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Okay thanks, the only reason I was thinking about upgrading is because I thought I wasn't getting the full potential out of my 598's. I guess if no one else has a varying opinion, I will just hold off.
DAC - Digital to Analog Converter.
Impedance is resistance, measured in Ohms.
I would say for improving the audio quality of the HD598, you would want to get an amplifier with a very low output impedance, which sound cards do not have, sound card are usually 10-Ohm to 100-Ohm impedance.
It's preferred to have the headphone impedance to be 8 times or more the impedance of the headphone amplifier.
With 50-Ohm headphones, technically you would want a headphone amplifier with an impedance of 6.25-Ohms or less
So an external headphone amplifier, like the O2 (Objective 2) portable headphone amplifier ($155), which has an output impedance of .5-Ohm, would be a good choice.
The 02 can drive headphones from 16-Ohm to 600-Ohms.
Also with the O2, you can just leave the AC power adapter plugged in and it functions just like a normal desktop amplifier.
DAC wise, the Xonar DX or D1 sound card ($65-$81) comes with the CS4398 DAC chip, the DG comes with the CS4245 DAC chip.
So the DX/D1 will sound better then the DG, but the DX/D1 are worse for driving headphones (then the DG), so the DX/D1 needs to be used with an external amplifier, like the O2.
So if you get some good prices on a used O2 and used DX/D1, I'm guessing your looking at around $175 to $200.
Just something to think on.