Are DACs really worth it? I've never really cared too much

Heh, better quit while you're still behind kid...

>>55645234
>all it really does it clean up the noise compared to my motherboard's onboard audio right?
Pretty much. If it also has an amp, it can probably get louder too. That's about it.

>>55645274
I use an old boom box as my amp, works pretty great and powers my speakers

I know there are cheaper DACs, but the objective stuff is the only thing I really hear consistently good things about

Creative makes one for $50, but It seems like that wouldn't be worth it

>>55645289
>I know there are cheaper DACs, but the objective stuff is the only thing I really hear consistently good things about
Mostly, the O2 got a lot of scrutiny (due to its designer being very outspoken about audio woo) and withstood it. It's not the only good DAC by far, but it's proven to be a good DAC.

Absolutely.

If you've got a noisy PC (as in electrical noise, not acoustic noise) and it's coming through your headphones, moving your DAC stage outside of the chassis will do the world of good.

but the quality difference between a $100 dac and a $1000 dac isn't 10x.

>>55645309
Found one on amazon for like 20 bucks, has a shit ton of reviews, mind give it a try just to see how things go

I wonder what it's major issues are

https://www.amazon.com/D03K-Digital-Analog-Audio-Converter/dp/B009346RSS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1468909902&sr=8-5&keywords=DAC

>>55645289
Behringer makes a small usb mixer that has all integrated I need for about 40 bucks. it has surprisingly good audio quality. And can also power a mic and a second line in.

>>55645234
Stop being a poorfag and do what I do, audio passed through hdmi straight to a high quality reciever. The digital audio signal through hdmi is completely untouched by anything and suffers no noise or interference, and ultimately the quality of the analog signal is from the suberp (compared to any budget or even midrange DAC) chipsets present on my reciever. You'll get greatly better equalizer control, usually a variety of high quality surround encoders/decoders and mostly will never have to worry about matching impedence to a headphone or the power to truly drive the phones at their potential

Great (used and "outdated" models which used to sell for >$400-500) recievers can be had for $150-200 on Ebay if you do a little research and from there you not only have a superb DAC system but the options to expand outwards to a true high fidelity 7.2 channel setup

>>55646081
>Stop being a poorfag and do what I do
too bad what you do is fucking retarded.

>>55646104
700w of quality audio power with two 300w RMS 38hz response subs is pretty good, but to each their own

>>55645959
This.
I don't understand why someone would buy a $100 DAC instead of an audio interface with preamps, and headphones + jack/RCA outputs for the same price or even less.
I have heard good things about Focusrite interfaces, and they supposedly work on Linux. I'm sure there are some other cheap ones on the market these days that are USB-powered like my NI KA6 (which I use only for making music, because I didn't fall for the audiophile meme).

>>55646081
>do what I do, audio passed through hdmi
Next time try to tell the idiot solution towards the end so people can actually read what you bothered to type.

>>55645234
I bought a cheap USB headset for this exact reason.

Everything beyond an ODAC is placebo.

>>55646273
Explain how it's the dumb solution, or are you just so poor all you can afford is a $300 chinkpad with $50 headphones, so poor to the point that debating over $30-50 DACs is soooo important?

File: 41hlsUupiBL.jpg (32KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

32KB, 500x500px

It's useful if you have an older amp that has only analog input. You might be able to hear the electrical noise if you turn up the volume. Most DACs these days have their own amp integrated, so it's slightly louder than onboard audio. My poorfag solution is an amp from a thrift store and a $20 DAC to reduce the noise at higher volumes.