DAC/Amp

[dukeReinhardt]

Sorry guys, another sound-related question. Choosing a solution seems to be the toughest decision in terms of building a rig. I have googled extensively, but my question is somewhat specific.

I have a crappy xtreme audio that I want to dump at the first opportunity. My needs are for a preferably pcie or external solution that delivers noticeably better quality than any realtek onboard or xtreme audio, that also has a headphone amp attached or included. Effects are unnecessary (though welcome), portability is also a non-issue (though welcome), and I'll mainly be using headphones to listen to unaltered music, with occasional gaming and film viewing. Also the solution has to be ~£100 or lower... which is where it gets hard. Current headphones are the sony mdr 7506 and sennheiser hd280 pro, with the aim of upgrading to hd650.

I've considered these as well as combinations of them:

FiiO (E7, E9, E10, E17)

Xonar (dg, stx)

Boutique soundcards that are pretty expensive.

Creative, and the rest of the Xonar line don't seem to fit the bill unless paired with an external amp. Too expensive. DG sounded like it would fit the bill for now, but it frankly sounds like not much of an upgrade. If I spend money, I want it to mean something. E10 sounds nearly perfect but the output bit depth/sample rate seems to be lower than onboard, and it also crackles and lags I hear. Finally most of the other solutions seem to be overkill/too expensive, especially as I'll be going with the humble 280s for a good while yet.

Suggestions please? Any answer will be much appreciated ^^

 

[006409]

i was in the same position as you and ended up going with the Xonar and it has so far beaten my expectations. This said, one thing to bear in mind is that the ASUS drivers are crap, instead i use the 3rd party unified Xonar drivers that are perfect and continuously evolving. Its not cheap but if you like your high quality sound its epic, ive even re-riped every CD i own in WAV as bad rips show up :L

I hope this helps

 

[dukeReinhardt]

Hmm yeah, just going for the all-in-one solution is tempting. And I didn't know Xonar had custom drivers, that should be helpful.

So I'm assuming you mean STX, right? Definitely a consideration but I would really prefer a ~£100 solution to match my ~£100 headphones. The STX seems to be going for £130+ which is unfortunately a bit above my range, but thanks for your input.

 

[006409]

There are, asus dont seem to be the best with updating/supporting drivers but they do make some nice teck. brainbit.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/ are the latest ones that run all Xonar devices.

I am yeh, it is pricey i know, i spend a long time in your position but in the end its just down to instincts, that is kinda annoying with how cash is these days... :L

NP, i hope you get something thats right for you man

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

I would save up 70 more dollars and get the Xonar STX I'm in the states so don't know your pricing or what you guys use but on newegg the stx is 170 USD and its 200 on NCIX

 

[Perturabo]

Since you say you are thinking of going to HD 650s if you bought beyerdynamic dt 990s instead you could save enough money to get the STX. I have those headphones and that card myself and was blown away by the quality. The STX is the best card for driving headphones, you will never need to replace it unless it dies.

 

[dukeReinhardt]

Lys0l, the STX is ~$220 (cheap in UK) including postage. Little bit pricey!

Thanks for your input Peturabo. I basically plucked the HD 650 out of the air, as I'm only knowledgeable about IEMs and closed cans in the sub ~£100 range. 990 looks to have better bass and treble, but mids/neutrality are more my thing.

Damn I'm such a hobo. Lys0l is right, I should save up. At least that's been cleared up!

Cheers for the input guys

 

[PEXON]

Mids and highs fatigue me, bass FTW. Lol. Bro, save up for the STX or a Xonar DX and a Little Dot Amp. What type ot music do you listen to?

 

[dukeReinhardt]

o.o little dot amp? other than making me feel very poor, this thread's also opened my eyes to awesome new ideas haha. i've gotten some funky recommendations from head-fi as well. i think the consensus there was to save money too.

music? mainly jazz, blues, folk, hip hop, rock, electronica, without excluding any other genre or sub-genre either. don't really know how it correlates, which is why i left it out

. i like vocals, and bass too, but apparently the sound i like is flat, with tight bass, whatever that means. my favourite portable IEMs are Ety HF5s and at home I'm using the HD 280 pros (haven't been touched in a while, which is what made me think about amping in the first place!).

 

[trazomfr]

[font=arial, sans-serif]To properly [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]enjoy the [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]HD650[/font][font=arial, sans-serif],[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]the [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]FiiO [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]models [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]can give [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]good [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]results[/font][font=arial, sans-serif].[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]But [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]in [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]its price range[/font][font=arial, sans-serif],[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]the [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]ST[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]/[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]STX [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]has no [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]competitor [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]and [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]if you [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]can afford it[/font][font=arial, sans-serif], save [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]for her.[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]Headphones [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]as [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]HD650 [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]deserves a good [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]DAC [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]and[/font][font=arial, sans-serif]amplification [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]to avoid having [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]a muffled sound [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]lacks punch [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]by [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]the amplifier.[/font]

 

[PEXON]

Lots of people strive for the flattest sounding can they can buy, as this makes everything very list-enable, e.g. the highs and nice, and the bass isn't too pronounced. I personally like a bass-heavy headphone, simply for the type of music I listen to. Dude, you're from the US right? Little Dot amps are epic and they are cheap over your way too!

 

[dukeReinhardt]

oops, didn't see the replies ^^".

i'm from the UK

. so anyhow upon careful consideration, i might not even shoot for the hd 650... it took donkey's years choosing the hf5s and hd280s. i'll look at dot amps again ('cause i've never heard of them) and probably take more time to build up some cash for flat headphones and a good setup.

thanks again for the replies!