[Bonobo Loco]

Quote:

how does a DAC compare to a USB soundcard?
 
http://us.store.creative.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-XFi-Surround-5.1/M/B0044DEDCA.htm
http://us.store.creative.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-XFi-HD-Sound/M/B004275EO4.htm
 
I like the idea of having my 5.1 logitech system attached to my laptop, but also would like to drive some headphones. 

 
I've been wondering this too, since I've been using a sound blaster X fi thumb drive. I recently ordered a fiio e10. Hopefully it's as good as the thumb drive. One thing I know is it will certainly be louder, and capable of driving up to 300 ohm impedance cans, whereas the portable sound cards aren't intended to drive power-hungry headphones.

 

[ImperialX]

In my experiences if you have a good sound card, you don't really need a external DAC.

 

[Bonobo Loco]

Quote:

In my experiences if you have a good sound card, you don't really need a external DAC.

In my case, the e10 would replace the external sound card, and also act as an amp.

 

[ImperialX]

Quote:

In my case, the e10 would replace the external sound card, and also act as an amp.

Replacing the external sound card is fine, but depending on your headphones you will still need an amp.
 
For instance, my HD800.
 

 

[Bonobo Loco]

Quote:

Replacing the external sound card is fine, but depending on your headphones you will still need an amp.
 
For instance, my HD800.
 

Oh, I know it's not intended to run something like the HD800. Lucky for me I don't own a pair ; )

 

[PANGES]

I've never invested in a better soundcard than what comes in a computer/laptop, so I'm curious- do upgraded soundcards get rid of all the background noise/hiss from the computer/laptop? The biggest reason i use a DAC/Amp is pretty much to silence the background.
 
Quote:

Quote:

In my case, the e10 would replace the external sound card, and also act as an amp.

Replacing the external sound card is fine, but depending on your headphones you will still need an amp.
 
For instance, my HD800.
 

 

 

[Bonobo Loco]

Quote:

I've never invested in a better soundcard than what comes in a computer/laptop, so I'm curious- do upgraded soundcards get rid of all the background noise/hiss from the computer/laptop? The biggest reason i use a DAC/Amp is pretty much to silence the background.
 


 

I don't hear any noise/hiss from my laptop.

 

[hypertek]

in my desktop computers, I always ran dedicated sound cards, preferably creative soundblaster cards, my last one is an X-fi that lasted me a few years..soundcards can last a few years while other hardware gets changed out more frequently in my opinion . In games it makes a big difference, onboard sound can be chugging behind, and actually miss sounds going off. 
 
If just playing music, I don't know how big the difference is. My hp laptop (which is my first laptop , and had it for a few months now) has a pretty decent EQ option setting (its HP /Beats Audio branded lol, must have been just for marketing)

 

[telecaster]

An amp should be tailored so that it matches the impedance of the outputs. In headphones there is low to high impedance that is important to match to the amp. Same is true with loudspeaker!

 

[ImperialX]

Quote:

I've never invested in a better soundcard than what comes in a computer/laptop, so I'm curious- do upgraded soundcards get rid of all the background noise/hiss from the computer/laptop? 

Yes. The hiss is due to a low quality DAC.

 

[sunnymonk]

Just got my E17 and it's really a noticeable difference. Same source but the vocals are more forward and entire soundstage is deeper and wider. Using my VMODA M80 with the onboard soundcard, music seem to be veiled but E17 certainly cleared things up.

 

[starstern]

 Leckerton Audio UHA-6S VERSUS FIIO E17 DOES ONE SOUND NICER OR MORE DTAILED THEN THE OTHER ?

 

[vermilions]

Quote:

Depends on what DAC quality you need.  If you only need a 16/44.1 kHz DAC I would go for the Leckerton UHA-4.
 
It has a digital volume control (no channel imbalance even at low volumes), a slew of additional features such as crossfeed, and is compact.  It's aesthetic are not the best, but it definitely beats out the E17 on the amp level.  Which you need is up to you and your needs.  It comes back into stock at the end of this month, etc etc blah.

You say the UHA-4 beats the E17 on the amp level... what about on the DAC level? How to these two compare when used as a usb DAC? thanks so much! I play 320 mp3 and some FLAC on my mac. Thanks so much in advance.