Need HELP on DAC between Soundcard and DIY Dac !

[CSMR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donjiva /img/forum/go_quote.gif 5. My budget for DAC is around 100-200$. If I am not satisfied with DAC only then maybe I will buy amp like PPAv2 in the future

What you are saying is this: you want to plug headphones into the soundcard but if you are not satisfied (with the internal headphone amp of the soundcard) you may buy an external headphone amp.
Quote:

I have been doing a lot of research about DAC recently, and I can not decide which one I should buy.

You mean soundcard not DAC. A lot of new people are strangely confusing the two... no problem but it's basic information. Someone must be spreading confusion here or somewhere else.
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1. between EMU-0404-usb and EMU-0404-PCI > Is the usb much better since it is outside the case?

The 0404 PCI is ruled out because it does not have an internal headphone amp.
You can plug headphones in with an adapter and they will sound but it's far from spec.
The 0404usb and 0202usb are both good choices on the other hand. They have excellent internal DACs and internal amps that you may find adequate.
The 0202USB is my recommendation if you are going to use your above plan.
Quote:

3. How about soundcard like Auzentech Prelude and Asus Xonar d2/d2x? Are they better than EMU/Esi Juli/Omega Claro for music playback? Or external DIY DAC are better since it is outside the case?

These are generally good cards, at least the ones I know. The main differences will be software control. Most of these (including the USB e-mus) are consumer cards without a huge amount of software control, but you should be able to use normal windows audio and ASIO which is likely all you need.

 

[donjiva]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hookem /img/forum/go_quote.gif This guy just bought a Fubar III. http://http://www.head-fi.org/forums...ne-amp-335079/ He certainly seem's impressed. So what kind of cooling do you have on your E8400 (just a guess) 3 to 3.8 is a nice clock if that is what you have.

thanks for the recommendation!

haha I had just read that article about fubar3 ! and anyway about the e-mu 0202, that is what i'm confused about.. is emu0202 better than ta-10 or fubar 3? since I won't be doing any recording ever my priority is the highest quality for music playback

hm funny I was looking between A5 and mr5 too for speakers maybe later on [budget constraint]. Well now I can ask you later which one is better before buying them

Ha another fellow overclokers!

Actually it is e6750, I overclocked from 2.6 to 3.8ghz, idle temp 27c load temp 57c. I used a XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler. This thing is superb, but it is a big ass cooler. fortunately it fit my antec 900

 

[donjiva]

thanks for answering my questions!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CSMR /img/forum/go_quote.gif What you are saying is this: you want to plug headphones into the soundcard but if you are not satisfied (with the internal headphone amp of the soundcard) you may buy an external headphone amp.

that is because my current soundcard is a built-in to the motherboard and it has a very bad sound, that is why i need a good DAC first before buying headphone amp or amplifier

Quote:

You mean soundcard not DAC. A lot of new people are strangely confusing the two... no problem but it's basic information. Someone must be spreading confusion here or somewhere else.

Actually I researched both DAC and Soundcards

. is there any difference between them? My priority is music playback [so i dont need the x-fi] for my grado sr80 and maybe later on for A5 audioengine speakers.

Quote:

The 0404 PCI is ruled out because it does not have an internal headphone amp. You can plug headphones in with an adapter and they will sound but it's far from spec. The 0404usb and 0202usb are both good choices on the other hand. They have excellent internal DACs and internal amps that you may find adequate. The 0202USB is my recommendation if you are going to use your above plan.

yeah i have been looking at emu0404 and 0202 , but what I'm confused is : Is emu 0404/0202 better than other DAC like fubar 3 / zero / fubar 2 /ibasso D2 ? I wont do any recording , I only want the best music quality for the price.

Quote:

These are generally good cards, at least the ones I know. The main differences will be software control. Most of these (including the USB e-mus) are consumer cards without a huge amount of software control, but you should be able to use normal windows audio and ASIO which is likely all you need.

well from what i heard is that internal soundcard is worst than external DAC in terms of music playback quality only [i dont care about x-fi, surround, game etc]

thanks!

 

[Hookem]

I dont think there is much doubt that an external USB/DAC will have better sound quality than most pci computer sound cards.

Still arguing with myself about what to buy...Probably just go with the 0202 since it is inexpensive and gets high marks here at HeadFi.

Really wanted to start with the Audiotrak HD2 for my first computer as source high quality solution.

Just so hard to get...Leaving me in the position of waiting or going ahead and buying a USB/DAC that has a headphone amp...Which to my way of thinking is certainly the way to go.

LOL...Yeah I'm a overclocker...Here is a pic of my current 2 rigs.

Intel box.

AMD box.