$7 Soundcard Review / Test (Sabrent AU-MMSA)

[@metal571]

Now we're talking. Finally a high end Interface

[@damon_aaron]

Thanks for the nostalgia. That old Sabrent video was one of the first I saw when I discovered your channel during the pandemic. Back then I misheard your name and asked myself "who would name their child Badger?" 😂

[@Podcastage]

DO NOT contact anyone on Telegram that is claiming to be me. I am not giving anything away. They are scammers trying to steal your money and data. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJC1lX-hmJeJbK8 Created a follow up to my video today because I forgot to test a lav, I wanted to do a proper line level comparison, and I used some incorrect terminology.

[@g3cd]

My Tasty Chips GR-1 granular synth doesn't have an audio input so I tried one of those dead cheap sound cards … it works with line level inputs but it was quiet and sometimes crackling and noisy. At least now I understand why and will probably revive some old Focusrite 2i2 for better results. So your video DID HAVE SOME use for me, thanks! 😍

[@kylemitchell2130]

can you help me? i just bought one of these a few days ago and i can always hear stuff but it wont pick up my mic like 60% of the time but then it works sometimes i dont get it

[@blackraen]

Oh man, I've got a box of like 10, 15 of these things. Obviously not great for general studio work but they come in pretty handy in the weirdest situations.

[@RadOo]

To be honest,those sound cards are useful. Pretty much as described in video but I would add one thing. It's microphone input is way less noisy then all motherboards I have used so far.

[@RadOo]

I have Asus prime H570 plus, but I have UMC204 HD so I have no reason using my o board sound card

[@therussellmckinley]

This is the most sacrilege Podcastage video I have ever seen and I am happy to be along for the ride.

[@p-ulmusic]

since you've been doing the box throw compilations, i don't actually watch your videos anymore because that's the only reason i'm here. no: i think these fun videos are very entertaining, i've been watching every video for 3 years! I hope videos like this come more often, greetings from germany!❤

[@AsiaGrass]

Just looked your seven years old video and wanted to know about the actual situation about the usb stick. It's a lucky coincidence that you did one this year.

[@johnnymerchant]

A true blast from the past from when I couldn't afford a microphone. Thank you for this review!

[@Kragatar]

Shoulda plugged in the U-87 when you did the tube preamp test, just to maximize the absurdity.

[@ShinilPayamal]

Thanks for the video. I use a similar USB sound card (Live Tech Champ USB Sound Card HiFi Magic Voice 7.1CH) because my internal sound card went bust. I had bought the sound card from Amazon India at Rs. 290/- (approx. $3.65 ) in July, 2021 and now it is costing Rs. 370/- (approx. $4.65)! Please do more such videos.😊 P.S.: The Sabrent (AU-MMSA) costs a whopping Rs. 2,636/- (approx. $32.95) on Amazon India!!!🤯

[@theiammike123]

ahhh yes. the sabrent. 🙂 been watching this channel since you reviewed the BM-800 mics with sabrent-branded soundcard. time flies so fast.

[@SoundSpeeds]

Compatible with 64 bit floating point? Where's the button to make it sound good? Oh and... I FEEL CHEATED. I WANT A SONG!!!

[@uncle-english]

No wonderful I felt something was missing. Yeah... Bandrew skipped the music test this time. He should have sung something for us. 🙃

[@ShawnMilo]

Yeah, he should have run it through that Adobe AI processing to see if it would rebuild his voice from the scraps provided.

[@manikdesilva1]

I use this device and the USB-c version with my LAV MICS and they work great. Thanks!

[@Podcastage]

That's a great piece of data to have. Thank you for sharing so the next person looking for that application can learn from your experience. Cheers.

[@sloanNYC]

I keep one of these in my work bag so I can hook someone up in a meeting with a cheap lapel mic I also travel with. You REALLY pushed this further than I would have thought possible. LOL

[@democast]

How well will it power an electret lav which needs 1.8-3Volts?

[@sloanNYC]

@@democast USB A provides 5.21 volts but I don't have an easy way to measure how much this thing is delivering. I do know that it gets decent sound on a Rode smartLav+ with adapter or Lavalier Go...

[@TheREAPERBlog]

all the lower thirds say 12-bit. I feel like this sounds fine, as good/bad as other devices with the gain at 100%. better than bluetooth mics probably

[@BandrewScott]

Dang it. It’s 16-bit.

[@zeljkorilke701]

Suggestion - A small USB SoundCard under 20$ for Condenser Microphones - Hama 51660 (has built-in Monitoring ZERO LATENCY) works at 5 Volts, reduces noise significantly on 3.5mm jack (much cleaner sound than the integrated onboard audio) So yea, my condenser mic BM-700 sold under the brand Yenkee works pretty much perfectly now. There is clean white noise in the background, easily removable without damaging audio, so basically I think this is something you would recommend to the people who are on budget like me. Hopefully I helped many people with this information, please test it with BM-700 or BM-800, won't be dissapointed! Have a great day! ^_^

[@Podcastage]

Thanks very much for the suggestion, however, it's not available in the states. I also moved away from most USB sound cards because I found that chips were being changed without noting this in the listings. This altered the voltage and led to people getting cards that do not work with their electret condensers like the Bm800.

[@trev_mcnaughton]

I bought two of these at the start of the lockdowns because my steinberg kept giving me robot voice on macOS at the time.. both "worked" but were wildly different.. one was old stock and sounded great the other was pretty much ornamental. Worked great to keep me in zoom calls til the steinberg started working again.

[@segamanxero]

The voltage of these vary brand to brand, and sometimes even with the brand. I have one from Syba I bought of Amazon which I think is the one with the C-Media Chipset. The one I got delivers about 4.5v on the mic line. I remember seeking it out specifically because of the voltage as the ModMic needs as close to 5v as possible. I kept the Syba one I bought with my ModMic just for that purpose.

[@ReubenAStern]

Hey! This might be your MOST useful video. Perhaps even to your core audience once in a while.This thing is like an adapter. It will have more applications than you can imagine.

[@NiloVelez]

It would be nice if you could review the Sound Blaster PLAY! 3 to compare. It's also dead cheap (around $15 when on sale), and it has saved my ass a few times when everything else failed. 24-bit / 96kHz, ~93 dB SNR and claims to power up to 300 Ohms headphones.

[@culturedsquid8442]

I remember the days when you were actively using these, and I also remember the first time you reviewed the XM8500 and plugged it on the the computer through the 3.5mm jack. You've come a long way and you carried us with you through all of that. As an ancient subscriber, this made me feel very nostalgic too. Do more of this please, revisit your old videos by using the same equipment you did back then. It should be really fun.

[@LunaSolarys]

Finally! A budget Noise generator!

[@Bwalston910]

Sabrent has always been a favorite brand of mine, I wouldn't doubt this product would sound nice.

[@JJLee]

one use case i can see is building a minimal and cheap podcasting kit where a sony stereo lav like the ecm-lv1 is put between interviewer and interviewee. it both are tight on one of the two mics, it could work. plus you're able to live monitor. but that's it. of course, you can achieve as much without the sound card with a Samson Q2U but it cost more and you'd have to employ good mic handling.

[@EU_DHD]

I challenge you, Banderol to find a cheap to cheap-ish soundcard like this and a use case that would make sense considering the price and quality you get for it. No cheating and saying "people probably won't mind the poor quality audio"; I want you to set a bar for what is acceptable when buying something like this! Also include similar things as in this video where you show what you should not do with it. I didn't intend to come off all serious like this, just thought it would be a fun video.

[@steven_porter]

Where's the U87?

[@Tulishow]

For a laptop with broken headphone output, this works great on the go 👍

[@renatosevegnani]

I usually have trouble getting the microphone of a headset to work on notebooks with a single input, like cellphones, so these small soundcards are perfect to solve this issue. Also usually a bit less noisy than the notebook jack as it is not influenced by the fans or vibrations. I really like having this type of thing and would recommend for most people for normal use.

[@sinswithin]

If you don't want to use your PC's audio out even for standard headphones. I will say this thing is a beast for the price, I compared it against my Ifi Zen Dac for my speakers to test soundstage and such, it was as decent as my Ifi zen dac, then I swapped over to another USB (Creative) and onboard audio and the soundstage got sucked up. So this thing is definitely an improvement over baseline PC audio if you want a simple upgrade. It'll probably boost your headphones at least one level up (Not in DB but in sound quality) so I'd invest in this if you are using onboard audio.

[@halfsourlizard9319]

100% ... it's not the best thing in the universe, but it's $7 ... and it solves the 'wtf component noise am I hearing!?!?' prob.

[@Gorguruga]

My old M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card stopped registering any input signal from the mic. No idea why. I'm thinking of one of these USB soundcards as replacement just to be able to record mic for some songs. Think it'll do the trick?

[@JarnoSuni1]

I have also tested some cheap USB sound card with some old microphones. I found that the noise is much lower when I use my old phone's (Nokia 8) combo jack (with an adapter, if needed); in the very beginning there is some louder noise, but I suppose automatic noise removal takes care of it thereafter.

[@johnheiser2604]

Without fear or favour you review audio gear. Well done. As valid a review as any other, even though for fun.

[@theoutsiderjess1869]

I was always confused about soundcard so I really enjoy this video and now I know that I don't need or want one

[@Kongaslam]

I've been wondering how well this thing would do. Been working on a project of windows 98 on a compact flash card. Don't have any sound yet and still waiting on a sound card to arrive.

[@hotudogu]

I think you should try one of those v8 soundcard thingy dude

[@imark7777777]

For anybody with two cable headset+microphone or single cable headset+microphones, they make Y cables that split or combine although the Chinese Ebay market doesn't know how to label these things so you kinda have to trial and error and take a little bit of a chance that you're not just getting a headphone Y cable.

[@DangDale]

I actually bought this for audio interference like 7 years ago. I was having audio interference with a gaming headset and my laptop from 2013. It worked. AND I STILL HAVE IT. LMAO

[@TheHumanPalindrome]

This video made my day. Bravo sir!

[@kazuviking]

You could try the PROEL EKUSBX1 as the next xlr to usb thingy.

[@damolin77]

Great video Bandrew. How about the UGREEN Sound Card USB Audio .

[@cipriandiac]

At 0:13 you made a mistake, you wrote 12-bit instead of 16-bit. Congratulations for everything you do in the field of microphones.

[@Mr0Tubby]

Can you do the apple dongle analog input next?

[@evgen5647]

This is a similar sound card to those built-in into pc motherboards or laptops. However, it could have better galvanic isolation to 220V power. So for those who don't have their PC outlet grounded and hear loud 50 hz / 60 hz noise, this one could be a solution.

[@luciusblackmail8129]

Man your show is o entertaining and interesting and funny, thanks so much.

[@ww1www]

No stickers??? How much does this interface set you back?

[@MrML4L]

Ha I legit use this as a "clean" output to my RCP2 for SoundFX.

[@julioperez3936]

Great video . What above Creative Labs Sound Blaster Play! 3 External USB Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac. Plug and Play (No Drivers Required). Upgrade to 24-Bit 96Khz Playback for 17.00 in amazon

[@ShawnMilo]

Have a thumbs-up purely for mentioning Linux. 😎

[@ionrage]

Would love to see more of this type of experiments, are you gonna be upping the soundcards brackets ( USB or even above average PCI express soundcards ) that arent audio interfaces, just curious to what those devices can actually do.

[@Shidera5721]

USB DACs are generally more advisable then PCIe Soundcards, simply because the raw audio quality isn't any different with the same components and due to their nature PCIe Soundcards are exposed to very high EMI. Even good shielded sound cards do get influenced by this, especially in current gen gaming computers with high power GPU's. The sole advantage of PCIe is a lower latency (can be, but often due to the associated software isnt even better), but we are speaking of nanosecond difference at that point which most people don't care about either and if they do, they probably need more features from such a device then common PCIe Soundcards deliver anyhow.

[@Acts19quiz]

3:30 The Labtec actually still sounded worse than the previous microphones, as well as the later ones (like the Beyerdynamic MMX-3000). Anyway, I remember many years ago, the Sabrent card was a frequent staple in your gaming headset reviews, and you swore by them. Then there was a change in them, you noticed that the voltage they provided went down, and you put out a warning to stop relying on them or buying them based on your prior recommendations. Those old vintage Bandrew Says Podcast videos, unfortunately, got removed, for reasons I don't know (given that they had a lot of very useful information, like the history of Sabrent and the 'Big Trouble in Little Microphone' series). Still, nice to see you revisit these older topics.

[@Gorguruga]

That's what I was thinking. The sound quality seemed pretty decent on some of the other mics.

[@WutipongWongsakuldej]

My use-case of this kind of usb sound card would be .... to use it with Nintendo Switch. I have my Switch dock at work and it connects to a computer monitor with no audio output. I connect the sound card on the dock and a computer speaker on it. Of course I can connect it to the headphone output on the device but I think having everything connects to the dock is way more convenient. Well you have to research which one works with the Switch.

[@pingpongowo]

Classic content. Can't wait for this to get more views and better watch time than all your mic reviews.

[@thr3ddy]

You can set up a soft-phone call center for a few hundred bucks with these and skimp out on motherboards without built-in soundcards.

[@astrologyambience240]

Awesome !!!

[@0000song0000]

I used that to play Rocksmith in 2012 or 13

[@Vertshark]

You missed a chance. Start with the cheapest mic you have, work through a progression of more expensive equipment through the channel and then back down to input the final output through the sabrent S7

[@fluphybunny930]

Love these things. Everyone should have one as a spare.

[@78SE]

Sony C-80 review and compare, please and regards from Spain!

[@KuJoe]

I actually keep one of these in my laptop bag because it's a good solution for laptops with a single jack so I can use a $15 lav mic with my IEMs.

[@democast]

How well will it power an electret lav which needs 1.8-3Volts? What TRS wiring does it have/need?

[@lougou7698]

i mean atleast it's better then most onboard audio on motherborads and some of these can output more power (driving high ohm headphones better). but for mics i would not use this and dont even get me startet with xlr to aux or usb pls save and get a proper preamp. dont even need to get expensive something like the Behringer U-Phoria UMC22 is just fine for the most part for like streaming or making youtube videos.

[@vLef1]

Check out NE5532, AD828 and LM386 amps and PCM1808 adc. They measure very well and such a stack would cost like $5. I think they would work dreamy with dynamic mics.

[@vLef1]

I'm talking about aliexpress boards, since they're named just with their chips name.

[@DJZofPCB]

out of curiosity does it send the audio thru the 2 data pins or all 4? how about the mic and ground.. im seeing 5 cables. im wondering is this how usb headphones work? is it just this with different housing and direct solder leads from headset to soundcard to usb?

[@1fareast14]

for an easy zoom meeting setup with cheap lav, it's ideal

[@Behnam_Moghaddam]

This Video is going to all those " it's 7 bucks - will it not be suffice for what I need?" Thank you very very much!

[@Bright-Insane]

I think mine might be broken? I plugged my Pc38x's into it and could hear audio just fine but the mic doesn't work right and only picks up very loud sounds through the mic, and whatever it picks up also sounds choppy with static. I tested another headset mic on it and it did the same thing more or less. Should I get a new one?

[@toastpoint]

still sounds better than built in mics

[@PatrickLaFratta]

Are you able to monitor yourself with low latency while using this? It seems like a silly question to me, but I'm not sure why else he'd be wearing his headphones during this recording.

[@delta61]

Well this is an excellent solution if your audio jack is broken or non-existent.

[@delta61]

@Podcastage would you remind taking down this scammer?

[@Mr.C0ffee]

NO WAY!!! The Sabrent has come back! The king of budget interfaces. Just like the good ol’ days when the studio was just a regular untreated empty room and we were reviewing newer mics and phantom power machines 🥲. Humble starts. ❤ Ps: the OGs will know exactly what I mean. 😂

[@cyroz1]

i still use it for my nw700 with phantom power, it’s remarkably better than using the motherboard audio.

[@markalot]

It sounded fine, I'll buy 5 of them!!! lol, fun old school content.

[@zacharybishop6595]

Idk what’s with these sound cards, I’ve ordered 3 in the span of 3 years and every single one the mic input was dead on arrival.

[@v_shkafu]

At last, you finally found sound card which makes every mic (either cheap electret and expensive dynamic) sound similarly crappy and hissy. Yay.

[@LastofAvari]

It's a "My laptop's sound chip died and now I need some replacement" type of a "sound" "card".

[@halfsourlizard9319]

These things are cheap and plasticky, but they're amazing for the price/size/weight trade-off ... I've used them a bazillion times to solve the 'huh, this laptop only has one TRRS jack; how tf can I attach separate mic + phones?' problem

[@Podcastage]

Yeah it’s a problem solver for sure for that specific issue.

[@halfsourlizard9319]

@@Podcastage Just found your channel recently + loving it ... especially when you break out the U87!

[@JarnoSuni1]

Is that really 12 bit sample resolution only? Usually they have 16 bit, right?

[@JarnoSuni1]

0:19 you tell it is 16 bit, but the text in the bottom tells, other.

[@artysanmobile]

I’m so glad you’ve done this review. Sabrent is a great company but this product, from any manufacturer, is a bad idea. The converters that fit this budget are going to be an enormous letdown, regardless the application. It’s not even a size issue, rather it’s one of cost. Are years of unsatisfactory results really worth a saving of $30-40? I’ll answer that. Of course not!

[@Gorguruga]

My old M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card stopped registering any input signal from the mic. No idea why. I'm thinking of one of these USB soundcards as replacement just to be able to record mic for some songs. Bad idea?

[@melon7592]

I have a Deity D4 mini, it sounds grainy when I plug it directly into my motherboard mic hole, what soundcard or Audio interface or something should I buy to get good quality Audio from it? I already have a Fiio e 10k for my headphones, but it doesn't have a mic port

[@DJboutit2]

I have the grey version hooked up to my 2nd computer that is just used to run the radio automation software for my internet radio station Phat Beats Radio which is listed on all the big internet radio directories. Station is run on Radioboss with Stereotool with really good settings. The Sabrent is fed to a Kenwood KR 5030 receiver that has Polk Audio RT16 floor speakers hooked up everything sounds pretty good. The computer I am using is just Dell Optiplex 3040 slim version the sound card it has is junk and the Sabrent is like 40% to 50% better. I have never use the microphone hookup on this sound card I have my sky blue Tonor hookup to a 16 ch Mackie CR104 which is hooked in through the mic jack on the Dell. If anybody knows of a better USB sound card that is not to much left me know.

[@GoTellJesusSaves]

Yes... definitely need to decrease the grain with this one 😆

[@Podcastage]

Need to a do a lot with this one.

[@imark7777777]

I have heard 100% worse. Wondering if you're actually checking if the microphone input is mono/stereo as I have had occasion to need a USB sound card with stereo input and going by the reviews on Amazon mean absolutely nothing. I have a dual Electret mic’s sure if they're cheap they're kind of scavenge together but having a stereo microphone input is definitely something that is lacking that my old 2000s Compaq can do. The problem is it's usually not an advertised feature. Sending line level into a microphone input isn't so bad as long as you get your gain staging right.

[@WyattOShea]

Honestly considering the price it sounds great but overall it's decent at best when compared to an actual nice interface.

[@FilFee]

Holy crap, time flies.

[@blueap06]

Green, I thought nothing. Pink...ah, how do I put this.

[@andrepipo4542]

I want to get rid of hissing sound from my onboard audio, using a gaming headset microphone. Is this the best solution?

[@Podcastage]

This may help, but it may not. These sound cards frequently change with no notice, so I cannot say with any amount of certainty that it will help. If they haven't changed anything, it's very possible that it will help because this card provides a bit more voltage to the mic to function, and the sound cards components are not stuck next to all the other motherboard components. If you do end up deciding to pick it up, I'd love to know what you find.

[@andrepipo4542]

​@@Podcastage I picked it up, the mic sound is very quiet at 100% and with AGC on, so I used Equalizer APO to boost it to 12db. It still has a hiss but it's way better than my motherboard. I think it performs just like yours.

[@techmed-rainer]

Danke!

[@Podcastage]

Your generosity and support continues to amaze me Rainer. Thank you so much!

[@ReubenAStern]

Running a tube amp into that thing? Only a major league audiophile would have an amp like that. You must feel like you're dancing around on stage in a dunces hat. But to me it's a useful experiment because it still sounded fairly good. Especially compared to the the ones before which were barely acceptable to me. I'm not quite an audiophile, but I do like quality sound.

[@Laomz]

😂 i have buy a Marantz M4u. I think I try to plug my E945 directly into my computer. 😅

[@RinMinase]

My OCD for non-centered ports at 1:03.

[@itscarlosreally]

Ever get the feeling of deja vu?

[@MaxoticsTV]

I'm confused. What gain? Isn't it an analog to digital converter (ADC) with automatic gain control (AGC)? You can "gain" a digital signal? Do you mean analog amplification? You could control that with a cloudlifter (or as you did it), you know how I love those HAHA. But you can't control analog gain with that sound card like you can do with an audio interface with adjustable (and powerful) analog amplifiers. BTW, I tried a ($20) USB 24-bit device once and it was worse than the 16-bit because I felt the AGC was too hot. The question isn't what mic would work on it, but what would work best. In my real world, I only WISH most people used an external mic on ANYTHING, even a $7 soundcard. But okay, have yer fun ;)

[@Podcastage]

You are correct. It is not gain, it is level. The USB sound cards have a set input and you are just adjusting the level of the converted signal. Regardless of level setting, the signal to noise ratio remains consistent. The only way to improve signal to noise is to input a louder signal.

[@MaxoticsTV]

@@Podcastage If only we had a better vocabulary for both audio and video. There's no good word to use for what you were describing.

[@spainec.2526]

I bought this just to have another extra audio out for my pc.

[@DannerPlace]

SM7b was among the best (least worst) LOL

[@04Baby]

i thought it was just gonna be like a 35mb usb ngl

[@exitar1]

I can’t find the doobally doo 😂

[@bluetech2809]

I mean it sounds "fine" to be honest for non-audiophiles.

[@tcttvradio]

I can fix the noise, ur completely misrepresenting the science. You only need 44.1 for audio and 48 for video recording. To run an xlr to 3.5mm cable into a pc you have to change the shielding in the plug for a pc sound card and disconnect one of the xlr pins, you didn’t mention it. I don’t think any audio guys know about these changes to get mic sound into a pc. The price is irrelevant at $7, you should follow the science and actually get it to work. I’m going to take xlr straight into a new pc build and finally throw away external sound cards.

[@businessincorpoated]

tolerable is the perfect word

[@joecaroselli9945]

I would love to provide my detailed opinions on this innovative state of the art product, but I just can't. you see, the typical control across videos, a mic test with the U87AI is missing, and that makes it impossible for me to recognize this devices full potential. Obviously, I know it wouldn't be able to power that mic, I'm just joking.

[@mudrahel.philosophovich]

Noise level is ridiculous. Shure's noise is the most pleasant of all.