low budget dac,soundcard recommendation

[gasolin]

I thought i would get better sound quality buying a ifi zen air dac (or the bluetooth version i only found on the shop i bought the zen air dac after i bought the zen air dac).

Turns out it doesn't work with the mute and volume on my corsair K70 rgb tkl keyboard

What can i get for the same price that sounds atleast as good as the ifi zen air dac for the same price or lower and works with my mute,volume button + has adjustabel gain output so i can match to my turntable,cdpalyer ?

 

[Dscience]

Do you have a PC and PCI lane available?

 

[Dscience]

If you can find them used, I would highly recommend getting the
ASUS Xonar Essence ST 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Audio Card

This is an amazing internal sound card, I have one but no longer use it, however while I was using it, it was incredible. It has a burr brown DAC chip, and pushes our the best PC sound i've gotten from any sound card.

Makes creative sound blasters look like the toys they are. This card was well beyond it's timeframe, which is why it probably faded out.

 

[gasolin]

Do you have a PC and PCI lane available?

Yes i do, only the top pci e slot is used for my rx 6700 xt

 

[Friesiansam]

I have a, now unused, Asus Xonar Essence STX, it is a fine soundcard. Not sure if it would really represent an upgrade for you. I was very impressed by it, used in conjunction with AKG K550 mk1s. I did change the headphone output opamps, to boost treble a little and better match the headphones.

PS, if you should decide to buy one, you MUST get the STX for PCIe, not the ST.

 

[gasolin]

ASUS Xonar ESSENCE STX II is discontinued for a long time and i didn't find any used

 

[Friesiansam]

ASUS Xonar ESSENCE STX II is discontinued for a long time and i didn't find any used

That's the downside, used only but, the STX can be had on eBay for less than the cost of the Ifi Zen. Another good sound card option is the Evga Nu, also appears to be obsolete but, available on Amazon for £161 new. I would stay with the Ifi and live with it not working with the keyboard audio controls.

EDIT: I have no need for my Xonar Essence but, I'm assuming selling is not allowed here, I'm too lazy to read the Ts&Cs...

 

[gasolin]

Ifi answer

It won't work, as our driver bypasses the volume control in the PC. Digital volume control is not optimal (to put it mildly) for sound quality, which is why we have opted to do it this way. We think that a volume potentiometer on the Zen DAC is convenient enough

 

[Dscience]

I would sell my great condition xonar STX if you want! Message me!

 

[gasolin]

I bought a used Topping D10s