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August 28, 2018 - 12:12pm
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Need Help Improving Sound With The Music System & Computer I Have
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Other than the stock Realtek, I saw no mention of a DAC - do you have one yet?
Also, which digital sources are you using?
Oh, and is the custom PC a DIY or made-to-order?
Thanks for your response. No, I do not have a standalone DAC. I have been hesitant to add one. I have always questioned the cost/performance ratio. OTOH, I have never actually had the opportunity to listen to a standalone DAC to compare. I do like the idea of a built in headphone amp, but would a standalone really make a difference in the sound quality that I could hear vs the computer on board DAC? If the difference would be comparable to a 320K .mp3 file vs a .flac file, I doubt I could tell any difference.
As for other sources, I do have an Emotiva ERC-1 CD player, but I don't use it. 100% of my music listening is from my computer. I have converted all my CD collection.
My computer is DIY. Gigabyte H110M-S2H-CF motherboard
Realtek® ALC887 codec
High Definition Audio
2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
Support for S/PDIF Out
...of budget and of hearing loss, a DAC would be the only recommendation I have.
You need a way to utilize your PC's stock optical, but your preamp doesn't do it. Enter the DAC.
You don't have to go all out on a DAC - try a simple Audioquest Dragonfly to hear a difference. Could also try inserting an Asus Xonar STX II sound card in your PC. Schiit also offers products within your budget. The Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 is within your budget and also has an optical input.
If after adding a DAC to your delivery stream you don't enjoy a difference in SQ with the Grados, unlikely you will without them. Check the retailer's return policy before purchasing a DAC.
BTW, the Dragonfly supports hardware decoding of MQA voodoo. Perhaps it's worth investigating with a 30-day free trial of Tidal HiFi, if you don't already have a subscription.
Don't sell your RealTek short!
I have a HiFi system I built in the 1970s with extraordinary performance and recently ordered a Shiit DAC - which is unfortunately held up in Canada's postal strike :( - so I connected my RealTek audio card to the audio in on my HiFi and went auditioning HiRes recordings. The RealTek performance was astounding! I couldn't believe it so I tracked down the specs on the RealTek audio specs and found it has a 24/96 DAC. I never had HiRes files before so I never hear the difference.
https://www.whathifi.com/advice/dacs-everything-you-need-to-know