Do I need an Audio Interface or DAC?

[Angelz&Airwavez]

Heres some background. I just purchased myself a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones, they sound absolutely fantastic. But I have a Dilemma. I plug these Bad boys into my computer either by using the headphone jack on my Logitech z506 speakers, or by the front USB. They get plenty loud, but there is noticeable noise at low volumes or when nothing is playing. I figured its just the crappy sound processor on my motherboard, so I need a solution. I am not in need of an amp for these because they get plenty loud already, but I need something to put on my desk to plug these things into since my PC is tucked underneath my desk. I am not looking to spend a bunch of money, I just want to get rid of the noise and maybe get a minor sound quality increase. 

 

The Behringer UM2 Audio interface looks like it may be what I need, but I am not sure. Feel free to leave any other suggestions. 

 

Thanks lads,

 

Joey

[Jacona]

I plug these Bad boys into my computer either by using the headphone jack on my Logitech z506 speakers, or by the front USB. They get plenty loud, but there is noticeable noise at low volumes or when nothing is playing. I figured its just the crappy sound processor on my motherboard, so I need a solution. 

 

This is a classic case of "try plugging it into the back" where the motherboard I/O is. 

[failblox]

This might not answer your question (sorry) but I've noticed that there's a bit of a hiss/background noice with my AKG K553 Pros as well when I'm using them within Windows.

 

The weird thing is though is that when I boot into my Linux installation, there's no hiss. :\

 

Just thought that'd be an interesting thing to point out.

[Guest]

This might not answer your question (sorry) but I've noticed that there's a bit of a hiss/background noice with my AKG K553 Pros as well when I'm using them within Windows.

 

The weird thing is though is that when I boot into my Linux installation, there's no hiss. :\

 

Just thought that'd be an interesting thing to point out.

 

Probably driver issues. Oh, joy. This just further reinforces my theory that most people with "EMI" just have bad drivers.