[kunsucious]

I'm current setup is Schiit vali > Akg k7xx. I have a standard motherboard soundcard. When I turn up the amp I notice a noticeable increase in the hiss sound when I'm not playing any music. But when I just turn up my PC volume control it stays relatively the same. So my question is how does turning up the PC volume control vs turning up the amp and will it sound different?

 

[MindsMirror]

The hiss sound is being generated before the amp. The amp amplifies the hissing sound. By turning up the amp, it amplifies the hissing sound more. It is best to have the PC volume high so that you can leave the amp volume lower, reducing the amount of unwanted noise from the PC that gets amplified and increasing the signal to noise ratio.

 

[inthere]

noise is coming from the sound card, you need a DAC.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I'm current setup is Schiit vali > Akg k7xx. I have a standard motherboard sound card. When I turn up the amp I notice a noticeable increase in the hiss sound when I'm not playing any music. But when I just turn up my PC volume control it stays relatively the same. So my question is how does turning up the PC volume control vs turning up the amp and will it sound different?

 
Hifimediy USB DAC, $57 + shipping ($8), should offer some improvement over the on-board audio.
Sabre DAC chip
http://hifimediy.com/U2-DAC
 
USB does bypass sound card feature, which is fine for music audio or any other 2-channel audio source.
 
Or if you need sound card features (like Dolby Headphone), get the Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card, used on eBay $40-$60.
Comes with a nice CS4398 DAC chip

 

[kunsucious]

Yes I know that the noise is being amplified by my amp, but that was when my pc volume was 10% and amp ~60% max volume. I just want to know if there any difference sound-wise turning up the pc volume vs the amp

 

[cel4145]

Hifimediy USB DAC, $57 + shipping ($8), should offer some improvement over the on-board audio.
Sabre DAC chip
http://hifimediy.com/U2-DAC

USB does bypass sound card feature, which is fine for music audio or any other 2-channel audio source.

Or if you need sound card features (like Dolby Headphone), get the Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card, used on eBay $40-$60.
Comes with a nice CS4398 DAC chip

+1

Those nice headphones deserve a better DAC

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Yes I know that the noise is being amplified by my amp, but that was when my pc volume was 10% and amp ~60% max volume. I just want to know if there any difference sound-wise turning up the pc volume vs the amp

 
It's usually recommended to use the last volume control in the chain (Vali) and turn the source's (computer) volume control to max or near max, for best audio quality.

 

[MindsMirror]

  Yes I know that the noise is being amplified by my amp, but that was when my pc volume was 10% and amp ~60% max volume. I just want to know if there any difference sound-wise turning up the pc volume vs the amp

Like I said, turn the amp volume down and the PC volume up and there will be less unwanted noise. Noise = sound, less = different, i.e. different sound. If you instead set your PC to 100% and the amp to 6%, you would get the same volume on your audio but have 10 times less unwanted noise.

 

[kunsucious]

ok thanks