DAC, but plus amp ?

[KhellQc]

Hi everyone, my question is easy. I am looking into getting a DAC to make my headphones sound better and more natural. But everywhere I look it says I need an amp in order for it to work for my headphone.

Ive set my mind the this one
https://www.amazon.com/NuForce-uDAC3-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00FG9MJ6I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480039268&sr=8-1&keywords=nuforce+dac

It does says amplifier in the name. So my question is;

do I need an amplifier with it or not

Use: Listening to Classical music, Gaming, Movies

Btw im getting either audio technica ath-m30x OR HyperX Cloud Core. Right now I am on 2014 Krakens

Further more... Do I need a dac at all with an M5A99FX PRO R2.0
Thanks!

 

[jsmithepa]

do I need an amplifier with it or not

Yes.

Explanation: See when you say DAC, a Digital to Analog Converter, that happens at the line level (un-amplified) section of the audio, so right away you are saying, I don't want my PC to do DAC (it got one built-in btw but finicky people turn up their noises to 'em) and use my own external fancy DAC, so pull line level (un-amplified) digital signal from PC, perform my DAC and feed it to speaker/headphone? CAN'T because your speakers/headphone can't deal with un-amplified signal, so an amp must be inserted here.

Now some ultra-finicky, sons of Trump may buy a dedicated DAC box and another amp box usd$20,000 but I won't talk about them, they are out of my league.

Btw im getting either audio technica ath-m30x OR HyperX Cloud Core. Right now I am on 2014 Krakens

I suggest you visit headfi.org, that's all they talk about over there, including criticizing your choice(s), so be ready.

Further more... Do I need a dac at all with an M5A99FX PRO R2.0

All motherboard these days comes sound-ready, all you have to do is to plug it in. As I explained above it already got a built-in DAC, otherwise you would not be able to hear anything from it at all.

External DAC/Amp are for very finicky people, but hey if you got the dough, go for it.

I will say if you go into the trouble of buying an external DAC, God forbid you use it to listen to 128 kbs MP3, I may smack you.

 

[KhellQc]

I will say if you go into the trouble of buying an external DAC, God forbid you use it to listen to 128 kbs MP3, I may smack you.

ahah I like your style. Thats the whole point of getting better equipment though. I want to experience better quality music but without going the DARK FINICKY SIDE. Im not a nerd about it but I love classical music. I thought I was being reasonable with the nuforce DAC and the Headset. but now you are saying I need to add an AMP.

1. Did you look at the DAC I posted ?? It seems to say its amplified on the load side

2. You believe I will not see an improvement ?

 

[jsmithepa]

You should see an improvement. In fact the amp contributes to the improvement. The built-in amp inside the PC is optimized for 8 ohm speakers, not your 50-600 ohms headphones. I believe you are taking the Ads too literally, if the DAC has an headphone-type jack you can plug into, IT HAS an amp inside.

Yeah am not gonna look at your choices, I never owned one (just read a lot about them). I tell people thanks God I don't have golden ears, it has saved me tons through the years!

 

[Isokolon]

When going for 60$ headphones you don't really need an additional amp (probably not even a DAC)
Those headphones have little resistance and don't come with the audio quality that you will notice a big difference between the onboard sound and the external DAC.
If we were to talk about 250$ Sennheisers it's definitely worth it
But.for a sub-100$ gaming headset it's just wasting money without gains