So I bought some pc upgrades the past few days such as : 32 gb ram (up from 16), a new ryzen processor and a nvme ssd (huge speed upgrade and I recommend it).

But now I can't help but feel I may be neglecting the sound side of things..
I am still using an xonar dgx sound card which is like.. a 20 year old sound card..
I am not even sure if its worth using over on board sound tbh.. but it gets more power (volume) on it.. so I keep using it over that.
I have beyerdynamic headphones but I'm mostly using 2 krk rokit 5 speakers atm instead.
I am looking to buy the best option for powering both of those for maybe under $150.. 200 max.
I am not familar with dacs, amps or USB Audio Interfaces..
maybe I should get one of those?

what do you guys think? srs

a good one

Your headphones/speaker quality are gonna determine your sound, not the audio interface/soundcard. Just make sure the audio interface is external as internal interfaces can distort sound some times.

Can't go wrong with this if you don't need microphone or instrument input ports



You can search for more behringer stuff if you really need a onboard amp for your headphones

I think you'll dig the schiit gear, but you'll want to keep saving your budget for better longer term upgrades....once you buy them they last a long time, people rush to fast buying audio equipment, these things last longer than a car.

Look at buying a schiit Magnius,Modius and lokius......this is a sweet budget friendly setup if your looking to be a desktop audiophile and utilize the fully balanced connections for studio monitors.....after that upgrade look at getting a nice pair of studio monitors. Adam or Hedd