[AdmiralAkmir]

I have a pair of dt770 pro 80 headphones, the DG can drive them okay, the volume has to be kind of high but they still sound good. I've asked about other amps before, but what I'm really curious about is the DAC. The Xonar DG is a 35 dollar sound card, while the j2labs stuff is well over a hundred. I've been thinking of upgrading for a while, it seems like an external DAC that is well over a hundred dollars should easily beat out a 35 dollar sound card, just wondering if it would be a noticeable difference for such an expensive upgrade?
 
I know that if I went to an external DAC / AMP combo I would lose virtual surround sound and other features, but that's fine, I've honestly never used those features before so it's not an issue. However, if the difference in sound quality is going to be negligible then I probably won't go for it.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I have a pair of dt770 pro 80 headphones, the DG can drive them okay, the volume has to be kind of high but they still sound good. I've asked about other amps before, but what I'm really curious about is the DAC. The Xonar DG is a 35 dollar sound card, while the j2labs stuff is well over a hundred. I've been thinking of upgrading for a while, it seems like an external DAC that is well over a hundred dollars should easily beat out a 35 dollar sound card, just wondering if it would be a noticeable difference for such an expensive upgrade?
 
I know that if I went to an external DAC / AMP combo I would lose virtual surround sound and other features, but that's fine, I've honestly never used those features before so it's not an issue. However, if the difference in sound quality is going to be negligible then I probably won't go for it.

The ODAC comes with a much better DAC chip, then the Xonar DG.
The O2 is a better amp , then the one built into the Xonar DG.
But for the price of the O2/ODAC ($280), you could get headphones that are better then the Beyer DT770 Pro 80-Ohm headphones.

 

[AdmiralAkmir]

So you're saying that there would be a more noticeable improvement in audio quality by upgrading the headphones instead of dac/amp?

 

[kraken2109]

  So you're saying that there would be a more noticeable improvement in audio quality by upgrading the headphones instead of dac/amp?

Yes.

 

[mindbomb]

you can use the an external dac with the xonar if you use the digital out. Though not the odac cause it doesn't have optical in.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  So you're saying that there would be a more noticeable improvement in audio quality by upgrading the headphones instead of dac/amp?

I own the DT770 Pro 80-Ohm headphones and they have there pluses, but at around $200 there are better headphones, better mids and better bass, (less loud but more detailed bass), like the Philips Fidelio X1/28 or the Audio Technica ATH-A900X, easy for the Xonar DG to drive either one.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

Get the xonar for a whole 35 bucks. You can try that out and then it will also have the toslink out and therefore you will have even more options for an external than just usb ones.  
 
Oh wait. you already have the sound card... Well why would you want a usb dac?

 

[AdmiralAkmir]

  I own the DT770 Pro 80-Ohm headphones and they have there pluses, but at around $200 there are better headphones, better mids and better bass, (less loud but more detailed bass), like the Philips Fidelio X1/28 or the Audio Technica ATH-A900X, easy for the Xonar DG to drive either one.

 
The Beyer's are freaking COMFORTABLE though, and I really love the build quality. I got buzzing in the left ear after a few weeks of having them, and literally took them completely apart to try and find the foreign object in the driver. I've taken things apart before and not been able to get them back together, but these were easy, I really like the build quality, and those ear pads... Man.

Would you say that either of those two you listed can match up in that department?