If you’re going to give your company a name like Schiit, you need to have complete confidence in the quality of your products to avoid the obvious comparisons. In this case, the company has earned the right to a playful name, and the rest of its website is filled with humorous descriptions of its audio products, because they speak for themselves with high quality designs that there really is little left to say.
Today’s review features the Schiit Fulla 3, a DAC that is being marketed towards PC gamers who want to up their audio game, and with a low price of entry and well-made product, should be a welcome addition to any gaming setup.
What Is A DAC?
For the unfamiliar, DAC stands for Digital-to-Analog Converter, and it takes all the digital data that makes up sound or music inside of a computer and turns it into an analog audio signal, which is sent to an amplifier. When we listen to music on our phone, PC, laptop, or virtually any other device, what we hear is the analog signal that has been converted by a DAC.
Unfortunately, not all DACs are created equally and with the same end consumer experience in mind. A smartphone or laptop, depending on its target market and price point, may have only the most simple of DACs that provide a sound that is good enough for phone calls or watching videos on Youtube, but is severely lacking when it comes to providing a good music experience. Using an external DAC like the Fulla 3 can fix this issue, providing an optimal listening experience that is otherwise impossible to get.
Here is where the Fulla 3 shines, as it is available at a perfect price point for entry hardware, is USB-powered, and provides better quality than the one can get from their laptop’s headphone output, while also allowing for recording at a higher quality than the same laptop’s onboard microphone input.
A Great Start Into High-End Audio Fulla 3
The Fulla 3 fills a need for the competitive gamer that they may not have even noticed was lacking. Often when we think of high-end gaming PCs or laptops, the conversation is dominated by video cards, FPS, and quick inputs, with audio often taking a backseat in terms of priority.
In the esports scene, or even when we are trying to climb in ranks, clearly hearing an audio cue for an incoming ability or the footsteps of an opponents and knowing from where they are approaching can drastically change our reaction time and choice of strategy.
Competitive gamers are not the only ones who could benefit from superior sound, as immersion can be greatly affected where a game’s environment and world-building require high-quality output, and can provide the missing step in providing a mind-blowing experience. Some games place a major emphasis on sound design to help bring a user into the world they are creating, and it is a shame to lose out on the vision of the creator simply because your hardware may not be up to snuff to produce the best sound.
The Fulla 3 offers an entry point into the world of high-quality sound at the reasonable price of $99 USD, which is quite inexpensive in the world of audiophile equipment. The size of the product is quite small, packing its goodness into a 3.5 x 2.5” space, and it uses USB for power rather than needing its own dedicated electrical outlet, and the Fulla 3 specs can be found here.
Is It For You?
With its low price to entry, the Fulla 3 from Schiit Audio is the perfect way for gamers to begin experiencing the best possible sound in their games and from their music. Its small size will make sure it is never cumbersome or in the way, and Schiit has a long reputation of offering great audio products. If ever there was a perfect launching point to get into high-quality audio, this is it.
A Schiit Fulla 3 was provided for this review and readers can click here to make their purchase online.