Entry level sound cards (Xonar DG). Are they worth it?

frogzila

frogzila

frogzila

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I’m wondering if I’d see any notable difference in upgrading from on-board audio (realtek ALC887) to an entry level dedicated sound card such as the Asus xonar dg.

My reasons for thinking I may need to upgrade is that I have a half decent set of headphones (Senheisser HD558) with an impedance of 50 ohms and I’m thinking that my on board audio may not be able to drive them fully.

I have a filo E11k which I bought last year for commuting. I’m not really noting much difference when I run the headphones via the amp/dac.

Is there anything new an entry level sound card may add or is it worth saving the money for more significant upgrades when I have the money?
 
probably not then in all honesty If you're not getting any EMI the difference would be negligible,

Different forums say different things about it.

what usually makes a motherboard audio a bit rubbish is the Opamp they use.

certainly on newer boards the difference is getting less and less
 
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done this recently with a friend who used the Xonar DGX with the sennheiser Game One which is based on the 558, yes it made a difference but not a huge one.

It added Dolby for gaming which was good but an external dac/amp might be wasted on a 558 as they are easy to drive.
 
frogzila said:
I’m wondering if I’d see any notable difference in upgrading from on-board audio (realtek ALC887) to an entry level dedicated sound card such as the Asus xonar dg.

My reasons for thinking I may need to upgrade is that I have a half decent set of headphones (Senheisser HD558) with an impedance of 50 ohms and I’m thinking that my on board audio may not be able to drive them fully.

I have a filo E11k which I bought last year for commuting. I’m not really noting much difference when I run the headphones via the amp/dac.

Is there anything new an entry level sound card may add or is it worth saving the money for more significant upgrades when I have the money?
Click to expand...

Depends what you're listening to? Music ? Games ? Bitrate?

I thought Spotify was good going into my Senn 598 until I tried Tidal lossless :p

I can't listen to Spotify anymore...it's sound rubbish.

It's the same old saying Garbage in Garbage out...

Now got some Denon D2000 headphones and an oppo HA2 and the sound is incredible...

You need to look at the weakest link in your chain.

The E11k won't make mediocre bitrate files sound any better than onboard TBH..it's just a headphone amp not DAC
 
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Thanks for the replys

I've decided against it.

I only use my pc to listen to music (FLAC where possible) and CS:GO which I've only just recently learnt to play by sounds. i.e. tweaking the high frequencies (2K plus to hear footsteps clearer).

While we're on the subject. What would be the next logical step in improving audio quality? I have a semi decent set of headphones and speakers (Senheisser HD558 and Corsair SP2500 respectively). Thanks.
 
I've been looking into DACs and realised you can make one using a raspberry pi. Seeing as I have a model b I don't use I want to try and utilize that.

Will a 'home made' raspberry Pi DAC be as good as the FiiO K1? Anyone tried making their own DAC?
 
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