You already have 2 DACs.

>>53376999
Would that not be one, the motherboard

>>53377014

What?

>>53376986
Turn the volume up with no music playing. What do you hear?

>>53377054
yeah nothing accept at the highest point of volume. However i've been reading things like seperation of sound etc is a factor. Im looking to pretty much get the best at a reasonable price. (modi 2 from schiit). so even a slight increase in sound quality would justify it for me

however if it does nothing but clean the signal it would be a complete waste

>>53377101
>separation of the sound
That's not a thing your DA converter effects. What do you think "separation" is in sound anyway?

>>53376986
Your onboard has a DAC.

>>53377014
Motherboards generally have two but you should use the backpanel one.

>>53377101
>however if it does nothing but clean the signal it would be a complete waste
"Cleaning the signal" is relative to what you have now. Separation is something that is perceived and it's not a quality of a sound. Perceived "separation" is basically just frequency response. Your headphones are what matter here, not the device doing a DA-conversion.

Amplifier/DAC checklist:

-Is it too quiet?
-Is the output impedance too high (fixable by equalization)?
-Is there noise/EMI or hiss to it?
-Does it sound distorted as you start to crank up the volume?
If the answer is no, don't get one.

if you want peace of mind, get a discrete DAC. It's not something you "upgrade" in audio though unless the one you use now is simply broken and causes noise/EMI/hiss.

>>53377451
Seperation of left and right channel, which does happen in dacs ofcourse
>>53377514
thank you for the tips

>>53377535
>Seperation of left and right channel, which does happen in dacs ofcourse
Well this could be understood in various of ways.

In electronic circuits this is called crosstalk. It's the interference between two signals measured in dB below a full scale signal. This is the part your DA-converter and amplifier have an effect on. Crosstalk is often so low that it will not have any effect on the sound.

In acoustics left and right channels are two separate sound sources. In loudspeakers and to some degree in open headphones the channels mix in the room and you are hearing content from left channel with your right ear and vice versa. In in-ears and closed back headphones this doesn't happen.

Separation could also be considered as the response of your system; how you perceive different frequencies present in the signal at the same time. This is affected by frequency response and the largest factor here are your headphones. The DA-converters and amplifiers often have response orders of magnitude more linear than your headphones. Not to mention there really isn't an agreed target for headphone linearity.

And in the audio you listen to, it's the mixing engineer that is responsible for panning the instruments to the channels and often across them. Here your gear is not a factor.

>>53377696
Very informative. Crosstalk was what I was talking about indeed. However I did not realize that this is a non-issue in pretty much all devices.

I realize now how little it will improve. The faintest hiss that I have will be pretty much the only thing.

Might just get one anyway because i'm pretty much retarted.

Thank you all for your input

>>53377757
>However I did not realize that this is a non-issue in pretty much all devices.
Even if it is an issue, it's really hard to hear. I can't recall a single headphone output measurement where crosstalk would be the problem limiting fidelity.

>The faintest hiss that I have will be pretty much the only thing.
That could be fixed by a discrete solution, likely DAC but it could be the amplifier too.

>Might just get one anyway because i'm pretty much retarted.
I did even though I knew how little to none it would improve on anything. I just like to know that my gear is good and that it's a part of my setup that won't need to be upgraded depending on the PC I use.

Do realize that the Modi is merely a DAC. It's not a headphone amplifier like the codec on your motherboard is. Using Modi(or similar device like ODAC) only is not capable of driving a load(headphones). It's merely a device to convert the digital signal into analog at a fixed volume output level. If you want to use a DAC like Modi, you'll need a headphone amplifier for your headphones like Magni.

>>53378361
Yeah getting one for the peace of mind and hopefully removing that slight slight hiss is what im going to do most likely.


I realize it is only a DAC. I already got the magni 2 so a modi 2 will look nice as well.

>>53377514
Why does the front DAC always have so much static?

>>53378804
My guess is that it is less shielded
but the people that have been informing me in this thread are much more knowledgeable than me

>>53377514
>Motherboards generally have two but you should use the backpanel one.

Isn't it the same one just split and extended to both the front and back? If not, why? What's the point of making two?