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Total noob PC audio setup

post #1 of 6
2/19/11 at 10:16am
Thread Starter 

Guys, I need your help.

In the first place I joined this forum for reading a bit about IEM's. My portable MP3 player is an Sony X1060 32 GB. My iem's started with  Creative EP 630, later Klipsch S4 and since a few months Panasonic hje900. I'm quite happy with that, so far so good.

Now the following: For my PC I use the onboard audio out on my mainboard MSI P55 (hope this doesn't give an instant ban here). My headphone is a Denon AH-D1001. Though I am also quite happy with thatalso , I'm looking for an upgrade, so I can match -or better of course- my portable setup.  So now I stumbled upon this subforum. When I read someone's sig and it says something like 'Sony Laptop> uDAC-2 > Meier Audio Stepdance > SRH840' I'm not saying that's Chinese for me, but still.

So my question is: what is the absolute minimum that's required for a good PC audio upgrade? I googled for the uDAC-2, but understood that was enough as a stand alone device. What's the 'Meier Audio Stepdance' part then in my example above? Is that part absolutely necessary?

 

Sorry for the very basic questions, but DAC's/AMP's, ..., it's a jungle for me. Hand me the machete please :)

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post #2 of 6
2/19/11 at 10:39am
The udac2 is good enough on its own, the meier audio stepdance is a headphone amp, the udac2 has a built in headphone so adding another amp isn't nessary but some else has because maybe they didn't like the way the udac amp sounds or it couldn't power there headphones properly, if your looking for dac to use with headphones then the udac2 or fiio E7/E9 is good choice.
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post #3 of 6
2/19/11 at 10:53am
Thread Starter 

ok thanks for the reply. Would it be wiser to first upgrade to a sound card instead of using the onboard 'Intel HD Audio'?

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post #4 of 6
2/19/11 at 12:00pm
Theres no point if you plan on using a usb dac, you could just get a good soundcard like an xonar then you wont need a extenal dac.
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post #5 of 6
2/20/11 at 3:54am
Thread Starter 

and what would be the best solution then, go for a dac or the Xonar soundcard?

I will use headphones only.

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post #6 of 6
2/20/11 at 4:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bonobo View Post

and what would be the best solution then, go for a dac or the Xonar soundcard?

I will use headphones only.


If you're not likely to want an audio input, a dac is probably your best option.

 

Btw: like your user name, Black Sands woke me up to the awesomeness that is bonobo.

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