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| Thread ID: 104162 | 2009-10-19 00:38:00 | DAC or Sound Card? | Thebananamonkey (7741) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 821857 | 2009-10-19 00:38:00 | Hi all. Long time, no see. I'm thinking of upgrading my computers sound capabilities at the moment. I'm going to buy a pair of Sennheiser HD448's and am wondering whether my money would be best spent on a discrete sound card or an external DAC/Headphone amp. I've been looking at the Asus Xonar DX, which I've seen reviewed glowingly. May be a stupid question, but can a DAC and sound card coexist? It seems to me that the DAC would make the sound card redundant, but the question bares asking. Thanks all. Banana |
Thebananamonkey (7741) | ||
| 821858 | 2009-10-19 03:42:00 | soundcard digital out => DAC input => headphone amp. or just use the soundcards onboard DAC (ie use the card to do the lot) No guarantee that external DAC will give a NOTICEABLY better quality I wouldn't complicate things, just get a reasonable sound card & possibly external headphone amp. I guess you will be playing compressed MP3's after all, you cant make a silk purse out of a pigs ear (garbage in, garbage out) |
sroby (11519) | ||
| 821859 | 2009-10-19 04:18:00 | Playing AAC 256kb/s 44khz and VBR. Would use WAV/Apple Lossless but want to be able to use MP3's for my iPod. I may just get the soundcard and use that to drive my headphones. They're only 32ohm, so can't really justify getting a discrete headphone amp at this stage. Maybe for when I'm a big person with a big person job/dollars. |
Thebananamonkey (7741) | ||
| 821860 | 2009-10-19 04:22:00 | One of the factors for a DAC over a soundcard is that I'm most likely moving overseas at the end of next year. A small DAC would be able to make the trip with me and play with whatever laptop I decide to buy. My rig is freaking huge, so I think it will stay at home. | Thebananamonkey (7741) | ||
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