[Astoniam]

Hey Mates,
 
So im pretty sure im going to be buying the Sennheiser hd558, and am wondering what of the next options will give me the best results within my budget - 100-120$
My main purpose is for Movies, after that just general use for music and gaming.
 
im using onboard sound at the moment (asus p8z68 v pro/gen3).
would it bet better to just get an amp a new soundcard (xonar d1/dx) or a  dac/amp combo like the NuForce u-Dac2. not looking for it to be portable.
 
would really appreciate some suggestions.
 
Cheers

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to be buying the Sennheiser HD558, and am wondering what of the next options will give me the best results within my budget - 100-120$
My main purpose is for Movies, after that just general use for music and gaming.
I'm using on-board sound at the moment (asus p8z68 v pro/gen3).
would it bet better to just get an amp a new sound card (Xonar D1/DX) or a dac/amp combo like the NuForce u-Dac2. not looking for it to be portable.

As your into movies and gaming, really need a sound card for surround sound.
The Asus Xonar DG is a nice low cost sound card with a half-way decent headphone amplifier and Dolby Headphone surround sound.
The Nuforce U-DAC2 should come with a better DAC and headphone amplifier then the Xonar DG, but offers zero surround sound, 2-channel audio only.
 
Edit, just found out your Asus motherboard comes with DTS Surround Sensation, so you could hook an external DAC/Amp straight to your motherboard's S/PDIF Toslink optical output.