Alternative for Asus Xonar DG / onboard for HyperX Cloud and HD 559

[191x7]

I had a system on an Asrock A770DE+ motherboard that used a VIA VT1708 audio solution and I added a Xonar DG.
The Xonar DG sounded better with the Creative Fatal1ty HS-800 headset. The Logitech S-220 speakers worked well with the onboard.

Then I upgraded the system, an Asus M5A97 R2.0 Evo board with Realtek ALC892 and continued using the Xonar DG for the headphones and the onboard for speakers.

Later I upgraded my headphones to the HyperX Cloud (64-Ohm, basically Takstar Pro80). The Xonar was great for that. And the onboard was OK for the upgraded Genius HF-1250B speakers.

In the meant time I got a good microphone, the BM-700 and a 48V Behringer Phantom Power + a cheap eBay USB soundcard to test something out.

A month ago I switched to Ryzen, the new Gigabyte X470 Aorus Ultra Gaming board has a decent onboard (ALC1220 with better amps), but I can no longer use the Xonar DG because the board has no PCI slots.

I have to use the speakers connected to the front audio jack and the headphones at the rear. Looks messy and the switching (in Windows) is not to my liking. Also, Realtek messed their driver download page. Bad drivers.

 

I need to add a better sound solution (for the headphones and/or the microphone) and I miss the sound of the Xonar DG. Cheaper AMP/DAC units aren't available here and I can't spend some 100€+ on such a device at the moment.

That makes me consider some PCI-E and USB soundcards. PCI-E wouldn't be that aesthetically pleasing (inside the case) while it would allow for a Xonar DGX which is the same as a DG + a 6ms delay from PCI to PCI-E conversion.

USB would be something like the HyperX Cloud soundcard, the Creative X-Fi Go or a Xonar U5 (the priciest).

 

As for my hearing and future sound upgrades - my hearing got damaged in the 2000Hz range and I need a 20-30dBA boost there (loud sound related accident) but I can still hear it and the higher frequencies.

Future upgrades - some better headphones, open style, some like Sennheiser HD 559, nothing expensive. One day, maybe, a better AMP/DAC, in a few years.

 

What audio solution would you recommend (in the $30-$70 range)? A Xonar DGX? Xonar U5? Something different?

Please don't mention the Fiio X3, X6, the O2 dac or the Siba, such cheaper DAC-s aren't available to me without ordering from China and paying for the import duties, taxes, fees etc.

[Exaco]

DAC-X6 ? ( Seems like available )

[191x7]

27 minutes ago, Exaco said:

DAC-X6 ? ( Seems like available )

They do not ship to Croatia. And if they did, the shipping would probably cost a lot.

[Exaco]

39 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

They do not ship to Croatia. And if they did, the shipping would probably cost a lot.

Are you sure? It should say "This item doesn't ship to Croatia" or something like that if it lets u to order it, u will be fine imo.

For example i live in Lithuania and i can order from Italy Amazon, UK amazon etc, the shipping is around 5-8eur and there's no extra fees such as import tax/customs since these are EU based Amazon, also delivery is usually very fast if u pay extra for expedited ( when i bought HD 598 it shipped from UK to my door in Lithuania in less than 24hours and i paid only 10eur for shipping ).

Also if ure wondering about buying from US i also bought HE4XX headphones from Massdrop ( USA to EU ), it was like ~11$ shipping, got here in like 1week and got to pay extra 38eur for customs/import ( product price+shipping ~156eur and total paid ~200eur with import tax ).

[Pasi123]

I'd probably get the Xonar DGX. I have both and I haven't noticed any difference between them.

[191x7]

16 minutes ago, Exaco said:

Are you sure? It should say "This item doesn't ship to Croatia" or something like that if it lets u to order it, u will be fine imo.

2

It says "Il venditore selezionato per questo prodotto non spedisce in Croazia." which is in orange so I think that says it can't ship to Cro.

[Exaco]

7 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

It says "Il venditore selezionato per questo prodotto non spedisce in Croazia." which is in orange so I think that says it can't ship to Cro.

It's weird that they can't ship to +-neighbour country but ships far further ( probably has something to do with laws etc ).
Hmm, try amazon.co.uk, amazon.de and see if its the same there.

[pas008]

why dont you have your speakers to the rear and headphones on the front?

 

that mobo is very capable

[191x7]

3 minutes ago, pas008 said:

why dont you have your speakers to the rear and headphones on the front?

 

that mobo is very capable

I have my speakers at the front and the headphones at the back.

 

The front panel does not feature the amplifier for the headphones and also the PC is at my right so the cables would have to go arrount the whole table to reach my left.

[pas008]

10 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

I have my speakers at the front and the headphones at the back.

 

The front panel does not feature the amplifier for the headphones and also the PC is at my right so the cables would have to go arrount the whole table to reach my left.

extension cable if need to be

but both those headphones could be powered by a potato