Sound card or external DAC?

[dude98]

I just purchased and received Dayton B652's with a Lepai LP-2020A+ amp. I was upgrading my Logitech Z323 speaker set.

I'm wondering if a sound card or external DAC would help? I'm currently using on board ALC892.

I've been looking at the Creative Z, Asus DX and now the FiiO E10K DAC/amp, but I'm not sure what to choose. I mostly use my speakers for gaming, but music is also important. I have ATH-M50's to use too, but I mostly use them for music. I'm trying to keep the sound card or DAC under $100.

 

[ien2222]

hey,

Unless you are noticing some distortion or interference (like a hum, buzz, or crackle), you don't really need one...unless you want the features that they can provide.

 

[americanaudiophile]

In general for music an external DAC is better but at your budget I don't know if an external DAC would actually be better so go with the sound card. The sound card would also support special gaming audio features that you might miss with the DAC.