Soundcard, amps, and dac recommendations plz

[sdfx]

Hey since I'm pretty new to all this for soundcards I was thinking of:

Soundcards:
AV 710 PCI (Recommended by FallenAngel)
Elite Pro (Has native ASIO, already line-level out right? a stretch for my wallet only 15 lol)
EMU 0404 (Kept seeing this pop up)
M Rev 5.1
Xonar D2?
Anything else I should know? $~300

Amps:
I don't know any yet.

DAC:
Most will spend is $~300
Zhaolu 2.5 or 3 looks good
None I know of besides this

Btw, I mostly watch Anime (50%), listen to music(40%) (j-pop shoutcast), and some gaming (10%) I used to be hardcore now I'm casual.

 

[breakfastchef]

What exactly are you asking? 'Do yo need a desktop or portable unit(s)?

 

[sdfx]

Desktop. Portable to me isn't really necessary, plus I don't wanna have to carry it being all heavy and bulky in my pocket.

 

[Audio Addict]

Have you read this thread on sound cards?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/so...thread-348091/

 

[sdfx]

Yeah I have, but no direct answer about the card to get out of the list. Judging by myself I'd go with the EMU 0404 or the 710 though the elite pro is just asking for a punch in the face.

 

[sdfx]

I think I'm more worried about the DAC's and amps.

 

[-=Germania=-]

I just got the Auzen X-plosion which is running to an external DAC in my receiver.

It is nice because of the the swappable op-amps and the ability to use full DTS and Dolby Digital if you use surround sound. Very nice SPDIF outs.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Germania=- /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just got the Auzen X-plosion which is running to an external DAC in my receiver. It is nice because of the the swappable op-amps and the ability to use full DTS and Dolby Digital if you use surround sound. Very nice SPDIF outs.

If you're using digital output to another DAC, those opamps don't do anything.

 

[-=Germania=-]

The channel outs are very good though.
Silent output on the channels.

What is nice is that it would give him more options and would have to spend less later on.

Many of the best DAC's are not USB based, but SPDIF input.
Just giving a budget option.

 

[demoNMaCHiN3]

I don't see why you would buy a soundcard and then a dac...

check out the ht omega claro+ and auzentech prelude

 

[obobskivich]

if you don't wanna spend as much dosh, theres a non-plus version of the Claro thats a few bucks cheaper (like 20 or 30)

whats the "punch in the face" about the X-Fi Elite Pro? theres not much that can really compete with it, at least on all fronts, sure a few E-MU, RME, etc cards can talk smack quality wise, but it can get em back with gaming and price, and sure a few M-Audio and Auzentech cards can beat it at pricing, but it wins out in performance, and then theres the X-Fi Prelude, which is the monkey wrench in the system, honestly if you don't want the remote, or all of the toys that come with the EP (i.e: full drivers (thats right, auzen's drivers are hacked to bits vs the full Creative package) with all of the patchbay toys (none of this is essential though), the remote, the breakout box, etc) then go with the Prelude

if the toys interest you, go with the EP

and yeah, why bother with the opamps if you're using digital out, they wont affect anything with quality

as far as getting a DAC with a soundcard, thats just silly, granted there is some weight to the arguement (for absolute quality, we're talking audiophile here, not anime-palooza (sorry, I really am not trying to diss you, my point is that, anime is not going to be mastered to an audiophile level, meaning you don't need to spend hardly anything to get its max qual))

I'd get either the Claro+, X-Fi Elite Pro, X-Fi Prelude, or D2/D2X (depending on your PC's compatability)

and run that into a headphone amp

so you're looking at $160 on the low end (Claro+ or D2) to around $260 on the high end (X-Fi Elite Pro)

now you've got a good source in your PC

the next question is, what heaphones do you have? (if you have cheapy $60 headphones, there is no reason to spend $300 on a D/A, $300 on a PC transport, and $300-$500 on a headamp, you'd be better off getting a $200 soundcard, $200 headamp, and spending the rest on a pair of phones that make such a setup worth it)

 

[slowfreight]

sound card: x2 on the omega claro+ and auzentec prelude.

 

[sdfx]

Ok so should I get the prelude or the omega+ (what's the plus of the elite pro though?). any1 care to recommend some good amps? and for line-level is that automatically from digital out from the soundcard?

 

[obobskivich]

depends on what you're doing, if its all about music and zero gaming or anything like that, I'd go with the HT Omega Claro+, if its all about music, and theres some gaming or you might want to start gaming or anything at all like that, I'd go with the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude

the Prelude is the best of both worlds, while the Claro+ is a little more refined for audio, but will fall on its face with games and other H/W accelerated content

 

[sdfx]

Ok so be it! I will get the prelude then. Thanks for all your feedback. How about amps now?