I'm running a pair of monsoon mm 1000's off my stock soundcard. I'm thinking of a source upgrade but I'm not sure what my best option is. The speakers are self powered so I'm looking at:

-cheap soundcard + external dac

-good soundcard

-usb dac

The combo needs to be able to play music and games. Performance isn't an issue. I'm wondering where I'm going to get the best sound quality and bang for the buck from. Price range is whatever it takes to get something nice.

Biggie.

My initial gut reaction tells me USB DAC, just because its only one component as opposed to two, and you'll likely get better SQ off an external DAC then a soundcard. There are others who will know more about this then I, I'm sure.

FWIW, the Stello DA100 sounded fantastic with games before I sold it. World Of Warcraft, Half-Life 2, and Oblivion all sounded brilliant.

My initial gut reaction tells me USB DAC, just because its only one component as opposed to two

Unlikely to be a better sonic solution. Most (all?) use the all in one USB DAC chip that introduces a lot of jitter, even if it is only doing USB-S/PDIF conversion. Better off to get a sound card with native S/PDIF output and a DAC.

Unlikely to be a better sonic solution. Most (all?) use the all in one USB DAC chip that introduces a lot of jitter, even if it is only doing USB-S/PDIF conversion. Better off to get a sound card with native S/PDIF output and a DAC.

Interesting. Learn something new everyday.

What do you guys use for pc audio?

Biggie.

What do you guys use for pc audio?

Biggie.

my pc is a velocity micro, it has a 1/8 jack in the front of the case. hd580s + onboard soundcard = good enough for previewing songs on itunes and listening to the first few minutes of the hf podcast.