Audio Are USB DACs worth?

S

surya_neo

Disciple
Jan 9, 2010
147
5
31
42
I have a netbook and a Dell Monitor...I am in the process of building my rig..but that would take a while..mean while I have a lot of HD movies which I would like to watch them playing them using netbook by hooking it to my Dell monitor(U2410) and Sennheiser RS 120 wireless headphones ..Although it is a bliss to watch to movies on the monitor it is ruined by crappy sound quality of my netbook..So I would like to invest it in a USB DAC for time being..have heard good things about Nuforce USB Icon DAC 2 and Fiio E7...But before I pull the trigger on purchasing anyone of them just wanted to know if any of you have any experience using either of these..Will they improve SQ of High Definition movies..the reviews on Amazon only talk of improvement of SQ of music but none of them about movies SQ..

So help me in deciding whether it is a good investment if my primary use is for movies and occasional music listening..

Thanks in advance..
 
D

dOm1naTOr

Skilled
Nov 4, 2007
2,094
44
61
36
Kottayam kerala
USB DAC does improve overall sound quality. It brings out good soundstage to the audio output, in music, games and movies, though its felt felt in music. I really love to game on my E7 + AD700 combo. E7's bass boost function does wonders on sound for movies and some genre of music. UDAC 2 too is nice but is priced around 2X that of E7.
 
Brendon

Brendon

Skilled
Mar 21, 2005
2,946
221
152
40
Oh yes, a usb dac will improve movie performance as well.

Only drawback is in gaming due to lack of EAX.
 
N

nikodas2

Disciple
Oct 21, 2011
7
0
0
44
Are these DAC's easily available in Bangalore? I am considering getting one to go with my new headphones but I don't know where to get them. Any suggestions?
 
K

kris

Disciple
Sep 25, 2008
112
1
0
I got a udac for 2500 and I can easily say it was worth twice that. As dominator said, its best felt in music. The SQ is improved a lot (compared to onboard) and I have noticed across the ferq range improvements. The bass, soundstage, clarity has improved a lot. All this on a pretty average Philips shp2700. So if your headphones are good enough, you should see more improvements. Overall, I would say its worth it all the way
 
Top Bottom