Some chips will also clip prematurely when implemented with a +3.3V supply only, rather than with an additional +5V - which a lot of people may never actually notice if they don't tend to crank the master volume all the way up.
Audible interference and poor low-end response seem to be the most common complaints. Current mobo audio codec: Realtek ALC887-VF cheep biostar a320mh, no static or crackling, works as it should Phone which I use for portable music listening: iPhone SE (the old one), also works fine Headphones: Superlux HD 668b If I were to get a Fiio Q1 MKII, would I get an audible improvement. Implementation for these onboard audio chips does seem to vary a lot. As their anti-alias filtering also has some limitations, 96 kHz is probably the best choice overall. The D/A side is fine, but the ADC suffers from compromised dynamic range and other signs of high jitter. Speaking of clock generation, my experience with Realtek chips (whether ALC269 or ALC898) has been that you better stay away from 44.1 kHz and multiples on the recording side. ADCs need clean clocks far more urgently than DACs, which have some tricks up their sleeve that help reduce the effect of jitter dramatically. And I Want to bet alot of it can be fixed with an EQĬlick to expand.Mind you, there clearly is something very b0rked in the clock generation of this UR242 for whatever reason. Sure its noticeable but not a big amount. I somewhat attributed it to my Xonar DG sound card with DAC and AMP built in not being up to scratch but lets be real that really isn't the case as my built in Onboard Asus Crystal Sound 2 audio is only a small downgrade from the Xonar DG card. Look how I got a HD 58x and the difference between the jubilee and my old HD 555 is small. (well I do it has to do with buyers remorse) Also burn in isn't real it is your brain adjusting to the sound, I have no idea why seemingly educated continue to spread propaganda and audio myths in the audiophile community.
I constantly have to remind fanatic money wasting clowns on head fi about this all the time. I really liked this article by Toms and it sums it up perfectly, they had a bunch of senior audiophiles in this blind test and none of them were able to tell which was the $2 DAC and the $2000 DAC