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Unique Set up question regarding DAC and Sound Card - Page 2

post #16 of 22
8/16/11 at 7:42pm
Thread Starter 

so for 2.1 stereo is 200$ DAC or 200$ SoundCard better

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post #17 of 22
8/17/11 at 7:51am

In that price rage, I'd say go for this.

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post #18 of 22
8/17/11 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 

i like the reviews on it, but i can hardly trust a usb based item that is so important. any reason to go with this dac rather than a wall plug dac?

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post #19 of 22
8/17/11 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blinkdogo2 View Post

i like the reviews on it, but i can hardly trust a usb based item that is so important. any reason to go with this dac rather than a wall plug dac?


There won't be much of a difference. If the Streamer functions from USB, that's all the power it needs. More power doesn't necessarily mean better, especially not with DACs.

 

However, its measurements aren't that great. The ASUS Xonar Essence STX is considerably better for a similar price.

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post #20 of 22
8/17/11 at 5:58pm

I was going to suggest the STX, but I thought it's claim to fame was it's great headphone amp capabilities. The OP didn't mention headphones so I didn't bother.

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post #21 of 22
8/17/11 at 8:26pm
Thread Starter 

yeah headphone amp is probably a big reason for high end card prices. i like high end cards but i feel like id be wasting money on the headphone amps. i don't think i need a headphone amp since I'm using my comp for loudspeakers.

 

i just returned my 60$ sound blaster to test out a 30$ diamond sound card. i am trying the diamond because it has RCA out instead of just headphone stereo jack. and gonna c the dif of a 60 and 30 dollar card.

 

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post #22 of 22
8/17/11 at 9:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blinkdogo2 View Post

yeah headphone amp is probably a big reason for high end card prices. i like high end cards but i feel like id be wasting money on the headphone amps. i don't think i need a headphone amp since I'm using my comp for loudspeakers.

 

i just returned my 60$ sound blaster to test out a 30$ diamond sound card. i am trying the diamond because it has RCA out instead of just headphone stereo jack. and gonna c the dif of a 60 and 30 dollar card.


You aren't really wasting the money. I haven't seen a DAC under $200 that beats the Essence STX, but I admittedly haven't looked very hard wink.gif

 

The differences between it and a cheaper external DAC or sound card will probably be inaudible as long as the measurements aren't terrible. But headphone amp or not, you should consider it if you decide to spend $150 or more.

 

You might want to look at the $30 Behringer UCA202. It has a headphone amp built in, but because of its high output impedance the star of the show is the DAC. This is if you decide to skip a sound card completely and get an external DAC. I can't link you to the measurements I've seen because the blogger who did them is banned here, but Google "uca202 measurements" and it'll be the second result.

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