If you're getting into an "externally powered" device (e.g. Modern computer PSUs tend to have very clean outputs (especially if you've got a high performance model from a fancy manufacturer), and modern motherboards tend to have good power sections on them too (especially if you've got a high performance model from a fancy manufacturer), so this is basically a moot point. In most cases the cheap USB audio devices are actually drawing from the PC's internal power source, so you're dealing with the same PSU at the end of the day, but that 5VDC supply is coming through the USB circuitry, vs what's delivered to the PCIe (or PCI) slots. The internal soundcard is also drawing power "via a DC source" and there's actually nothing that dictates said "DC source" for the external device will be less noisy (as some sort of generalization) than what's going on inside the PC. I would heavily disagree with these assertions, mostly on logical and factual grounds. My point is that we shouldn't generalize so aggressively one way or another, mostly because it comes down to arguing about the host interface as some sort of metric that can divine "fidelity" - its like debating if AGP or PCI Express will produce "higher quality graphics." This has all improved in leaps and bounds over the last 20 years, just as USB audio has also improved ("everything is better in the future"), but certainly there are understandable reasons where a basic USB audio device that relies on generic drivers may be preferable. This isn't to say "sound cards" are beyond reproach - they have their own share of considerations, like expansion slot availability, reliance on (generally speaking) proprietary drivers, funkiness with said drivers, etc. But as far as inexpensive USB audio devices vs PCIe or PCI cards, all of the above can offer great performance. Generally speaking, there's not a "significant good reason" to argue one way or the other here unless A) you're dealing with a mobile device wherein an internal PCI/PCIe card is out of the question or B) you're getting into nosebleed high end pricing (at which point we can start having estoeric arguments like: "can you *really* hear the difference and is that difference *really* worth the extra $10k?"). Overall I'd say "sound cards" have taken an awful rap over the last ten or so years, especially as hi-fi marketers have needed new and interesting ways to sell products to consumers new and old, and the "USB DAC" was born as a result of that (the short version: "USB DAC" is an inaccurate description - all of those USB devices are sound cards, but many of them don't offer much in the way of inputs or outputs, and some of them rely on generic drivers to further simplify things (which saves their manufacturers a ton of money on development and support)). What I mean is, if you're just going to use this card as a digital S/PDIF source, or even as a stereo analog source, there's not a lot to be said for something like ZxR over the "base" Z model, and the same goes for the Asus Xonar and HT Omega cards too. Generally cheap PC speakers are limited mostly by being cheap PC speakers - soundcards for PCs have been largely "good enough" quality-wise since the early 2000s (when "they" started getting serious about multimedia, home theater, and eventually hi-fi), and modern cards have minimal disctinction between "mid range" and "high end" in terms of quality as either digital transports or analog line-out sources - usually the more premium cards (like say, Sound Blaster ZxR) distinguish themselves by offering built-in headphone amplifiers, more inputs/outputs, or bundling other "stuff" in the package (like a microphone). DTS:X Headphone, Dolby Headphone, Creative SBX, etc), in addition to many surround sound receivers featuring Dolby Headphone functionality these days (this is a somewhat unwieldly option, but sometimes surround sound receivers can be had fairly cheap). Creative, Asus, Turtle Beach, Astro Gaming, etc) that offer various headphone surround simulacra in their drivers (e.g. There are also plenty of USB-based solutions from a wide range of manufacturers (e.g. Alternatively, many games have built-in "headphone mode" which applies some degree of virtual surround (this varies heavily from game to game). "Virtual surround" is no longer tied to specific hardware solutions - Razer Surround Pro and Creative SBX3 are available as stand-alone software packages that will bring their respective headphone surround simulacra to any HDA-compliant audio device (this means basically everything).
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