Soundcard WITHOUT built in amp!

A Creative X-Fi Titanium HD might be what you're looking for.

PM'd

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/553223/fiio-d3-d5-mini-dacs

This is actually quite interesting if you wanted something that should hopefully be cheap, and specifically designed to be a DAC.

Though you can get some external DAC/amps that offer a line-out too, like the E7 with the...uh, whatever it was called dock connector, L-something. :P

But the E7 is $100 or so and the dock connector to give it a line-out is another...$15, I think.  Or you could wait for the D5, or just get something else.  But it looks like you're in no hurry so you could just wait and see how these turn out.

(I think that external sound cards are better than internal ones, less chance of interference inside the case.  I've seen people complain about that with internal sound cards before, external ones won't have this issue at all)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBomb77766 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/553223/fiio-d3-d5-mini-dacs

 

This is actually quite interesting if you wanted something that should hopefully be cheap, and specifically designed to be a DAC.

 

Though you can get some external DAC/amps that offer a line-out too, like the E7 with the...uh, whatever it was called dock connector, L-something. :P

 

But the E7 is $100 or so and the dock connector to give it a line-out is another...$15, I think.  Or you could wait for the D5, or just get something else.  But it looks like you're in no hurry so you could just wait and see how these turn out.

 

(I think that external sound cards are better than internal ones, less chance of interference inside the case.  I've seen people complain about that with internal sound cards before, external ones won't have this issue at all)

It's a good thing that some internal soundcards have EMI shielding, like the Titanium HD.

Interesting info on Fiio, though it seems that's a more consumer friendly (read, non-audiophile) set of products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roller 

It's a good thing that some internal soundcards have EMI shielding, like the Titanium HD.

 

Interesting info on Fiio, though it seems that's a more consumer friendly (read, non-audiophile) set of products.

Consumer friendly, perhaps, but it remains to be seen if that means it won't be audiophile quality.  It does support high resolution audio, after all, meaning it probably uses the same Wolfson DAC in the E7, which is excellent.  But if it turns out to sound great, then it would make no sense to spend more on something that has more features than you'd need.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBomb77766 

 

Consumer friendly, perhaps, but it remains to be seen if that means it won't be audiophile quality.  It does support high resolution audio, after all, meaning it probably uses the same Wolfson DAC in the E7, which is excellent.  But if it turns out to sound great, then it would make no sense to spend more on something that has more features than you'd need.

Features the OP won't need, such as...? I think you must be thinking on lower Creative soundcards.

The Titanium HD is a much better prospect with the whole ease of upgrading, not to mention that they're both on different levels. OP has stated he wanted the best internal soundcard within the stated budget, and the Titanium HD is the best choice, IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roller 

 

Features the OP won't need, such as...? I think you must be thinking on lower Creative soundcards.

 

The Titanium HD is a much better prospect with the whole ease of upgrading, not to mention that they're both on different levels. OP has stated he wanted the best internal soundcard within the stated budget, and the Titanium HD is the best choice, IMO.

Well, he stated he didn't want one with an amp, since he wanted to use an external one.  Meaning all of the various DSP features this sound card offers will be more or less useless.  But I guess that's up to him, with the Titanium HD he probably wouldn't even need to worry about getting a secondary amplifier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBomb77766 

Well, he stated he didn't want one with an amp, since he wanted to use an external one.  Meaning all of the various DSP features this sound card offers will be more or less useless.  But I guess that's up to him, with the Titanium HD he probably wouldn't even need to worry about getting a secondary amplifier.

If you knew the soundcard I'm talking about, that post would be moot.

And lol, DSPs are optional. And they have nothing to do with amping whatsoever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roller 

If you knew the soundcard I'm talking about, that post would be moot.

 

And lol, DSPs are optional. And they have nothing to do with amping whatsoever.

I know what you're talking about, and it's basically just a soundcard that can handle tons of on-board processing, like EAX and such.  It has things like mic-in and various hardware accelerated 3D audio positioning processing, and replaceable op-amps.  It's an all-in-one solution, which, honestly, is exactly what the OP doesn't want, unless he changes his mind and finds this is the best choice for him.

Depends though, this would be good for gaming and movies, but would be totally excessive for music alone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBomb77766 

I know what you're talking about, and it's basically just a soundcard that can handle tons of on-board processing, like EAX and such.  It has things like mic-in and various hardware accelerated 3D audio positioning processing, and replaceable op-amps.  It's an all-in-one solution, which, honestly, is exactly what the OP doesn't want, unless he changes his mind and finds this is the best choice for him.

 

Depends though, this would be good for gaming and movies, but would be totally excessive for music alone.

Ok, why don't you go tell that to the Xonar crowd here at Head-Fi?

ALL of what you said is optional (I laughed when I read mic-in), and having replaceable opamps is exactly what I mean for being IDEAL for music.

Anyway, I would just like to know why you're recommending a gear that you never listened to, as it hasn't been launched yet. I think you should read this before continuing: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/270280/stop-recommending-gear-you-ve-never-heard-rant-warning

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roller 

Ok, why don't you go tell that to the Xonar crowd here at Head-Fi?

 

ALL of what you said is optional (I laughed when I read mic-in), and having replaceable opamps is exactly what I mean for being IDEAL for music.

 

Anyway, I would just like to know why you're recommending a gear that you never listened to, as it hasn't been launched yet. I think you should read this before continuing: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/270280/stop-recommending-gear-you-ve-never-heard-rant-warning

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you're getting so worked up about this.  I never recommended anything, I simply pointed out that this is an upcoming product and he might want to hold off spending more money than he needs to on something he doesn't need, which is exactly what he's asking for.  Again, he said he doesn't want anything but a DAC, and the Titanium HD has many extra features he doesn't need.  Whether they're optional or not is irrelevant, the point remains that it isn't what he's asking for, and is in fact exactly the opposite.

If he can get something that will cost 1/3 of the price and sound exactly the same for his uses, then he would have to be crazy to buy the more expensive option.  Seeing as how he said he wanted to build a "decent setup for the future," I'd assumed he could wait a bit if he doesn't want to spend too much money.

As great as the Titanium HD may be (and I am in fact tempted to buy one myself), it is precisely what he doesn't want.

"I am going to buy a sound card, but I DON'T want it to have a built in amp"

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBomb77766 

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you're getting so worked up about this.  I never recommended anything, I simply pointed out that this is an upcoming product and he might want to hold off spending more money than he needs to on something he doesn't need, which is exactly what he's asking for.  Again, he said he doesn't want anything but a DAC, and the Titanium HD has many extra features he doesn't need.  Whether they're optional or not is irrelevant, the point remains that it isn't what he's asking for, and is in fact exactly the opposite.

 

If he can get something that will cost 1/3 of the price and sound exactly the same for his uses, then he would have to be crazy to buy the more expensive option.  Seeing as how he said he wanted to build a "decent setup for the future," I'd assumed he could wait a bit if he doesn't want to spend too much money.

 

As great as the Titanium HD may be (and I am in fact tempted to buy one myself), it is precisely what he doesn't want.

 

"I am going to buy a sound card, but I DON'T want it to have a built in amp"

 

Disagree with me again if you will, but this is honestly getting pretty ridiculous.

 

Yes, you're tempted to buy a Titanium HD without even knowing that it doesn't have a headphone amp, repeatedly. Lol. I'm done talking to you *facepalm*

@Syltburken: Besides being less expensive than Xonar Essence ST or STX, the Titanium HD does have very high quality parts, and you can use it to send the sound unaltered to your amp. That money logic is right alright, you can indeed save the money you would waste on that unnecessary (for your needs) amp and perhaps save it for future amps, or anything you'd like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roller 

Yes, you're tempted to buy a Titanium HD without even knowing that it doesn't have a headphone amp, repeatedly. Lol. I'm done talking to you *facepalm*

http://asia.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=875&product=19749

"Enjoy pristine audio in private anywhere with the superlative headphone output featuring an amazing 115dB, 24-bit/96kHz support in High-Definition (HD) quality sound for original playback."

"Hardware-powered 3D positional audio and EAX 5.0 effects provide stunning audio realism over both headphones and speakers without affecting your frame-rates."

Unless we're not talking about the same X-fi Titanium HD, this one does indeed have a headphone amp and various DSPs.  Headphone-out means headphone amp, line-out means level line-out, not a headphone amp.  If you were to plug your headphones into one of those, you'd blow your eardrums out.  I'm beginning to think that we're either talking about entirely different things altogether, or you simply don't know what you're talking about.