside to a dedicated DAC/AMP... You will be spoiled once you get one.
Is there any way you could test the Behringer XR18? It's getting old but is probably still the best bang for buck audio interface/mixer you can get under 2000 Euro. The GoXLR doesn't even compare remotely.
When I switched from a mac to a PC I swear the audio quality is much lower.... I just can't say if I'm imagining it or it's actually the audio card?!
Absolutely need a re-do of this video comparing the Optical outs. I was previously under the assumption that optical out and usb out should provide identical performance. Recently added a Topping MX3S Class D DAC amp combo unit to my pc. The USB interface is very clearly superior to using optical. Why would this be? Isnt a digital signal supposed to be identical no matter where it is received from? Could the optical from my motherboard be sending onboard DAC's interpretation of the signal vs running straight digital via usb to the Topping?
many things aren't even considered here regarding on-board sound, like how glitchy sound drivers can be... faulty and sometimes causing system crashes, i don't want to deal with realtek audio ever again
like yes, sure it works for the sole purpose for the average consumer to get some audio out of your computer but boy try to do anything more complex and you'll be rather spending a few bucks extra
nice video!
My Asus X370 Pro board was measured to be reasonably good, but I'm getting weird intermittent right channel distortion. Oddly only appeared after a BIOS update, but stayed after rolling back. Driver versions didn't help.
So I'm using an ODAC/O2 now.
Thank you, that confirms my impression. On a current high-end PC with a high-end mainboard, I can't hear any difference to the audio interface when I set the EQ of the sound card to neutral.
Came here after Steve from HWUB said concerning the value of high-end motherboards, if it's for audio, get a different solution anyways, like a USB DAC.
Given that ASRock boasts about their "Purity Sound™4" and gold plated jacks on the Taichi and MSI is telling us they have "Audio Boost" for "studio quality audio", I expect perfection!
After watching, I have to say Steve is right. Great analysis you have done, especially showing that front vs back connector can vary from board to board and the issue with cross-talk and interference from the GPU.
That is what I've said all the time to my friends! Thank you!
This is really an insightful video. Let me add, however, it would have been further more informative if you had indicated the audio codec for each of your motherboards tested: ALC1220 for Z370 Taichi, ALC892 for P67 Pro 3, and ALC897 for MSI Pro Z-690. No wonder Z370 Taichi performed better than the other two. I'm curious about how a motherboard with ALC4080 fares against external DACs.
Now, given your analysis, it seems to me that, if you have a motherboard with a decent codec such as ALC4080, you might not need an external DAC but only a headphone amp.
my older Board Asus Prime Z390-A had better sound qulty maybe for the Built in DTX headphones X This New MSI MAG Tomahawk Z690 DDR4 I just bought sound is awful any tips? doesn't have the same Bass, and other qualities my Headphones use to have with he Asus Prime Z390-A
Nice video Julian.. How does the 12700k in your new Pc work for music related programs? Would be nice to have your opinion related to pc for music production or audio engineering. Cheers
12700k is more than enough for music programs. Even the 11900k falls behind the 12700k
commercials are 3 minutes long and unskippable . . youtube is trolling us folks . . .
My 33 ohm headphones at 100 volume on motherboard are quieter than using 30 volume from my DAC on lo gain. And everything sounds empty and tinny from mobo (could be volume issue still). I don't notice a difference on speakers, where there is no volume issue.
What is not commonly known is that some motherboards are closer to more 'proper' DACs, the Asrock in the video has uses an unnamed chipset with a 120db SNR which is pretty good compared to most lower end sound chips in other boards.
Asus' Crosshair X570 series uses an ESS DAC (Sabre), and can drive some headphones pretty decently.
However, these tend to have dedicated rear outputs, so the performance of their front output (which is connecting the case front output to the motherboard) will always be lower than the rear output.
oh thanks for that information
I come here because I am having issues with the AUDIO INPUT!!! of my built in audio not the OUTPUT.
I wanted to find out about recording IN with LINE IN
Not with LINE OUT
My LINE OUT on my Z690 board is fine but the LINE IN levels seem to DROP DOWN to very quiet after about 45 seconds and goes up randomly sometimes when I'm doing things in the computer and one of my primary use cases of my computeris to digitize my analog media to my computer and this worked fine on my 2014 MoBo, and on my 2008 MoBo in Win10 and Win Xp respectively
I've tested this Z690-F board from Asus in both my WIn10 build and my wifes WIn11 build. so I know it isn't OS related.
I just purchased Z790 max motherboard with Nvidia 4090. I am trying to understand how to get the ATMOS signal out of my gaming PC to the AV receiver? (1) how do i use the audio connectors on the back of the motherboard or (2) the Nvidia 4090 HDMI out to AV receiver for just the audio) (3) is there another option? to connect to a 7.2 AV receiver so I can get full Atmos sound for the games I play? I will use the DisplayPort to my monitor to get 240FPS at 4K (I cant use the AV receiver's 4K /120FPS as my monitor supports 4K @ 240FPS). I am using a monitor *not* a TV so eARC is not possible. What is the preferred way to get the best audio / ATMOS from my PC to my AV receiver from my gaming PC while using DisplayPort not HDMI to my monitor. If this is not the right place to ask this type of question, where would be the right place?
very good video, thank you! Sound Blaster X5 is decent (considering the cost) especially with 4.4mm balanced output
As an amateur musician and gamer enthusiast, the onboard audio, for gaming and overall usage is more then enough, sound quality depends only on the speakers.
Just for recording that we have a huge gap.
I am using a Behringer UMC404HD with a Behringer MICROAMP HA400
connected to the main out. Iwonder how this is performing with headphones connected
Very odd video. Biggest proof of a difference is structured subjective listening tests not any of what you said. Lacking that, use your ears. I own an ultra high end DAC and it absolutely blows away the level of equipment (in built or low to mid end external DAC) you’re talking about BY A MILE.
If your PC has a HDMI socket and outputs digital audio then pick the TOSLINK signal from your TV and feed it into a Soundbar or a YAMAHA 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound unit or a YAMAHA 7.1 Dolby Digital ATMOS system.
This has to be embarassing for Steinberg - Their UR22C is not better dynamic range than some people's motherboards.
A non-audible factor with Windows PCs and DAWs is that some DAWs work best with ASIO drivers, or ONLY work with ASIO drivers, and ASIO4ALL can be problematic, and unreliable when used to provide an ASIO bridge to an ASIO only Windows DAW. Thus, a true audio interface is essential for certain DAWs, including Cubase.
I usually like your videos but I have to disagree masively with this one. A DAC or even a sound card makes a HUGE difference sound quality wise. Sound stage for example is nearly none existent with mobo sound.
Up next... Maybe some comparison of usb DACs for phones... Stupidly expensive ones vs clones? (Got lusya fewer ... Is a little wonder)
I bought my motherboard specifically because it has 32bit/192hz Sabre DACs and I don’t regret it.
Opinion from an AUDIOPHILE and Computer EXPERT
I'm a sound tech w/ 30+ yrs experience and an audiophile. I connect my computer to my high-end audio gear.
All Realtek sound cards .. every single one .. sounds like CRAP. Sure, the hewer "HD" ones sound marginally better than the older ones, but to my golden ears, the soundstage is so smeared and unfocused that I consider them all crap .. no matter what the measurements say.
The best built-in single-chip sound cards use the CMI chipset. They sound superior in every way. It's a night-and-day difference. Yes, I've purchased $50 built-in sound cards just to get the CMI to replace my Realtek. Bonus -- CMI chips have Linux support.
Julian says that built-in sound cards will be susceptible to ground loops which is very true, so it's better to hook up a USB sound card to both get better sound and eliminate any ground loop hum.
I currently use a SSL 2+ and Focusrite Scarlett 4i4
The Behringer UMC 202HD i use for recording produces ok sound on the outputs/headphone, but it gets straight into distortion territory after 2o clock on the headphonejack with my DT770Pro 250Ohms, so they are ok on that interface to a certain degree, but nothing beats my Soundblaster AE-7 for listening, more power much cleaner sound and pretty much no distortion at all up to the max.
Onboard Audio is the ALC1220DB on my X570Aorus Pro, but that cant compete, not even with the UMC202.
Front is blerg and Rear is ok-ish when "amped" on lvl 3, but still much quieter on max, than even half AE-7 output, not to mention that the onboard chip doesnt sound as clean and crisp anyways and the dynamic range and noise levels are just superb on the AE-7 and atleast my RTX3080Aorus Master 12GB does not induce any noise or whine, but that one has high quality mosfets and VRMs and so does the BQ! SP11 850W Platinum PSU with still enuff headroom and clean voltages and low ripple, so that the VRMs on the card have less to do.
Also i think that the connectors for the GPU and the AE-7 are on completly seperate lanes, so also less crosstalk there.
Onboard sound has improved from the AC97 days. AC97 was standard cheap mainboard soundchip of late 90s and early 2000.
AC97 was just bad. Many manufacturer were cutting corners. Sometimes you could hear signales form your mouse input or spinning CD-ROM drive.
Most common solution was to buy dedicated soundcard, something "high end" like Creative Audigy.
But dedicated soundcards almost vanished for PCs soon after original XBOX/PS3 era. In terms of soundquality both consoles provided only the bare minimum to play DVDs and make gun go bang. Subsequently games stopped using soundcard features like EAX (simulate sound enviroments like small rooms, concert hall, outside,... ). PC soundcard sales dropped hard. Only hobbyist/creators needed a soundcard at all. Apple successful grabbed most of creators with better audio and even better marketing. A very sad time for pc audio the time. Since than audio progress basically limped along to this day.
Are soundcards a thing anymore? I'm still using one. ;-)
Julian, what's your recommended interface for recording and producing at home using beyerdynamics 250ohm? still motu M2?
This is nice and all but only stereo, I am trying to decide between getting a new receiver for 3.1.2 (got one but 5.1 only, clunky, would need Atmos/DTS:X because many reasons no object based open standard) or maybe standard 4.1 but want to avoid a big bulky machine, or getting something in 1U space (thin and compact, ideal) but I have not been able to find one except the audioDSP (look it up on YT, really cool idea) that I would then need to loop through chipamps in the same casing using an SMPS, assuming I can get all the parts for it because as luck would have it, the factory for one key component got torched to the ground.
I tried looking for a CM6212, that is an option, but I am no good at KiCAD and trying to make a pcb for a multichannel usb dac that ideally would take mic in as well as do headphones is a big problem.
For music these dac's are reat options, however when considering pc I would think the occassional film and game are also a thing, and more than stereo (4.0, 5.1) is a plus there especially for my faves like L4D2, GTFO, Payday, RO2, RS2.
Where are the 4 channel amps that can take in usb straight from a pc? Got any options?
My M-audio audiophile 24/96 internal pci sound card clearly sounds better than the built in Realtek ALC892 chip in my Gigabyte Motherboard B150m. I guess your motherboards are all in the higher end but many pc's especially branded ones (as opposed to home built) have low end cheap motherboards in them. Measurements also don't say everything. For that critical listening is necessary. A cheap 10 dollar usb-c to headphone jack adapter may already significantly improve sound. It certainly does on my Lenovo Tablet (ok mine is a 15 dollar Sharkoon :p).
Hi Julian, could you please review the onboard audio codec ALC4080 found on a MSI z690 tomahawk motherboard? thanks
Very intersting...depends on how you use your interface...some have high grade clocks with good DAC's & ADC's,components & power supplies...PC's need a high grade soundcard which is old school...Audent interfaces have a good sound but what you do after with the signal is different for most people..if it sounds good it's good...numbers are not the be-all for sound quality...i play music & record and mix it & i am hifi daft...your ear's are the best measuring equipment when it comes to sound,numbers,meters, effects & things get you in the right ballpark but is not the be-all in sound quality...digital volume done without an analogue pot,in DSP mode, is not very good ,left & right channels are out a few db's at lower volumes......i use a Zen Dac ll with balanced Sehnheiser HD660S headphones or the balanced output into a mixer ,amp etc.... & it is night & day in sound quality ,no PC comes close in sound quality to a dedicated interface imo....some great albums have been done on PC's at home but you need more than just a good interface....👍
Nvidia cards have for quite a few generations had build in sound cards as well (nvidia high definition HD Audio) Would love to see your tests with those. I run an hdmi from my 4090 to an AVR for my surround.
I decided to plug my AI into my laptop. OK, I have no measurements, but I perceive a marked improvement in sound quality. OK, I don't know how much is real and how much is the placebo effect, but is it possible that laptops (mine dates to ~2016) have worse sound systems than the desktops used in this video?
Super interesting! Would you consider doing a similar test on Thunderbolt docks with their own built-in audio interface, like the CalDigit TS4 (i.e. the CMedia CM6533) or the Kensington SD5700T (not sure about the audio chip in this one)? I'm really curious in particular about whether the isolation from noise is better (because it's "outside the PC" and therefore isolated from the graphics card and CPU) or worse (because it's next to all that other I/O hardware like USB and DisplayPort).
Noise isn't the only reason to invest in a DAC, but also because a DAC can outlast many different generations of motherboards. My last DAC lasted through 2 motherboards. Why should our sound stage be treated with the same obsolescence as our CPU, RAM, chipset, and etc? I wish motherboard makers would create enthusiast level boards without a sound stage. Just give me an ultra high quality USB audio passthrough and allow me to stop me to stop wasting my hard won monies on a fancy sound stage that I don't even use!
I recently upgraded my old Topping D2 DAC for an SMSL M500. I can not believe the difference. Mind numbingly better sounding. Better sounding than I thought it even could be. That's just the first gen, 384kHz model- now I need the MKIII.
There isn't a single echo in my room- the walls are completely covered. I can not convey how important insulating your walls is for open audio (not headphones). It's even more important than your audio equipment itself. You can have a god tier audio system, and it will sound like pure garbo in an non-insulated room as the sound waves bounce off of the corners of the room and interfere with one another, altering the time at which they arrive at your ear drum, making everything non-coherent. Do not upgrade your audio system until you insulate your walls. You can use anything that is soft- heavy tapestries, coats and clothing, heavy window curtains, heck, even blankets. The corners are the most important areas to soften, but you want something like 80 to 90% coverage. This will do more for your audio quality than anything else you can do.
Ive been asking for years now. Why dont motherboard makers include a digital audio port that can handle more than 2 channels and can handle Dolby Atmos and DTSX?
Optical is out. Analog outputs are out. So there is nothing.
Right now all we can use is the HDMI output from a VIDEO CARD!? What?
Motherboards need an HDMI like output that only handles audio. Not video.
you are my hero, omg i didn't even know this kind of testing existed, and picking up a z690 is driving me crazy (msi is the best budget but has no digital out, so I was looking for an usb audio card with optical out, without falling into the +100$ yet apple dongle is only for 3.5mm jacks, etc, many other combinations/setups down the rabbit hole of audiophiles/min maxers in pcmasterrace etc... too much electric lingo mixed with microchip/latest data, then the whole question of "audiophiles can fall for snake oil/ spend 300$ for diminishing returns" beyond that 50$ a gamer would spend (but he won't even tell in the first place audio quality changes). Holy fuck dont even get me started on having the idea "split the HDMI from the video out of my 3060 ti, and drive that shit into a hub/converter/home theatre", and then the first qquestion arises, on what does the nvidia "high def audio" out depend, another rabbit hole on the sellers of the nvidia microchip that is essambled in my case by MSI model x year x, or is it all depending on the chip, the same that need so much cooling, and it's not obvious because realtec has a separate chip in motherboard.. omg go figure the GA104 printed paths and what not... This is truly taxing me and i havent even start building my PC. thx for alleviating my searing stress lol
I figured I should post my experience here. I purchased a focusrite scarlet 8i6 and two Yamaha HS 7 monitors hook them up to the focusrite Via TSR to XLS cables and let me tell you something... in most of the games I play Diablo 2 Resurrected one of them being the most impressive I am noticing background ambient environmental sounds that I never ever heard ever in my life before on any game like I am now. Literally just take Diablo to resurrected for example on my monitors and the focus right, I can hear s*** that just simply did not exist on my Asus Prime z690 motherboard and my Logitech z313 2.1 speakers. It's as if a whole new world of environmental sounds that are loud crisp clean separate tracks it's unbelievable literally. I can't believe how much of a difference the audio interface with studio monitors is a stark contrast to what my old setup was. For me anyway and for my ears. I could 150% tell the difference it's amazing and I will never go backward. Completely worth the cost to upgrade. You can get focusrite used on Guitar Center for cheap as hell and also the Yamaha hs7s you can get used on guitar center. Guitar Center's website has a really good news section for really good money. Has pictures of the items you're buying and everything. All I'm saying is if you haven't heard an audio interface with good sounding monitors it is a complete and total upgrade in sound.
Did you ever think about doing an objective comparison of the sound quality of DAWS. Possibly putting the "Pro Tools sounds better" myth to rest, or surprisingly confirming the myth?
I am using samsung A73 5g mobile which has Type C connector. I want record audio from external mike. I have tried many jacks of type c to 3.5mm jacks but audio is not recorded. Pl suggest suitable jack n link for purchasing same
Hi This is Hariharan India. I need your help. Which motherboard built-in audio 7.1 high end quality produced. Which graphic card can be used for the best audio and video quality. I have used 7.2 channel home theatre system so I am planning for built good PC for only audio and video quality I am not play with any gaming.
No. There is no discernible difference to listeners in double-blind studies. Measuring with spectrum analyzers shows nothing in relation to actual human hearing. Also, “Flat response” is nonsense. Look up “Fletcher Munson.’
- An audio engineer with nearly 20 yes experience working with AD/DA and monitors that cost more than most peoples’ cars…. Twice over.
8:44 this isn't entirely correct. IIRC both GoldenSound and LTT found that other components can introduce audible noise, particularly under higher workloads
EDIT: I just noticed that you did actually mention this at the end of the video
AMP-UP Audio with ALC1220-VB and WIMA Capacitors for Rear 120dB SNR
Pro Audio has Balanced Line Level outputs via TRS or XLR. This is where noise comes into play as grounding can be a big problem for motherboards. Literally if they just got rid of 3.5mm jacks and used 1/4in TRS, it would be night and day.
Can you at least put more PreSonus interfaces on that list? Seem a bit biased only testing their cheapest one.
I would gladly offer you my Topping DX3pro+ for testing. I live in Switzerland, so shipping in Europe should be fine. You would have to send it back after testing though.
I have an external USB headphone amp and I also connect my graphics card with HDMI to an external surround sound amp.
I disable the onboard audio on the motherboard because of the simple reason of not using it.
It just take up resources. And I don't have to install drivers and crappy software from the manufacturer.
I bought my first interface, Motu M4, and I was preparing for a mind-blowing improvement in audio. After 1 day I went back to the laptop output. My headphones sounded very flat and boring when connected to the interface. Listening to the same techno track on the interface sounds simply depressing compared to the normal output. It's like classic music, no disrespect, but electronic music should feel exciting. If that is accuracy, well ...I don't need it.
Its like food. You can pay 500 buck for a really expensive, high quality and very healthy dish or you can pay 5 bucks and get a quationably unhealthy burger with soft-drink.
But damn that burger taste fuckin good.
Why go for such low end.... like the cheapest MB. im not saying go for the Godlike, but at least something more midrange ,like theZ690 Edge which has a built in dac/ampli.
What if you use say a Yamaha Receiver and 7.1 speakers and the HDMI through the receiver and a 70" TV, does the sound matter, any difference??
Please test Apple’s $9 usb c audio dongle. Apparently it beats DACs that cost hundreds
I have a few of these and they are awesome. Night and day difference compared to most of my computers. Some macbooks I have used do a decent job but tend to have a higher noise floor but definitely more power. Hard to beat with sensitive headphones.
If you're driving IEM's, It's best under $50. Still the amplification is crap if you need more loudness than your phone
@@clickbaitpro Even my Meze 99 is quite sensitive. Note the EU version has a way lower max output
I'd be interested in seeing measurements of the Apple's mic input as well.
@@dfcx1 yes, I’ve wondered about that!
Thank you for your thoroughness and clear explanations. I elected to go external USB DAC with a headphone amp, and small amp with speakers a few years ago and in my set up with a now aged €400 motherboard it still made a noticeable difference in terms of sound quality.
It depends on how much you have spent on your oxygen free speaker cables.
@@thedave7760 🤣
@@thedave7760 Bullshit cables that don’t do anything. What really makes a difference is the material for DAC cases. I recommend a wood enclosure for a warm, dark sound, but aluminum can also be a good option to boost the high end frequencies for treble lovers.