[zentg]

been reading a lot of audiophile guides (i do everything from my PC) and they recommend getting a DAC for your computer, but I thought motherboards these days are more advanced and have DACs built in right? aren't they just taking the digital information from the songs and converting them to audio? so how is it better to buy like a usb dac or something? I can understand it somehow gives better sound quality, but can somebody explain how it works and why a DAC is needed?
 
also i was gonna get the monoprice 5" speakers but decided to wait a bit and get the 8" speakers because they are only a little bit more and reading the reviews they are miles of ahead of many other speakers. Would the monoprice 8" monitors sound better than my logitech z323 2.1 system even though they don't come with a subwoofer? I never bought studio monitors before but I've had bose companion and many other computer speakers, and they sounded a lot worse than my z323 especially without a sub. personally im not a fan of thumping base, but i have my logitech sub tuned at a very low level and it sounds pretty good! just hoping the 8" monitors sound better even though they dont have a sub - on the monitors is the bottom part of the speakers where the bass noises come out? 
 

 

[Music Alchemist]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital-to-analog_converter
 
Any digital device that produces audio has a built-in DAC. Whether an external dedicated DAC will sound better on your system depends how good the DAC is in the device(s) you already have. For example, I didn't hear a difference between my Alienware M11x R2 laptop and a Schiit Modi 2 DAC. On the other hand, some systems will improve dramatically with a separate DAC.

 

[zentg]

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital-to-analog_converter
 
Any digital device that produces audio has a built-in DAC. Whether an external dedicated DAC will sound better on your system depends how good the DAC is in the device(s) you already have. For example, I didn't hear a difference between my Alienware M11x R2 laptop and a Schiit Modi 2 DAC. On the other hand, some systems will improve dramatically with a separate DAC.

cool, so you think fiio e10k will work good with monoprice 8" studios and my sennheiser 598 hds headphones?

 

[Music Alchemist]

  cool, so you think fiio e10k will work good with monoprice 8" studios and my sennheiser 598 hds headphones?

 
I don't specialize in speakers. The HD 598 is easy enough to drive, so it should be fine for that.

 

[RRod]

The main issue with built-in DACs and amps is interference from other internal electronics that can cause noise and other beeps/bloops. If you don't notice these out of your built-in soundcard, then it will likely serve you just fine. If you have hard-to-drive or low-impedance headphones, you might have issues with amping.

 

[tomb]

A good DAC will be noticeably superior to any motherboard or soundcard.  A great DAC will blow them away.
 
As with everything, it depends on the weakest link in your system.  If your headphones are not detailed enough, or if your amp is not detailed enough, then you may not notice a difference between a separate DAC and a soundcard/motherboard.  However, the point is that a separate component DAC is very specialized.  If it's a true, audiophile DAC, it has only one purpose: to provide the cleanest, most-detailed and noise-free two-channel music signal possible.  Soundcards and onboard sound with motherboards have many purposes, some of which are not necessarily in agreement with the finest in two-channel listening.  They're also all powered from the PCB buss, which is never a good thing from an audiophile perspective.  Some compensate for this better than others, but problems still exist.
 
It may be true that onboard sound from a motherboard or a quality soundcard may sound just fine to you right now.  If you continue your pursuit of audiophile quality listening, though, you will eventually notice the difference.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zentg /img/forum/go_quote.gif

been reading a lot of audiophile guides (i do everything from my PC) and they recommend getting a DAC for your computer, but I thought motherboards these days are more advanced and have DACs built in right? 

 

If you're using one of those red motherboards currently on the market, then yeah, it's better than the usual motherboard (especially the older ones). Gigabyte even claims to increase channel separation by putting left and right channel op-amps on separate sides of the circuit board, and Asus' red mITX board has a daughterboard just for the audio.

 

Still, it isn't actually the DAC chip that's better, but the analog output circuit.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  A good DAC will be noticeably superior to any motherboard or soundcard.  A great DAC will blow them away.

 
So I guess the Modi 2 isn't a good DAC... (See my above post.)

 

[tomb]

 

  A good DAC will be noticeably superior to any motherboard or soundcard.  A great DAC will blow them away.

 
So I guess the Modi 2 isn't a good DAC... (See my above post.)

 
Probably not if you're using those Stax of yours. 

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Probably not if you're using those Stax of yours. 

 
Right now I'm not even using a DAC, since like I said before, my laptop sounded just as good to me as a Modi 2...so I'm just gonna wait until I can afford the Schiit Yggdrasil, but only after upgrading to the SR-009. lol

 

[cel4145]

also i was gonna get the monoprice 5" speakers but decided to wait a bit and get the 8" speakers because they are only a little bit more and reading the reviews they are miles of ahead of many other speakers. Would the monoprice 8" monitors sound better than my logitech z323 2.1 system even though they don't come with a subwoofer? I never bought studio monitors before but I've had bose companion and many other computer speakers, and they sounded a lot worse than my z323 especially without a sub. personally im not a fan of thumping base, but i have my logitech sub tuned at a very low level and it sounds pretty good! just hoping the 8" monitors sound better even though they dont have a sub - on the monitors is the bottom part of the speakers where the bass noises come out? 

Yes. The Monoprice are much better than the Z323. For the price of the Monoprice 8" monitor, I'd look into the JBL LSR305. It has mid 40hz bass extension (similar to the 8" Monoprice), so it will have some decent bass (better than the Z323). And it is generally considered competitive with the best <$500 studio monitors for overall sound quality.

The hole in the monitor is a port. It allows air in and out so that the driver can produce bass more easily.