[meatwad]

I deleted a bunch of stuff because the original post was WAY too long!

it's still pretty long..

the short:
want to upgrade my computer-as-source audio, new soundcard (ie. HT Claro Halo w/ integrated amp) or just an Amp (ie. LD MkIII) or some other item? For around $250.


the long:
i am a gamer and an audiophile, but I'm not sure it's necessarily in that order.

I've been considering the HT Claro Halo card because it has all the nice outputs that I might want when, not if, I later upgrade to a dedicated Amp/DAC. But from what I read, it is a solid product that a lot of people seem to like. I would also be upgrading my sound card to have the RCA, optical and SPDIF-outs, which my X-Fi Xtremegamer does not have - allowing me to upgrade to even better stuff down the road. I know it would mean giving up EAX, but I'm interested in Dolby Headphone for all the movies and TV shows I download Also, I read that apparently there's a way to get some EAX features working with this card's chipset, so it might not even be a loss in that regard vs. the X-Fi. Maybe the features of the soundcard would better the features of a DAC/amp combo, as the sound card is obviously more geared toward computer usage vs. a DAC..

or is it even worth it to get that soundcard+amp, or should I just buy a small dedicated amp, ie. the Little Dot MkIII? I have a little HeadRoom Total Airhead, but I think I could do better. And like I just mentioned, I only have a headphone-out (or 5.1, which I will never use) so I thought that might limit the SQ, versus optical or coaxial. Could someone relate to me the function of a DAC relative to the computer's sound card? are they pretty much the same thing?

as I mentioned I am a gamer, BUT i think i could live without EAX. i don't really see that much added value to the positional stuff anyway, and besides I mostly play games like L4D, which is on the Source engine, and I believe it has its own sound processing system and doesn't use EAX.

FWIW, I was thinking of upgrading from HD280s to D2000. I have had HD500s and HD595s before (the 595s are in storage and broken, rats ate and stoeled the cable!!

). My 595s sounded great, but I think I would ultimately prefer closed cans, because I like the bass on the heavier side. I thought the bass from the 280s was pretty weak, well until I busted out some bass-heavy music lol. I really haven't listened to a whole lot of my music lately until reading these forums With a little adjust to the EQ and a bump in volume, the bass really pops. I knew there wasn't a lot of bass in videogames, but I was almost shocked at how good my cans sounded with some high quality or lossless songs

I have considered that USB DAC/Amp combos would be a nice option, but I am a little resistant to the idea. I read that the USB DACs have made leaps and bounds in quality, but I just think I might get "more for the money" in getting a better sound card. But, my motherboard has an SPDIF out, so maybe if I got a DAC/Amp combo I could get something that would connect to my mobo, and then I would have no internal sound card, the DAC would basically be my sound card, right?


I guess what I'm asking is: I want an amp to bring out the best in my current (and future) cans, so should I 1. just get a dedicated amp (Little Dot MkIII) or 2. upgrade the sound card and the Amp?

thanks in advance for the suggestions, and double thanks if you actually read all this crap

btw - is opamp rolling an easy process? physically. i can't solder or anything like that, have no tools for tinkering with circuits and whatnot, is it something you can do with just basic tools and your hands?

 

[EugeneK]

I'd pick a USB dac/amp combo, and keep your Xfi for gaming.

Maybe a 2nd hand pico or compass to power your heapdhones.

 

[meatwad]

I guess I hadn't really considered that as an option. but i don't know if I'd want the hassle of plugging and unplugging the USB, and switching the headphones back and forth too. or the speakers too... I don't know if plugging my headphones into the speakers would be limiting the SQ or somehow affecting it. I assumed it was basically just a headphone extension cable, with volume control...? without considering the quality of the cabling, i just figured that's all it does.

BTW, links or product suggestions much appreciated. Aside from the products I already mentioned, I wouldn't really know where to start.

 

[meatwad]

bump

 

[EugeneK]

I personally prefer external DACs and amps, they won't go out of date so quickly and generally have a better power source than a computer PSU.

I'm running a $40 bit perfect Cmedia soundcard, s/pdif out to a Lavry DA10. I previously had a USB Keces 151.

You have to determine which you would like a stronger system in: gaming or music.

Plugging headphones into computer speaker headphone jacks tends to introduce the amp of the speaker system, which might not be the best for headphone music listening.

 

[meatwad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EugeneK /img/forum/go_quote.gif I personally prefer external DACs and amps, they won't go out of date so quickly and generally have a better power source than a computer PSU.

thanks for the advice on the speaker HP jack.

and my power supply is pretty hefty, it's a Corsair 750W - what makes the external DAC/amp power supply > computer PSU?

 

[EugeneK]

Well, I'm sure some computer power supplies are very clean, but I don't know which ones they are. At least if you get an external DAC or amp, the makers have deemed the power supply they've included are clean enough for that particular use.