My current audio set up is fairly low end. I am using a Sound Blaster Z audio card in my computer. I have Turtle beach z22 headphones (terrible, don't buy). I am looking into improving my set up.
I am going to buy a pair of Sennheiser HD 518 Headphones. I like them, I have tried them and they are within budget. But if you have a recommendation, leave it.
My questions: should I get a DAC, amp, etc. and if yes which ones? and should I get rid of my sound card if I use them? I notice many of the DACs and AMps out there rely on USB, which would by-pass my sound card. If the sound card would not help me any with a DAC or Amp I can remove it (and hopefully sell it to get back some of my money). Also if y'all could keep the prices down, I'm in college so money is low (under $120 per component).
Extra question: what is everyone's favorite audio library and playback program? Foobar? Winamp? itunes? other?
If you are looking in to getting a new sound card i would go for this on amazon. Make sure you use TS Amazon links if you do decide to buy it. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 will give you inputs for mic guitar, piano ect and also outputs to active speakers. It will also act as a good headphone amp.
If your looking at just a decent headphone amp and dac the Objective2 comes highly recommended.
It really comes down to if you want to use it as a complete audio interface solution or just a dac and headphone amp.
1) The Sennheisers are fine. If you tried them and you like them, go with your gut. The major issue you should always be worried about is long-term comfort (if wearing headphones for 5+ hours), so always take that into consideration.
2) The sound card is only good for you if you are going to use 5.1 Surround Sound, otherwise the card doesn't really do that much. If you're into Audio Production, that card is pretty decent, else it will just sit there not doing too much. If you're using headphones, there's a good chance you're only going to use 2 channels out of the available 5.
3) A DAC is a digital-to-analog converter, your computer should have this by default practically. USB Sound cards also have DACs built into them, but this shouldn't be necessary given that you already have an audio card built in.
4) A pre-amplifier also won't make your sound magically better, it is only there to supply more power to your headphones if it's lacking. Some pre-amps come with equalizers, meaning you can adjust the signal accordingly to your headphones if they're lackluster in certain areas. But if you're not an audio expert, you should probably avoid spending on something you don't need right away.
5) Foobar2000, I prefer it for it's low resource footprint and customization through components like ColumnUI. Runner-ups would be, WinAmp, AIMP, or mpd/ncmpcpp (for the Linux users). Never use iTunes.
Alright. Thank you for your input! I am getting the HD 518 headphones in the mail Friday. I'll wait until I hear them to make any further decisions. For long term comfort, Pippy, they are great. you don't even feel them on your head. Some reviews said when you first buy them, out the box, they can be a bit tight. They recommend leaving them expanded over a small pillow overnight. I am fairly new to audio wizardry, so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!