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Hi-Fi sound from my PC

post #1 of 38
1/16/11 at 12:57am
Thread Starter 

Sup head-fi, i am a wannabe audiophile that didnt really have the cash to spend on hi-fi until now. The closest i have come so far to some hi-fi sound is from my sansa clip+ with sennheiser IE7s from flac music.

Right now on my pc i have an Asus Xonar DX soundcard/sennheiser HD555 and some old altec lansing ATP3 2.1 speakers.

I have around 500euros to spend at the momen and I am looking for either some decent 2.0 speakers with very clear lows/meds (dont really care about bass that much) that i can improve on later, or maybe some dac/headphone combo that will blow me away on the sound quality :)

L.E my room has only 10m3

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post #2 of 38
1/17/11 at 4:37am
Thread Starter 

Any ideas guys? What amplifier can i buy now that will make my HD555 sound better and that i can also add some passive speakers too later (like Wharfedale Diamond 9.1) ?

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post #3 of 38
1/17/11 at 5:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HypnotiX View Post

Any ideas guys? What amplifier can i buy now that will make my HD555 sound better and that i can also add some passive speakers too later (like Wharfedale Diamond 9.1) ?



If you are looking at amplifiers and speaker hifi you should go to your local hifi dealer. I like my Marantz PM7003 very much, you should take a listen. In terms of speakers I recommend ELAC or Totem, that's just my personal taste. I would buy a good amplifier since your soundcard is quiet decent already. This will improve the sound quality of your headphones a lot. Later on you could buy some nice speakers or headphones and after that a deticated DAC, like the Arcam rdac. Once you have your setup you could save some money for power cables and a decent power strip etc.

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post #4 of 38
1/17/11 at 5:26am

You could get a Yulong DAC D100 from China - $500 US - quite cheap considering the kind of hi-end quality you are getting. It isn't as high-end as the more expensive DACs around - but you will be getting pretty close for half the price. It is USB connectable and has clear, detailed neutral sound making your PC sound like heaven...

 

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post #5 of 38
1/17/11 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Syan25 View Post

You could get a Yulong DAC D100 from China - $500 US - quite cheap considering the kind of hi-end quality you are getting. It isn't as high-end as the more expensive DACs around - but you will be getting pretty close for half the price. It is USB connectable and has clear, detailed neutral sound making your PC sound like heaven...

 

problem with that is I cannot add any passive speakers to it, so a dedicated headphone amp is not an option for me at the moment.
 

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post #6 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:11am

What are you looking for a usb stereo amp that drives passive speakers?, i'm not sure if they exist, your best bet would be get a usb dac with rca out, then connect the rca out from the dac, to the rca in of a speaker amp, i would also recommend going to your local hifi shop so your can hear all the amps and speakers before buying them.

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post #7 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:15am

Exactly - the Yulong D100 would be perfect for that plus it has RCA outs and balanced too

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post #8 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:17am

 

However, it can be used as a DAC to connect to speakers through a pre-amp as well as to headphones.

 

Please read the review

 

 http://www.head-fi.org/products/yulong-d100

 

And read how Skylab used the D100 in a variety of ways...

 

. 

 

Hervie

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post #9 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:18am

Cheaper options are the nuforce udac , or the fiio e7/e9 , then you will have more money left over for the speakers and amp.

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post #10 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:24am

Good idea - 

 

I have the NuForce Dac for my Notebook - great for the price!

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post #11 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JRG1990 View Post

What are you looking for a usb stereo amp that drives passive speakers?, i'm not sure if they exist, your best bet would be get a usb dac with rca out, then connect the rca out from the dac, to the rca in of a speaker amp, i would also recommend going to your local hifi shop so your can hear all the amps and speakers before buying them.


Thats the problem with being a hi-fi noob I dont know what i really need. As i said earlier im just looking for a good improvement in the sound quality from my PC that has a xonar DX soundcard and a 2.1 system, i listen to headphones but i also need speakers so im guessing a traditional amp is the way to go and maybe add a DAC later.

I am not really sure if that Yulong D100 can run passive speakers and headphones at the same time without any additional equipment.

Sorry for being thick but for the past week i browsed the forums, read reviews and i still have no clue what to buy with my limited budged. I feel that if i pay too much for an amp and no have money left over for speakers i wont hear a significant improvement in the sound quality, if i buy a dac now that will only  be useful for my headphones im guessing.

BTW awhile ago i went to my local hi-fi shop and listened to a few speakers and amps, some nads with monitor audio bronze and silver and i wasnt really impressed with them.

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post #12 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:56am

Delete


Edited by labrat - 9/16/11 at 2:37am
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post #13 of 38
1/17/11 at 7:56am

You definitely need a desktop amp for sure to be able to connect to speakers. You could connect your PC to the amp via USB these days quite easily.

 

If you bought a DAC - it would be the the device to connect your PC to your amplifier converting digital sound to analog (big sound improvement). DACs are connectible to a PC via USB and the DAC can connect to your amp via analog RCA interconnects.

 

DAC: Both the Nuforce uDAC and the Yulong D100 have the analog outputs to do that.

 

To get great results - you needn't spend too much money if you take your time to see what is out there and then buy smartly.

 

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post #14 of 38
1/17/11 at 8:01am

Delete


Edited by labrat - 9/16/11 at 2:32am
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post #15 of 38
1/17/11 at 8:03am

I don't think a usb amp for passive speakers exists, like i said before you need a usb dac with rca out, cheaper options are the nuforce udac or fiio e7/e9 combo, the fiio is probley the better option it's mains powered and the amp can drive any headphones and its also completly netrual, if you want to go passive then aswell as that you will need a speaker amp with rca inputs and some speakers, but since you didn't like any of the amps/passive speakers you heard, you might be better off with some active moniters, like the m-audio bxa5 or KRK RP6 G2.

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