DAC or USB Sound card for music(only)

[P098]

Hi guys,

Okay, Ive read some threads and I hope I know basic difference between a DAC and a sound card. Sound card is adc+dac in general, right? 4 years ago I bought my desktop , along which I bought Altec Lansing ATP3, it sounded okay, now 4 years later, Ive got a laptop with Intel HD sound and same ATP3 speakers. I think its about time for some upgrade. So Ive decided to go in for budget USB Sound Card or A DAC. So heres my query in brief:

Looking for - External Sound Card/ADC for improving music quality from ATP3.

Level of improvement - Moderate, not expecting a true professional studio quality sound.

Budget - 3k INR

Usage - Just a 2.1 speaker, no headphones/earphones.

Features needed - No extra features needed, just a 3.5mm jack for the speakers.

Thank you for your time.

 

[P098]

Bump...anyone?

 

[ranjeetrain]

Get a FiiO DAC. Any FiiO that fits in your budget will be okay.

 

[corElement]

Get a DAC around 5k for present as well as future.

The ATP3 I doubt will benefit much from an upgrade though. Those tiny tweeters and sub leave much to be desired in midrange.

 

[srisaikat]

Get a FiiO DAC. Any FiiO that fits in your budget will be okay.

I agree with u, Fiio DAC fits with that budget shall be a small forward foot steps, alternately u can try to buy a used dac, that will work for u too.

 

[hydra]

@corElement, there's a down-firing midrange hidden in the base of the satellites. But I agree with you about how doubtful the benefit of throwing more money at them would be: The ATP3s in my office don't sound substantially different when fed signal from an Audigy NX (off an ancient Mobo) or the onboard audio of a new Asus H67 Mobo.

@P098, for best bang for the buck, I'd suggest selling the ATP3s, putting in the DAC budget, putting in some more money (heh, heh), and getting a pair of Audioengine A2s. They will come to about 10K, but they are worth that much and more. Adding a DAC into the chain later will show substantial benefit too.

 

[P098]

After your advice I began looking for FiiO DAC, found a small one with great review, the E6.
Can it drive my speakers? Will it improve my music experience?

@hydra yes few months i began looking for upgrade for my ATP3 but coudnt find any takers, so dropped the idea of selling them. I saw your ad for A2 in some other forum, too bad I missed it

 

[arin]

E6 is a headphone amp.

At many places, it is written as a dac but it is a portable amplifier not a dac. If you plan to use your laptop's Intel HD then you can go for the fiio D3, which is a budget dac for around Rs1500 but it needs SPDIF output from Intel HD.

Better option is to go for Fiio E10, which has usb-in and comes for around Rs4500, which can has both headphone output and a lineout for speakers. As far as difference in sound quality is concerned, new Intel HD cards have better sound quality so the difference wont be too apparent.