Best PCI E sound cards for playing FLAC

[Kippa]

I love FLAC but at the moment I have a basic motherboard sound card and basic headphones. Can any of you recommend a good quality PCI E soundcard which has a high quality DAC output but won't break the bank.

I am a bit of an old fart and remember Creative Labs but that really is the only brand that I know or remember from the old days of DOS based games when you had to configure your sound card pre Direct X. Could you possible suggest a few different models with different price ranges.

 

[DesiPower]

What's your motherboard? What is the audio chipset?

 

[A5]

If you don't need "gaming" features, your best bet these days is a USB DAC/AMP combo.

And define "breaking the bank", because answers vary widely based on budget.

 

[biostud]

If you don't need "gaming" features, your best bet these days is a USB DAC/AMP combo.

And define "breaking the bank", because answers vary widely based on budget.

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[JeffMD]

I picked up the ASUS XONAR DSX for my heavy lifting, it connects to my receiver via optical cable (used to use hdmi but my monitor is now 1080p+ which the receiver can't do, soooo). The ASUS XONAR DGX offers a unique DAC for high end headphones too, if you prefer.

 

[videogames101]

Generally speaking higher-quality DAC's are packaged into USB DAC/AMP combos for audiophiles. But you can find a few add-in cards with good DACs, depending on what you mean by "break the bank".

 

[TheRyuu]

Best bang for you buck DAC would probably be the FiiO E10K[1]. It's an updated version of their E10. For audio equipment I would say that its price does not "break the bank" and provided it's paired with decent enough[2] headphones you'll be happy.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LP3AMC2
[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FEEY9A

 

[truckerCLOCK]

It might just be me but when I listened to an A/B comparision between stock MB audio and a FiiO DAC with AKG headphones I really wasn't that impressed. It wasn't night and day. The sound was different but not better. But hey that just my opinion. If you wanna spend the $$$ then go for it.

 

[giantpandaman2]

It might just be me but when I listened to an A/B comparision between stock MB audio and a FiiO DAC with AKG headphones I really wasn't that impressed. It wasn't night and day. The sound was different but not better. But hey that just my opinion. If you wanna spend the $$$ then go for it.

Depends on the motherboard too. Not all implementations are equal. My FiiO was noticeably better than the audio out on my old Thinkpad, but not much better than my Surfacebook. It also depends on how demanding the headphones are power wise. I'd spend the money first on good headphones...if the motherboard can't handle them, then get an external DAC.

 

[videogames101]

Yeah, my onboard was god awful, I mean not just sound-wise but plenty of hissing, etc. I had no choice but to upgrade.

 

[TheRyuu]

It might just be me but when I listened to an A/B comparision between stock MB audio and a FiiO DAC with AKG headphones I really wasn't that impressed. It wasn't night and day. The sound was different but not better. But hey that just my opinion. If you wanna spend the $$$ then go for it.

And just to add to this I could definitely tell the difference between the original FiiO E10 and the E10k. So if the original E10 wasn't that much of an improvement then the E10k may cause a more noticeable difference but as you say it can depend on your motherboards implementation, some are just better than others.