[Sycho]

After trying out my new HD 598, I do feel very satisfied about the purchase, but realizing that I could be getting much more out of my sound. I am planning to either purchase the FiiO E10, or a sound card in the $50-150 range. I care strictly for music, and I'm honestly just trying to find the best sound I can get for the money. I am using the Realtek® ALC892 on my mobo (MSI P67A-GD65) right now. Would purchasing a FiiO E10 increase my sound (both in quality and power) up a slight notch?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

After trying out my new HD 598, I do feel very satisfied about the purchase, but realizing that I could be getting much more out of my sound. I am planning to either purchase the FiiO E10, or a sound card in the $50-150 range. I care strictly for music, and I'm honestly just trying to find the best sound I can get for the money. I am using the Realtek® ALC892 on my mobo (MSI P67A-GD65) right now. Would purchasing a FiiO E10 increase my sound (both in quality and power) up a slight notch?

If all your looking for is 2-channel audio for music, then get the Fiio E10 (USB-DAC-Headphone amplifier) $70.
Chances are the E10 has a better DAC then your motherboard and some sound cards.
Also the E10 has a very low impedance, which is a plus for lower Ohm headphones.
Have you tried Foobar for playing audio (music) files?

 

[Sycho]

Foobar is my current player right now. It's nice and all, but I feel that the sound could be potentially better.

 

[Gallade475]

Quote:

Foobar is my current player right now. It's nice and all, but I feel that the sound could be potentially better.

     please tell me that you are kidding. digital is digital no matter if its being played through windows media player, winamp, foobar, or free file opener, or whatever you may use.
 
    But maybe i'm reading it wrong, and you said that your audio rig could be better.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

     please tell me that you are kidding. digital is digital no matter if its being played through windows media player, winamp, foobar, or free file opener, whatever you may use. The only digital thing that might change the sound is a dac or varying quality of optical cables. 
 
    But maybe i'm reading it wrong, and you said that your audio rig could be better.

 
Why would the quality of optical cables matter? Like you said, digital is digital. Not even a chance of any electrical interference with optical...
 
 
As for original question.. if it is STRICTLY for music, I believe you can get more bang for your buck with external DAC/amps. But for gaming and movies sound cards are going to have better features for you.

 

[blackmarket]

I have an asus xonar essence sound card and the fiio e10 and honestly i think that they don't sound much different. If it's mainly for music i think the better option would be the e10, besides, the e10 is some-what transportable if you bring a laptop around. I also enjoy having a physical volume knob; much more convenient than using the function keys on my laptop, though if your keyboard has a volume knob on it, it wouldn't really matter i suppose. The bass boost function on the e10 is also fun to use and works quite well.

 

[Sycho]

Do you guys find the FiiO E10 to sound better than on-board though? I'm planning to purchase a laptop in the future as well so it would be nice to carry a decent quality DAC with it.

 

[Gallade475]

Quote:

Do you guys find the FiiO E10 to sound better than on-board though? I'm planning to purchase a laptop in the future as well so it would be nice to carry a decent quality DAC with it.

yes, absolutely. Better dac, better amp, higher snr, and replaceability (if your mobo amp dies.)