I did the deed and retired my Sound Blaster Play USB for a Fosi Audio DAC-Q4 on my modern machine. This is also the first DAC I've ever owned.

Well, technically that's not true, sound cards are DACs, this is just the first time I've owned a stand-alone one like this. The question is, was it worth the cost ($69) to switch?

For me, the short answer is yes.

I mean, this is really no different than just buying a better sound card. However, I have a few problems with my modern machine. My ASUS TUF B450-PRO Gaming on-board audio kinda sucks. It's very noisy, and it always bothered me, especially since I almost always use headphones. I also don't have any more internal PCIe to use a dedicated sound card, so I went with a Sound Blaster Play USB device and that solved my noise issues. All this time, that's worked fine, but I've been wanting something better. There are limits to what that Sound Blaster Play USB can do, even though it's a fantastic option for it's low price point. I would personally recommend it to anyone looking for good low-cost USB sound for a PC.

I went looking at external sound cards and DACs to see if anything caught my eye, and I just kept landing back on that Fosi Audio DAC-Q4. There are a lot of USB sound options out there at a wide range of price points, many seem to generally get good reviews, but I wanted to keep it all under $100. I came to the realization long ago that I never really use any of the bundled software with most sound hardware, personally, I find it pretty useless and bloated. I'm paying for so called "features" I'll never use. I also wanted physical bass, treble, and volume controls. I hate having to open up a piece of software to adjust such simple things. Lastly, I wanted an all in one option to take up less space. No need to use an external amp or speakers to plug my headphones into. Well, the DAC-Q4 did all of that for me with it's built in headphone amp.

Does it sound better? Objectively, I think it sounds much better than my Sound Blaster Play USB, but it should. Not becasue it's a DAC, but becasue it uses higher quality hardware. It's not like I'm some audiophile who thinks a DAC is the end all be all of digital audio. I personally think once you start getting above the $150-$200 range in terms of most modern PC audio, especially in the world of DACs, it's often more like modern audio snake oil than anything else. Sound is very objective, and most of the high-end DACs on the market all use one of the same 4 chips. I think it often comes down to the supporting hardware and amps being used more than anything else.

For me, I just wanted something different, that met my personal needs, sounded better than what I had, and at a decent price. The DAC-Q4 did that. I'm happy with it, I think it sounds great, and I love the fact I got those old Logitech speakers off my desk. Oh, and I didn't buy the IEMs. For now, I'm just going to stick the Sony earbuds and headphones I already own. They work good enough for now to hold me over until I can find a better set to use that I think I'll actually like. The more I looked at IEMs, the more I'm questioning if I would like them. They don't look all that comfortable since I don't like anything going into my ears. If you've ever use them, feel free to share your feedback. I've never used them.

386SX wrote on 2026-02-12, 17:20:

Changed for the hundred times my main desktop PC back to Raspberry Pi 5 from the i3-12100F I would use if the Intel Arc A310 ECO didn't have the most annoying fan cooling logic in history. Most probably the fan is not supposed to work without the Windows software part that control or try to control the fan speed, so even with many firmware upgrades and drivers using linux the GPU fan speed up and down in a random way and every few seconds even in the most idle scenario with 40/50°C. I would be happier to even use a Geforce FX 5800 Ultra in this moment for the probably less annoying noise. So I'll have to make a simple mod and connect the fan to the mainboard and set it fast enough to cover most usages in OpenGL.

I've heard about that. I was looking at cards to work around the poor performance with Intel integrated graphics in Linux (3D seems to perform the same as Windows, but basic 2D desktop use spikes the "blitter/3D" usage so high that it can't even play back a DVD rip without dropping frames). I'm hesitant to get an Intel card because of that performance problem and the A series' poor power management. I was looking at the Nvidia A400 at first, but reviews show that the RTX 3050 has low idle power consumption with two monitors. It depends on what I can get at a decent price because I don't need much performance (considering that I've been on integrated graphics for this long). I'd honestly be fine with a T1000 (that's what my laptop has), but that's the oldest generation of Nvidia card supported by the current Linux driver.

StriderTR wrote on 2026-02-14, 15:05:

I came to the realization long ago that I never really use any of the bundled software with most sound hardware, personally, I find it pretty useless and bloated. I'm paying for so called "features" I'll never use. I also wanted physical bass, treble, and volume controls. I hate having to open up a piece of software to adjust such simple things. Lastly, I wanted an all in one option to take up less space. No need to use an external amp or speakers to plug my headphones into. Well, the DAC-Q4 did all of that for me with it's built in headphone amp.

I don't like that software either. The quality isn't very good, and they always seem to have environment effects and "virtual surround" effects that sound bad enough to make audio completely unusable and randomly enable themselves. I used the EQ in my audio driver's control panel to compensate for a midrange hump in my speakers, but I never liked that because it was limited to that one computer. I bought a bunch of parts to build a notch filter, but I never built it. I need to some day, but I also want some speakers that fit better on my desk. I currently have those speakers laying on their sides under my monitor.

lti wrote on 2026-02-14, 19:17:

I don't like that software either. The quality isn't very good, and they always seem to have environment effects and "virtual surround" effects that sound bad enough to make audio completely unusable and randomly enable themselves. I used the EQ in my audio driver's control panel to compensate for a midrange hump in my speakers, but I never liked that because it was limited to that one computer. I bought a bunch of parts to build a notch filter, but I never built it. I need to some day, but I also want some speakers that fit better on my desk. I currently have those speakers laying on their sides under my monitor.

I'm considering incorporating this DAC into a DIY "sound station" to have all the audio from my DOS, Win 98, RetroPie, and modern PC feed into one 90's era looking stereo mini rack to sit on my desk. Right now, all of it is handled by a 4-way source selector to swap between systems, a cheap 2-channel mixer to combine the AWE64 and Wavetable Pi outputs from my DOS system, ground loop isolators on all the analog connections, and now this new DAC. It works well, but it's all very hodgepodge and messy.

If I do design some sort of all-in-one for my needs, I would build in a nice retro LED audio level visualizer, each analog connection would be ground loop isolated internally (no more external units), and I would slide the DAC in, as-is, for my modern system. All selectable with good old toggle and/or push button switches. Have everything I need in one package.

The more I sit here and think about it, the more I want to do it. Would be a fun project. 😀

I 'convinced' two netgear AX range extenders to create a wholly isolated wifi bridge, for use with an HDMI slingbox. (it uses TCP/UDP to broadcast a video signal over 'gigabit ethernet'.)

AX is up to 1300mbit, which meets the speed needs.

This is for an upcoming prospectus meeting for our shareholders and board members. The organizer wants a secondary display set up to mirror the main presentation, and the locale they have picked is not conducive to putting a super long cat5e cable on the ground.

I'll have unobstructed view between the extender nodes though, so I can put the secondary display anywhere in the room.

I just got done testing out my handiwork. I am pleased.

The test involved broadcasting around a corner and through a door.

Its all rainbows and sinshine.

Fixed my Z370M Gaming Pro AC motherboard.

I resoldered the dislodged inductor. I opted to use an iron for this which made it rather awkward given the location of the component. This repair won't win any style points, but it works.

Got it installed in a new case and am going to set this up as my workshop PC. Didn't notice until after installing it that I put the headstink upside down. But I don't need to install a GPU, so it's fine.

I shucked a 6 TB hard-drive from an external 3.5 USB disk that I got for "cheap" from Amazon, only to realize that it was an WD Blue SMR. Too bad I needed that extra disk for my NAS but I'm not going to use it for that...

Long gone are the days of finding a CMR Green in there...