Which Soundcard / AMP / Benefits

[Igor Kaluzny]

Hi,
I want to buy a soundcard for my akg k240 (55ohm) because they need a bit of amplification. I considered Fiio E10k but I've heard it does not offer good positioning in gaming. I believe something in a price range of a Sound Blaster Z would satisfy me but I am not sure if it has a headphone amp exactly I am looking for because it's designed for 600 ohm headphones. On the other side there's a cheaper option - Xonar DGX with a perfect amp for me 32-62 ohms but I am not sure about the DAC quality (I listen to music a lot and play Rocksmith). I would be really greatful for any advices.

mod edit: copied from your other thread since its a very similar question.

Are there any gaming benefits from using a soundcard instead of an external amp (Fiio e10k) if I don't want to use any of soundcard features (f.e. dolby headphone). Is sound card virtual positioning better in gaming even if those features are disabled?

 

[ssddx]

do you have virtual surround sound built in to your motherboard or soundcard currently? if so, just using an external amp will not change that fact so you wouldnt lose out on positional.

its only true that you'd lose out on positional if you used an external DAC and even then i believe razer surround (albeit this is not the best of options) would work for virtual.

 

[ssddx]

closed your other thread since it was practically a duplicate of this one. i merged it with this thread. above.

to answer the second part of your question, if you do not intend to use virtual surrround at all then there is no benefit to picking a soundcard over an external dac/amp. without virtual surround what positional audio you here would be most influenced by how wide the soundstage is on your headphones as well as how well they appear to position audio. without virtual surround the soundcard really will not have an effect on modifying this.

 

[Igor Kaluzny]

Thank you for your help.

 

[Igor Kaluzny]

closed your other thread since it was practically a duplicate of this one. i merged it with this thread. above.

to answer the second part of your question, if you do not intend to use virtual surrround at all then there is no benefit to picking a soundcard over an external dac/amp. without virtual surround what positional audio you here would be most influenced by how wide the soundstage is on your headphones as well as how well they appear to position audio. without virtual surround the soundcard really will not have an effect on modifying this.

So if I use external DAC/AMP instead of a let's say mobo soundcard I won't lose any of the soundcard dedicated features (if there are any except EQ and virtual simulating technologies)? As far as I know external DAC's are bypassing soundcards and what Im trying to ask is whether a soundcard is basically an internal DAC?

 

[ssddx]

there is a difference between a DAC and an AMP. a DAC is a digital analog converter and processes the signal, an AMP only amplifies the signal and does no processing on its own.

if you used your onboard soundcard (use its DAC) and an external AMP then no, you will retain all the features of your soundcard that it offers such as virtual surround, eq or any other software features.

if you used an external DAC / AMP combo via usb then yes generally you will lose the features of your soundcard like virtual surround, eq, etcetera.

what i meant by no benefit of a dac over a soundcard in my prior statement is that in terms of raw audio quality picking a soundcard over an external DAC/AMP is not going to give you much advantage unless you wanted/needed the software features of a soundcard such as virtual, eq, etcetera. if you take away all of those features and that most soundcards are 5.1/7.1 while headphone dac/amps are 2.0 (you're using headphones so it doesnt matter) they are quite similar: both are DACs with AMPs built into them. generally externals are a bit more powerful on the amp end since they are meant for higher grade headphones (but not always the case: the z for example has a strong amp).

a soundcard is essentially a DAC/AMP with 5.1/7.1 capability with a software package added. strip away the multiple outputs and software and its very close to what an external is.

so, why do people go with externals over soundcards?
-portability. you can use it with laptops, desktops and in many cases (at least for the amp portion) mobile devices.
-less electromagnetic interference due to being outside the case (EMI) which means at least the potential for less noise in the signal
-often headphone amps output a bit more power
-volume control knob at your fingertips vs software control for soundcards makes it more convenient
-some portable dacs work with ipods, android phones to boost quality there while retaining normal amp aux-in for using with other devices.

whether soundcard, external soundcard, external dac/amp or external amp only is correct for you depends on your needs, what devices you want to hook up and preferences.

 

[Igor Kaluzny]

there is a difference between a DAC and an AMP. a DAC is a digital analog converter and processes the signal, an AMP only amplifies the signal and does no processing on its own.

if you used your onboard soundcard (use its DAC) and an external AMP then no, you will retain all the features of your soundcard that it offers such as virtual surround, eq or any other software features.

if you used an external DAC / AMP combo via usb then yes generally you will lose the features of your soundcard like virtual surround, eq, etcetera.

what i meant by no benefit of a dac over a soundcard in my prior statement is that in terms of raw audio quality picking a soundcard over an external DAC/AMP is not going to give you much advantage unless you wanted/needed the software features of a soundcard such as virtual, eq, etcetera. if you take away all of those features and that most soundcards are 5.1/7.1 while headphone dac/amps are 2.0 (you're using headphones so it doesnt matter) they are quite similar: both are DACs with AMPs built into them. generally externals are a bit more powerful on the amp end since they are meant for higher grade headphones (but not always the case: the z for example has a strong amp).

a soundcard is essentially a DAC/AMP with 5.1/7.1 capability with a software package added. strip away the multiple outputs and software and its very close to what an external is.

so, why do people go with externals over soundcards?
-portability. you can use it with laptops, desktops and in many cases (at least for the amp portion) mobile devices.
-less electromagnetic interference due to being outside the case (EMI) which means at least the potential for less noise in the signal
-often headphone amps output a bit more power
-volume control knob at your fingertips vs software control for soundcards makes it more convenient
-some portable dacs work with ipods, android phones to boost quality there while retaining normal amp aux-in for using with other devices.

whether soundcard, external soundcard, external dac/amp or external amp only is correct for you depends on your needs, what devices you want to hook up and preferences.

Thank you very much for your comprehensive response.