Hi I have a quick question in preparation for the holidays... what will give better audio quality at the same price level? A DAC or a PCIe sound card? Thanks!
What are you going to be using with it? In general an external USB setup will be better quality and be more flexible, but you will need an amp for headphones with just a DAC. The kicker is "at the same price level". Are we talking about a $30 sound card and a $30 DAC or 100 or 200? it also depends on if you need a mic input or not.
For cheap, I would stick with a sound card or onboard motherboard audio, for $75+ I would get an external DAC/AMP.