[HyperTooth]

I am relatively new to the audio world - I have had a decent amount of higher end headphones but I am new to the whole AMP and DAC thing for the desktop.

My current headphones are:
HiFiMan 400s
Hifiman RE-600 V2
AKG-Massdrop K7XX
Sennheiser HD-650

I just recently bought the HiVi Swan M50w speakers and I am looking to get some added love from a desktop able DAC/Amp. I am looking to spend maybe 200 dollars on this and would like for it to amp my headphones as well.

My PC -
Motherboard - MSI Z270 Gaming M7
CPU - Intel i7-7700k
GPU - EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 (Upon shipping)
RAM - G.Skill Trident DDR4 (32 Gigs)
PSU - EVGA G3 (1000W)
Storage: HDD - Seagate 7200RPM 4 TB SSD - Crucial m.2 525GB
Cooling - NZXT AER Fans and NZXT Kraken X62
Case - Corsair Crystal 570X
Monitors - (2) HP 4K 32in

 

[cuiter23]

Don't like to question a person's morals but a $5,000 PC and only $200 bucks to spend on a DAC AND an AMP?

You sure you call yourself a real head-fi'er? I kid lol.

You realize that your Swans are powered right? If you want to have something that can control your speaker volume and at the same time power your headphones take a look at the Modi and Magni 2 combo. That's the best I can recommend at your price range.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I am relatively new to the audio world - I have had a decent amount of higher end headphones but I am new to the whole AMP and DAC thing for the desktop.

My current headphones are:
HiFiMan 400s
Hifiman RE-600 V2
AKG-Massdrop K7XX
Sennheiser HD-650

I just recently bought the HiVi Swan M50w speakers and I am looking to get some added love from a desktop able DAC/Amp. I am looking to spend maybe 200 dollars on this and would like for it to amp my headphones as well.

My PC -
Motherboard - MSI Z270 Gaming M7
CPU - Intel i7-7700k
GPU - EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 (Upon shipping)
RAM - G.Skill Trident DDR4 (32 Gigs)
PSU - EVGA G3 (1000W)
Storage: HDD - Seagate 7200RPM 4 TB SSD - Crucial m.2 525GB
Cooling - NZXT AER Fans and NZXT Kraken X62
Case - Corsair Crystal 570X
Monitors - (2) HP 4K 32in

For $200 whatever you can get that has a headphone output and can feed a signal to the speakers likely won't drive the K7XX well enough. And for not much more you can get something markedly better than the motherboard and has a preamp output to the speakers.

At minimum get the Modi2 and Vali2. If your motherboard's DSP chip has virtual surround, get the Modi2 Uber and hook it up via SPDIF. Alternately, you can get the AudioGD NFB-11 - it has a manual output selector switch on the front panel so going to speakers won't require unplugging whatever headphone is plugged in.

 

[HyperTooth]

I mean - $3000ish for the PC without monitors but I get what you mean. I guess I could drop more but I didn't think that it would be valuable with the Swans given they're a lower end speaker system compared.

I guess I could raise the price and try to get better quality/value, say 400 dollars? I think that would be my absolute limit.

 

[cuiter23]

Haha that build in Canada would be over 5k for sure.

Since they are powered I would just get an amp for your headphones. Do you need volume control for your Swans?