help me pick a soundcard or DAC

[deviantv1ral]

seems like you guys know your stuff so i'll ask here:

its a windows XP desktop running a p4 3.2 ghz

its only for 2 channel music sometimes 2.1

all files are apple lossless
organized through iTunes and played through the foobar engine with a bit of upsampling to a realtek onboard audio

it goes to a Class T amp to a set of Athena AS-F2

its my first venture into computer audio
so my budget for a card or DAC is under 100 dollars

card has to be pci only and DAC has to be usb only

currently i'm looking at this
Newegg.com - HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

i listen to classical and jazz with a some rock and alternative even metal

opinions? words of wisdom?

 

[Logistics]

While you're waiting for suggestions on a new source, go here and get the Kernel Streaming plugin: foobar2000 components

 

[deviantv1ral]

thanks ive done that a few hours ago and it made the music fuller, its great

 

[Hookem]

What T/Amp do you have ???

You really do not need a PCI sound card at all...You will get much better sound quality using a USB/DAC.

Unless you need EAX, Dolby, Surround just use an external USB/DAC to feed your T/Amp.

 

[deviantv1ral]

i made the class T amp myself, since they were out of stock at the time. i bought the plans and the main board and just soldered he pieces together with a custom case, i have an extra one for sale

anyway whats is a good usb/dac under 100 dollars?

something that could upsample would be nice

or is the foobar upsamling component better?

why is a DAC favored over a soundcard?

 

[Hookem]

What kind of input's does you T-Amp have.

Optical, Coax, RCA ???

And does your motherboard have Optical or Coax out ???

 

[deviantv1ral]

RCA inputs

motherboard has no digital out

 

[CSMR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deviantv1ral /img/forum/go_quote.gif currently i'm looking at this Newegg.com - HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

I would get a stereo sound card, not 7.1 channel. There are many good ones to choose from.

 

[deviantv1ral]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CSMR /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would get a stereo sound card, not 7.1 channel. There are many good ones to choose from.

so you prefer a sound card over a DAC?

note: quality is most important, after reading some threads it seems like a DAC is the way to go.

are there reviews out there concerning how different DACs actually sound like?

 

[CSMR]

A sound card contains at least one dac. A dac you cannot connect directly to a computer, you must connect it to a sound card. Some sound cards are confusingly called "usb dacs", a misnomer.

 

[deviantv1ral]

i see, it still comes down to what do you guys recommend for my application?

thanks

 

[CSMR]

You could try an 0404 PCI card but the software is more sophisticated than you need. Maybe Juli@, I don't know this very well. You may want something simpler. I haven't looked into sub $100 cards for a while as I need pro audio features so don't know what has come out recently.