Upgrading sound

Have a dell e6420

Great laptop, but the sound is terrible.

Looks like im limited to either usb or 54mm express card

Portability is very important. Im gonna be traveling a lot, so a big external sound card is not an option.

Really don't want to spend more than $150US either. What are my options?

 

My favorite band for the buck recommendations for a good DAC are the FiiO E7 and E10, you can also go for the E17 it has a better DAC than the E7, but the E7 is already pretty decent.

If all you want is an external soundcard for a pair of cheap headphones, a 25$ turtlebeach USB soundcard will do the job quite nicely. Moving this to accessories.

 

As tijo saysAs Tijo said, Fiio offers good performance to cost. There is a slight issue with the Fiio E10, whereby there can be a slight delay in replaying sounds if the feed falls 'silent' (e.g. If you play music, pause so nothing is coming through, then resume, it may take a fraction of a second, though still noticeable, to start playing through the E10). Accoridng to NwAvGuy it should only be a 'minor annoyance except for certain applications like live chat/VOIP where the E10 could clip off essential parts of speech'. - NwAvGuy: FiiO E10 DAC

Are you going to be using it with headphones or a speaker as a dac? If only as a DAC, you could think about looking into the Behringer UCA202, which retails for around $30~. It has issues as a headphone output, because of the relatively high impedance, however it will function perfectly well as a DAC.

Alternatively, as Tijo also mentioned, you could try the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro II, which retails for around the same, but is more portable. NwAvGuy has also reviewed this, and mentions a problem with a 'loudness' option which can be disabled in Windows. However where I disagree with NwAvGuy is that it is adequate for the money - certainly better than a lot (if not most) of in-built laptop sound cards. NwAvGuy: Turtle Beach Micro II

In my opinion, for a combined headphone amplifier + DAC, I would be agreed with the E7 or E17.

 

If portability is important, I'd stick to the Turtle Beach. E7/E17 IMO adds unneccesary bulk, especially if you'll never use the self-powered headphone amp function (and honestly, you don't need it with the majority of current PMP's + a sane headphone)

 

If you can stretch your budget a little, the Leckerton UHA 4 is the best portable dac amp in the sub 200usd price range.
If these rated a 10 the fiio e7 would be a 5 and the 17 somewhere in between.

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I might dispute that given what both have inside. The Fiio's are redundant enough: The Leckerton may simply be tossing more audiophool into the equation.

 

I have an 8 usd ultra portable dac i got care of you. For the most part it works well - until you hear something at the level of the Leckerton and with the right headgear /speakers.


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I think you can safely assume I have

 

I'd call that bollocks - if that statement came from anybody else

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This might be right up your alley:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/acc...able-audiophile-grade-multimedia-speaker.html

Benefits to you:
- USB and 3.5mm inputs (USB like a DAC/sound card, 3.5mm as a headphone amp)
- portable speaker, can replace the ones on your Dell
- very portable: only the cube + USB cable (for charging and DAC) and M/M 3.5mm cable if using analog source
- self-powered, USB charging
- within your budget

Just thought I'd add this as an alternative to the Fiio, but with a built-in speaker. If you don't need the speaker, then I'd say the Fiio is the way to go...

 

Wait. What's wrong with your 3.5mm ports?

Yes, and Logitech makes them in abundance in a variety of sizes to satisfy all.

 

Well he did say portability is key, and assuming he's talking about a broken 3.5mm port as well (since his mentioning USB or express card), then the Nuforce Cube checks all the boxes for him. It's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, it's a USB sound card, and it also provides another 3.5mm port should his on-board be broken.

As well, I thought of Logitech, but I found only one on their website that is portable and takes audio over USB: Z205. However, it's somewhat big, looks to be the size of a TV remote control. All the other portable speakers are 3.5mm input only.

 

Sorry i forgot to update this

Got lucky and was able to snag a used audioquest dragonfly dac for $100.

Amazon.com: AudioQuest DragonFly Asynchronous USB Digital-Audio Converter (DAC): Electronics

http://www.stereophile.com/content/audioquest-dragonfly-usb-da-converter

Music sounds amazing now.

 

Can anyone comment on the sound quality of the Fiio E5 vs. Turtle Beach Micro II with Alessandro MS1i?