Audio advice

[Johnny X]

That's ok wabbit, I see what you mean. The main thing I was after when I first posted was an answer to the soundcard/DAC alternatives for driving the speakers. Thanks to ysu and sarsippius' conversation I got the answer I needed (no offence sars ) to that one. I just thought "yeah, the rest of the pc is modern day... it's time the audio came out of the dark ages". Some of the suggestions offered on equipment have made me think about it a bit more though. Once the soundcard/DAC issue was sorted in my head though I guess my preconceived ideas kicked in

Interesting...

[wobblysauce]

With things like this, unless the price comparison is way out, I buy from a store.

[Johnny X]

Well now, It's all here, it's all installed and my ears are getting a right treat (as are the neighbours ).

Many thanks for all the input

[ysu]

Good to hear you're happy with the setup - that's the most important thing

[Sarsippius]

The main thing is you're happy with it mate and you didn't spend too much or get conned into monster cables.

The thing with DACs is that they are actually a fairly cheap and basic piece of electronics that was perfected long ago and there is no inherent advantage over an external DAC vs a sound card when you're spending the same money. External DACs will generally extend much higher in price and you will most likely get a benefit from spending more but it is diminishing returns and I don't think it is really the DAC itself but the remaining electronics etc. A DAC is just a little computer chip, then you have a circuit board and resistors and what have you that goes into making up what people then call a DAC and I think this is what will colour the sound in particular ways.

[Johnny X]

I hear you Sars

To be honest I have had a problem running the DAC purely on USB. Occasionally the sound would drop and turn into "noise" and after trying all the USB ports on the pc I eventually turned the on-board sound chip back on again and used this to feed the DAC with a digital out via an optical cable. Not sure if this is a problem particular to the D1 or not but it's sorted now and does sound better than the USB feed.

Here's the setup as it was a week ago:



Sub is off to the right, pedals are work in progress and the screens have been straightened up and lifted. It's a massive improvement over the original Logitech setup. There's so much more clarity and definition to the stuff I'm listening to now, but then again, I guess that had to be a given on whatever route I went down to upgrade. I don't turn it up too loud, if I want major volume I use the Sennheisers so the neighbours don't get worked up. It's a nice place to sit and game, surf and just chill out with some cool tunes.

[wobblysauce]

When you have good speakers, it is the natural progression to turn them up.