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Are DAC's worth the money? I'm starting to think my laptop has a crappy soundcard because nothing sounds right to me
Only if you have headphones that cost more than 200 dollars
Yeah an external dac/amp combo is nearly universally better than any on-board solution available in most laptops or motherboards.
The /hpg/ thread over at >>>/g/ can probably answer any questions about it.
also this >>63355938
>>63355938
I have ATH-Meme50x's
>>63355969
Thanks mate
Is an external amp/DAC combo going to sound better than my iPod Classic? I have some mid range beyerdynamic headphones (DT 990 Premium version)
>>63355975
Won't even make a difference
>>63355859
that's not a dac.
>>63356612
whatever
>>63356596
ok
>>63355975
You'd be better off spending your money on better headphones than a dac
But if you ever plan on upgrading, buying the dac now won't hurt
OP here, gonna paste the advice I got from /g/ for anyone wondering about getting a DAC
>just get a fiio e10k if your soundcard is shit. Unless you plan to upgrade to better headphones then I'd say get a schitt stack or o2+odac for headphones that need amping
>If the problem with the sound is the onboard audio, the difference in quality would be night and day.
>The only thing a dac changes is helping you hear the sound signature without any disturbance. If your headphones sound muddy, it will sound muddy regardless. Any review you read on the internet is exaggerated, if there are any improvements it's very marginal.
>>63356689
Yeah, this is what I'm now thinking. I intend to buy both, it's just figuring out in which order
>>63356689
I'm thinking of getting a pair of Grado SR325e's, do you have an opinion on them?
>>63356760
Sennheiser HD600's are much better for the price point, although you will definitely need an amp for those.
>>63356731
Or better yet, get a FiiO Stack.better compromise.
>>63356827
Awesome, thanks
Only with good headphones, only with flac
mainly if you're making your own audio i would say they're almost a must eventually.
if you're not, probably your headphones that sound weird desu. i dont know how you can tell the difference unless you're let's say, mixing a kick drum and listening to it 500 times over.
IMPORTANT TIP TO SAVE NOOBS A BUNCH OF TIME
This is the only DAC you will ever need: https://www.jdslabs.com/products/46/standalone-odac-rev-b/
Stop your search now, that's it. Do not read reviews, ask more questions, or listen to other people's opinions.
(Granted you aren't looking for special inputs/outputs/speaker compatibility)
Don't let these anti intellectuals that put arbitrary price points on things. A dac can benefit you if your onboard solution is flawed. My laptop also has a terrible dac. Though it doesn't hiss it does picks up interference and gives buzzing when not plugged in. It also distorts terribly at medium volumes. A cheap e10k that has a built in amp as well as dac may serve you well if your onboard has any of these problems and it will drive more expensive headphones that you may buy in the future
I have a uDAC i bought in 2010, not sure if they sell them any more. I plug my headphone amp (m-stage) into that and run my studio monitors (bx5a) off the amp as well.
Sounds really nice, though I'm sure if it's all necessary. Combined with my headphones (AKG k702) the whole set up cost about $600, but I bought it over a couple years when I was in college. Everything has worked well for the last five or so years.
