Would a DAC help here?

HendoeTheJedi · August 26, 2019

I'm looking to upgrade my sound quality a bit. Currently running two separate PC's via 1/8" jack to RCA into an old vestax 05 pro mixer, then RCA to RCA into a pioneer receiver. The receiver powers my speakers and my headphones. I use the setup for gaming and for music. I believe I'm getting enough power to drive the headphones, (maybe I'll get a dedicated headphone amp at some point though), however both the speakers and phones get audible background noise at higher volumes. I was wondering if a DAC would help here? The problem is I would have to get a DAC for each of and they would both be plugged in between the pc's and mixer so it's possible I'll still get background noise from the mixer and amp itself. Would it be worth shelling out $500 for a couple DAC's or do you think there wouldn't be much difference in sound quality?

vogelspinnen · August 28, 2019

Receivers generally don't have much noise, so yes, there is a high chance it would help. If you want a quick way to test, hook your phone up to the receiver and see if there is any noise. If there isn't, the noise is generated by your mobo and a DAC will solve that problem.

theonlyratatoskr · August 28, 2019

Can you describe the noise? Is it like white noise or humming?

It might be the mixer depending on how old it is or it might be a grounding issue. Grounding hum can be solved with ground hum eliminators.

The best and only way to upgrade anything:

Find the bottleneck and then eliminate or fix it.

Otherwise you'll just be hearing better quality ground hum.

Turtle Rig · August 28, 2019

On 8/26/2019 at 3:15 PM, HendoeTheJedi said:

I'm looking to upgrade my sound quality a bit. Currently running two separate PC's via 1/8" jack to RCA into an old vestax 05 pro mixer, then RCA to RCA into a pioneer receiver. The receiver powers my speakers and my headphones. I use the setup for gaming and for music. I believe I'm getting enough power to drive the headphones, (maybe I'll get a dedicated headphone amp at some point though), however both the speakers and phones get audible background noise at higher volumes. I was wondering if a DAC would help here? The problem is I would have to get a DAC for each of and they would both be plugged in between the pc's and mixer so it's possible I'll still get background noise from the mixer and amp itself. Would it be worth shelling out $500 for a couple DAC's or do you think there wouldn't be much difference in sound quality?

Just curiosity what HP's do you have ? Some can be fine without a dedicated HP jack on a interface or DAC that is why I ask. Some just needed dedicated situation and the true sound and volume and seperation will only come with a DAC or a interface that has a dedicated 1"4 jack and what not.