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Showing 1 of 1897 conversations about:
Glee95
10
Mar 23, 2018
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I have an HD 6xx and I have been pleased with it. (desktop user). Will this make much difference ? I'm willing to afford $100 if it sounds better than now.
nahtee
46
Mar 24, 2018
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Glee95I'm assuming your current source is your soundcard, in which case yes HD6XX will sound better with this amp, even if you have a $250+ soundcard. They scale very well with proper amplification. If this amp doesn't make your 6XX sound noticeably better the problem is likely your computer's DAC, in which case I'd recommend the ODAC from jdslabs designed to be paired with this amp.
Glee95
10
Mar 24, 2018
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nahteeThanks for your reply. I don't have a sound card or a DAC or an amp . I see that my motherboard has SupremeFX Formula 2014 + Sonic Radar II which I don't think it's a sound card. Which one should I get first if I can only spend $100ish, the O2 or a sound card or DAC for HD 6xx?
EDIT: I found there's a DAC on my motherboard, Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC.
EDIT: I found there's a DAC on my motherboard, Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC.
PimN
63
Mar 24, 2018
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Glee95Yes, every PC motherboard has an amp and a DAC, because these are necessary to produce sound. The DAC converts digital audio to analog signals, and these analog signals are amplified by, well, the amplifier. That amplifier then has the output you see on your computer, the headphone jack.
But an external amplifier and DAC will in almost every case sound noticeably better. You should know that it would be wisest to get an amplifier too if you get a DAC. In fact, it's pretty much mandatory, because most DACs will not have a headphone out, because they are only made for converting digital signals to analog.
An external amplifier can work on its own, but I'd recommend that if you are going to spend money on an external setup, you might as well get an amp and a DAC, that's the best and easiest solution (in my opinion).
If you can only spend about 100$ right now, it would be best to just get the amplifier.
Alternatively you could get a cheaper amp/DAC combo, which is a nice all-in-one device, which often only requires you to use one usb cable from your PC to the device to work, it's 'plug and play'. I personally use the SMSL M3, which is about 80 Euros. There's also the Fiio E10K in a similar price range that I've read good things about. If you'd be willing to spend a bit more for an all-in-one solution, but still under 200$, the Audioengine D1 seems to be a good choice. Even though it's advertised mainly for its good DAC unit, it has an amplifier built-in.
But an external amplifier and DAC will in almost every case sound noticeably better. You should know that it would be wisest to get an amplifier too if you get a DAC. In fact, it's pretty much mandatory, because most DACs will not have a headphone out, because they are only made for converting digital signals to analog.
An external amplifier can work on its own, but I'd recommend that if you are going to spend money on an external setup, you might as well get an amp and a DAC, that's the best and easiest solution (in my opinion).
If you can only spend about 100$ right now, it would be best to just get the amplifier.
Alternatively you could get a cheaper amp/DAC combo, which is a nice all-in-one device, which often only requires you to use one usb cable from your PC to the device to work, it's 'plug and play'. I personally use the SMSL M3, which is about 80 Euros. There's also the Fiio E10K in a similar price range that I've read good things about. If you'd be willing to spend a bit more for an all-in-one solution, but still under 200$, the Audioengine D1 seems to be a good choice. Even though it's advertised mainly for its good DAC unit, it has an amplifier built-in.
nahtee
46
Mar 24, 2018
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Glee95Searching around it looks like that DAC chip is used in quite a lot of DAPs, so its probably decent enough. DACs do a relatively simple and straightforward job so they tend to all sound similar after a certain point, but you still might want to get an external DAC at some point because having a DAC directly connected to the mobo inevitably introduces some noise into the circuit.
The O2 is an excellent amp and definitely worth the money, I don't think I've heard a single bad thing about it. You might want to also look into the schiit magni 3, it's similar enough to the O2 that most people base the decision off of aesthetics. There are also some DAC/AMP combos in the $100 price range like the schiit fulla. Looks like PimN has some good suggestions as well.
Cheers
The O2 is an excellent amp and definitely worth the money, I don't think I've heard a single bad thing about it. You might want to also look into the schiit magni 3, it's similar enough to the O2 that most people base the decision off of aesthetics. There are also some DAC/AMP combos in the $100 price range like the schiit fulla. Looks like PimN has some good suggestions as well.
Cheers
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