[bulkie]

Hi All,
 
Been away from this place for far too long but I'm ready to be back now! Long story short my Lehmann Blackcube has recently decided to pack it up after spending a good 8 years with me.
 
Want to take the plunge to buy a DAC/AMP for the desktop.  Desktop has only got onboard sound now.
 
Would I be better off buying a sound card + AMP (say a Xonar Essence STX) or just go the USB DAC/AMP route?  If so which ones?
 
CANs I'd be using - Brainwavz HM5, ATH-AD900, AKG 240S, HD650 and Earsonics EM3.
 
Recommendations please.

 

[PleasantSounds]

Soundcard + Amp would be a better solution if you want to have some sort of surround sound functionality, as an external DAC is not going to give you that.
 
If that's not a concern then from the sound quality perspective you're probably better off goung the external DAC route. PC boxes suffer from noisy power supplies, interferences from graphics cards and other components - better to take your analog signal processing away from that environment.
 
Let us know which way you want to go and how much you're willing to spend.

 

[bulkie]

Wouldn't be needing surround sound as this will purely be for music purposes.
 
Sounds like an external DAC/AMP is the way to go.  I'll probably go between $300-$400 or over if I must 

 

[PleasantSounds]

Check the audio-gd range, in particular the NFB-15. Fits right into your budget, sports a well regarded DAC (WM8741 based) and a clean, powerful amp. Built like a tank. You can also use it as a preamp for speakers if you need.

 

[machinists]

My first thread.

 

[bulkie]

Welcome to Head-Fi....