CONFUSED

[Stygian Zenith]

So, lately on Youtube i have been watching some videos casually then a video about dac/amps can i am confused. Could anyone explain what a dac/amp does? Does it just make you audio louder? Please help, anyways thanks!

[WereCat]

Simplified... 

 

DAC is Digital to Analog converter, basicaly its purpose is to remove / reduce the noise. 

 

AMP is amplifier. Basicaly yes, being able to have a louder audio. 

[Letgomyleghoe]

a dac converts digital audio sources to analog, and an amp amplifys the source, usually you only need an amp if you have something that outputs a weak source like an electric guitar so that the signal can power speakers etc.

[Stygian Zenith]

@WereCat Thanks! This is very useful information. Btw should i buy a dac becaus emy ears are very sensitive evem at 7 volume

[WereCat]

7 minutes ago, Stygian Zenith said:

@WereCat Thanks! This is very useful information. Btw should i buy a dac becaus emy ears are very sensitive evem at 7 volume

Every audio link from the device to the user already has some DAC. You should ask yourself if you're happy with the audio you have or can you hear some noise?

Usually on some older motherboards for example, you could have an interference that would be audible in the headphones and adding an external DAC would help in removing it since you wouldn't have to deal with all the electronic inside the case causing the interference.

[rice guru]

6 hours ago, Stygian Zenith said:

@WereCat Thanks! This is very useful information. Btw should i buy a dac becaus emy ears are very sensitive evem at 7 volume

Only buy a dac if your current source gear sounds not clean. Only buy an amp if your headphones demand it. If you buy an external standalone DAC , you will need an amp. 

[Ahoy Hoy]

Rule of thumb for a DAC and amp for computers is

If you've currently got no problems or complaints don't need to buy anything
and

If its a modern decent specification motherboard you probably wont have any problems
 

[The Flying Sloth]

Quote

Audio when inside a computer is all ones and zeroes until it goes through something called a Digital to Analogue Converter or DAC for short, computers have DACs built in but they're not exactly the highest quality so some people choose to send those ones and zeroes out of their computer and into an external DAC whether it be standalone or inside an audio interface. Now, the same thing goes in reverse for microphones, your computer has things called Analogue to Digital Converters or ADCs for short that turn the analogue waveform from a mic into ones and zeroes. You guessed it, the ones inside a computer are steaming piles of monkey doo doo without decent preamps or the 48V phantom power that you need for running studio microphones so studios and many people recording at home use the mic preamps, 48v phantom power and ADCs in an interface instead. Now, those ones and zeroes are sent to and from the interface on a USB cable and since digital signals don't degrade nearly as much as Analogue ones do you don't have to worry so much about all sorts of things like shielding and interference.

Just pulled that off my Gear recommendation list and guide that you would be able to access by following the link in my signature...

 

As for amps, they just make things more powerful to 1, make it louder and 2, allow you to use higher impedance/lower sensitivity headphones.