[foo9883]

Hi, i currently own a swans m50w 2.1 speaker and am driving it with onboard audio on my motherboard.

I would like to know if will a dedicated sound card make any difference and if yes, is the difference significant?

Also, I am looking at asus line of sound cards if the difference justifies for one. Which one would be good for my speaker? (DG, DX, Essence STX etc etc)

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[DragonFire]

If you are planning to do strictly music, a USB DAC should do very well

DF

[wenasong]

I find it the biggest upgrade is to install a soundcard with replaceable OPAMP(s) (many, ASUS, Creative, Auzentech, etc.). This is what I did 5 years ago by purchasing an Auzentech Xfi Prelude and replaced the OPAMP to 2xOPA637SM and later on to Burson Audio discrete OPAMP.

The difference can be heard on your Swans m50w.

[alamakazam]

to me, for speaker setup to hear "significant" improvement is to get a decent soundcard with clean output no buzz or sort and get a "BETTER" speaker

[wwenze]

OPA637SM in a low-gain application, seems like a legit recommendation.

I'm saying this as a guy who spent (and wasted) more money and time on sources than speakers + amp combined (my main speaker + amp cost less than the sources I have in my storeroom), the improvements you can hear from sound card changes is very small. In fact, if you can hear any big difference, that means something f***ed up somewhere and you should take a look with an audio analyser plus a high-bandwidth oscilloscope.

I upgrade sources for a peace of mind, that my amp and speakers are never bottlenecked by the source. The effects of placebo at work maybe?

In terms of measurements, Xonar DX's line out performance is the most value for money among everything else. (Less THD than STX's, but which is ultimately better is debatable.) STX has a very low-noise line-out and very low distortion headphone-out, and all-things-considered is pretty much the best sound card below $500.

[beecho]

how do you change OPAMPs? i have a Essense STX, is there a shop that does this?

[wenasong]

It's DIY. Unless you want to do direct soldering which some say will improve the quality even further.

[rickysio]

I'm of the philosophy that upgrading the music producing device (aka speakers, headphones etc) take precedence over the source. Generally you'll get more distinct improvements (in both sound and build quality) with the same money spent.

[tuwinkk]

usb dac is more "value for money" for me.
you still able to keep it once you upgrade and it's not really expensive
there are a lot of USB DAC less than $200 with a good quality...i.e hifiman HM101. ibasso d zero, etc

or if you want the big size, you can take beresford tc 7520, maverick audio..

*just my opinion*