[Neil.Heretical]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy*Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I though you plug the dac into a usb port, not a sound card. A sound card is not required for a dac, right?

short answer, yes. since the "DAC chip" is already inside your soundcard.
more information for DAC
Digital-to-analog converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[nate911]

Bump.

 

[nate911]

Any more suggestions? I've had mixed responses :/

 

[nate911]

I think I'm leaning towards the STX, as it would improve my gaming audio as well (I believe). The headphone amp in it seems pretty good and it seems like a good buy. Should I buy that first or some new headphones? Or is there a really good reason why I should get a standalone amp/DAC instead?

 

[joe_cool]

If you game you should keep the X-Fi, there is nothing much wrong with the card (just bloated software). I would suggest a dedicated headphone amp, something like a pimeta, as the AT headphones are very good. People say they don't need a dedicated amp but that doesn't mean it won't sound better.

 

[nate911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe_cool /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you game you should keep the X-Fi, there is nothing much wrong with the card (just bloated software). I would suggest a dedicated headphone amp, something like a pimeta, as the AT headphones are very good. People say they don't need a dedicated amp but that doesn't mean it won't sound better.

Hmm...
I don't know what to do

 

[nate911]

Bump.

 

[Ra97oR]

New headphone will give your much more improvement than a new DAC/Amp.

Go for AD900, AD2000 (amp recommended), K701/2 (amp recommended), W5000 (amp recommended) if you like AD700. They will have a much bigger improvement than a new DAC/AMP.

 

[CodeToad]

You could pick up a used mini3 pretty cheap and see what difference an amp makes in your current setup.

You may hear incremental differences between the x-fi and some other sound card but you won't hear a major difference until you go with an external DAC. That's been my experience anyway.

 

[Drubbing]

I fail to understand your confusion.

A soundcard is a DAC is a soundcard is DAC is a soundcard.

If you want to keep the AD700 then the STX is a well regarded upgrade from the Xfi, and has a basic amp built in, and while the ADs don't need amping, they won't sniff at it - but on its own, amping is not going to make that much difference for such a phone.

The differences gained in getting an external DAC for $200 are negligible, a DAC in this price range is going to be roughly comparable to the STX.

If you like ATs, then getting the AD900 with your current source will almost certainly be better than the AD700 amped.