Asus STX or External DAC

hrockh

hrockh

hrockh

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Joined
22 Feb 2012
Posts
159
Location
Bristol
hey everyone, first post!
Wondering what would be the best solution, to have the STX connected to an amp (Yamaha AS500) or to get one of the DACs designed by NwAvGuy.
I will eventually upgrade my headphone as well, currently I got the Bose On Ear 1st generation. I was thinking to get something like the Sennheiser HD 598.
Would the headphone output on the amp be enough for the headphones?

cheers
 
I really don't get dacs. As far as I understand things, the soundcard will output either analogue or digital signals, but the digital is generally converted from the analogue. So going digital from soundcard to a dac is pointless as you're just converting something twice, hence there should be no change (assuming that there is a standard for digital formats and there is a 'correct' way to convert them.

So if you've got a good amp, plug the stx straight into the amp via analogue and run with it.

Personally however, I've got a titanium HD rather than a STX and my 558's sound great on it. I actually don't long for any better sound tbh. I might get a better amp though just to sharpen up my speakers as I'm currently using a scythe karma bay which is a bit underpowered.
 
lrlcr said:
I really don't get dacs. As far as I understand things, the soundcard will output either analogue or digital signals, but the digital is generally converted from the analogue. So going digital from soundcard to a dac is pointless as you're just converting something twice, hence there should be no change (assuming that there is a standard for digital formats and there is a 'correct' way to convert them.
Click to expand...

This doesn't sound quite right to me but I'll let someone more awake and knowledgable explain it!
 
hrockh said:
hey everyone, first post!
Wondering what would be the best solution, to have the STX connected to an amp (Yamaha AS500) or to get one of the DACs designed by NwAvGuy.
I will eventually upgrade my headphone as well, currently I got the Bose On Ear 1st generation. I was thinking to get something like the Sennheiser HD 598.
Would the headphone output on the amp be enough for the headphones?

cheers
Click to expand...

I had an STX but I sold it, the only reason being that I wanted to run a hackintosh, and there are no mac drivers for the card.

It is really all you would need to be honest if you were running 598's. The DAC on that card is pretty good and so is the built in headphone amp. However, if you buy a DAC, it will work on any laptop or mac as well so is a little more flexible for the future.

I now have a Matrix M-Stage amp and whilst I have not been able to do an A/B comparison between it and the STX, I can tell you for a fact that the difference is NOT night and day.

I am currently deciding if and what dac to buy, the ODAC does look good, but I'm not a fan of the single 0.5mm output jack.
 
sHo0sH said:
I had an STX but I sold it, the only reason being that I wanted to run a hackintosh, and there are no mac drivers for the card.

It is really all you would need to be honest if you were running 598's. The DAC on that card is pretty good and so is the built in headphone amp. However, if you buy a DAC, it will work on any laptop or mac as well so is a little more flexible for the future.

I now have a Matrix M-Stage amp and whilst I have not been able to do an A/B comparison between it and the STX, I can tell you for a fact that the difference is NOT night and day.

I am currently deciding if and what dac to buy, the ODAC does look good, but I'm not a fan of the single 0.5mm output jack.
Click to expand...

valid point, I use a desktop for gaming and a notebook for notes for uni.
so an external DAC may be the best for my situation (though I normally don't listen to music from the laptop..)
Another point is external DAC don't need drivers, thus eliminates any possible problem with specific apps/games.

I read through the thread on head fi.. meh..
if there wasn't really any different between using a DAC or not, then why NwAvGuy did so much research & work (described here: http://nwavguy.blogspot.it/2012/04/odac-released.html) for such a useless product?

External DAC it is.
 
FiiO E7 my suggestion, or if you have a bit more the E17 is meant to be good. I only have the E7 and I whole heartedly recommend it. Also has an amp in it so you can use it on the go if you want. Pair it with an E9 (also have this) and it sounds great although the E09k has recently been released but haven't read much on it. Just food for thought.


I'm excited my HD650 will be here tomorrow! :D
 
Dacs make a massive difference, the DAC in onboard ac97 compared to the DAC in the xonar are miles apart in quality and performance. Audible to anyone. I have the xonar st card and will be upgrading to an arcam dac when funds permit.
 
Remember, do not confuse an increase in quality from an Amp to a difference in DAC.

It's entirely possible for there to be little difference between DACs that do not add sound to a source but a quality amp will make a huge discernible difference.
 
Sevenoaks can trial lend you an r-dac whilst you 14 day no quibble return your xonar in a blind listening test :) problem solved if you do actually have a sevenoaks, I have one downstairs lol
 
only reason id go dac is sometimes its nice to get away from the pc and cramping it...
but when Asus making nice sc with headphone amp u sorta end up going the cheap route :)

Im looking into closed AKG K550 headphones for my next purchase, need an improved sealed and closed sound...
 
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