Is a sound card ok? Or do i need a DAC

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nachsus

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Dec 31, 2017
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Hello all,

Over the years I've been steadily getting better and better headphones, and now I'm thinking of getting some good ones were I'm gonna need an amp.

The headphones I'm thinking of getting are the Sennheiser HD 600's.

I'm gonna use these headphones for basicly all purposes one can think of. That includes movies and gaming. It's because of these reasons that i find it important to get some virtual surround sound.

I do not know much about the high end audio components, or anything for that matter.

So the questions is if i can get a decent sound card with the virtual surround software on, and simply use that, or the quality of a DAC is alot better.

I've been researching, and some people recommend getting both a DAC and a sound card but that seems wierd to me as there is already a DAC on the sound card.

Recommendations to sound cards and DACs are also apreciated. Budget is around 160$/135€. Lower is better.

Thanks for any help. :)

I would also apreciate advice to whether or not a DAC is even needed, or to how much of a quility boost it is compared to what is already on a motherboard.
 
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I'm not an expert but I do have some experience with this stuff. First off, a DAC is a digital to analog converter. The sound signals created by the computer are in digital form, but the speaker or headphone uses analog signals to create sound. A conversion must take place, and the higher quality the DAC, the better the sound. You still need an amplifier, since a DAC is not an amp. So typically a higher end setup would be Computer to DAC to amplifier to headphone/speaker.

I use an Asus Xonar DG, I got it because of the headphone amp it has. It's a vast improvement in sound quality over onboard sound. I do not recommend using virtual surround sound. That's because real surround sound works using multiple speakers in different...
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dontlistentome

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Sep 5, 2016
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I'm not an expert but I do have some experience with this stuff. First off, a DAC is a digital to analog converter. The sound signals created by the computer are in digital form, but the speaker or headphone uses analog signals to create sound. A conversion must take place, and the higher quality the DAC, the better the sound. You still need an amplifier, since a DAC is not an amp. So typically a higher end setup would be Computer to DAC to amplifier to headphone/speaker.

I use an Asus Xonar DG, I got it because of the headphone amp it has. It's a vast improvement in sound quality over onboard sound. I do not recommend using virtual surround sound. That's because real surround sound works using multiple speakers in different locations. Headphones use drivers right over each ear. It's not the same thing. With headphones you're better off just getting the highest quality stereo sound possible(2 channel).

You can output the digital audio straight out of the soundcard and into a DAC before the soundcard has done the digital/audio conversion, that's why some people use a DAC with a soundcard. You can find units that combine a DAC with an amp, so you have everything you need in one unit. Most higher end headphones, like the ones you're looking at, will benefit from both a good DAC and an amp. You'll want an amp rated for the impedance of the headphones too. A 16 ohm headphone is not like a 300 ohm headphone in power requirements. If you can't drive(power) the headphones properly, the sound quality will suffer.
 
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