[arun1977]

Hi
I assembled a desktop a while back with some fairly medium end components ( i5 3570k / Corsair 8GB) but the motherboard was low end .( Gigabyte B75) with onboard sound - RealTek ALC887. My sound preferences are fairly high (at least I would like to think so ) and so I bought a Sennheiser HD598 as first step towards High Quality sound. To be mentioned I never owned a sound amp , dac or anything . I mainly connect Hd598 to onboard sound and listen to Mp3s, Music Cds, Flac audio, HD movie rips and very little games.My main preference is Music .Sometimes I listen to Xperia mobile phone songs and thats it. If I feel that the volume of a particular movie or song is too low then I increase the volume of my ffDshow audio decoder which gives me the volume but worsens the quality of music or movies audio.Now my question is am I missing something here and can I improve upon my audio listening experience by purchasing a dedicated sound card . If so any sound card suggestions . I dont have a huge budget and I can shell out like Rs 3000/- ( almost 40-50 dollars).I also wonder if the sound quality is vastly going to increase on dedicated Sound card and if not I may well stay with my onboard Sound.Based on this later I may even purchase an audiophile quality 2.1 speakers like Klipsch Promedia / Corsair SP2500 / HK Soundsticks etc.
Thanks All
Arun

 

[bobby12]

i have the xonar dg and I think it's totally worth it especially since you have volume problems at times. It did improve the sound quality compared to the alc887 and you'll damage your ears before you have volume problems again. (Don't forget to change the gain)

Newegg has it for $27.99($17.99 after rebate). It's pretty cheap so it won't kill your wallet even if you don't like it.