[ABXG]

Hello, I am looking into possibly upgrading my audio system and I am looking for some advice.
 
Basically I am thinking of trying to sell my Xonar D2X for around $150 and replacing it with a $20 Xonar DG. I would than take the remaining money and buy an external DAC. My preference would be that the DAC has Optical S/PDIF (is this TOSLINK?) in and 3.5mm line out. I wouldn't mind if the DAC also had USB input, that way I could use it on my laptop as well.
 
I would run Optical S/PDIF from the Xonar DG into the DAC and than 3.5mm from the DAC to my FiiO E9 Amp. My headphones are Sennheiser HD595.
 
I am looking to spend around $200 ($250 max) on a DAC. If I can't get the exact features I want from the DAC that would be OK, I am mostly looking for audio quality.
 
Basically I am looking for help on a few things:
 

• Would a $200 DAC represent a clear enough improvement over my Xonar D2X to be worth the upgrade?
• What DACs are there in my price range that meet my specifications?
• My motherboard does have an Optical S/PDIF output built in, I mainly want the Xonar card because of its ability to do positional audio for gaming. If I get the Xonar card would I be able to do the positional audio with the Optical S/PDIF connection? If the Xonar card wouldn't be able to do the positional audio I could spend an additional $20 on the DAC.
• About half of my music is in lossless FLAC format, however a good portion of it is in lossy formats such as MP3. If I did upgrade my system would my MP3 music become 'unlisten-to-able' in comparison to my FLAC music? As it stands I can't really tell the difference between FLAC and MP3 (I still try and get direct CD rips of as much of my music as possible, I only 'acquire' MP3 rips if I am unable to locate a suitable Lossless CD quality file to purchase).
• Would the output signal of my system on optical S/PDIF be limited to the output of my soundcard, or of my DAC? For example, if my soundcard could only do 16bit/48kHz but the DAC could do 24bit/192kHz, what would be my maximum signal?

 
 
Thanks for any help anyone can provide me!

 

[ABXG]

Anyone have any advice?
 
I was looking at possibly getting an HRT Music Streamer II as most sources I have found seem to indicate it is a fair upgrade over even the most high end of audio cards (a category of which my D2X belongs to). If anyone knows of something better than the MSII around the $200-250 pricepoint I would love to look into that as well.

 

[Mad Max]

ololol
Awesome avatar!
 
1.  yup
 
2.  There's a few, I think.
 
3.  Yes, the Xonar's DSPs should work with your external DAC.
 
4.  You'd have to upgrade your whole system, especially those headphones, but even then, "un-listenable" is subjective.
 
5.  Your DAC will be the limiting factor, usually.
 
 

 

[ABXG]

Quote:

ololol
Awesome avatar!
 
1.  yup
 
2.  There's a few, I think.
 
3.  Yes, the Xonar's DSPs should work with your external DAC.
 
4.  You'd have to upgrade your whole system, especially those headphones, but even then, "un-listenable" is subjective.
 
5.  Your DAC will be the limiting factor, usually.
 
 

Thanks for the help, now I just need some specific suggestions for DACs. Everything I have found on my own is either around $100-150 and doesn't have all the features I want, or it is $300+ with the features I want. The cheapest DAC that I have personally found that does have all the features I want (HeadRoom Micro DAC) is a bit above my price range (although I may still consider it). The problem is that I cant actually seem to find any reviews or comparisons for the most recent model. I did see two in the For Sale forums that I could probably afford, one being priced at $170 which is in my price range.
 
I just can't seem to find a solid DAC around the $200 price point.