Headphone Amp / DAC for budding Audiophile. - Page 2

DAC only accepts data, not audio signal or music.. u cant use ur stx and output to ur DAC.. it wont accept audio signal or process it further..

either ditch ur soundcard, use a DAC, or use ur soundcard.. then pair it with an amp from either one.

u cant use ur soundcard output to dac.. it just wont work.

since u want the 3d effect from ur soundcard.. dont bother with dac.

as to whether stx + 3d / eax is better than DAC without any special effect.. that's totally another comparison.

I have an Essence STX and Windows 7, and there are ways that you can still use the additional features of the card via SPDIF.

In general, if you set your default audio device in Windows to be the SPDIF passthrough, you don't get to use any features of the card aside from the increased number of voices it can mix in games, which is 127 if I recall the specs correctly.

If you set your audio output to the default speaker output, and use the Xonar control panel, all of the effects can be used and apply to the SPDIF output.  If you set the analog output to headphones which uses the 1/4" headphone jack for audio output, you can use Dolby Headphone via SPDIF with an external DAC.  If you set the analog output to 2 speakers in the Xonar control panel you can use Dolby Virtual Speaker.

So a summary:

1) If you use a direct SPDIF output via Windows you don't get the extra features of the card

2) If you are looking for bit perfect playback via SPDIF through something like ASIO or WASAPI in foobar you can't use the extra features in that instance

3) If you set Windows to use the speaker output you can use all of the additional features of the soundcard

4) You can change which feature set is applied to the SPDIF output by changing which analog output you set in the Xonar control panel

I hope this clears things up for you.

Prpnnightmare wrote:

I'm quite confused right now. :(

FWIW, the STX is suppose to have an excellent DAC and in my opinion, you'd be better served picking up a complimentary amp to go along with the STX.

Currently listening to Sawer Brown via a STX and HD650's.  As I've suggested, I'm also waiting on an amp to arrive; just need to get them the money.

A suggestion, think about picking up a Audio-gd Sparrow or Fun which are DAC/Amp combos as opposed to another soundcard.  Might make better fiscal sense as for the price, these are two killer DAC/Amp combos and both fit into your stated budget.

Prpnnightmare wrote:

So, do people have any recommendations for a separate DAC and Amp? I'm willing to stretch my budget to $800USD between the two.

Since I already have the STX and HD-650's, the separate amp is a used Burson HA-160 I picked up on the Buy/Sell forum.  The ASUS, STX can be picked up at TigerDirect.  Total for the pair, amp and sound card, set me back about $$750.00.  Well, actually is was a bit more as I upgraded the computer's power supply to a modular power supply.

Used, in the case of audiophile gear, is a misnomer as most gear isn't worth a Tinker's Damn until it's been burned (used) in a couple hundred hours.  In the case of the amp being picked up, it has about sixty hours on it so in real terms, it's not been used enough.

Hope the above muse gives you ideas.

Is the HA-160 capable of driving 600ohm headphones though?

I can't say for a fact as I know it goes up to 500ohms.

Burson HA-160

Because, I could purchase a quality DAC/ Amp and hit all birds with one stone, wouldn't that be nice!

I checked out the Audio-gd DAC/Amp gear but went with the HA-160 for it's quality of sound and again, from what I've read in the past, the DAC on the STX, for the price, can't be beat.  And if you do try to beat it, you're in the thousand USD class of DACs.  For the price, I don't think you could beat the overall quality of the Audio-gd "Fun."  And the combined price of the Audio-gd "Fun" coupled to an HD-650 works with your stated budget.

My going with the HA-160 over the Fun better fits my intended upgrade path;

STX > upgraded power supply unit > HD-650 > custom headphone cables > HA-160 > NuForce Blu-ray player.

In the end, it's all going to come down to personal choice, personal use.  For straight computer use, the STX can't be beat.  Equaled, maybe but I don't think it can be beat.  In the case of headphones and separates, I'm looking at the NuForce OPPO BDP-83SE Blu-ray player as doing so hits the middle ground smartly.  For the price you get double upgraded parts, a Blu-ray player, SACD player and a CD player coupled with a top end DAC.  The HA-160 marries up nicely with the NuForce Blu-ray player.  Not a bad toy combination for the man cave.