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Good day everyone, just wanted people inputs on the best bang for my buck around $100 I'm strongly leaning to the E10 as i see pretty good reviews, my current amp is a cheapy pyle one that is used more as a splitter, It distorts my sound a bit on my 598 but not my ath m50's which i find odd, anyway any input would help!!!
Fiio E10 USB-DAC-Headphone amplifier, currently $44.99 at Adorama
http://www.adorama.com/FIE10.html
Asus Xonar DG ($26.99, PCI) or DGX ($39.99, PCI-E) sound card.
If all you care about is 2-channel audio, then get the Fiio E10 (slightly more powerful head amp. then Xonar)
The E10 is also very low impedance amp, which is a plus.
and I would think the Fiio E10 DAC would be better then whatever is built into your motherboard
If you want Dolby Headphone 5.1 surround sound for movies and gaming, the get an Xonar.
DAC should be better then your motherboard's
(Xonar should also be fairly good for music too (2-channel audio).
Optional
You can always add the Fiio E11 ($49.99) portable headphone amplifier to use plugged in the headphone jack of the Xonars.
It's a better quality amplifier (very low impedance) the the Xonar's
and the E11 amp. is slightly more powerful then the E10.
Get the Fiio L cable and you can plug the E11 into the iPod.
The Fiio E11 is not a must have for your setup, just more of an add-on option.