[Michael V]

Currently running an he 598 powered by fiio e11 and a xonar dg. Looking to upgrade to a much better dac and one that matches the 598. I mostly listen to technobase.fm radio station all day long but I do have all my CDs ripped into lossless flac, such as Celine dion, Barbara Streisand, many 80s and 90s freedtyle(dance) a lot of Michael Jackson, etc I listen to a lot of different music. So far I have this to choose from with a budget of $100-$200. Just want something that will work well and compliment the 598.

HRT Music Streamer II- found a used one for $90 and $150 new
and heard it has a big soundstage
Musiland monitor 02 US - $150 heard its better than a xonar essence stx with upgraded op amps
Musiland monitor 03 US - supports 32bit/384khz over usb3 supposedly $170
Xonar Essence stx -$170

If you have any other suggestions let me know, I do game pretty much anytime I'm at my computer but I turn game volume off and listen to music, I'm always listening to music.

 

[NimbleTurtle]

Quote:

Currently running an he 598 powered by fiio e11 and a xonar dg. Looking to upgrade to a much better dac and one that matches the 598. I mostly listen to technobase.fm radio station all day long but I do have all my CDs ripped into lossless flac, such as Celine dion, Barbara Streisand, many 80s and 90s freedtyle(dance) a lot of Michael Jackson, etc I listen to a lot of different music. So far I have this to choose from with a budget of $100-$200. Just want something that will work well and compliment the 598.
HRT Music Streamer II- found a used one for $90 and $150 new
and heard it has a big soundstage
Musiland monitor 02 US - $150 heard its better than a xonar essence stx with upgraded op amps
Musiland monitor 03 US - supports 32bit/384khz over usb3 supposedly $170
Xonar Essence stx -$170
If you have any other suggestions let me know, I do game pretty much anytime I'm at my computer but I turn game volume off and listen to music, I'm always listening to music.

The DAC you have should be fine. I don't think you'll find THAT big of a difference upgrading to something like the HRT Music Streamer II. If at all, actually. Perhaps you should save your money for better things, despite how fun it is to spend loads on this audio hobby. I'd personally save it up for a future headphone (f you ever want to upgrade). 
 
"...that will work well and compliment the 598" --> well synergy is... subjective. One person could tell you how they have perfect synergy with an amp/ dac but are you really going to put that much faith into that person's perceptions? Perceptions that are easily fooled by biases? 
 
If you are really desperate to spend this precious cash, look into the ODAC. Should outperform everything you listed here. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Currently running an he 598 powered by fiio e11 and a xonar dg. Looking to upgrade to a much better dac and one that matches the 598. I mostly listen to technobase.fm radio station all day long but I do have all my CDs ripped into lossless flac, such as Celine dion, Barbara Streisand, many 80s and 90s freedtyle(dance) a lot of Michael Jackson, etc I listen to a lot of different music. So far I have this to choose from with a budget of $100-$200. Just want something that will work well and compliment the 598.
HRT Music Streamer II- found a used one for $90 and $150 new
and heard it has a big soundstage
Musiland monitor 02 US - $150 heard its better than a xonar essence stx with upgraded op amps
Musiland monitor 03 US - supports 32bit/384khz over usb3 supposedly $170
Xonar Essence stx -$170
If you have any other suggestions let me know, I do game pretty much anytime I'm at my computer but I turn game volume off and listen to music, I'm always listening to music.

Replacing the Xonar DG with the Xonar DX or D1 (used $50) will give you a better DAC and still provide headphone surround sound for movies and gaming.
Just plug the E11 into the DX/D1 line-out/headphone jack.
The Asus Xonar Essence STX will do gaming and movie surround sound, good music quality too.
 
Your other three options will not provide any headphone surround sound (for movies and gaming).

 

[NimbleTurtle]

Quote:

Replacing the Xonar DG with the Xonar DX or D1 (used $50) will give you a better DAC and still provide headphone surround sound for movies and gaming.
Just plug the E11 into the DX/D1 line-out/headphone jack.
The Asus Xonar Essence STX will do gaming and movie surround sound, good music quality too.
 
Your other three options will not provide any headphone surround sound (for movies and gaming).

He games most of the time though with music turned on. 
 
I'm proud to announce that this is my 100th comment on this website. 

 

[Michael V]

I'll just use my dg when gaming I need a dac strictly for music that will sound a lot better than what I have now

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'll just use my DG when gaming I need a DAC strictly for music that will sound a lot better than what I have now

The Xonar DX and D1 come with the CS4398 DAC, so your music will sound better, over the DG (while your gaming)
 
I'm sure the HRT MusicStreamer is a really good sounding DAC and you can plug the E11 into it.

 

[Michael V]

like i said i only have music on when i game and i watch a movie on my computer once in a blue moon so I really need to know whats best for music. Even if I do have volume on im not a competitive gamer I just play fun games I have no need for surround or anything, just purely music. So far hrt music streamer ii is what im going for but the used one was taken so i have to get a new one for $150. Anything better than the hrt for $200 or less? Im hearing the hrt goes against $2k async usb dacs.

 

[Jimmy24]

I've heard great reviews on the Maverick Tube Magic listed here as the top DAC/AMP. The ODAC by JDLabs is also around that price range +$150 so that should also work very well with your setup. 
 
Edit: The Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1

 

[Michael V]

Right now stuck between hrt music streamer ii, headroom total bithead, The Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1 and The Maverick Audio Tubemagic D2. Really need some help with this.