What's the current go to surround dac?

The_Arbiter

The_Arbiter

The_Arbiter

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Might be after a half decent surround dac as my Yamaha AVR headphone port is playing up. I might try and get it repaired as it sounds decent.

So in the meantime are there any go to ones? I've not looked what's been best on the market recently. Just after USB connection but optical would be preferred. This is for just casual single player gaming.

To power 32ohm dt990 and k702 headphones. No mic input required or any other extras. The motherboard is a B550 Mortar with Realtek® ALC1200/ ALC1220P Codec. So dunno if those Dolby or DTS Windows software is worth buying if they're non subscription?

Thanks
 
I use a Ifi Zen v2 DAC with a pair of Momentum 2.0 OH and it works amazingly.

When you say surround DAC, I presume you mean a surround sound DAC? A lot of surround sound stuff is now just baked into software so a 2.0 DAC works fine. You're also using regular 2.0 headphones so I think you mean just a regular DAC.

Surround sound headphones have their limitations and I've never once had an issue with online gaming with a DAC and a pair of regular 2.0 headphones.

I tried using the onboard audio the other day and there is a huge difference. I enabled the onboard audio DTS surround sound software solution baked into my motherboards audio chip and it was awful. It tried to be all spatial and extra but just make everything sound distant.

Go look at these reviews https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/hi-fi/best-dacs

I would suggest you get the Ifi Zen v2, personally.
 
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I would make the same recommendation. It really is a brilliant piece of kit and not too expensive. I've just added a Zen Can to my set up. Did I need it? No. Do I like it even more than before? Oh yes!
 
Thanks for the replies. Having kit you're personally happy with is #1.

I have a pair of Momentum V1s, while a nice HP i'd never game on them, even for a closed back HP i found they have a very flat soundstage. I've gamed on my Arcam rpac dac and while soundstage is good with the dt990, it still sounded incredibly stereo like, i tried with the Windows Sonic which is kinda okay, good sounding areas but very artificial from what i remember.

I downloaded the DTS software 14 day trial yesterday, it's not bad, but the motherboard onboard audio lets it down. So i'd still need a dac. The DTS software doesn't appear to be compatible with all games, not sure of the Dolby one, i'll have to check. So getting the Zen dac could not be a solution for me, but i don't doubt it'll be nice sounding. My Arcam dac is feeding some speakers so i can't use that either sadly.

But with all said, the Yamaha Silent Cinema would be my preferred solution. But i'm not sure getting it fixed is a possiblity so i'll need a plan B still.
 
So getting the Zen dac could not be a solution for me, but i don't doubt it'll be nice sounding.
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I don't understand what your setup is and why a stereo DAC is an issue.

the Yamaha Silent Cinema would be my preferred solution
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I also can't figure out if this is hardware or software. You've got headphones (32ohm dt990) so I'm not exactly sure of your config.

I can assure you that all of the surround sound solutions you've mentioned are largely only relevant to movies. The surround sound software built into most games works fine.

I bought that' Dolby surround software back in 2018 (or 2019, can't recall) and have never needed it for gaming.

My next TV will have Dolby sound and Dolby Vision as that improves the limitations of a TV's audio without the need for a full 5.1 surround sound setup.
 
JollyJamma said:
I don't understand what your setup is and why a stereo DAC is an issue.



I also can't figure out if this is hardware or software. You've got headphones (32ohm dt990) so I'm not exactly sure of your config.

I can assure you that all of the surround sound solutions you've mentioned are largely only relevant to movies. The surround sound software built into most games works fine.

I bought that' Dolby surround software back in 2018 (or 2019, can't recall) and have never needed it for gaming.

My next TV will have Dolby sound and Dolby Vision as that improves the limitations of a TV's audio without the need for a full 5.1 surround sound setup.
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In my experience i've found stereo sound not as immersive or enjoyable as virtual surround for gaming with headphones. With movies i don't use headphones. Silent Cinema is just Yamaha's own software built into their AV receivers.

I'm currently using the DTS software via Windows and the motherboard line out and it's adequate, but it's noticeably worse than what my AVR puts out. There doesn't appear to be any way to disable any over done processing sadly as sometimes the surround can feel over done.

When my free trial runs out for DTS i'll buy it as a cheap temporary solution.

Hopefully that clarifies what i'm after.
 
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