ImmersiveAmbientModecolor: #d0be44 (color 1)
Video Format : 22 (720p) openh264 ( https://github.com/cisco/openh264) mp4a.40.2 | 44100Hz
Audio Format: Opus - Normalized audio
PokeTubeEncryptID: 9ee25fa327d3b81ad991d07b955e4f84d5fac5b078e88b826fc5c9ecb4c0b062057d74539a080372ff5ebcd9888af4ae
Proxy : usa-proxy.poketube.fun - refresh the page to change the proxy location
Date : 1714378188028 - unknown on Apple WebKit
Mystery text : QmM0MjJpSXZDY1kgaSAgbG92ICB1IHVzYS1wcm94eS5wb2tldHViZS5mdW4=
143 : true
1,856,730 Views • Mar 14, 2023 • Click to toggle off description
Create your build at www.buildredux.com/linus
Your PC is finally done: the cable management is perfect, you found the ideal peripherals, and… you’re still using the onboard sound from your motherboard? That seems like another opportunity to upgrade! But watch out: there’s trickery afoot in the audiophile world - and we can prove it.
Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com/topic/1494022-this-should-be-ill…
Buy a pair of JBL Tune 510BT Wireless On-Ear Headphones: geni.us/hsER
Buy a pair of Skullcandy Crusher Evo Wireless Over-Ear Headphones: geni.us/tPfHp
Check out the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones: lmg.gg/PqRyv
Check out the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones: lmg.gg/XZaEJ
Buy an xDuoo XP-2 Pro Bluetooth DAC/Amp: geni.us/kxM8TQK
Buy an xDuoo TA-30 Tube Headphone Dac/Amp: geni.us/N9QNYQN
Buy a Thermaltake Smart 500w 80+ White PSU: geni.us/zFzsrkd
Buy a Corsair RM1000x PSU: geni.us/lzVro
Buy a Furman PST-2+6 AC Power Conditioner: geni.us/F0gDCM
Buy an APC UPS Battery Backup and Surge Protector: geni.us/pLZr
Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.
► GET MERCH: lttstore.com
► LTX 2023 TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW: lmg.gg/ltx23
► GET EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ON FLOATPLANE: lmg.gg/lttfloatplane
► SPONSORS, AFFILIATES, AND PARTNERS: lmg.gg/partners
► OUR WAN PODCAST GEAR: lmg.gg/wanset
FOLLOW US
---------------------------------------------------
Twitter: twitter.com/linustech
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LinusTech
Instagram: www.instagram.com/linustech
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@linustech
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/linustech
MUSIC CREDIT
---------------------------------------------------
Intro: Laszlo - Supernova
Video Link: • [Electro] - Laszlo - Supernova [Monst...
iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com/us/album/supernova/id936805712
Artist Link: soundcloud.com/laszlomusic
Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High
Video Link: • Sugar High - Approaching Nirvana
Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/UxWkUw
Artist Link: youtube.com/approachingnirvana
Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa www.instagram.com/mbarek_abdel/
Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/PgGWp
Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/mj6pHk4
Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/Ps3XfE
CHAPTERS
---------------------------------------------------
0:00 Intro
1:17 Onboard sound drawbacks
1:56 Is Elfidelity the answer?
3:13 Promises and reviews
4:33 How? And why?
6:01 Installation
7:44 A closer look
9:09 Results
9:40 Audio warning
11:08 It gets worse
12:11 Look on the bright side
13:16 Outro
Views : 1,856,730
Genre: Science & Technology
Date of upload: Mar 14, 2023 ^^
Rating : 4.964 (634/69,740 LTDR)
RYD date created : 2024-04-29T07:30:17.693255Z
See in json
YouTube Comments - 4,357 Comments
Top Comments of this video!! :3
This is some next level audiophoolery
5.7K |
0:33 I love how they just put a bunch of SMD capacitors in rows in series to make a staircase design, thinking to themselves "yep, this is what cool electronics look like."
517 |
More capacitors make it worse because the regulators in the motherboard are calibrated for a specific total capacitance, and adding too much moves them from their optimal operation region, and could even make them unstable
159 |
This series BEGS for a 'Real Solutions for Audiophiles' series. Where you review products that actually work and actually make a noticeable difference for a decent % of discerning people!
104 |
I've never seen such a good price-to-cost ratio on all these products
921 |
Unfortunatly, some in the Audiophile sphere will claim that the improvements can't be measured by machine, and they can "Hear" the differences. For some in the space "More money spent = Better"
870 |
Just to clarify a couple of things:
Capacitors are actually used to reduce noise and there is noise in the system, however motherboard manufacturers figured that out ages ago and that is why on the bottom left of most motherboard you will usually find some capacitors (usually golden). That section of the motherboard takes care of the internal audio and those capacitors filter the noise from the system before the audio gets to your headphones (no point filtering every component when you can just filter the output). Also audio interfaces are not too expensive and they really do make a big difference...
136 |
Seen something similar to these in a cheap electronics store near me, even the sales assistant thought they look like a quick way to potentially destroy a computer.
36 |
Please keep covering audiophile scams! I am an avid audiophile but I love seeing the science behind scam products (of which there are sooo many in this space)
1.1K |
For this topic, I would like to see Alex whip out the old whiteboard and explain:
1) How would one isolate the electrical noise sources from the audio interface
2) How the motherboard/DAC manufacturers are doing it
3) If adding these devices has anything in common with these tested and proven solutions
4) Show not only the sound/noise waveforms, but also the electrical signal traces from an oscilloscope.
396 |
Thanks for going into this WAY deeper, and cool to see the results from The Lab (TM)! I wasn't surprised that they didn't fix the noise, but I was surprised that they made it that much worse.
On a personal note, I've always hated onboard audio. No matter the brand, or model tier of board, I always had noise issues, like what you recorded, gaming was really bad, depending on where I looked, it made a different kind of noise, could almost play puzzle games blind folded it was so bad the noise type was dependant on the direction I faced. Best thing I bought for my PC is an Asus Xonar STX soundcard, and surprise surprise, no noise. On board audio is crap at best, and I've had boards that do the whole "better audio than everyone else" thing, but it's still garbage.
Would be good to see The Lab do a full comparison of low end onboard vs "high" end onboard audio, low vs high end sound cards, and then cheap vs expensive DACs. That would be a cool episode.
94 |
One important tip, audiophiles may hate it but if your problem is noise and interference on the onboard audio (which is definitely a thing) then even a little $20 USB DAC, or a slightly pricier optical one if you have SPDIF out, will almost certainly remove the noise and sound pretty similar. (Audio Technica makes one, though I think it's only USBC now, so might need an adapter if you don't want to take up a faster port)
13 |
I'd love to see a follow-up where you show how you could actually remove noise from a built in PC audio
473 |
Next time, use FFT (Fourier transform) to show the noise characteristics. We could see the frequency of the noise, and its intensity between the samples.
526 |
Love the direction you guys have gone with testing.
The price to cost ratio is so good!
36 |
I appreciate how you didn't just show how useless those devices are, but also provide an alternative solution i.e. better headphones and DAC/AMPs.
5 |
The fact it did "something" is actually surprising. I would also assume it would just do nothing, but the fact it made it worse - dang!
305 |
Debunking scams is fun and all, but now that Labs is spinning up, you should start reviewing low to mid range DAC's using your usual "for streaming and gaming" framework. That'd be excellent.
Testing things like noise floor, pre-amps, routing options (external & internal), driver quality.
I'm often get asked by newcomers to the audio space what to get, and I can't be like "get this $2000 audio interface, it's sick". Usually they come asking with a budget around $100-200.
427 |
Good work guys!
I'm sure many of us out here, that have ever even thought about these components as a "Hmm good or scam?", are now up to speed with the reality of them.
Thanks for all the time and research that goes on behind the scenes, some of which doesn't make it to print, but still consumed LTT time and $
3 |
@LinusTechTips
1 year ago
Have you tried power filters like these or any other audiophile product before? Let us know how well it worked below!
Buy a pair of JBL Tune 510BT Wireless On-Ear Headphones: geni.us/hsER
Buy a pair of Skullcandy Crusher Evo Wireless Over-Ear Headphones: geni.us/tPfHp
Check out the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones: lmg.gg/PqRyv
Check out the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones: lmg.gg/XZaEJ
Buy an xDuoo XP-2 Pro Bluetooth DAC/Amp: geni.us/kxM8TQK
Buy an xDuoo TA-30 Tube Headphone Dac/Amp: geni.us/N9QNYQN
Buy a Thermaltake Smart 500w 80+ White PSU: geni.us/zFzsrkd
Buy a Corsair RM1000x PSU: geni.us/lzVro
Buy a Furman PST-2+6 AC Power Conditioner: geni.us/F0gDCM
Buy an APC UPS Battery Backup and Surge Protector: geni.us/pLZr
Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.
699 |