What DAC/AMP or Sound card should i get?

[Ritsukashy]

I am not willing to spend over 450 and i'm not asking for best at around 450 i'm just asking for the best in different price ranges since i'm going to have money that i might throw into other things and just want to know my best options at each price level. I like listening to music and i play a lot of shooters and rpgs and have some headphones that recommend a amp since with on board it doesn't sound bad just kinda low. I have also herd from people that virtual surround is really good for competitive play and that its best to have it as a main feature for the sound card since i never seen DACs advertise stuff like that. But i font really know and just want to have your guys input since i'm relatively new to this. BTW i do plan on getting a good pair of headphones later on but not now just in case some people tell me to go for that for sound quality since i know its a big factor too.

[Curufinwe_wins]

USB dac is by far the best option imho.

[Exploded117]

You just need to get your schiit together.

 

 

http://schiit.com/

 

 

They make some great products at all price ranges.

[Ritsukashy]

can you explain why a usb dac is best? ive herd the issue with noise for being inside the case but i have never herd anything that seems like that on any integrated sound cad or pcie sound cards. and i have used a dac once but like i said not really a difference other than basic sound signature but never herd interference or anything really

[EnsoZero]

Honestly if you want something that will last you a long time and you won't have to worry about upgrading in the future, Schiit Magni+Modi will be your best bet and it's just a bit over $200 all told.

[Ritsukashy]

Im still not sure on which of these is really good from the shiit products like is there a area where best price/performance is met? or do audio equipment not have that? also do i need to get a separate AMP? like i said im pretty new to this stuff

[Ritsukashy]

Honestly if you want something that will last you a long time and you won't have to worry about upgrading in the future, Schiit Magni+Modi will be your best bet and it's just a bit over $200 all told.

 

Hmm sounds good. but are there other options too? also any answer for the gaming aspect of things like if virtual surround actually helps and stuff

[EnsoZero]

Hmm sounds good. but are there other options too? also any answer for the gaming aspect of things like if virtual surround actually helps and stuff

 

Any good dac/amp will be good for gaming. Virtual surround is a gimmick more than anything, as you can't extract positional audio out of something that doesn't have it to begin with, and those games that do have it don't require surround software/hardware to work. 

 

There are loads of other options out there depending on what you feel is best to spend. My advice would be to get a Fiio E10K ($75) and a pair of Philips SHP9500($50-80 depending on sales) headphones and honestly you'd be set for a very long time. If you want a dac/amp setup that will be able to drive more powerful headphones then you can go with the Schiit stack I mentioned previously or Hifimediy Sabre DAC ($50) and JDS Labs O2 amplifier ($150).

 

The real keys are just what you're wanting to spend and how much quality you actually need for what type of gaming/music listening you are doing.

[Fluffinator]

I'd say get the tried and trusted O2 Dac/Amp.

[spwath]

None.

What headphones do you have?

[Ritsukashy]

Sorry for late reply I went to sleep now at work. But I mainly want a quality setup that will last me and be good enough for almost any headphones since I do plan on upgrading later. As for spwath I specifically asked to not just bring up headphones but if you must know i have the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. But like I stated I need something else because it's not that loud at all since my motherboard sound card can't drive it well enough and have same issue with other headsets too. Also I would like a increase to mids in music and gaming since that is also low. So far I'm really interested in the shiit option you mentioned like I said up to 450 so 200 for that is really good

[Ritsukashy]

Anyone have a say on the O2+ODAC? I've seen it brought up a lot and was wondering it it would be better than the shiit combo of amp + day you first recommend

[SSL]

Anyone have a say on the O2+ODAC? I've seen it brought up a lot and was wondering it it would be better than the shiit combo of amp + day you first recommend

 

The Schiit is a better value. The Magni is more powerful than the O2, but may have slightly more channel imbalance with sensitive IEMs. The ODAC is technically superior to the Modi, but the difference isn't likely to be audible under typical conditions.

[KaminKevCrew]

Anyone have a say on the O2+ODAC? I've seen it brought up a lot and was wondering it it would be better than the shiit combo of amp + day you first recommend

They're pretty similar, and unless you plan on using the hifiman he-6, you have no reason to avoid either one. 

[Ritsukashy]

Do I get a benefit from the O2+ODAC being day and amp in one? If not then I'll probobly get the shiit (It also has the bonus of being a funny way of saying you got shiit on your desk)

[Ritsukashy]

Thanks everyone for the input was told it affects nothing but convenience but the shiit looks better on my desk so it's all good

[Packdemon]

The Schiit is a better value. The Magni is more powerful than the O2, but may have slightly more channel imbalance with sensitive IEMs. The ODAC is technically superior to the Modi, but the difference isn't likely to be audible under typical conditions.

Which means that he could just pair the Magni and the ODAC together, those would make a killer combo for the price.

[SSL]

Which means that he could just pair the Magni and the ODAC together, those would make a killer combo for the price.

 

Whatever. Most people would want to save the difference between the Modi and ODAC and get a matching set to boot.

[EnsoZero]

Which means that he could just pair the Magni and the ODAC together, those would make a killer combo for the price.

 

But why pay $50 more for a near inaudible difference in sound quality?

[Packdemon]

But why pay $50 more for a near inaudible difference in sound quality?

It's a little bit cheaper (not by much) if you assemble some of the parts yourself or if you wait for a drop to happen on massdrop. This is by no means a huge deciding factor, but was worth mentioning.

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/39/odac-objectivedac/

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/80/aluminum-case-for-c5-c5d-or-odac/

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/50/endplate-kit-for-odac/

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/45/3-5mm-jack-for-odac-line-output/

[SSL]

It's a little bit cheaper (not by much) if you assemble some of the parts yourself or if you wait for a drop to happen on massdrop. This is by no means a huge deciding factor, but was worth mentioning.

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/39/odac-objectivedac/

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/80/aluminum-case-for-c5-c5d-or-odac/

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/50/endplate-kit-for-odac/

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/45/3-5mm-jack-for-odac-line-output/

 

Not sure that this answers the question.

[Packdemon]

Not sure that this answers the question.

It doesn't. I was just pointing out that you could get it for less than $50 more if you knew how. In which case, you'd be left up to decide if the ODAC is worth buying over the Modi 2 at $30 more, or perhaps he could go for the uber version instead. In the original post this guy did said his price ceiling was about $450, since every one of our suggestions fit his price range he could really go for anything.

[Packdemon]

Given his price point I'd simply say that he should go for either an Uber Magni + ODAC, or the JDS Labs Element (https://www.jdslabs.com/products/151/the-element/)

 

Although, I'm pretty sure that this is the non-uber version, here's Linus's comparison of the Schiit Stack vs the O2 + ODAC (@ 2:25):

[spwath]

Given his price point I'd simply say that he should go for either an Uber Magni + ODAC, or the JDS Labs Element (https://www.jdslabs.com/products/151/the-element/)

Although, I'm pretty sure that this is the non-uber version, here's Linus's comparison of the Schiit Stack vs the O2 + ODAC (@ 2:25):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32-X4sDzLXw&t=2m25s

Don't use Linus for things that have to do with audio

[Ritsukashy]

i think ill stick with fully prebuilt not a huge savings either also they seem pretty cool when i browsed their store since they have a product that even they say the added feture might not even be useful and state that it just does have it if you want to try it cause of that it seems like they just true about their gear. also that power connection in the front of the O2+ODAC is a real turn off for me since i would prefer to have it in the back with little extra cables showing

 

Sorry forgot to say i was talking about the magni 2 and modi 2 from shiit