[Fakeyfakerson]

So I was all ready to pull the trigger on an asus xonar essence stx for $180 from B&H, decided to read up on it here and saw some posts talking about how great DAC's are. After some research most seem to be more expensive than my budget, but there are some available in the price range. My question is which would be better matched (getting DT 770's if it matters), the essence stx or an external DAC? I have no idea where to start researching good DAC's in the range though...

Thanks!

 

[momomo6789]

@ 200$ i would stick to the stx its a nice card. theirs some dacs but they all have not so perfect QC

 

[ROBSCIX]

You have a reasonable budget for a soudncard but for an external DAC, you might come up a little short. Perhaps some of the DAC users around here can give you some suggestions for quality units at this price point.

 

[jenneth]

For $200, a good sound card is your best bet.

 

[Cankin]

Do you play games? because most external stereo DAC would not have special DSP for games, movies.

For stereo only, EMU 0202 USB or EMU 0404 USB are nice external DACs in that price range.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Very true, DAC are limited in their feature set. If your into gaming or want other features then a soundcard would be your best bet.
What card you go with depends on what features you want and need.

 

[hairybottle123]

just get a good soundcard. $200 for a DAC is........

 

[Fakeyfakerson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cankin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you play games? because most external stereo DAC would not have special DSP for games, movies. For stereo only, EMU 0202 USB or EMU 0404 USB are nice external DACs in that price range.

Yea, I do play games a lot, but my focus is on music, and from my understanding the essence stx only works up to EAX 2.0 I believe.

 

[Fakeyfakerson]

But it looks like for my budget the soundcard is the way to go. $200 alone was pushing it (well $180 in this case) I don't think I'd be able to afford anything higher at this point. I think it'll still sound great though, no?

 

[DeusEx]

DT770/80s?

 

[Fakeyfakerson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeusEx /img/forum/go_quote.gif DT770/80s?

Yes.

 

[stang]

For gaming, X-Fi Elite Pro/Auzentech Prelude. Music/Movies Asus Xonar (any really). A soundcard is NEEDED for gaming, IMO. The effects like CMSS-3D that Creative offer is mind blowing, along with EAX. I'd focus on a soundcard right now and use a DAC if you're going to listen to a lot of music.
For example: I have X-Fi Elite Pro>ATH-AD700 for gaming.
Onboard optical out>Zero DAC>Qinpu A-3>Grado SR-225 for music.
Onboard analogue>Logitech G51 for when friends are over.

Edit: logitech G51 just sold on ebay

 

[kite7]

I'm pretty much making the same decision as the OP. Right now I am leaning towards getting the Musiland 02 US DAC over the Essence STX since owners of both claim the Musiland is clearly superior to an opamp upgraded STX. I have the X-Fi Xtrememusic right now and I don't really care much for EAX or any other DSP. When gaming, I mainly use my speakers thus losing CMSS-3D is no big deal. I'm not even concerned about CPU usage when using a USB DAC since I have a quad core. I'm just wondering though, I've read that with a DAC it's not as practical when having several programs opened with their own sounds ( foobar, msn , media player classic, youtube etc), is this true? This is the only thing I am confused about and I need the Musiland 02 to function just like a sound card in a computer ( nevermind the gaming effects)

 

[AmanGeorge]

Up your budget slightly, buy one of these and report back to the rest of us curious folks

 

[etiolate]

^^ +1