[SolidVictory]

Quote:

 

Onboard sound is highly variable.  Some of it sucks, some of it is great.
 

I completely agree. The Realtek ALC889A on my motherboard sounds fantastic. It also has S/PDIF out/in as well as a bunch of other features that work well with external gear.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Fine, some onboard audio chips are less awful. Certainly not even near the great yard. Again, a sub-$50 DAC beats all forms of current onboard audio, which should be an indicator by itself.

The HP out on my Asus 1005HA netbook is the quietest thing I've ever plugged my SE535s into.  Even my HD650s sounded great as long as you didn't want headbanging party volume.
 
I have a Practical Devices XM6 that I mostly just use for the crossfeed.  If I didn't need the crossfeed I probably wouldn't use it with my netbook at all.

 

[TwoEars]

Source Material > Headphones > Amp > DAC > Cables

 

[Curly21029]

 
Quote:

Source Material > Headphones > Amp > DAC > Cables

I'm of the same opinion.
 
To the topic starter, with a bit of patience you should be able to find both the M50 and a Sansa Clip+ (as someone else recommended) used within your budget.