Amps

[Rychill]

I just had a quck question cuz i don't know much in the audio department, will an amp make sound quality better or does it have to be an amp/dac, or are they the same thing? Thanks for any help

[Jacona]

Amplifiers, for the most part, just makes the the sound louder.

 

DAC or (digital to audio converters) takes the digital signal from whatever source you have and coverts it to audible waveforms that you can hear.

 

Usually you need both in order to run headphones or unpowered monitors. 

Your computer already has a amplifier and DAC built into the motherboard. However sometimes they aren't ideal or does not get loud enough for you equipment, thus people buy Amps/DACs to solve a problem/bottleneck, or they're just delusional thinking more $$$ = better. 

[The Official Czex]

It has to be a DAC. It can be an amp with a USB or PCIe interface, as well.

[Guest Kloaked]

Yes and no, but mostly no.

 

DAC (digital audio converter) come in any device that outputs sound. It also has some form of an amp, but most devices just have a good enough amp for most uses on the market.

 

Amps just amplify the signal coming out of a DAC (duh). If it's a shitty amp, the sound will usually have distortion, interference or what have you. That rarely happens from what I've seen.

 

For example, if you're using typical headphones with typical specs, you won't need any external DAC/Amp setup most of the time. Mostly, what matters for your "sound quality" is the data that the sound is coming from.

 

What device are you wondering you need an amp/dac for?

[FAQBytes]

An amp (Short for Amplifier  ) is simply used to amplify the signals. It cannot make it better, but can make it worse if it is poor quality.

 

An AMP/DAC ( Digital to Analogue Converter ) would both interpret and convert what the computer puts out to what you would hear, as well as does what an AMP does.

[Rychill]

Yes and no, but mostly no.

DAC (digital audio converter) come in any device that outputs sound. It also has some form of an amp, but most devices just have a good enough amp for most uses on the market.

Amps just amplify the signal coming out of a DAC (duh). If it's a shitty amp, the sound will usually have distortion, interference or what have you. That rarely happens from what I've seen.

For example, if you're using typical headphones with typical specs, you won't need any external DAC/Amp setup most of the time. Mostly, what matters for your "sound quality" is the data that the sound is coming from.

What device are you wondering you need an amp/dac for?

Im building a computer and i listen to a lot of music so i wanted to get the most out of my computer andi was just confused if I needed just an amp or an amp/dac. Haven't decided on a nice pair of headphones yet tho. (I dont want to spend more than $200 on the amp/dac either)

[Guest Kloaked]

Im building a computer and i listen to a lot of music so i wanted to get the most out of my computer andi was just confused if I needed just an amp or an amp/dac. Haven't decided on a nice pair of headphones yet tho. (I dont want to spend more than $200 on the amp/dac either)

 

Most modern motherboards have good enough on-board audio that you shouldn't need one. Also depends on what headphones you have as some are hard to drive and get the most out of them.

 

EDIT: The main reason I have a dac/amp is because I like having the volume control on my desk and not through Windows. Plus I tend to jack up the bass frequency through a software equalizer and through my own experience, I've found that with my headphones it's better to have them through an amp.

[Rychill]

Most modern motherboards have good enough on-board audio that you shouldn't need one. Also depends on what headphones you have as some are hard to drive and get the most out of them.

 

EDIT: The main reason I have a dac/amp is because I like having the volume control on my desk and not through Windows. Plus I tend to jack up the bass frequency through a software equalizer and through my own experience, I've found that with my headphones it's better to have them through an amp.

Yeah that's definitely something i would be doing too so it might be a good idea to get one

[Guest Kloaked]

Yeah that's definitely something i would be doing too so it might be a good idea to get one

 

I can personally recommend these two as I own them both:

 

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E10K-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00LP3AMC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448680148&sr=8-1&keywords=fiio+e10

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fulla-USB-Dongle-DAC-Amp/dp/B00UB5GK4O/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1448680165&sr=8-6&keywords=schiit

 

The Schiit one works fine. I mainly got it since I carry a Surface with me as well as my headphones whenever I go to certain places and I don't wanna use my bluetooth headphones - and it's very small. You probably don't need that one though.

 

Those are dac/amp combos so you only need that single device.

[Rychill]

I can personally recommend these two as I own them both:

 

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E10K-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00LP3AMC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448680148&sr=8-1&keywords=fiio+e10

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fulla-USB-Dongle-DAC-Amp/dp/B00UB5GK4O/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1448680165&sr=8-6&keywords=schiit

 

The Schiit one works fine. I mainly got it since I carry a Surface with me as well as my headphones whenever I go to certain places and I don't wanna use my bluetooth headphones - and it's very small. You probably don't need that one though.

 

Those are dac/amp combos so you only need that single device.

Thanks

[SSL]

Get the headphones first.