[zeromacro]

I'm trying to complete my system but I need your help.
I'm looking into connecting either a soundcard or dac as a pre-amp to my Meier Corda Headfive amp and out to the K701.

Here are the possible setups I've thought of:
1. Soundcard with RCA out -> Amp -> Headphone
2. USB DAC with RCA out -> Amp - Headphone
3. Soundcard out with optical -> DAC with RCA out -> Amp -> Headphone

Please help me choose which setup route to take and which dac/soundcard options are best suited as a pre-amp. So far I'm thinking something like the Xonar Essence STX (which I've read can act as a pre-amp) or the Magic DAC.

Budget is around $300~500.

 

[zeromacro]

anyone?

 

[muad]

A few questions... Do you want a physical preamp? or do you plan on adjusting the volume on your amp? Do you want bitperfect? What kind of onboard sound card do you have? (you may be able to get bitperfect out from some onboard solutions)

If it were me I'd either get a dedicated dac/optical or the xonar. It all depends on your requirements.

 

[zeromacro]

1. What do you mean by physical? Do you mean external as supposed to soundcards which are internal?

2. I tend to adjust the volume via amp, but any which way is fine.

3. Not that familiar with the term 'bitperfect.' What is it exactly? (PC fi noob here)

4. Realtek ALC883 8 Channel Audio Codec

5. That's exactly what I'm thinking too. A dedicated dac or xonar. But could you recommend me some dedicated DAC's?

 

[Br777]

i just ordered a KECES MK2
its a USB dac with RCA outs
its gotten lots of great reviews on this site and others, and it costs $305 new
they ship from taiwan, and you get them on ebay
actually come to think of it someone just put one up for sale on this forum in mint condition for $200 flat and i was kicking myself for having just ordered one 2 days before
If i were you I would snatch that sucker up!

 

[muad]

So basically your headphone amp has it's own preamp/volume control. This allows you to go for a dac thats completely dedicated, as in thats all it does. That way you know you're not spending money on parts you don't need and sacrificing the quality of the parts that you do require. Basically this eliminates the need for a combo dac ie dac/preamp

Bitperfect just means that the digital signal that is decoded by your dac is completely unaltered. So whatever quality file you're playing is the quality the dac will decode. Unprocessed and unmodified. It prevents windows/soundcard drivers from degrading the source. It's basically giving the dac the best digital signal to work with.
Some people claim to hear a difference others say they can't tell. I run bitperfect out just to ensure there's no funny business going on, not because I can hear a difference.

As for your options...

1.With the Xonar Essence STX you get bit perfect out and from the general consensus on these forums a great sounding dac. It also has swappable opamps allowing you to tailor the sounds to your taste.

2. Get an external dedicated dac. This can have many benefits including a dedicated (hopefully clean) powersupply. Less interference from other pc parts that a sound card has to contend with. Plus the designers of full size dacs have more room to play with, allowing them more creative freedom in the circuits they want to build.

3. If you want bitperfect out with an external dac, you could just pick up a cheap 100dollar creative titanium sound card. This will give you bitperfect out from it's optical.

Remeber all Dac's are built differently and some people will tell you to get the dac they have. My advice to you is to do your research. Pay attention to guys who have excellent components that they are comparing it to. If someone is comparing their $1000 dac to a cheaper dac and says it sound pretty damn good for it's price...

Good luck on your search!

 

[zeromacro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by muad /img/forum/go_quote.gif So basically your headphone amp has it's own preamp/volume control. This allows you to go for a dac thats completely dedicated, as in thats all it does. That way you know you're not spending money on parts you don't need and sacrificing the quality of the parts that you do require. Basically this eliminates the need for a combo dac ie dac/preamp Bitperfect just means that the digital signal that is decoded by your dac is completely unaltered. So whatever quality file you're playing is the quality the dac will decode. Unprocessed and unmodified. It prevents windows/soundcard drivers from degrading the source. It's basically giving the dac the best digital signal to work with. Some people claim to hear a difference others say they can't tell. I run bitperfect out just to ensure there's no funny business going on, not because I can hear a difference. As for your options... 1.With the Xonar Essence STX you get bit perfect out and from the general consensus on these forums a great sounding dac. It also has swappable opamps allowing you to tailor the sounds to your taste. 2. Get an external dedicated dac. This can have many benefits including a dedicated (hopefully clean) powersupply. Less interference from other pc parts that a sound card has to contend with. Plus the designers of full size dacs have more room to play with, allowing them more creative freedom in the circuits they want to build. 3. If you want bitperfect out with an external dac, you could just pick up a cheap 100dollar creative titanium sound card. This will give you bitperfect out from it's optical. Remeber all Dac's are built differently and some people will tell you to get the dac they have. My advice to you is to do your research. Pay attention to guys who have excellent components that they are comparing it to. If someone is comparing their $1000 dac to a cheaper dac and says it sound pretty damn good for it's price... Good luck on your search!

I appreciate the input thanks! It's exactly the type of information I was looking for.

 

[DaveBSC]

I don't really recommend using an internal sound card as a DAC, but I think a sound card with using S/Pdif output to a DAC is a better idea than a USB DAC instead of a soundcard altogether. A USB DAC that actually sounds like something is still a lot more money than a sound card, digital cable, and a DacMagic or Audio-GD.

Use Kernel streaming in XP or WASAPI in Vista/7 to get bit-perfect out of the sound card.

 

[zeromacro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveBSC /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't really recommend using an internal sound card as a DAC, but I think a sound card with using S/Pdif output to a DAC is a better idea than a USB DAC instead of a soundcard altogether. A USB DAC that actually sounds like something is still a lot more money than a sound card, digital cable, and a DacMagic or Audio-GD. Use Kernel streaming in XP or WASAPI in Vista/7 to get bit-perfect out of the sound card.

One question. What's the difference between between just plugging USB for DAC as supposed to using SPDIF? Is there a notable sound quality difference?

 

[muad]

I agree with Dave, your best bet is to get the external dac. If I were to buy a dedicated dac, I would probably go for the audio-gd dac19. Here's a couple links to a some interesting impressions

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/audio-gd-dac-19-mkiv-469267/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/dac...9-dsp1-472857/

For an example I run wasapi in Foobar2000 which bypasses everything in windows. I also have a creative titanium for the optical output. Wasapi out automatically bypasses all the windows sound and sound card settings. It appears your onboard sound card can do bitperfect with some tweaking. You wont really know till you try.

 

[muad]

Well most people on here agree that the USB doesn't sound as good as s/pdif. Also the USB is limited on most cheaper Dac's to 48000khz output. So it's not as flexible.

 

[zeromacro]

Do you have any clue as to how much the DAC 19 goes for? I've emailed for a quotation but I probably won't get a reply for a while.

Edit: I found out. I think it's a bit out of my budget :/

 

[zeromacro]

On the upside I've just ordered the STX. According to your suggestion I'm thinking SPDIF out to a dedicated DAC to Amp using wasapi in Foobar. Does this sound okay? Any other dedicated DAC recommendations? Otherwise will probably save up for the DAC 19 down the road.

 

[muad]

Well there are 2 models of the dac19. Both are said to be very good. The cheaper one is $480. I thought your budget was under 500?

The STX is kind of expensive option if you were only using it for bitperfect optical out. Since there are cheaper options. Your onboard soundcard's optical out for instance is bitperfect capable (possibly). But since you already picked up the Xonar, you could always wait and see how it sounds without an external dac. You may find that you love the sound! It is known to be a good dac and possibly one of the best sounding cards on the market. If you're not happy you could always get an external dac... maybe then the dac19 or whatever else you find.

Check out the main essence stx threads in the computer area. There's a ton of good advice in there and some good opamp questions. If you have any other questions about the STX specifically, a great person to talk to is Robscix. He' quite fond of that card and is very knowledgeable.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Agreed. You might have wanted to go with a less expensive card to use for a S/Pdif link...
There is also devices such as the M2Tech Hiface which many around here give great feedback about, that can be use for S/pdif link to external DAC's.
Watch if you go for a USB DAC as some of them use an older receiver unit and are limited to 16/48 other offer full comptibility for the various bit depths and frequencies.