Sabrent 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.

If your speaker jack is no longer working, I can attest this is a good solution to get audio again. Works in Mac OS X. Music and speech sounds pretty good. But it's a bit quieter with not quite the same sampling as the Mac soundcard. Most people won't notice this. If you are an audiophile who edits or listens to lots of music, you may notice a difference as I did right away. This is a minor criticism because the USB interface has to probably act as a soundcard. A minor, but slightly noticeable difference. Bottonline I like it, its a good workaround. But if you're an audiophile you might notice slightly (very slight) reduced frequency response and about 10-20% less output volume.

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

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...

I brought this for my Chromebook because I've installed Linux on it and the sound doesn’t work. It’s small, well designed and simply works. The silver colour matches the silver of my Chromebook and the compact size means it hardly pokes out. The sound is pretty good and will only disappoint if you’re expecting Bose quality sound from a little USB sound card. The included extension cable is a nice addition and will allow you to plug this in if your laptop has other ports you need to get to on either side. This is a bargain price if you have a broken mic or headphone jack or need a second sound card, highly recommended.

Abslumment génial