Cant use STX II with x470, dac required instead

[Zirax]

I have just setup a new ryzen based system. Alas the STX does not support switching on x470 ... instant restart

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1036071?_ga=2.92572701.1048640317.1526260340-329128221.1511925089

Pretty annoying. So I am new venturing into the world of DACS and more than a touch lost.
Budget £2-300 dac
I have:-
Little dot mk2 with vostok tube rolling
HD650

Features
DAC to output to headphones or pass through to a hifi amp / speakers

Use
1. Music
2. Films
3. Games - rare that I have time

I am just confused with the sheer amount of options available. A lot seem to be DAC and AMP without a stereo output + headphones. i.e. headphone only. Does anyone have some suggestions to start looking at

 

[rids57]

If you still want the virtual surround for headphones to give you positional audio in games then why not just get a new sound card?

The Creative AE-5 will do all you want, includes an excellent DAC, a very decent headphone amp, better positional audio than the STX and costs £120 from OcUK (and they are in stock).

You could connect your Little Dot to the line out socket and connect your speakers to the output sockets on the Little Dot. When you want to game then just plug your HD650's into the AE-5 headphone socket and get the full benefit of the card's positional audio.

Other than that you are going to be stereo only, so no positional audio. If that's good enough then I highly recommend the Schiit Audio Modi Multibit. You could connect the PC to the DAC via USB, optical or coax and then connect the DAC to your Little Dot via RCA cables. The speakers would still be fed from the Little Dot. It has to be done this way as DACs don't have pass through, their output is line level so it's the signal you want but DACs tend to only have one line level output.

If you wish to take a look at the Schiit DACs they have a UK distributor: https://schiit.eu.com/

The three in your price range are:

Schiit Modi 2 (£110) USB input only
Schiit Modi 2 Uber (£150) USB, optical and coax inputs plus improved analogue stage
Schiit Modi Multibit (£270) Uses multibit technology rather than Delta Sigma, has all 3 inputs, analogue stage same as the more expensive Bifrost.

There is one more difference, the Modi 2 and Modi 2 Uber output a 1.5v signal while the Multibit outputs the more standard 2v.

Another alternative is the JDS Labs OL DAC (£109) which is available from hifiheadphones.co.uk
They also sell the more complex EL DAC (£249) which has USB, Optical and coax inputs

 

[EsaT]

I have just setup a new ryzen based system. Alas the STX does not support switching on x470 ... instant restart

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1036071?_ga=2.92572701.1048640317.1526260340-329128221.1511925089

Have to wonder how is that even possible...
Even if used old C-Media sound chip is PCI model and used through PCI-e bridge chip setting change shouldn't have any way to affect rest of the system.
Also making Windows kernel secure from problems in sound card drivers was one of advertised excuses/reasons for killing DirectSound in Vista.
Guess Asus isn't eager to share that secret.

Well, at least that won't endanger your hearing unlike other bug of that chip using Xonars which can trigger them to spew out full amplitude "white" noise.

 

[Zirax]

If you still want the virtual surround for headphones to give you positional audio in games then why not just get a new sound card?

The Creative AE-5 will do all you want, includes an excellent DAC, a very decent headphone amp, better positional audio than the STX and costs £120 from OcUK (and they are in stock).

You could connect your Little Dot to the line out socket and connect your speakers to the output sockets on the Little Dot. When you want to game then just plug your HD650's into the AE-5 headphone socket and get the full benefit of the card's positional audio.

Other than that you are going to be stereo only, so no positional audio. If that's good enough then I highly recommend the Schiit Audio Modi Multibit. You could connect the PC to the DAC via USB, optical or coax and then connect the DAC to your Little Dot via RCA cables. The speakers would still be fed from the Little Dot. It has to be done this way as DACs don't have pass through, their output is line level so it's the signal you want but DACs tend to only have one line level output.

If you wish to take a look at the Schiit DACs they have a UK distributor: https://schiit.eu.com/

The three in your price range are:

Schiit Modi 2 (£110) USB input only
Schiit Modi 2 Uber (£150) USB, optical and coax inputs plus improved analogue stage
Schiit Modi Multibit (£270) Uses multibit technology rather than Delta Sigma, has all 3 inputs, analogue stage same as the more expensive Bifrost.

There is one more difference, the Modi 2 and Modi 2 Uber output a 1.5v signal while the Multibit outputs the more standard 2v.

Another alternative is the JDS Labs OL DAC (£109) which is available from hifiheadphones.co.uk
They also sell the more complex EL DAC (£249) which has USB, Optical and coax inputs

Thank you for the detailed write up. That does explain why I cannot find a DAC which matches the requirements.

For this time I am going for an external DAC. Partly as a change but also I am rarely gaming these days so the positional audio is redundant really. I have been impressed by the Little Dot for music so I want to keep that in the loop for headphones. I will read into the comparisons between Schiit and JDS more closely.

Have to wonder how is that even possible...
Even if used old C-Media sound chip is PCI model and used through PCI-e bridge chip setting change shouldn't have any way to affect rest of the system.
Also making Windows kernel secure from problems in sound card drivers was one of advertised excuses/reasons for killing DirectSound in Vista.
Guess Asus isn't eager to share that secret.

Well, at least that won't endanger your hearing unlike other bug of that chip using Xonars which can trigger them to spew out full amplitude "white" noise.

I have no idea what they are doing. But their response on other forums is a wall of silence, then denial, followed by the statement above on Ryzen. Not good, it was removed from my Ryzen setup before any damage occurred. I didn't know about the white noise problem as well! Sounds like a partial blessing.