[ruinedx]

interesting, why would you recommend a new sound card over a new dac on digital?
thanks

Daniel

Because the soundcard sounds better than the previous $1000-$2000 DAC/HPAs ive owned with the headphones im using

 

[Flex2d]

Because the soundcard sounds better than the previous $1000-$2000 DAC/HPAs ive owned with the headphones im using

thats interesting to know! It also uses the same dac as the topping dx3 pro. Which headphones do you use?

 

[ruinedx]

thats interesting to know! It also uses the same dac as the topping dx3 pro. Which headphones do you use?

Sennheiser HD820, HD700, GSP600, GSP500, HD25

Note also the card I linked will obliterate the topping in power output to headphone

 

[Flex2d]

Sennheiser HD820, HD700, GSP600, GSP500, HD25

Note also the card I linked will obliterate the topping in power output to headphone

aah ok didn't consider that, cheers

 

[ruinedx]

aah ok didn't consider that, cheers

If you are interested, below is a glimpse of the control panel

Some neat features:
-Headphones can be independently muted of speakers
-Front and back headphone jacks are easily toggled between, and when switched a relay switches so this would electrically disconnect your rear headphones when not in use. Thus you can leave the headphones plugged in at all times and switch them off in the panel when not in use to avoid taxing them (or muting them works too).
-Front headphone/mic jacks of your PC case can connect to the card via case hdaudio connector, meaning both the front headphone ports and the back headphone ports benefit from the higher sound quality instead of onboard.
-Rear 1/4" headphone jack has a built-in analog preamp (pictured at 75% in picture) which is independent of the system volume; this allows you for instance to use the pure DSD operating mode of the DAC that bypasses all of the digital processing and outputs a full-volume decoded DSD file to the analog volume control pictured. It also allows you to set the level of the headphone independently of the master volume
-Supports regular windows sound, ASIO, and WASAPI exclusive modes - so you could for instance set up jriver in WASAPI exclusive for maximum PCM sound fidelity by bypassing the windows sound mixer, then when you quit jriver the windows mixer will be re-enabled for your other applications; or alternatively you can put jriver in ASIO mode and have it transcode everything to DSD256 and use the pure DSD decode + analog headphone preamp to control the sound level
-Nahimic Surround mode included for gaming
-Optical output
-Most importantly, the 1/4" headphone output is both very good in quality and outstanding in power (requires a PSU SATA power connector hookup)
-You can pair the card with a MICROSOFT SURFACE DIAL to use as a physical hardware volume knob on your desk if your PC has bluetooth (note this only controls the system master volume and not the headphone analog preamp volume)
-sample rate at bottom is for line-in recording, up to 32bit/384khz
-op amps are socketed and can be swapped although not necessary as included ones are very good
-this card is actually discontinued and was replaced with an inferior card called the "NU AUDIO PRO" which is more oriented towards surround gaming+flashy RGB lighting and less towards high end 2ch headphone audio like the original; so now is a good time to buy as its discounted and will be hard to find soon likely

 

[Johnny Golden]

Thanks guys, Yeah the mk IV looks really nice option and probably think i might just give it a go! one question i do have and not sure if you can answer is, With the output on the back, does this output output the new adjusted tube sound or is it just a pass through? ( hope that makes sense )

Thanks Daniel

It's a pre out the same as the LD MkII and will run the signal through the tubes.

 

[Flex2d]

It's a pre out the same as the LD MkII and will run the signal through the tubes.

perfect! thank you

 

[Flex2d]

If you are interested, below is a glimpse of the control panel

Some neat features:
-Headphones can be independently muted of speakers
-Front and back headphone jacks are easily toggled between, and when switched a relay switches so this would electrically disconnect your rear headphones when not in use. Thus you can leave the headphones plugged in at all times and switch them off in the panel when not in use to avoid taxing them (or muting them works too).
-Front headphone/mic jacks of your PC case can connect to the card via case hdaudio connector, meaning both the front headphone ports and the back headphone ports benefit from the higher sound quality instead of onboard.
-Rear 1/4" headphone jack has a built-in analog preamp (pictured at 75% in picture) which is independent of the system volume; this allows you for instance to use the pure DSD operating mode of the DAC that bypasses all of the digital processing and outputs a full-volume decoded DSD file to the analog volume control pictured. It also allows you to set the level of the headphone independently of the master volume
-Supports regular windows sound, ASIO, and WASAPI exclusive modes - so you could for instance set up jriver in WASAPI exclusive for maximum PCM sound fidelity by bypassing the windows sound mixer, then when you quit jriver the windows mixer will be re-enabled for your other applications; or alternatively you can put jriver in ASIO mode and have it transcode everything to DSD256 and use the pure DSD decode + analog headphone preamp to control the sound level
-Nahimic Surround mode included for gaming
-Optical output
-Most importantly, the 1/4" headphone output is both very good in quality and outstanding in power (requires a PSU SATA power connector hookup)
-You can pair the card with a MICROSOFT SURFACE DIAL to use as a physical hardware volume knob on your desk if your PC has bluetooth (note this only controls the system master volume and not the headphone analog preamp volume)
-sample rate at bottom is for line-in recording, up to 32bit/384khz
-op amps are socketed and can be swapped although not necessary as included ones are very good
-this card is actually discontinued and was replaced with an inferior card called the "NU AUDIO PRO" which is more oriented towards surround gaming+flashy RGB lighting and less towards high end 2ch headphone audio like the original; so now is a good time to buy as its discounted and will be hard to find soon likely

yeah this sounds pretty awesome for a sound card!
thanks