Do I need an Amp/DAC setup for my PC?

[LordOfTime94]

Greetings all,

 

Yet another long, drawn out question coming your way:

 

I recently starting upgrading my audio equipment (new speakers, headphones, etc) and starting considering getting an Amp/DAC setup. My question (kind of obvious from the title) is whether I actually need this or not.

I've done a bit of research so far, and I'm not sure if I'd benefit from getting them right now. (I know there is a section in the FAQ of this sub-forum, but I still am not entirely certain)

I mostly just listen to videos and play games with some music thrown in occasionally (mostly listen to it on my phone), which my current setup does fine for, but at some point I am thinking of learning to do some audio/video editing, though this likely won't be for a couple years at least.

I am a fan of good audio quality, though I'm not sure if I'd consider myself an audiophile right now. 

The only headphones I have are some Audio Technica ATH-M50x's, which seem fine so far as I don't notice any kind of distortion, but I do plan to add more to the collection in the future.

My speakers right now are some Creative ones that I was given, which are decent, though at some point I would like to get some better quality ones (maybe studio monitors though I'm not sure if I'd need those either)

I don't plan on spending a lot on the amp/DAC if I were to get them, I've looked around and quite like the Schiit Stack (before anyone says, I've seen the comparisons between these and the Objective2, and I prefer the Stack).

So this whole nonsense boils down to the simple question in the title: Do I need them?

 

As always, any and all feedback is appreciated,

 

Regards,

 

LoT /)

[TheKDub]

Nope, integrated audio is fine.

 

 

If you want to get an amp and a dac, then go for it, it should improve the quality some, but it's not really needed.

[UnlimitedTMD]

if I were you I wouldn`t get a DAC, AMP or combination of the two. You should first tinker around with some software settings before buying that stuff, because thee decent ones come at a hefty price, while you won`t really notice the difference that much. Just use some software and go on from there

[The Official Czex]

No.

[Josephdalepi]

Greetings all,

 

Yet another long, drawn out question coming your way:

 

I recently starting upgrading my audio equipment (new speakers, headphones, etc) and starting considering getting an Amp/DAC setup. My question (kind of obvious from the title) is whether I actually need this or not.

I've done a bit of research so far, and I'm not sure if I'd benefit from getting them right now. (I know there is a section in the FAQ of this sub-forum, but I still am not entirely certain)

I mostly just listen to videos and play games with some music thrown in occasionally (mostly listen to it on my phone), which my current setup does fine for, but at some point I am thinking of learning to do some audio/video editing, though this likely won't be for a couple years at least.

I am a fan of good audio quality, though I'm not sure if I'd consider myself an audiophile right now. 

The only headphones I have are some Audio Technica ATH-M50x's, which seem fine so far as I don't notice any kind of distortion, but I do plan to add more to the collection in the future.

My speakers right now are some Creative ones that I was given, which are decent, though at some point I would like to get some better quality ones (maybe studio monitors though I'm not sure if I'd need those either)

I don't plan on spending a lot on the amp/DAC if I were to get them, I've looked around and quite like the Schiit Stack (before anyone says, I've seen the comparisons between these and the Objective2, and I prefer the Stack).

So this whole nonsense boils down to the simple question in the title: Do I need them?

 

As always, any and all feedback is appreciated,

 

Regards,

 

LoT /)

not til you go crazy high quality 800 dollar high impedance headphones

depending on your motherboard, you may not even have to then

[Rorgash]

kinda depends, but not worth spending that much money on really, and no amp needed for the m50´s.  for example my msi boards sound is complete shieat.. but no, amp/dac is for 300+$ headphones of good quality such as sennheisers HD600 or 650´s and others in that class.

 

it depends on so much of your other equipment, me for example is planning on buying a dac for around 700-1000$ after my next paycheck because my 1800$ speakers needs something better than my current shitty 120$ dac i bought when i just had headphones

 

 

i might recommend some cheap dac really.. just because mobo sound is usually colored like crazy but in the end probably not worth it.

[LordOfTime94]

kinda depends, but not worth spending that much money on really, and no amp needed for the m50´s.  for example my msi boards sound is complete shieat.. but no, amp/dac is for 300+$ headphones of good quality such as sennheisers HD600 or 650´s and others in that class.

 

it depends on so much of your other equipment, me for example is planning on buying a dac for around 700-1000$ after my next paycheck because my 1800$ speakers needs something better than my current shitty 120$ dac i bought when i just had headphones

 

 

i might recommend some cheap dac really.. just because mobo sound is usually colored like crazy but in the end probably not worth it.

I might add some high-end headphones/speakers at some point, but right now I'll probably just be getting some Sennheiser's or AKG's (some closed, some open), definitely nothing over £1000 unless I go into audio engineering or something.

My mobo is an MSI Z87-GD65, and I since the front connector on my case is broken, I run the headphones via the jack on my speakers.

[Rorgash]

before buying anything, i recommend going to an actual audio store so not some shitty electronic store, and listen to what you plan on buying because there are big differences between the sound even for things of "equal" quality, for example do you like warm or cold sound? do you want it to sound "right" or do you want it to sound "fun"  i listened to 4 different speakers around that cost and picked these because they produced the most clear high notes aswell as still going some ok bass.

 

I will also say this, there are LOTS you can and should do even if you buy some HD650´s, my cousin has some and even with a dac he has spent hours getting the equalizer just right for the music he listens to. so maybe you can start there to get better sound, get a program that allows you to play with the eq and see how it goes.

[LordOfTime94]

before buying anything, i recommend going to an actual audio store so not some shitty electronic store, and listen to what you plan on buying because there are big differences between the sound even for things of "equal" quality, for example do you like warm or cold sound? do you want it to sound "right" or do you want it to sound "fun"  i listened to 4 different speakers around that cost and picked these because they produced the most clear high notes aswell as still going some ok bass.

 

I will also say this, there are LOTS you can and should do even if you buy some HD650´s, my cousin has some and even with a dac he has spent hours getting the equalizer just right for the music he listens to. so maybe you can start there to get better sound, get a program that allows you to play with the eq and see how it goes.

That might take me a while.

When it comes to sound I like a lot of different things: my taste in music is all over the place, from EDM to classical, from rap to metal, I like anything so long as it is produced well and is high quality.

Mostly I prefer to have clear highs like yourself, though I do enjoy a good powerful bass occasionally.

Honestly, I have no idea what warm and cold sounds are so that's out of the window for now.

Don't have many audio stores nearby but I'm sure I could find one or two when I eventually do another upgrade for this stuff.

I'm probably going to spend a long time trying to sort out things like an EQ and finding exactly what I like, let alone trying to find equipment to test that can match it, so getting this likely won't be a good few months, if not years.

[Rorgash]

sounds like a good start, there are much to learn about many small things and lots of bs but also things people call bs that really isnt, i would recommend if you are serious about wanting good sound to go to a place where they have things set up for showing and listen, hopefully they have good stuff i go to a place about 30min drive from where i live where they move things around and help with anything so maybe im lucky.

 

2 months ago or so i went there and listened to a setup worth 100.000$ speakers worth 16.000$.. it was amazing but iv also listened to speakers half that cost and they sound nearly as good, very little difference, and then we have mine and compared to those for 9000$ again the difference wasnt huge, clearly there no doubt but not sure i find it worth the cost

 

 

So to wrap up, take your time, listen and enjoy. No need to rush after all much better to find a place and listen to what they have and some places have events where the makers of speakers and such come and how off their new stuff and explain how things work and why they are better and so on.

[LordOfTime94]

I'll be sure to look around for a decent shop then. Thanks