Should I get a DAC, Headphone Amp, or both?

The Asus Xonar DG already comes with a halfway decent headphone amp.

I'm assuimg you mean HD-598, not HD-589.

If you want to add "soul" to your sound,  you can always get a cheap ($50 or more) single tube headphone amp. off eBay, ships from China.

Quote:

Originally Posted by popz3210 

I just got a pair of Sennheiser HD 598s as a b-day gift. I have a Asus DG card in my computer system right now. Should I go for a headphone amp or just bypass the soundacrd and get a dac? Also any suggestions on a good amp or dac under $300?

 

I have the Fubar DAC/AMP which is less than $300. Sounds good, looks good, but I am thinking it might be better with high-impedance phones. Or my phones might be better with a buffered amp. I will find out on the upcoming phone upgrade.

Meanwhile, a specific DAC might be no better, or even inferior, to the one in your computer. However, a headphone DAC is designed for quality sound and is backed up by a community of enthusiasts. Computer sound is often just for gaming with fine listening a coincidence.

Personally speaking, I noticed a bigger upgrade with my DAC than amp for my SR-225i.  The DAC drastically cleaned up the sound, while the amp helped bring out the sound better (better soundstage, silent parts sounded much more black, much better instrument and vocal separation).  I don't think the amp would have been nearly as effective without a much cleaner source.

For $300, I'd recommend looking into either the pico DAC (http://www.headamp.com/pico/pico_usb_dac/index.htm) or ask MisterX if he can build a AMB gamma2 for you (near the bottom of http://www.amb.org/audio/gamma2/).  I think you can get a significant upgrade in your sound with a $300-400 DAC and a similarly priced amp down the line (such as the Schiit Asgard or Lyr).  They hold their resale value pretty well, will last for a long time, and are well regarded in their price bracket.

There are hundreds of pages of discussions on the pico and gamma2 on head-fi, and reviews all over the net:

(I'm not sure if linking to other review sites is allowed. just google: headamp pico gamma2)

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/466453/gamma-2-vs-pico

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/430793/gamma-2-2-dac-thread

Another option to consider is the Headamp USB DAC/amp: http://www.headamp.com/pico/pico_dac_amp/index.htm

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/420713/review-headamp-pico-usb-dac-amp

Quote:

Originally Posted by popz3210 

I just got a pair of Sennheiser HD 598s as a b-day gift. I have a Asus DG card in my computer system right now. Should I go for a headphone amp or just bypass the soundacrd and get a dac?

 

Also any suggestions on a good amp or dac under $300?

 

Thanks

get the asus stx/st