13 best sound cards

Sometimes a sound card is only required due to the fact that an outdated motherboard is hidden inside the computer case. It only supports stereo output, whereas you purchased a more powerful speaker system consisting of five speakers and one subwoofer. To connect it you need a sound card like ASUS Xonar DG. This is a budget option, endowed with three analog connectors and one microphone input. There is also an optical output. Oddly enough, the characteristics of this model are enough for the overwhelming majority of computer users. ASUS Xonar DG will help you get even if not perfect, but definitely new impressions of games, music and movies.

The younger model of the same name line of sound cards of the company (Z, Zx, ZxR), which does not have an external module. Due to the presence of a current buffer, it is well suited for both low- and high-impedance headphones, with an impedance of up to 600 ohms. The card does not require additional power.EAX technology fifth version supports at the level of the signal processor, which makes Sound Blaster Z an attractive choice for gamers. By the way, there is a microphone with a variable width of the beam, which can be considered as a worthy bonus. With film and music orientation things are somewhat worse. Due to a separate and quite good DAC for front channels, the card provides high-quality stereo sound, but for 5.1 systems it is better to look for another model. At the same time, a pair of digital interfaces allows the conversion and further processing of the signal on a connected external device of a higher class. If an important condition when choosing the best sound card is the presence of an external unit with volume control - pay attention to the Zx model.

Continuing our ranking of the best sound cards ESI MAYA44. This internal card among the musicians has not needed recommendations for a long time, it is easily recognized due to the non-traditional snow-white color of the board. But, if you are not a freelance guitarplayer or musicforums, we’ll stop at the description in more detail.

Characteristic features of the card immediately give out 6.3-millimeter jack sockets: yes, it is designed specifically for the professional standard, and not the usual 3.5-mm connectors for computers. Accordingly, the “jack” of the microphone input also has a 48 volt phantom power supply. The “figure” is introduced by a separate coaxial connector and optics. The built-in headphone amplifier can pull both common 32 ohms of impedance and all 300 ohms for specific studio models.

After installing the proprietary drivers, an unprepared person will unwittingly scratch his head — okay, the DirectWire interface, where you can virtually switch the “switching cables” of the connectors between MME, ASIO, WDM and GSIF;

So you should not be surprised that this sound card “lives” on the shelves of computer stores for 12 years (!) - for home studios it still remains one of the best relatively affordable solutions, since the manufacturer does not forget about the support and offers on the site Now the drivers are not only under the “pig” of the youth of MAYA44, but also under the other Windows systems up to the 64-bit “dozens”, Mac OS X. So, if, on the advice of your friends, you already decide to roll back to XP, they say, otherwise “Maya "Does not work, just go to the ESI website.

Note that the updated version of the sound card has not changed much - the latest modification of the MAYA44 eX differs only in the use of a PCI-E x1 slot instead of the outgoing PCI ... well, and in red instead of white.

A very interesting set is hidden in the box - not only does the sound card itself consist of two blocks, thus occupying two slots on the rear panel of the case, it also comes with an external controller having 3.5 and 6 jacks each, 3 mm for connecting microphones and headphones with any type of connectors and a large analog volume “twist”. There are two more "jacks" 6.3 on the board itself, with 300 ohm studio headphones being supported, RCA "tulips" and an optical digital audio channel. One gets the impression that Creative thought not only about gamers, but also about lovers of pure high-quality sound - and, perhaps, about sound recordings?

It turned out, however, strange. Yes, the sound card boasts an excellent signal-to-noise ratio and got rid of the bass bulging, which is often blamed on other models of “creative” sound cards. Yes, there are high-quality Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors, and the headphone / amplifier channels are switched by “honest” relays, not by semiconductors. But at the same time phantom power for condenser microphones in the card is not physically provided, the input can work only with ordinary electret. Instead of a studio microphone, thus, you will have to connect a gaming headset. As a result, the sound card, which is only slightly superior in sound quality in the “tops” area, is the same ESI MAYA44 (but not so much as to justify the difference in price), is deprived of the basic attribute of studio cards, and switching and mixing capabilities, despite the abundance of tabs in the original shell, losing the good old "Maya". So their order in our ranking of the best sound cards is expected.

Sometimes the user does not want to install another expansion card inside the computer case. In such cases, ASUS Xonar U7 can be useful. This is an external sound card that plugs into a USB connector. With its help, it is easy to organize audio output to acoustics of 7.1 format. At the same time, the frequency of the DAC available here reaches 192 kHz - the maximum value. A total of five analog connectors can be found on the baby's case. Separately, it should be noted independent headphone output - this is rarely found in cheaper external sound cards. Actually, the cost is the main drawback of ASUS Xonar U7.

The Sound Blaster X-Fi HD card is a rather ambiguous product. It has a special input that allows you to record various musical instruments or work with a full microphone, but does not support the ASIO technology. Since in the Windows architecture, the audio subsystem processes audio data with low priority packets (remember the characteristic sound when the system hangs, when one fragment of a random length loops?), ASIO technology for this platform is the only way to work correctly with real-time and lossless audio. To work on mixing tracks on a computer without ASIO - a lesson for very large originals. At the same time, there are no special complaints directly to the sound path of the card, since a very worthy chip from AKM is engaged in converting a digital signal into an analog form. The front panel of the device is equipped with full-size TRS connectors (6.3 mm), and the maximum allowable impedance of the connected headphones is 330 Ohms. As a feature of the card, you can consider the built-in phono stage, thanks to which it can be successfully used to digitize vinyl.

This sound card was, of course, interesting before the crisis, but its current price already gives reason to wonder whether it is more interesting to dig into a little more. In fact, Alpha is positioned as an entry-level home recording model that supports a digitization frequency of no more than 48 kHz. Yes, and ASIO is the "old" version 1.0 - so the rating of this sound card, we certainly lower. But in the “buying and selling” forum sections it costs mere pennies, and now this option is more interesting for exploring home recordings.

To get used to it is simple, everything that is needed at hand is assembled on the front panel. From left to right, go Hi-Z input of the instrumental "jack" to the delight of guitarists, volume controls of the instrumental and microphone channels, the monitor mode switch (stereo / mono), the monitor mixer and the overall volume control. Headphones are plugged into the 3.5 mm jack from the rightmost edge. And where to connect the microphone? For him, the connector is hidden behind, and the studio XLR (but without phantom power - no condenser microphones, only a “speaker”). There are also two “jacks” of 6.3 mm linear inputs, the line outputs can be connected even with the same “jacks”, even “tulips”.

Completes the list of "buns" bundled license for Cubase with a pair of proprietary plug-ins and support for both Windows and Mac OS.

However, there are also disadvantages, which unequivocally give out the budget of a sound card and force to lower it to the “bottom” of the rating. This is the strange support of the manufacturer, who has not updated the driver for a long time (and with the transition to sleep and subsequent waking up, for example, Windows has problems), and the inability to adjust the signal level going to the headphones (like Karl?). On the same Windows 8 and 10, the driver will have to be installed “with a tambourine”, as the manufacturer directly wrote on the product page. The standard USB cable is long, which is convenient, but not very high quality - it is worth replacing it, if “hangs” and other problems with sound are noticed. The sound of the card is boring, and wins little from the “built-in” on Realtek’e.

To equip a home DJ-complex or the workplace of a sound engineer in a small club will be helped by a professional-class board from Native Instruments. In its durable metal case hidden high-quality stuffing that allows you to connect up to three sources of stereo simultaneously. A pair of DJ turntables can also be used as signal sources - switchable phono equalizers are provided in the signal circuits. There are also three output channels, and besides them there is a separate control headphone jack and a USB port for working with a computer.The latter is not necessary - thanks to the Direct Thru device and its own power supply, Traktor Audio 6 can do without a PC, although its attractiveness is then noticeably reduced. Say what you like, and the ability to instantly load the necessary tracks directly from a hard disk or a large library of various effects are expensive.

Enough budget solution to work with sound, and from the eminent manufacturer. With two discrete D-Pre mic preamps and a Yamaha digital signal processor, the UR242 will not be ashamed of its “stuffing,” and the possibilities for a home musician will suffice here.

On the front panel of the device there are two XLR + TRS connectors (by the way, produced by Neutrik - this again comes back to the issue of accessories), which will allow connecting microphones (there is a phantom power) or a power tool, transferring the first input to Hi-Z mode with one click. Two more jack-in jacks are on the rear panel, and there are also line-out jacks and MIDI connectors. Analog adjustments: two “twists” of the gain for the front inputs, the volume at the line outputs and the output of the headphones are configured separately. Plus, the buyer receives license keys for Cubase AI and Cubasis LE (yes, with the help of the UR242, you can really work with sound on iOS devices).