Aluminum USB External Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac. Plug and Play No Drivers Needed. [Silver] (AU-EMAC)

Updated 5/11/15: Audio quality may actually be worse than your current setup, something I've noticed for a while but finally got around to writing here. Strong highs and clamped lows can make your music, videos, or games sound sharper and weaker, depending on what you're playing and your headphones. This isn't immediately noticeable and is clearly not severe enough to turn me or others off, but this should be taken into consideration. All other impressions still stand about 2 months later. --- + Build quality feels solid and compact with nice presentation + Virtually no setup required to use + Customer service is excellent (details below) - (Update 5/11/15) Sound quality can be worse than current motherboards/sound cards with weak bass and sharper treble - No custom Sabrent drivers to customize sound input/output processing This has a nicer metallic presentation and build quality than what is expected from the plastic, black one Sabrent also offers. It is fairly large, certainly larger than I could picture from the images (which are not, by any means, inaccurate), whereas the plastic version looks more combat. Otherwise, make sure you have a USB port that won't conflict with anything used exclusively by wireless receivers or external hard drives, though a USB extension cable is conveniently provided if needed. The sound quality going in and out initially sounds exactly as it should be: it doesn't sound any better or worse than it should for 48 KHz stereo output and 44.1 KHz mono input. Depending on what you're listening to and your previous setup for sound, you may find that this outputs noticeably worse. For a cheap and reliable device of this nature, this shouldn't be an issue to most though (since audiophiles should seek repair or sound card replacement). However, there are alternative sound adapters that may have better audio quality if this is something that is unacceptable to you. I do wish that there were a driver provided that extends the software-side functionality of this adapter since Windows' only option is Automatic Gain Control, but I appreciate that it can be easily initialized and plug-and-played. To say the least, this is absolutely phenomenal given the price, compared to several other general-purpose USB audio adapters that I also considered. Do note that faulty units with swapped L/R stereo channels still seem to be out there. I received the order quickly from Store4PC, and was disappointed to find that the issue echoed in many reviews appeared in the one I was shipped and that posts about the problem already being fixed didn't apply. However, I sent one email about the issue to [email protected], who posts on virtually every negative review about product defects. I didn't see any signs of follow-up from other customers, but the experience was actually very painless and helpful. I received a reply almost exactly 24 hours later notifying that a replacement would be shipped immediately. I received the replacement unit as quickly as the original one from the same seller, barring the weekend wait. The replacement fixes the swapped channels and looks and functions exactly the same otherwise! Very surprising and pleasant experience with this product and company. Will continue to update if there are any abnormal issues with longevity or build quality, but it appears to be a very solid product that is very easy to recommend.

***4.5 Stars*** I have a 13" Mid 2009 Macbook Pro running 10.9.5 Mavericks and this little thing works great on it. The aluminum casing for this is what got me to buy it since I wanted something that felt sturdy. After replacing my battery and cleaning the dust off inside my laptop, the sound was very low for earphones, even at max volume. That probably happened to a tiny mistake I made while cleaning. Instead of taking it to Apple to fix my sound issue, I opted for this instead. They would charge crazy amounts just to fix a tiny little thing for sure. I'm listening to music with my earphones as I type this out. 2 very minor things that could be annoying, one of which happens sometimes. I'll include that in the cons list here at the bottom. Honestly, those 2 things don't bother me at all. Pros: + Comes with an small white extension. Great so that it doesn't block your other USB port(s). I completely missed this and bought an extra cable. + Sound is great, if not better + Aluminum casing + Clearly labeled ports + Matches the aluminum finish of Macbooks + Better than taking my laptop to Apple's "Genius Bar" and having them fix it Cons: - [*1] Sometimes I have to select "USB Audio Device" as the output after powering on my Macbook. Easily done from desktop screen. - [*2] Left/Right audio channels are switched. Easily fixed on OSX Macbooks (and likely desktops as well). Not sure about Windows though. - Unless you're using the included small USB extension cable, it will block your other USB port(s) --------Notes-------- [*1] 1) Hold the "ALT/Option Key" and then click on the speaker icon on the top bar of your desktop screen 2) Under "Output Device," select "USB Audio Adapter" to output the sound to your earphones [*2] 1) Plug in this USB Sound Adapter 2) Click on Spotlight (top-right magnifying glass icon) and search "Audio MIDI Setup" 3) In the window that appears, make sure "USB Audio Device" is selected. If not, click it to select it. 4) Click "Configure Speakers..." on the bottom right corner of the window. Another window will appear that shows "Left Front" and "Right Front" buttons. Underneath each should be drop downs selections that include #1 and #2. You can click Left/Right Front to test the sound, which should be reversed at the moment. 5) Set "Left Front" with #2 and "Right Front" with #1. Click the buttons to confirm that the sound is now outputting to the correct earphone speakers. 6) Click "Apply" and then click "Done" 7) If you use the USB ports interchangeably, repeat steps 1-6 for the other USB port(s) on your computer. It saves the setting for the port you originally configured, but it won't recognize it on the other port(s) if you haven't configured that as well.

This thing looks nice and worked fine. But now, after only 2 1/2 weeks of use, it is totally dead. Don't bother with getting this. Update: Manufacturer/seller immediately sent me a couple of replacements saying that the one I got was defective. So far so good on the new one I've been using now for over a week. Can't beat the service and earnest desire to "make it right". If I don't chime in again, you can assume the adapter works fine. It has good clear sound, works easily and I like that the brushed aluminum matches my Mac BookPro. I would prefer an adapter that isn't so wide that it blocks both of my side-by-side USB ports so that I could plug in my speaker to charge it while using it. To allow for that this adapter comes with a USB cord with a normal sized plug so I actually can charge my speaker while using it. However that means there are a bunch of cords next to my computer which is a bit untidy. No biggie. Too bad the speaker/headphone jack on my MacBookPro broke and needs a whole new mother board to fix it. This is a good alternative to a +$300 repair.

I just recently have become interested in recording my bass guitar for personal projects and for fun, but I was unable to plug the headphone output from my amp straight into my 2018 MacBook Pro because it would only recognize this as an output, not an input. I knew a microphone or external audio interface would come with plug that would hopefully be recognized correctly, so I began looking online for suitable setups. Since I am only recording for fun, I did not want to spend $100+ on a true audio interface when I only need the basic recording and can then edit in GarageBand/Audacity. I decided to try out this sound adapter because it uses a USB input, which I hoped meant the computer itself would recognize it as both an output and input device. It did! I was able to plug my amp headphone output into the sabrent device and then into my computer via an adapter (seen in photo), which then allowed me to select it as an input device. As for the sound quality of the input, it sounds fine. I had to play with both the settings on my amp and in Garageband and audacity for it to sound right, but it was pretty simple. There is a bit of static that can be lessened by slightly moving cords and plug ins, but I usually hear that out of my amp anyway. You could probably edit out most of the static or at least reduce it a lot using any audio program on a computer. Overall, I was very excited that the sabrent worked for this purpose, as I know it is more intended for other sound purposed. I can't vouch for its longevity because I have only had it for a day, but I think it is well worth it for the price and I'm glad I tried it out!

This lovely metal encased USB external "sound card" pleasantly surprised me. The metal case is sturdy aluminum and not just a thin metal wrapping over plastic. The device uses a * single-chip * C-Media CM108 audio processor solution to handle the audio processing. Everything, and I mean everything, is handled on a single chip, including the 48 KHz DAC, USB hardware protocols, crystal clocking, synchronization, headphone amplification... everything. You can google more info on the C-Media CM108 chip to view all the technical specs. It's an impressive chip considering its low price and how well it can process digital audio. In summary, it was a simple plug-n-play operation to use it, no software required. I hooked it up to the USB port on my MacPro running OSX 10.9 and selected "USB Audio Device" in the "Sound" system prefs panel for audio output. What shocked me was the quality of the sound out of this little device, which was very good -- highly detailed but at the same time smooth and lush. No signs of any distortion or clipping became evident even when driving the audio output to its maximum limits. I think the quality of this detailed but smooth and lush sound may be due to the monolithic "one-chip" solution which keeps clocking time lags down to the bare minimum due to the ultra-short signal paths. I first tried the device with a pair of lightweight, inexpensive Panasonic headphones (32 ohms) and loved how well things sounded with a 320-kbps MP3 audio stream. OK, that was unexpectedly good, so time to push this one-chip CM108 solution a bit more to see what it can do. Next, I had it drive my large Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro headphones (250 ohms). At this level of impedance you typically need to start thinking about using a high powered, dedicated headphone amp that can fully "grab" the phones and make them perform to spec. While the sound coming out of the DT-990 Pros was a tad lacking, it wasn't as bad as I had expected. Very listenable with the bass just a little bit short in the area of fast attacks. No signs of any background hiss or distortion and plenty of volume, too. I'm impressed! Would I use this $7 USB audio device to power a pair of large, high-end headphones? No, that would be a disservice to what a pair of truly high-end headphone can deliver. However, for the $7 bucks I paid for this little gem, it's truly amazing. I'm going to see if it works on my Acer Chromebook, too, since it says that it supports Linux. If so, then it would be a way to get much better sound from an inexpensive Chromebook laptop. Downsides? Well, as one poster mentioned, it appears to only have a mono-microphone input. This may be a problem for people who want to use this device for making stereo recordings. Also, if you are into experimenting with Software Defined Radios (SDR), then the lack of stereo input means this device cannot handle an I/Q data input stream required to process SDR demodulation. Also, I noticed that the L/R channels appeared to be reversed in their positions. I suspect the L/R wires to the output jack may have been incorrectly connected by the assemblers in China. None of this is an issue if you you are just looking for a small, sturdy, high quality device to drive a pair of moderately priced headphones. It can do that in spades and does it extremely well. Highly recommended. UPDATE 12-05-2014: It works seamlessly with my Acer 720 Chromebook !!!! I simply plugged it into the USB 3.0 port on the right side of my Acer 720 Chromebook and then adjusted the volume level in "Settings". No software required. Sound immediately went from the internal sound jack to the analog output of this small USB audio device. I took the analog output of this USB device and then fed it into a small, dedicated headphone amp -- the Topping NX1 -- and then into my Koss DJ100 headphones. The sound was heavenly. If you are looking for an easy means of increasing the quality of the sound from an inexpensive Chromebook, I can verify that this device works without a hitch on an Acer 720 Chromebook. Sweet!

I was having problems with the sound on my laptop. At first I thought maybe it was the speakers or receiver I had it plugged in to, but after some troubleshooting and research online I realized it was the laptop itself. One of the things I read to fix the problem was to purchase a USB external sound card. I was skeptical if something like this would solve my problem, but I didn't want to have to disassemble my laptop to install a new sound card. Figured why not give an external USB sound card a try. I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend a lot, because I didn't want to be out a lot of money if it didn't actually solve my problem. Based on the large amount of positive reviews and the low price, I figured I would give the Sabrent one a try. This solved my sound problems and was easy to install and use. I have a receiver plugged in to this along with a pair of Polk bookshelf speakers and everything sounds great. I may eventually upgrade to something with better quality, but for now this works perfectly fine. Would definitely recommend giving this a try, especially for the price.

I bought this for daughter, who just got a new tablet laptop conversion thingy LOTS of $$$$$, and her head phones don't work with 3.5mm jack go figure. no sound in all 4 head set, except my USB set. HMMM I smell a conspiracy forcing me to buy new headsets. This, is the work of the “Capitalist Man”, they’re in collusion with the headphone companies jvc, rca, sony, ect, to make the public USB drones. yeah that's it! I'm sure of it! LOL. Anyway, i cheated those capitalist swine, by Supporting the “common man” and bought this device for under $10 and it WORKS PERFECT!. My daughter said all her headsets now work good! no static, no humm/buzz, no sound quality loss. I didn't have to buy a $20+ headset from the capitalist MAN. LOL OH YEAH Baby! its a win-win, for me the house bank! lol just kidding, I love conspiracy theories this device is aluminum housing and It WORKS GREAT on the our HP tablet/laptop conversion. MANY THANKS for the savings. Thx

As someone with a busted audio jack on my laptop, I've bought my fair share of USB sound cards. The sound card I currently use is a SIIG SoundWave 7.1 (NOT PRO). It is my favorite as it delivers loud sound with nice bass. However, that sound card is not currently prime eligible and so I buy it cheaper at an electronics store. This is the reason I was looking for alternatives. When shopping for a sound card, three things mattered. 1) Durability/Portability - I travel a lot with my laptop and wanted a sound card that could handle several trips and was also easy to carry around. 2) Extra features - although sound is the necessity, any extra perks would not be a problem! 3) Cost - I understand you could get better sound the more you pay, but I wanted something that produced good results and didn't dent my wallet! So it was a little difficult to pick. It wasn't difficult because there were so many different options, but rather, it was difficult because all of the sound cards in this price range seemed so similar. I ultimately purchased this since it was the only one with an aluminum body. Thought this was a nice feature and also added durability. It also was super cheap and wouldn't mind repeatedly buying this if I ever needed another one. After purchasing, I ran into too many cons... 1) The size is really awkward - It may look small, and it is! However, if you look at the picture, you'll notice the body is bigger than the part you plug into the computer. On my laptop where I have my USB slots right next to each other, It actually blacks just the edge of one slot over so I can't plug in anything. Although it is small, using up one USB slot and blocking another one really makes the size an inconvenience. 2) Heat? - In other reviews you'll notice some people mentioning this card having a heating issue. Some reviewers have even said the newer models don't have this problem. I like to think I got a newer model since it doesn't heat up often, but there are times when this does get scary hot! 3) How do you drop the bass if you can't hear it? - The sound is nice, but the bass is seriously lacking. My other sound cards have more obvious bass and so this was really noticeable for me. With all these, I would not purchase this again and am looking elsewhere. I initially came across this card because another one of Sabrent's cards (at the same price) got good reviews. I was hoping that this would be a better deal since it had the aluminum body, but I guess the aluminum body covers some inner workings that aren't as good as the one that was reviewed. Oh well on to the next!

Bought this for my Arctis 3 headset for my PC, because the microphone was buzzing very loudly at higher levels. Plugged this in, set the levels, and NO MORE BUZZING! For this I have to give it a 5/5

La verdad es que por el precio que tiene funciona perfectamente, me compré unos auriculares para el ordenador y el microfono no había forma de hacerlo funcionar con el jack único e incluso con el adaptador para separarlo en micro y auriculares que trae. Fue ponerlo con este adaptador a USB y todo solucionado y sin complicaiones, es conectar y lo reconoce perfectamente. Los acabados son buenos y no tengo ninguna queja sobre su calidad, aunque es cierto que los auriculares solo lo utilizo para conversaciones por lo que no necesitaría gran calidad.

Hoewel in de beschrijving van Amazon voor dit product staat dat ook luidsprekers er op werken, is dat niet het geval. Deze adapter is alleen geschikt voor een koptelefoon.

i haven't used or tested to some certain extend, but so far it seems quite good. I have no idea about its durability, time will tell, but now, i am pretty sure the sound is quite good...

Le son n'est pas distorsé, aucun souffle en toile de fond. Testé avec casque bande passante 7Hz/22Khz: Puis sur ampli marantz + Bose 2 colonnes 3 voies et 4 satellites. Du fait de sa conception 3d, la carte son perd un peu de puissance. Mais légèrement! La restitution sonore est fidèle. C'est un excellent produit.