Some questions about buying DAC & Amp for small music prod setup.

Jason Burge

New member
I am looking to stop using my onboard DAC on my PC motherboard and upgrade to a desktop DAC & headphone Amp. I tried to research this stuff myself for days now but I decided to go to this forum to get help from real people. Thanks in advance for the advice and answers.

Just some details first to help you answer my questions.

-Details

  1. Instruments: I do not use any instruments in my setup except my AKAI MIDI keyboard. So no need for a audio interface.
  2. My PC Build: (Mainly a gaming PC that is forced to also be a music producing machine.)
  3. DAW & Plugins: I have FL Studio 20. As for Plugins, I use many of FL Studios stock plugins. I also use alot of Xfer Serum & Omnisphere
  4. Speakers: As of now I only have Logitech Z323 Computer Speaker System.
  5. Headphones: I want to use headphones for my setup primarily. I plan on buying Beyerdynamics DT770 PRO 250 Ohms. So I will need a Amp that can drive these the way they are meant to.
  6. Budget for DAC: Looking for something around Mid to high end range. Preferably an external DAC.
  7. Budget for AMP: Same range as DAC. Preferably an external Amp.

-Questions
  1. About my Logitech Z323 Speakers. Do I even need an Amp since I have these? It has a built in volume knob on my right speaker that can increase volume even if the PC is at max volume.
  2. For music producing, can a DAC improve sound quality of your music verses using a onboard motherboard DAC?
  3. What DAC & AMP would you recommend for this type of music production setup? Also would you recommend a DAC/AMP combo?

Thanks
 
hey thanks for the details it helps. forgive my ignorance but why do you need to upgrade ur DAC? your Logitech speakers have headphone jack , right?

from my limited understnding of ur situation seems like best to skip the DAC and AMP and just get those dt770's and plug into ur Logitechs . use reference mixes of your favorite songs to learn how the headphones sound and use SPAN, a free, frequency analyzer plugin on your master channel. analyze your favorite songs as references and learn to balance your levels visually as well as with your ears. use SPAN for sureeee, especailllly since you dont have studio monitors, and plus, sound treatment of a room is just as important as studio monitors so... id also say be creative with it loud but when ur mixing you should often turn the volume down very low in ur headphones bc you will get better mixes and make better moves that way. then it sounds 10x better when u turn it up loud.

tbh I think u have everything u need once you get this headphones.
 
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