Do I need / What DAC to go with Objective2 amp?

[Wexi]

Hello

I'm kind of a noob with amps and dacs and I have this question that i need answer for before I buy anything.
I'm going to build Objective2 headphone amp (building isn't a problem for me) but now I'd like to know if I even need a external DAC or am I good to go with my motherboards integrated soundcard? If I really need one, then which 1 would be recommended (would have to be relatively cheap) just to be placeholder one since I'm planning on getting better and more expensive one later. Sorry if the text was messy.

TL;DR
Do I need a external DAC for Objective2 amp. If so, what would be cheap recommendation?

Thanks in adcance.

 

[ssddx]

do you *need* one? no, you do not.

a better question is can you *benefit* from one and that depends on the quality of your onboard. if it is good quality, there is no need. if it is bad quality you might benefit. i would use your onboard for now and only get one if you find it lacking.

many people use the odac amp with the o2. you can buy the kit from them with both the odac and o2 components for about $30 more.

depending on how much you're spending on the kit it might be worth looking at the schiit magni amp instead. its a bit more powerful and some users prefer it over the o2 in terms of sound quality.

 

[Wexi]

many people use the odac amp with the o2. you can buy the kit from them with both the odac and o2 components for about $30 more.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but how can you add odac on top of o2 amp for just extra 30$? I checked and only ones i could find were the bare board versions of ODAC. Even NwAvguy said that the ODAC part isnt DIY friendly.
Or did I just missunderstand your reply?

 

[ssddx]

i was mistaken. the ad i saw did read like it had the odac included but it was just an option you can add. i did think that sounded a bit cheap myself.