need help choosing first amp

A DAC will be equally effective with either of those (or any) headphones and if you get an external DAC then your sound card will be irrelivant so there'd be no point in upgrading that (if you get the DAC).

I'd have to look but I'd guess the schiits have 1/4 inch plugs.

I don't have any amp recco's for you but you can always start with the e9 for $125 and add the e7 DAC the next step and then upgrade either as you get to it.  Also check out the for sale section here.

and to follow up on your post, if you had the money and liked that line, I would spend the extra on the valhalla.  But then you'd have some great phones and a great amp without a great DAC so....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 

I wouldn't recommend a tube amp in that price range, other than the Bottlehead Crack. It's reasonable only because you supply the labor. Also, it is point-to-point, which is the best way to build a tube amp.

If you don't want to build, that new $300 Dynalo is a safe bet. A terrific circuit with plenty of power, designed by Dr. Gilmore who is a great asset to this community.

Erik,

I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly.  Are you recommending against the Valhalla?
 

Broski,

With the headphones you've mentioned, the Asgard would probably be a better match and you save a hundred bucks in the process.

This is the DynaLo Erik was talking about. Looks good actually. :) You can't go wrong with that one for a first. You could also consider the Matrix M-Stage. 

I'd first get that onboard out of the chain though. Even a cheap $50 M-Audio Transit will remove hiss and provide a cleaner output compared to a laptop's onboard soundcard. I am one of those guys that thinks a DAC doesn't make that much of a difference as long as it's doing it's job right. :) So I suggest first investing a small amount in a decent external DAC (Zero DAC, Behringer, M-Audio, DAC Extasy) and then getting something like a Fiio E9 or, if you're adventurous, get a cheap Bravo V2 tube amp from Ebay and upgrade the tube, mosfets, the caps and do a crossover mod. These upgrades are easy to do, even when you haven't DIY'ed before, and make the Bravo a VERY musical tube amplifier that will look good in any first-timer's collection. I could point you in the right direction if you're interested. DIY always offers more bang for your buck. 

These cheap investments will bring your current audio-rig to a higher level and I believe make more sense than feeding a more expensive DynaLo amplifier with a hissy onboard laptop soundcard. You can always upgrade later if you feel like you've learned more and have a better perspective on what you're looking for in audio. Good luck!

A DAC is an external soundcard, connected to your laptop via USB/optical. Internal soundcards for laptops are limited in their quality. They suffer from interference since all the parts are crammed together and there's hardly any room to use decent parts. I don't know about any audiophile internal, PCMCIA laptop audio solutions that are worth their money. 

Btw, why did you decide on the Asgard? There are quite some interesting options in that price category and the Asgard wouldn't be the first on my list. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by broski 

i have a desktop so idk if that changes anything or not

My bad! I thought you were using a laptop. 

If you use your laptop for gaming something like an Asus STX, Creative X-Fi or Auzentech are good options. If you don't care for fancy-shmancy dolby effects I'd get an external soundcard/DAC. 

You can plug your speakers in the DAC and in the internal soundcard. Depending on the speakers (active/passive?) you could choose to hook a speaker amp inbetween the source and the speakers.

Oh my. 

What kind of speakers do you have? If they are fed directly by your soundcard they are probably active/have their own amplifier and power supply. These speakers do not need to be amped. Amping them will even make them sound worse. You can plug these speakers in a DAC's 3.5mm port and they will function just like they did coming from your onboard soundcard. 

3.5mm to RCA will hook up your card to the amp. 

A DAC is a soundcard! It's the same thing that's inside your pc but doesn't compromise on space and isn't bothered by interference from your PC's hardware. You don't need a DAC to make your amplifier work since you have a soundcard. The only problem is that your soundcard is feeding the amplifier with imperfect sound. A DAC will sound better than your onboard soundcard and thus feed your amp with better signal. 

For your information, people over at Headphiles.org prefer the $120 Fiio E9 to the $250 Asgard. I'd pick up the E9 too.