I mean, I think when you cross over into the 600ish and higher range, a better dac and amp might be in order, and even then it would depend on the headphones you go with if that would be the case
Also my sound card has an internal amp and I don’t think I can turn it off. Should I be worrying about that?
You should bypass the amp by using the speaker line out. I am not familiar with that software, but you can probably look online regarding how to set up the output to be a front l/r line out for speakers. I would assume that just plugging into the front l/r would be a line out that you can just connect to the headphone amp. Also I would personally bypass some of the sound eq or dsp done to the front l/r
The way the sound card works from my understanding is that the amp option is only on Headphones and Direct HP, and those only give you sound through the headphone port on the sound card. 5.1, stereo and direct only work if you connect them to other 3 ports.
I just realized that if i’m connecting the amp through the front (R/L) the amp option won’t even matter 
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Yeah, it should work just fine connecting it to the front l/r
and JDS labs atom would be one of the best options around that price point?
I think so, or the other aforementioned amps too, depends on your preference
By preference do you mean music genre?
More sound preference. I think if you really like the sound as it is, I think you should go with the atom. I think that if you want to have a bit more soundstage and a warmer more relaxed sound the liquid spark is for you
It’s more about sound preferences, some people prefer a darker or warmer sound (read less treble and more midrange and bass).
Honestly if you can’t listen to things before you buy, pick something and give it a try, you’ll have to learn what you like.
Alright thanks for helping out, I’ll probably buy the atom in the near future.
The SoundblasterX AE-5 has this DAC on it:
img source
“Datasheet” is not up to TI or Vishay standard:
http://www.esstech.com/files/7314/4095/2152/ES9016-2M_PB_v1.9_141016.pdf
I’m not even sure the Topping D10 would make a difference.
Unless you’re telling me you can hear interferences when you move your mouse or when your hard drive searches for something etc…
Yeah, it would probably be pretty similar to the d10 if line out works. I didn’t notice the soundcard part initially
I mean, I can hear my harddrives. But then I put on closed backs and it goes away 
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Get the amp.
- Because if you ever buy a second pair of headphones, you won’t need to crouch and find the headphone out at the back of your PC everytime you want to switch from one pair to another. Same if a friend comes to your house with headphones.
- Because, an amp will make everything sound better – amplifying the details, width, depth of the sound.
- Because a physical volume knob is a 100$ warranty for your ears if a program decides to set the volume to 100% (this would destroy your headphones and make you deaf, ironically, because your sound card already has a powerful headphone amp built-in).
- And because, well, it’s stupid but, you might say you only need a physical volume knob… but if you google for volume knobs… they’re the same price. And if they’re cheaper, they may degrade your sound quality. I wouldn’t risk it. Also, JDS Atom is 100$ for the “best headphone amp ever”, basically (or well, I’d say top 10. It measures really well, even better than 350$ THX stuff).
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