Increasing my laptop's sound volume output to a headphone connected thru a 3.5MM audio jack; USB soundcard or headphone amp?

I recently switched from listening from external speakers connected to my laptop, to using a headphone. I find that the headphones, even at the highest volume level does not produce a loud enough sound. This headphone can produce acceptable quality sound volume when plugged in to an MP3 player, even producing sounds that I deem too loud (MP3 player is powered by just 1 AAA battery). The volume issue just happens when I connect it to my laptop, where even at the highest volume setting of Windows 7 and the media player I am using, the sound is just not loud enough. And I've tried different media players, all at highest volume setting.

What's the cheapest device that I can buy to increase my laptop's sound volume output to a headphone connected thru a 3.5MM audio jack? Should I get a USB soundcard or a headphone amp? Brand/type/buying tips are welcome..

Details:
OS is Windows 7
Soundcard is an integrated SoundMAX sound card (SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio); using Windows update-provided drivers

 

The fleabay soundcards should provide sufficient volume.

I have one of these for example, and it is capable of driving an MMX 300 to ear-bleeding levels.

 

I had the same issue and purchased a Fiio E7 and love it. The DAC does wonders compared to on board audio. The only problem is if your music is low bitrate. You need to have 320kbs MP3 or lossless for it to really shine. It can be used as an external sound card when connected via USB or a headphone amp with mp3 players.

 

It depends on your headphones, but something like this will do:

Amazon.com: Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter, C-Media Chipset, RoHS: Electronics

If your headphones are hard to drive (high impedance) then you will need a real USB DAC like the uDAC-2.

 

The real benefit of headphone amps is the quality of the attenuation. This is I think what a lot of people don't get.

With a very high-quality analog amp, you can turn the digital back-end to the max and let the amp attenuate that. On the other hand if you're digitally attenuating a signal (e.g. controlling the volume in Windows, and feeding a quiet signal out), then in most cases you can expect some information loss.

This is why in most cases when you want maximum sound quality out of a computer back-end, you should have a decent-quality soundcard feeding a maximum line-level signal into a high quality analog amp with the best attenuation you can get - and continue to let the headphone amp handle the volume.

I have an E7 too among other amps, and while I like it as more than a soundcard, I'm not sure - due to the size among other things - whether your average guy will find it more useful than a USB soundcard for regular computer listening duties. It does have bass boost as an additional feature, but it's prone - like most examples of this ilk - to added distortion.

I'd say for the OP's use the C-Media stuff (as the card I also linked to is based on - forgot to mention that) should be fine. My particular $10 soundcard exhibits no obvious nasties as some mobo audio can for example and goes plenty loud. And you also get a mic socket.

If you want a 'name' for assurance - I might just have gotten lucky with my particular card in terms of quality control for example - go Turtle Beach. They have similar cards under 30 bucks.

 

As a general rule. I'd say if your headphones cost more than $100 (not including Beats or other noise canceling headphones) and you care about the quality of your music(bitrate) consider a amp/DAC solution. If they cost less get some sort of cheap adapter.

 

Id go with something like this as the best answer.

You can get more volume out of a usb soundcard on the cheap but the quality of sound it produces will be around the same as the onboard or possibly worse if its a really cheap product.

Any decent in-line amp is going to be decently expensive and your still using the quality from the onboard so may as well spend the bit more and get a dac/amp combo unit.

At about $100 for a solid entry level performer its money well spent if you have a pair of good headphones to use it with and will use it on a regular basis.

 

Edit the Windows Registry or mod the driver *.inf.

For my BC MBP 13" 2010 NT 6.1, I simply searched the registry for 'n02Out' and edited accordingly. Worked for me, though you may need to find sufficient documentation in order to locate the DWORD for headphone output.

However, it is always recommended to get the hardware-specific, updated driver for your device before pursuing alternatives.

V4R.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to look for the USB soundcards that were recommended here.

My headphones (Amazon.com link: Sony MDR-XD100) are not that expensive and are below 20 USD, so I'll probably be getting a USB soundcard on the same or lower price range.

Know of a website with an article or guide that can help me find out how to do this for my soundcard?

 

fiios e5 should do exactly what you want... priced for around 20 on amazon its a steal