[abeeb]

Would inotice any difference in sound quality from an external usb Dac, such as the Fiio E7 USB DAC.
My Music Tastes are pop, rock, drum and bass, rap, well pretty much anything really.
Do you have any advice for me?

 

[Weaves]

abeeb,
 
start with what you have.  Do you have a current sound card in your pc?  which one? onboard sound

 

[kite7]

If you're upgrading from onboard there will be a big difference. You'll noticed that everything sounds more separated, clearer,detailed and tonally accurate from a decent budget usb DAC; those are just some of the improvements. If you don't need to carry an amplifier around with you, you can look at the Musiland 02US or Nuforce uDAC-2 since they are both excellent entry level dacs.

 

[eucariote]

With revealing tracks & headphones you'll notice a difference.  Listening to the same lossless remastered Blue Train track by John Coltrane with SE530 earbuds and switching  between my ipod, computer and uDac I was floored  by the difference in clarity, detail and spatial resolution provided by the uDac vs the other two sources.

 

[echosf]

Absolutely yes if you have the right sources and headphones.

 

[Happy Camper]

You could do a USB converter to a standard DAC. The hiFace outputs up to 192/24. Find a budget DAC with the ability to convert at that rate and yes it will make a noticeable difference to a sound card.

 

[ThumperSD]

Id also like to know the answer to this question. But OP you have to tell us what you're using at the moment or else there will be no clear answer.
 
I am using a Xonar DX > M-Audio AV40 & BX5a deluxe
 
Will using a ~$100 usb DAC w/ volume control be worth it?
 
I basically went from my MSI x58 pro-e Realtek onboard to the Xonar DX and the improvement was pretty minimal. If the USB DAC will give me the same amount of sound quality improvement, It wouldnt be worth it to me. I want something that will significantly sound better.