[Amperial]

So folks, i just wanted to buy a Asus Xonar D1 soon.
I think something logical which came it to my mind.. especially having a FiiO e9, is to get a nice DAC.
 
 
The first DAC that comes to my mind is the FiiO e7.
Good choice for the price / performance.. or is there something i could get cheaper / at the same price?
But having the e9 + e7 combo seems neat, especially the ability using e7 as a portable amp.. though i do not think i will use it that much.
 
 
I do really notice the background noise having that crap onboard sound.
Plus having the Denons and i really wanna push out the best sound out of them for a really well bang for my buck.
 
 
Soundcard or DAC?
DAC?
Which one?
e7 or you got some better options?
 

 

[jackwess]

I think either way..you'll be fine. 
 
It depends if you're going to use your headphones for gaming, or music. 

 

[Amperial]

Well, both. 
I just wondered what would give the best sound quality.
 
 
In terms of DACs.. is the e7/e9 combo the best option?
Or are there other not too higher priced options?
Maybe other stuff from FiiO combined with the e9?
 
 

 

[stv014]

The Xonar D1 has a better DAC than the FiiO E7 or even E10 (lower noise and distortion; it also supports 192 kHz/24-bit, has more output channels, and can record audio as well), but the latter has the advantage of portability, and being usable with laptops. Also, if you have bad luck, the sound card may be affected by interference from other parts of the computer; it works very well in my machine, though, but some other people reportedly have noise issues with internal sound cards.
 

 

[Amperial]

Helpful, didn't know that.
So i'll go with the Soundcard at first. 
 
I had experiances with great sound cards before but i thought a good dac might be the better solution than the Xonar D1 - especially when owning a FiiO e9.