Hey everyone, I am new to the forums and am looking for a little help as I'm quite new to all this audiophile stuff :)

I would consider my knowledge limited, but I am trying to learn quickly.

Ok, so I'm looking to set-up a home studio using my computer (high-end specs coz of gaming) and am wondering what I need to get started.

At the moment I am running my computer with Audioline 6" Active Studio Montior Speakers, through an ASUS Essence STX soundcard (using red & whites connections).

I play my music through FooBar, all Lossless files in the form of .flac or .wav. I think they are 16-bit 44.1 kHz files, downloaded through Beatport and such.

I am looking at purchasing the Xonar Essence One (http://www.asus.com.au/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_Essence_One/)

and at some stage the Sennhieser HD800s.

My questions are:

Do I need the DAC?

Is there something better/you might reccomend?

How should I have everything set-up (connections etc)?

Is there anything else I'll need?

I realise this is a lot of typing and help to give, but I don't really know who to ask that isn't just going to try to sell me their brand of whatever.

Thanks so much,

Hutchi