[gibbons]

I've been using the radius DDMs for a few months now (only previous phones were klipsch s4s). I use the DDMs primarily with a desktop computer at work--no idea what sound card it has--maybe a soundmax or something.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone could recommend a good USB dac for use in conjunction without the DDMs, or say whether these headphones would benefit significantly from a dac. I've heard mixed sentiment about whether or not they need an amp. I feel like I am missing out on something with these headphones that might be rectified with a dac; I actually think there are times when the s4s sounded better, which I am guessing might be because they were more forgiving with the crappy audio infrastructure of the computer.

Also, I usually stream music from MOG, which claims 320kbps, but was wondering if this might also be a cause for degraded quality.

Anyway, thanks to anyone who can help out a newbie...

 

[sari0n]

If you don't know what soundcard you have then it's probably junk.  Almost all computers have junk soundcards unless you've specifically upgraded it yourself.
A USB DAC will help not because your headphones need more power but because the soundcard on your computer probably isn't that great.  If you want a relatively cheap one (under 150) you could get the fiio e7, total bithead (or regular bithead), some of the Creative external soundcards, and I think nuforce makes a cheapish usb dac too.
 
I have the total bithead and I like it.  It's very very picky though, you get a lot of random static if it doesn't like your usb  cord and it's really annoying that it doesn't have an ac adapter.  The sound is great though, imo.

 

[gibbons]

Thanks for the info. Do you have any experience with the DDMs in particular? i.e. do they benefit from a DAC more or less than other phones? 

 

[rymd]

benefit from a dac? lol what?
you don't need to amp the radius DDM. they are high efficiency IEMs
if you want a usb dac, do some searching. some good cheap ones i can name right now, all of which will likely be miles ahead of your soundcard: nuforce udac 1/2, hrt music streamer II, fiio e7, audinst hud-mx1, perhaps that tda 1543 x4 muse-audio dac on ebay
I think all above are <150
search in the source forums

 

[gibbons]

I guess what I meant to ask is: do you think I will experience a noticeable improvement in sound going with an external USB DAC like the nuForce uDac versus my current desktop PC's sound card, which I have found out is a "soundmax integrated digital high definition audio."
 
Thanks

 

[sari0n]

Yes, there will be a noticeable improvement.