I just found out why I need an amp, help me out?

[JacksonLawrence]

Hi there, 
 
I'm new to the forum and have only just decided it is about time I got a decent audio setup for my computer (currently I just use tritton ax720's which have their own little dolby digital amp/box/something (inb4 "gaming headsets are so bad, you wasted your money"). So I'm on a tight budget and the headphones I was looking at getting were the audio technica ad700x's or possibly the ad900x's. This could change but I've read a lot of good reviews and I'm going to use my headphones for gaming as well as music so I like the idea of the open soundstage with open ear headphones as well as the lightweight construction.
 
I've been convinced that there's no point buying those headphones if I don't have an amp and dac outside of my PC to make sure I'm getting the best sound possible. Because I'm on a tight budget, looking at amps and dacs has put me off the whole audiophile market because I can't afford to drop $200 on making my sound a little better, especially after paying for the headphones as well.
 
So, my question to you guys and gals is...is there a way to get an okay amp/dac combo, even if I have to buy parts from china and solder myself (I'm a first year engineering student so I'm okaaay at reading circuit diagrams and I can solder, but not at a professional level). I know it seems like nothing but I would want to be spending less than $60 usd (i pray shipping isn't expensive cause I live in New Zealand). I DONT need a case or anything like that for it, it is FINE being just a circuit board as I have a very safe place for it to be in my desk.
 
I've tried looking at DIY projects for this stuff but they all end up costing $100usd or more just for either the amp or dac and I think I may as well buy the oDAC/O2 amp from NwAvGuy on massdrop https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-o2-odac?referer=XACZWC&mode=guest_open&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Audiophile%20A%20Product%20Announcement%202015-10-24&utm_term=Community%20-%20Audiophile%20-%20MAU%20%28Active%29​
 
Any help would really be appreciated, oh and also I don't have a soundcard in my pc, just generic 3.5mm out as well as toslink out.
Thanks very much!

 

[JacksonLawrence]

bump

 

[Beyakusenn]

For that kind of budget I'd say you first need to save some money so you can afford something good. The impedance and sensitivity do not suggest that this headphone is hard to drive, so you should already have pretty decent sound even if it's the PC output.
 
Going for something cheap like the Schiit Fulla will certainly improve the sound, but if you save money a bit longer, you could get a much better amp/DAC combination in the second hand market. I once bought the Audiotrak DR.DAC2 DX Muses Edition for just €120.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Eh. I owned the ATH-AD700 and got plenty of volume directly from my laptop. You may or may not hear an improvement with amps and DACs. It depends on various factors. If your budget is $60 and you want an amp/DAC, I would recommend a used Schiit Fulla. A super-affordable desktop amp is the Pyle PHA40, but it doesn't have a lot of power.

 

[7keys]

  Hi there, 
 
I'm new to the forum and have only just decided it is about time I got a decent audio setup for my computer (currently I just use tritton ax720's which have their own little dolby digital amp/box/something (inb4 "gaming headsets are so bad, you wasted your money"). So I'm on a tight budget and the headphones I was looking at getting were the audio technica ad700x's or possibly the ad900x's. This could change but I've read a lot of good reviews and I'm going to use my headphones for gaming as well as music so I like the idea of the open soundstage with open ear headphones as well as the lightweight construction.
 
I've been convinced that there's no point buying those headphones if I don't have an amp and dac outside of my PC to make sure I'm getting the best sound possible. Because I'm on a tight budget, looking at amps and dacs has put me off the whole audiophile market because I can't afford to drop $200 on making my sound a little better, especially after paying for the headphones as well.
 
So, my question to you guys and gals is...is there a way to get an okay amp/dac combo, even if I have to buy parts from china and solder myself (I'm a first year engineering student so I'm okaaay at reading circuit diagrams and I can solder, but not at a professional level). I know it seems like nothing but I would want to be spending less than $60 usd (i pray shipping isn't expensive cause I live in New Zealand). I DONT need a case or anything like that for it, it is FINE being just a circuit board as I have a very safe place for it to be in my desk.
 
I've tried looking at DIY projects for this stuff but they all end up costing $100usd or more just for either the amp or dac and I think I may as well buy the oDAC/O2 amp from NwAvGuy on massdrop https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-o2-odac?referer=XACZWC&mode=guest_open&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Audiophile%20A%20Product%20Announcement%202015-10-24&utm_term=Community%20-%20Audiophile%20-%20MAU%20%28Active%29​
 
Any help would really be appreciated, oh and also I don't have a soundcard in my pc, just generic 3.5mm out as well as toslink out.
Thanks very much!

You can find a used Fiio E17 in the forums for around $100.