Review on Creative Labs Sound Blaster Play! 3 External USB Sound Adapter - Compatible with Windows and Mac - Plug and Play (No Drivers Needed) - Enhanced 24-Bit 96Khz Playback Upgrade by Juan Crane

Excellent USB sound card at an affordable price. By default, this card has microphone/side channel monitoring. This means that if you use a headset with this sound card, you will hear the sound from the microphone. This feature is very useful when using closed-back headphones. However, this also creates a quiet noise that is audible at all volume levels. Without a side channel, the sound card will still be noisy if you have very low-impedance headphones. I've found that the hiss is only noticeable when the volume control on my headset is set to 90-100%. To disable microphone/side channel monitoring: 1. Install the Sound Blaster software that came with your sound card2. Play Sound Blaster! 3 Click the [Mixer] tab in the Control Panel.3. Under Playback -> Speakers -> Monitoring -> Microphone, either move the slider to 0 or press the mute button to the right of the volume slider.