DAC? EQ? Receiver? halp

[Vfo]

I bought some speakers and an amplifier during Black Friday, and now I'm looking for a few extra things to complete the entire set.

However, I am new to speaker setups, and would like some guidance to fit things together properly.

 

Audio source is mostly PC. I have a Xonar Essence STX for my headphones and I love it. Would you use that as source, or go digital and get a dedicated DAC/Receiver or something?

I want to be able to set EQ presets for different genres of music and movies. (10+ band EQ would be preferable, just like the STX)

I would like to be able to have at least 2 input sources so I don't have to switch cables, but simply change the input channel, but this isn't a must.

 

Amp price is around $1k, speakers $600 each (2x floorstanding)

Budget is whatever gets me a great result. I'm not looking for a 'cheap' solution if it's not good.

I enjoy being satisfied with how it sounds just as much as I like the contents of the track.

I have noticed people going crazy when I mention I want a way to use an EQ, but I simply love tweaking it to exactly my liking for each different genre.

 

 

I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Thank you in advance.

[spwath]

Just hook it up to soound cards, you probably don't need dac unless you notice interferance

[Donk Quixote]

Normally I would say you don't need an amp unless there is an issue you can hear.  I use this article as a reference, where they did a double blind test and the participants couldn't distinguish the sound from a $2 onboard motherboard amp and a $2000 amp.

 

However if I had spent that much on a amp and speakers I would want to make sure it's getting the cleanest source possible.  The ODAC revB is the one I would get.  You can read about it here.  It has the objective measurements showing that it's as good or better (meaning less distortion, good seperation, delivering as close to exactly how it was recorded) than any other amp.  Right now it's $120 on Massdrop, $150 from JDS or Mayflower if you want it sooner.  You could also get it combined with the O2, the headphone amp the guy designed.  

[spwath]

Normally I would say you don't need an amp unless there is an issue you can hear. I use this article as a reference, where they did a double blind test and the participants couldn't distinguish the sound from a $2 onboard motherboard amp and a $2000 amp.

However if I had spent that much on a amp and speakers I would want to make sure it's getting the cleanest source possible. The ODAC revB is the one I would get. You can read about it here. It has the objective measurements showing that it's as good or better (meaning less distortion, good seperation, delivering as close to exactly how it was recorded) than any other amp. Right now it's $120 on Massdrop, $150 from JDS or Mayflower if you want it sooner. You could also get it combined with the O2, the headphone amp the guy designed.

You are using the word amp in place of dac

[Donk Quixote]

You are using the word amp in place of dac

Oops.  Hopefully my post is still comprehensible. 

[Vfo]

I'll check out those articles you linked. Thanks

 

Could you put some recommendations for what would be needed if I'm not using the STX?

 

I would like the flexibility of being able to use USB from phone or laptop or other PCs to connect and have the same sound.

Keeping the EQ settings in the loop without it being integrated into the source (soundcard in this case).

 

Receiver? Preamp? Dedicated EQ or built-in?

 

Thank you for your suggestions!