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Audio n00b here looking for way to upgrade computer sound

post #1 of 5
12/3/11 at 12:50pm
Thread Starter 

Hey, so I just bought a pair of Swan m200 MKII's for my computer. Great speakers but what should I do to get the full potential out of them? External amp? Not really sure what the best move would be, I'm just looking for the relatively cheapest and most cost effective way to get more for my money.

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post #2 of 5
12/3/11 at 1:51pm

you dont really need an amp for active speakers. What you need is a Decent dac with some flacs and the swans will shine. depending on your budget, HRT streamer, Udac2 are the cheapest and decent dacs that i can think of right now. But a higher end dac will definitely blow your mind through the swans. 

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post #3 of 5
12/3/11 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by eclipes View Post

you dont really need an amp for active speakers. What you need is a Decent dac with some flacs and the swans will shine. depending on your budget, HRT streamer, Udac2 are the cheapest and decent dacs that i can think of right now. But a higher end dac will definitely blow your mind through the swans. 



 

Thanks for the advice man. What is exactly that a DAC does? I've heard the term before but confused on what the actual purpose of them is. I will definitely keep my eye out for some good deals on the ones you mentioned.

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post #4 of 5
12/3/11 at 7:06pm

If the main source of music is from your computer, most likely your sound card will not be on par with swans quality. DAC is basically an External sound card that bypasses the music from the sound card in your computer and then running through the dac to your speakers. Which usually results to much better sound quality and more controls.

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post #5 of 5
12/3/11 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rkrajnov View Post



 

Thanks for the advice man. What is exactly that a DAC does? I've heard the term before but confused on what the actual purpose of them is. I will definitely keep my eye out for some good deals on the ones you mentioned.



Your DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter.  Simply, this takes the digital stream and converts it to analog for your speakers/headphones to amplify.

A high end sound card or DAC will give you the best sound out of your Swans....along with some high quality music files.

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