Upgrading my average audio setup

[BadTopology]

Hi all, at the moment I generally listen to albums off Youtube and play games with the usb soundcard version of Steelseries siberia v2. My onboard is Realtek® ALC887 off an asus h87i plus, therefore I have no room to buy a sound card.

 

I'm looking for a better setup with mainly regards to music although I imagine some aspect of this would improve gaming too. I'm unsure as to what sort of combo of dac and headphones I really need, but I'm happy to spend around £200, maybe more, for something nice. I'll also invest in proper albums of things to get higher quality files too.

 

Any suggestions or advice? Thanks.

 

Edit: I'd like some closed headphones. No sound in or out! 

[jonadegraaf]

Hi all, at the moment I generally listen to albums off Youtube and play games with the usb soundcard version of Steelseries siberia v2. My onboard is Realtek® ALC887 off an asus h87i plus, therefore I have no room to buy a sound card.

 

I'm looking for a better setup with mainly regards to music although I imagine some aspect of this would improve gaming too. I'm unsure as to what sort of combo of dac and headphones I really need, but I'm happy to spend around £200, maybe more, for something nice. I'll also invest in proper albums of things to get higher quality files too.

 

Any suggestions or advice? Thanks.

Get the ath m50x or 40x, add a boommic from massdrop (if they don't have it anymore get the beyerdynamic custom one pro) and a dac/amp.

[mata-pombos]

asus xonar is good for sound cards but mainly you want one with dolby digital 7.1 surround sound.

[jonadegraaf]

Hi all, at the moment I generally listen to albums off Youtube and play games with the usb soundcard version of Steelseries siberia v2. My onboard is Realtek® ALC887 off an asus h87i plus, therefore I have no room to buy a sound card.

 

I'm looking for a better setup with mainly regards to music although I imagine some aspect of this would improve gaming too. I'm unsure as to what sort of combo of dac and headphones I really need, but I'm happy to spend around £200, maybe more, for something nice. I'll also invest in proper albums of things to get higher quality files too.

 

Any suggestions or advice? Thanks.

oh and the custom one pro's have a seperate mic you can purchase 

[jonadegraaf]

I'm not into that whole audio-setup-thing, but do yourself a flavor and get Spotify Premium or buy your music on iTunes or any other place that offers 320kBit/s music I would go for the ATH-50 and something like the Fiio E10K.

really, buying music on itunes isn't worth it imo. I find spotify perfect for my needs. 

[EposVox]

If you get a DAC instead of a sound card, it will improve your audio quality over your onboard mobo audio. You may also need it to drive some of the recommended headphones, anyway.

 

However, if you're not getting at least 320kb/s audio (I don't know if Spotify still supports that, or if you even have that option enabled), then none of this will make a difference, really.

[BadTopology]

That's a lot of input very quickly, thanks guys. Yes, I will be looking to get 320 bits audio. I'm wondering how big the difference will be compared to my siberia v2 even if I got the best headphones ever. Also, say I got a nice pair of headphones, say the mx50's suggested earlier, how much do I need to spend on a dac to get the most out of them?

[Guest]

Get the ath m50x or 40x, add a boommic from massdrop (if they don't have it anymore get the beyerdynamic custom one pro) and a dac/amp.

 

That's a lot of input very quickly, thanks guys. Yes, I will be looking to get 320 bits audio. I'm wondering how big the difference will be even if I got the best headphones ever. Also, say I got a nice pair of headphones, say the mx50's suggested earlier, how much do I need to spend on a dac to get the most out of them?

 

The dac/amp is thoroughly unnecessary for those headphones.

 

really, buying music on itunes isn't worth it imo. I find spotify perfect for my needs. 

 

I find paying $30 for a CD shipped from Japan perfect for my needs.

[ym1453]

For your budget a pair of beyerdynamic dt770 will work great youll probobly won't need an amp for them and they pretty much destroy the m50x in every way aside from portability

[BadTopology]

So just as a test I listened through my siberia v2's through the front audio i.e onboard sound rather than the usb soundcard. Other than being quieter, there wasn't a massive difference if any at all. I like to think I could listen hard enough to spot anything but I could be wrong. I'm looking at getting a FiiO E10k with either the MX50's or Beyerdynamic 770 80 ohms - would these be a big improvement or not really?

[Guest]

So just as a test I listened through my siberia v2's through the front audio i.e onboard sound rather than the usb soundcard. Other than being quieter, there wasn't a massive difference if any at all. I like to think I could listen hard enough to spot anything but I could be wrong. I'm looking at getting a FiiO E10k with either the MX50's or Beyerdynamic 770 80 ohms - would these be a big improvement or not really?

 

What over what? Either could sound better than the steelseries, but there are no guarantees. The Fiio would undoubtedly be a waste.

[BadTopology]

What over what? Either could sound better than the steelseries, but there are no guarantees. The Fiio would undoubtedly be a waste.

 

Sorry. I was asking how big the improvement the FiiO coupled with a nice set of headphones, for example the Mx50's or DT770's (or another even nicer pair) would be over my current siberia v2s and its usb soundcard/samey onboard sound. Could you explain why a dac would go to waste? Thanks.