[Dubnyk]

I'm currently looking to upgrade my setup for my Sennheiser HD650's. Currently I have an EO9K and an E07k and all my listening comes from a PC with motherboard realtek soundcard. It's a 50/50 usage of movies and music and very little gaming so I'm not overly concerned about something for gaming.

I've been looking at the Yulong D100 MKII as a DAC and amplifier. Seems to get good reviews although I haven't seen much about it here. Seen a lot about the shiit Asgard models though and people like that. I'm looking to go tube, But I'm open to suggestions.

Another question is about soundcard. I would be running optical out from my motherboard to the amp/DAC. If I'm doing that, would getting a better soundcard be any benefit?

I'll appreciate any input given.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm currently looking to upgrade my setup for my Sennheiser HD650's. Currently I have an EO9K and an E07k and all my listening comes from a PC with motherboard Realtek sound card. It's a 50/50 usage of movies and music and very little gaming so I'm not overly concerned about something for gaming.

I've been looking at the Yulong D100 MKII as a DAC and amplifier. Seems to get good reviews although I haven't seen much about it here. Seen a lot about the Schiit Asgard models though and people like that. I'm looking to go tube, But I'm open to suggestions.

Another question is about sound card. I would be running optical out from my motherboard to the amp/DAC. If I'm doing that, would getting a better sound card be any benefit?.

When you use S/PDIF (optical or coaxial) output from a motherboard, you can still use the on-board audio features.
USB bypasses on-board/sound card audio features.
Unless your into FPS gaming, I can't really see you having a need to add a sound card (with using the Yulong D100).
 
For Blu-ray movies, get Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11, sells on eBay for $29.90

 

[Dubnyk]

When you use S/PDIF (optical or coaxial) output from a motherboard, you can still use the on-board audio features.
USB bypasses on-board/sound card audio features.
Unless your into FPS gaming, I can't really see you having a need to add a sound card (with using the Yulong D100).

For Blu-ray movies, get Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11, sells on eBay for $29.90

Alright thanks. Using USB has a slight degradation in audio quality though if I remember correctly though right? Through optical it will be better quality. Which apparently I have a good ear to quality audio. I can pick out differences that others can't I find. But as far as I've read a sound card won't make a difference quality wise when using optical right?

I used to be very into home theater until I moved into an apartment. All around paradigm studio series speakers and a sub 15. Powered by 3 anthem preamps and a processor to put it together. So now I'm doing the best I can to recreate this with a headphone setup.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Alright thanks. Using USB has a slight degradation in audio quality though if I remember correctly though right? Through optical it will be better quality. Which apparently I have a good ear to quality audio. I can pick out differences that others can't I find. But as far as I've read a sound card won't make a difference quality wise when using optical right?

I used to be very into home theater until I moved into an apartment. All around paradigm studio series speakers and a sub 15. Powered by 3 anthem preamps and a processor to put it together. So now I'm doing the best I can to recreate this with a headphone setup.

Yulong claims the D100 MKII's USB input is as good as the S/PDIF.
But as the Yulong D100 comes with optical, coaxial & USB, let your ears decide which you like better.
With digital output (S/PDIF & USB) from a computer, adding a sound card should not make a difference, sound quality wise.
 
Have you tried using the headphone output on the home audio setup?
(use a S/PDIF connection between the computer and home audio setup)

 

[Dubnyk]

Yulong claims the D100 MKII's USB input is as good as the S/PDIF.
But as the Yulong D100 comes with optical, coaxial & USB, let your ears decide which you like better.
With digital output (S/PDIF & USB) from a computer, adding a sound card should not make a difference, sound quality wise.

Have you tried using the headphone output on the home audio setup?
(use a S/PDIF connection between the computer and home audio setup)

Yes I used to use the optical output to my old system. Sounded just fine. I guess that is a good point. Never thought of that! If it sounded good there chances are it'll be fine for this.

Are there any other DAC/amps you'd recommend for the price range of the yulong D100?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Yes I used to use the optical output to my old system. Sounded just fine. I guess that is a good point. Never thought of that! If it sounded good there chances are it'll be fine for this.
Are there any other DAC/amps you'd recommend for the price range of the Yulong D100?

I'm not really well informed about DAC/Amps in that price range.
Me, I would have gone for something like an Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card (Used, $50-$60)
and maybe a Schiit Asgard II ($250).

 

[Makiah S]

If your REALLY want an upgrade, grab an Audio GD 10.32 Balanced Amp/Dac and get your HD 650's reterminated to balanced [cost like $60 from member Zombie_X i think] the Dac amp is about $600 with shipping. That would be a big step up [I'm going that route my self over my current oDac and Matrix M Stage]