[Denon2010]

I asked this question for  years on head fi and on reddit and I never got a straight answer I was looking for, is it worth really upgrading a asus xonar dg sound card? how good could something else really be? what is the point if the human hearing won't notice it? guess what I got like a 20% improvement in audio here depending on the music.
 
The only way to know was to buy this dac take the chance and notify the world of the answer.
 
 
you would never thought a quality DAC/AMP would be that much better than a dedicated sound card designed for headphones but apparently it is.
 
 
Received my SMSL 793 II system today so yeah pretty excited all now.

 
Now here is the thing, its not the same for all music. For example there is less difference listening to Pink Floyd. There is noticeable difference with Child of Light - Off to sleep
 
But there is HUGE difference with Bob Marley music. This just goes to show that the Wailers were ahead of their time. Hearing lots of instruments in Bob Marley albums that I NEVER heard before even with the xonar DG card.
 
So its true after all, god tier does make a difference. Whoooooda Thunk it right?
 
I am assuming the 1793 Burr Brown DAC in this thing is considered god tier? you can literally hear how the instruments are separated like some are wide apart in the background the xonar dg card cirrus logic never gave this impression.
 
Boy SMSL sure knows their sheit.

 

[MisterMudd]

Personally, I have found a dac/amp to always make a difference in my headphones. The differences ranged from subtle to not-so-subtle, and largely depend upon the source. Bob Marley always required the most exacting Studio standards and produced some really great recordings. Have fun with that SMSL.