I have been looking into ways to improve my PC's sound quality. Well, initially I was looking for a solution to make headphones sound better when connected to a phone. Apparently devices like Audioquest Dragonfly offer an easy and unambiguous solution in that regard. In relation to PC however, my problem is that I have no idea where my current setup, Z390 Aorus Elite motherboard - ALC1220-VB, stands in relation to an entry level DAC (like DragonFly). I have had next to no success to figure this out with google, so thought that it might be fruitful to post about it here.
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ALC1220-VB vs. an entry level DAC
- Thread starter aNameUser
- Start date
I tested my Gigabyte motherboard and it was "OK." It is certainly no match for good desktop products. You can find it in fourth tier of products with SINAD of 83:
Dragonfly does better with SINAD of 89. But still in fourth tier.
I have not tested your motherboard but I suspect it lands in similar territory.
I suggest getting a proper desktop DAC rather than dragonfly. A starter DAC like Topping D10 (SINAD of 106) is a lot cheaper and nicer unit than Dragonfly.
Do you listen with headphones or speakers? If headphones then you can get a lot more improvement with a good headphone amp like JDS Labs Atom added to the D10 above. The combo will below the dragonfly out of water.
Dragonfly does better with SINAD of 89. But still in fourth tier.
I have not tested your motherboard but I suspect it lands in similar territory.
I suggest getting a proper desktop DAC rather than dragonfly. A starter DAC like Topping D10 (SINAD of 106) is a lot cheaper and nicer unit than Dragonfly.
Do you listen with headphones or speakers? If headphones then you can get a lot more improvement with a good headphone amp like JDS Labs Atom added to the D10 above. The combo will below the dragonfly out of water.
- Thread Starter
- #3
Thanks for the reply, this clears things out quite a bit. My intuition was that the sound quality of the motherboard was pretty decent, but did not guess it was so close to DragonFly. (I have never hear what DragonFly sounds like.)
I use both, headphones and speakers. My current understanding is that it is way cheaper to get "very good" (average people standards) sound out of headphones, so I am going with that route. Will be looking into the equipment you recommended. Thanks again.
I use both, headphones and speakers. My current understanding is that it is way cheaper to get "very good" (average people standards) sound out of headphones, so I am going with that route. Will be looking into the equipment you recommended. Thanks again.