[whendreamsweep]

I have had the M-50's for about a year now with an Asus K52F laptop. Foobar, the majority of files in FLAC along with RPGWizard's Dolby HP Settings. It sounds nice.

But would a IBasso or a Fiio DAC be worth purchasing? or would it just not really make a difference?

 

[H3ndrix]

Hi, if I had the correct info the ATH M-50 had 38 ohms of impedance, I don't think that an ampli make a REAL difference.
BUT if you want to but a Fiio E.. go to it, I can't stop you.
Saludos desde Buenos Aires!

 

[ophan]

Well the real question you are asking is "Would a dedicated DAC make a difference in the quality of music?" In that case, my friend, you have entered a whole new ball game. From your post, I take it that you have been using the internal DAC of your computer. In most cases, these have a very bad reputation for their terrible reproduction of sound into the analog format. Pretty much every dedicated DAC will provide a more accurate reproduction of the digital FLAC files to analog. However, some DACs may be more to your liking than others. I would recommend visiting a Head-Fi meet sometime in the future to listen to some DACs hands-on and make up your mind yourself.

 

[whendreamsweep]

which DAC would you recommend for a 3 yr. old Asus Laptop using a built- in crappy Altec Lansing soundcard?

I use M50's, FLAC, Foobar, RPGWizard's Dolby settings. Turn off all the enhancements in the control panel. etc...

Is there any DAC i could get with a 5.1 Speakermode output so i could fully experience RPGWizard's Foobar settings?

Or would the difference be so small it would not be worth it?

Should i just wait and buy a better computer?

 

[whendreamsweep]

I've done my fair share of reading and research, but I'm still not sure about some things.

 

[whendreamsweep]

bump

 

[Honkytime]

A Dac wont make any difference if you don't have an amplifier to go with it. you need to get an amp & DAC combo or amp and DAC separate device .

 

[cel4145]

A Dac wont make any difference if you don't have an amplifier to go with it. you need to get an amp & DAC combo or amp and DAC separate device .

Agreed.

What's your budget? Does it have to be portable?

 

[whendreamsweep]

haha that makes sense
 
i was thinking under $100.
 
a Dac/Amp combo. Fiio is the most popular isn't it? 
and i have a asus laptop, so yea it would need to be portable.
I'm looking at a Fiio E10...

 

[cel4145]

I have the FiiO E17, and its very good. I wouldn't doubt that the E10 is as good as everyone says for the money.