[inarc]

Hey guys, I'm about to start building a new PC after years of relying on laptops. Now that I have the funds to support my endeavor, I'm hoping to get some decent sound equipment, but don't know where I would get the most bang for my buck.
 Suffice it to say that I'm still a newb at a lot of the audiophile equipment--at the moment the only decent phones I own are the M50 (no amp). I would love to expand the collection in the future, but I don't imagine I'll ever be spending big bucks on higher-end 'phones. So with that in mind, I'm not sure what's worth investing in, and what would be considered a waste for the M50's (and possible similar phones in the future).
 
Since I haven't purchased all the parts yet, my budget for the audio is somewhat flexible, but I can't imagine spending more than $400 on everything. When I looked at soundcards, this seemed reasonable. When I took a gander at some highly-acclaimed amps and DAC combos, I realized $400 might barely get me by. So now I'm looking for suggestions.
 
Should I invest in a solo soundcard? I've heard many good things about Asus Xonar DS, or even Xonar Essence, but I think the latter would be more than what I need.
 
Or, should I be looking for an amp/DAC combo? Or even as a single unit? If this were the route, I would be running them off of whatever sound the motherboard can produce. Probably not shabby (better than my old laptops), but nothing to be impressed by.
 
Or, is an amp or DAC, purchased solo, going to be enough of an upgrade for the M50? I'm not expecting to hear a huge difference, but I can be content with some subtle improvements if I know that my setup will be able to drive more than just that M50s, should I ever buy more.
 
I apologize in advance if these types of threads are posted often; I tried searching and educating myself about amps/DACs, but it got a little overwhelming, and I found myself asking more questions than what I had begun with.

 

[kboe]

$400.00 is a nice budget to for a mini rig around your M50s.  I personally never did like the sound straight out of soundcards, even nicer ones like you have mentioned, but thats my understanding based in my ears.
 
I would look at an amp like the Schiit Asgard, which excel at driving low impedance headphones like yours.  The for a DAC you could look at something like the uDAC from NuForce, or the HRT Streamer.  If you went with the uDAC, you could use the reminder of your budget on some interconnects from Blue Jeans or something like that.
 

 

[inarc]

Thanks for the suggestions kboe.
 
So far I'm really liking everything I've read about the Schiit Asgard, but the LittleDot MKIII is a bit cheaper, and also comes with good reviews. I know I have a bit of breathing room with the budget, but any money I can save here goes into upgrading another computer part.
 
As far as DACs go, the HRT Streamer didn't have many reviews for me to compare much, but I will say the price of the uDac was pleasing to look at. My only question then is whether the type of input affects the SQ at all? I.e. Would it be beneficial to find a DAC that can connect via S/PDIF instead of USB?
 
Perhaps that's negligible, but then again I'm still not sure what difference any of this will make if I'm only using the M50's. Any more thoughts on whether buying one component instead of the other would be enough to hear a difference? I haven't ruled out getting the soundcard yet, but if I get a DAC, there's no point in it.
 
 

 

[Madgravity34]

My suggestion is to keep it simple. The M50s really do not improve much with amplification, but a DAC can make a fairly large difference. You should definitely check out the Audinst MX-1. Not only does it support 24/96 but it also has a really nice amplifier built in which can easily power 600ohm 'phones.
 
The price at $179 is a great starting price and then you could jump on a pair of higher-end headphones or pic up some IEMS. Only owning a pair of M50s, please keep in mind that 90% of your sound starts with headphones, everything else is to improve upon the sound signature you are working with. Don't spend a lot on your source/amp when simply upgrading your headphones to the next level will likely be the biggest change you can get.
 
This is coming from someone who has invested a decent amount on his portable rig and I can tell you, the largest differences made to my setup were my DIYmod (source) and Custom Um3x's (headphones). The Arrow, TwAg, and LOD just put the icing on the cake. They helped me utilize my source and IEM's to their full potential (and it did provide a good upgrade for the M50s)
 
So for my priority list, focus less on getting the best amp and go for the best DAC/Source file combination. Plus who can argue with saving money? (If you don't want to upgrade the M50s)

 

[inarc]

Thanks for that reminder. I think, after reading so many reviews, I got caught up in wanting what everyone else seemed to be experiencing, even tho my current phones don't need the amplification.
 
In any case, I hadn't heard of Audinst before your post, but I think it's versatility is just what I was looking for. And for a [more-than] fair price, too! I will probably take the plunge on that buy within a day or two unless someone can convince me otherwise. The rest of the budget will probably be saved for new headphones like you suggested.

 

[Nubster]

I could be totally wrong but it is my understanding, after reading something the other day on this subject, that even a higher end soundcard is subject to computer noise whereas an external DAC is much less likely to be affected by computer noise and even if it is, they generally have a much better ability to handle that noise and eliminate it prior to sending the signal out to your amp/headphones. Please, someone correct me if I am wrong, I don't want to spread false info...again...this was just my understanding from what I was reading.

 

[Soymilk]

yes, an external dac is less susceptible to noise from the computer since it's not inside the computer with all the other electronics and the casing may act as a shield. it's not that they eliminate the noise, it's they don't pick it up in the first place.
 
as to how audible of a difference it is (or if it's negligible after simply sticking a piece of emf paper on the back of your sound card or something like that), i can't say since i haven't tried them both. but i'm pretty sure the general consensus is external dac will be better than internal soundcard, the main disadvantage is it wont have the surround sound stuff like eax or dolby whatever if you want that for games.