Just an update in case anyone was wondering:   I thought about my issues, and a main reason why I felt the Grados were not loud enough was because of my computer fans and my mechanical keyboard. Combine this with the fact that people on Skype said they could hear an echo of themselves made...

Quote: I should mention I'm trying to stay under a budget of say.. 80~   And the primary problem is volume. Doesn't ALC898 have virtual surround?

Did some research, looks like the ALC898's DAC is just as good as Xonar DG's DAC. So, I should just get an amp only, it seems.   Edit: Looks like the DGX is better than the DG though? Not sure. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132052

I see, thanks for the help :)   I think I'll go with the FiiO e10, since it will work with my desktop, macbook pro, and with my galaxy S3 (I think?).   Related question, is there any lag that might affect gaming by using a USB DAC/amp rather than a PCI one?

Quote: Ok forgive me, I'm still very new to all this. So I definitely want a headphone amp, not a sound card or a DAC (not sure where this fits in?), or anything else? Is there a thread somewhere with amp recommendations?

So these are my first decent headphones, and so far, I'm loving these headphones. But, they are way quieter on my desktop than on my laptop.   For example, when I drag the windows volume to 100, it makes the 'ding' noise, but it's not nearly as loud as on my laptop (maybe equivalent to 30 on...