Clarification about DAC's

[The_true_doge]

I recently moved from Realtek onboard audio to the ASUS Xonar DGX, I find the audio to be warmer and less tinny than the onboard however the sound floor is still quite terrible the popping when starting games is quite agitating something I didn't really have with the onboard most likely caused by the next issue... the drivers, the xonar drivers are horrendous, DPC latency for them is a disgrace and I find that they push the windows driver framework execution times which is a clear sign of a poorly written driver, I moved to the Unixonar drivers however latency is still pretty poor compared to the other drivers in my system and the occasional popping still remains.

 

Thus I am inquiring about DACs and some confusion i have with them. I will be exclusively using headphones with their own inline Amp, do I still want/ need a DAC with a built in amp (or separate amp)? Is it correct that DACs do not require drivers ever? 

 

I would like to return the DGX get a DAC (or combo DAC/amp) to get a better soundfloor and remove the drivers from the equation. Could anyone point me in the direction of a solid DAC in the 40$ range with the knowledge that nothing is needed beyond headphone output (as either a single 3.5 jack or L/R coax)

 

Also how does a DAC receive the digital signal? is it over the USB or do you still need to have the onboard or soundcard enabled to provide the signal. 

 

Actually I just remembered I have intentions on using a headSET if possible, having USB for inline power and a 3.5 jack for the headphone and separate jack for the Mic.

 

Im guessing DACs do not support Mic input, would a decent compromise be using the onboard Realtek just for the Mic input and running the headphone jack through a DAC would this be possible?

[Guest]

A USB headset or USB inline headset will bypass an external DAC, onboard sound, or soundcard.

[The_true_doge]

sorry I should have clarified it isnt a USB headset it just gets power through USB, the actual audio signal is coming from 3.5mm jack thus through a soundcard, DAC etc. I am aware that pure USB headsets bypass other Audio hardware as I had a set and due to this the Mic volume could not be made audible in windows 8 or 10