Do I REALLY need a DAC with my PC?

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[@jamesfoo8999]

"usually" - "probably" - "maybe" - "I guess". This is just a pub conversation between friends. There's no science here or anything reasonably objective. It depends entirely on the motherboard audio tech, if there's even any interference (or precisely that the listener can hear it), what headphones you have, and what music you listen to. I'm not being crappy to you it's an interesting conversation, but anyone already with this knowledge won't be helped, and anyone looking for advice will (should) just be more confused with their decision from all the ambiguity. "Just plugging it into a motherboard, anything would be better". You could buy an external DAC for anything from £70 or less and it quite literally be no better quality than what modern motherboards provide, in terms of build quality and final sound quality.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Motherboards are notoriously noisy. Setting the DAC apart from the rest helps, then there's levels of experiences from there.

[@jeremyquiros5483]

I'm sad to say that the Abyss headphones are far out of my budget, but I still enjoy listening to these discussions. Thanks, fellas.

[@nblucas]

Im pretty sure this is just what 90% of us here are lmao

[@TheGodEmperorOfMankind_]

If you can afford 5k headphones, you can and probably should get a dac/amp

[@vinayakchoudhary7984]

I think you guys should try to provide abyss headphone listening facility or kind of sort of like that to consumers (at least one centre in each country)so that they can experience what music supposed to be like because most of us are not in position to buy these headphones. Plus your product reach will be more to the end users and hence will benefit your brand to become more popular among people. The point is if you will earn more than maybe you guys can work on how to make the product more cheaper and accessible to users. Please think about it(love from India) 🙏.

[@bulkeshmahala2091]

Right bro. They should talk about this in their future videos.

[@jonathanliu3239]

Let's say I have $150 IEM I using for my PC which I am not planning to replace. What would be the better choice for a $150 budget on something extra? 1) Get a dedicated sound card for the PC. 2) Get Amp/Dac.

[@norbzlopez7819]

Nice input and feedback gentlemen. I'm a person who likes messing around with Equalizer, I know unholy in many circles. As of recent I started to try and mess around with PEQ. So I was wondering as a topic of discussion it be kinda educational to talk about roll offs high and low , and all the some of the entriquet detail eq/PEQing bring to the table. When to EQ and all that jazz. Anyways thanks for the great content.

[@MrZgui415]

Onboard audio is fine but an external DAC /audio interface is nice

[@dannybos7024]

I always say: if you can afford it and you're not losing anything, go for it.

[@MuhammadKharismawan]

especially as small dac is so cheap these days. heck some motherboard has a type C these days, using type C Dac may work with them.

[@plusultragaming2540]

@Lumjak khadas tone board ,schiit modi, and some topping dac but I forgot the name or you can get a amp and dac combo like fiio k5 pro

[@plusultragaming2540]

@Lumjak but those aren't too cheap lol

[@stormk-1130]

To be honest, i dont think some one need a dac, i think the audio in most of the motherboards its great.

[@z3ntix]

Some mid-range and most of high-end motherboards today could drive 250 Ohm headphone or headset. But never use frontpanel jacks. If you have the money for it, go for a AMP/DAC or Combo. This will give you better sound than the internal soundcard on the motheboard. I have been using high-end gaming headphones from Sennheiser before I switched over to headphones from Beyerdynamics, and JDS Labs EL II Stack. Never regret the choice :D

[@Vulkanodox]

for me the output on my motherboard and case was fine. Not much static. But the input had insane static noise so I had to buy an Audio Interface (DAC and AMP for Microphone). The problem is people never ever listens to how their recording sounds so it is usually very bad and I guess manufacturers don't pay it much attention either.

[@Sanjarih]

I sincerely hope that you guys make the DAC Tier list soon. :)

[@_han.soso_]

the cut switching the speaker is so dazzling. ...

[@DarkFire515]

Agree 100% with this video. I moved from on-board audio to an external creative labs X7 DAC/amp combo and it made the world of difference listening on my Beyer MMX300's. If you want better audio going external with the DAC & amp is a great improvement.

[@ghst822]

i have an Asus Strix x-570 MB and a Zan Dac v2. My Dt1990 sounds better on my Mainboard (clearer). It also gets much louder. I only use the Zan dac for my speakers now

[@DarkFire515]

@@ghst822Interesting, thanks for the tip.

[@SoloK_1]

Really helpful video. Thank you

[@kurtrosenthal6313]

I’ve never had spectrum, but they call me a lot apologizing that the internet is down again.

[@chethammer]

My "soundcard" right now is a Dragonfly Black 1.5 USB. It is miles better than my motherboard audio. If push comes to shove I could use my FIIO BTR5.

[@Pirxel]

I have an smsl m500 external dac, and the thing is amazing, but for a lot of games I get plenty of crackling, even if I reduce the output to 24bits/44.1kHZ, so it is generally an upgrade, but plenty of games have some kind of shitty audio implementation that causes problems that I doubt you'd get with onboard audio. For a more casual approach for people that really don't want to bother but still want an upgrade I'd sugges staying on the headphone->headphone amp upgrade and just plug that to the of the pc.

[@aceofspades6667]

Maybe you guys could talk about the benefit of a pre-amp in a HP chain. for a 2 channel it seems pretty straight forward when using a power amp or monos you need the pre-amp for volume control and then also have an opportunity to add in tubes. For a HP chain all amps have volume control built in so adding a pre-amp seems to be redundant and the benefit statement/value prop seems to be limited.

[@dannybos7024]

Hey, I have an idea for a future TOTL video; how about the three or four of you talk about other headphone brands, such as Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, AKG, ZMF, Hifiman, etc. and give your verdict about some of the products they make? I think that’d be really interesting and I’d love to know your opinions on these brands. Which have good products and which have bad products? What would you do differently? And so on and soforth. Good luck!

[@TheUltraRock]

How do you think they are gonna respond? TL;DR: 'Yea we make better headphones'

[@shadouxg7150]

@@TheUltraRock I don't think they would say that, u also have to count that those brands work for lower budgets

[@jpined14]

I don’t think small boutique companies talking up or down about competitors is a smart idea.

[@ks_3.14]

I don't think talking shit about other companies would be a good activity to do.

[@markod7662]

3 people at one table talking to each other, why is it necesarry to focus every 2 seconds on another person? that is annoying.

[@alan2698]

So... about that cloud fan. LOL

[@allansh828]

is it a good idea to use PC, instead of dedicated transport?

[@Razzy_III]

Guys I know your audio setups are top tier or whatever but for God’s sake I think there’s such a thing as too much detail. Those mics are picking up every lip smack on each syllable and I cannae take it.

[@AntonioPenja]

My god the fellow on the right with the glasses is dominant, couldn't watch it trough because of him.

[@gavin8988898]

Is it possible to eliminate the background noise? This would make it more professional. Thanks

[@bentobox3140]

I've had a lot of bad experiences with laptop 3.5mm jacks and the jacks on the front of PC cases. It would hiss even more when you plug in a laptop into a wall outlet IEMs are even more sensitive and will hiss or hum. So will most speakers like the Z623 I was using at the time. I would minimally recommend a BTR5 for an IEM. Or a FiiO K5 or ifi Zen to connect speakers and a headphone. It doesn't matter if it's a cheap DAC. Just don't go without a DAC for PC. You need one at the bare minimum even for non audiophile headphones

[@brandonburr4900]

To the folks asking the question about what to get. Perhaps a cheap schiit dac/amp a hundred or under used with some sennheiser gaming headphones and your set😀 of course found am get crazy and spend more after this. Definitely get your dad and amp and power separate from that noisey pc😀

[@itzikca]

When i connect the power supply to my MacBook i hear a low buzz/hum in my IEMs

[@willywonka3050]

My IEMs are the only headphones where my PC headphone port's noise/hum is bothersome, so I use them on my LG phone which has a great DAC.

[@AbideinChristFully]

One audio tip is to remove the ground pin off you power cord if you have a hum in the sound, if it is a ground loop.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

That's really just a bandaid cure, doesn't address the underlying issue, and may create a dangerous situation if there's a fault somewhere in the system. Having AC voltage on a chassis with headphones is a bad combination.

[@AbideinChristFully]

@@ABYSSHeadphones oh ok thanks

[@abracadabra2337]

DAC Lives Matter

[@vectteur]

The last time i crossed an audiophile arguing that my cheap audio kit lack of brightness a quick test revealed that he can't hear a thing pass 15khz. Audio while measurable is like wine tasting, it depends of what you consider enjoyable and how you can proof others feeling are wrong.