How to get a better sound from my laptop?

[admin_exported]

I'm reasonably knowledgeable in the Hi-Fi/Home Cinema area but am new to getting a better sound from my laptop. It's only used in my study while working etc. through itunes and then from the headphone socket out to some Lars & Ivan BK-21 amp and speakers kit. Reading a few posts on the forums though I get the idea that buying an external DAC might give me a better sound. Is this true if I'm just running AAC files at 320kbps (for various reasons haven't encoded them lossless yet) - would I really notice a diffrence if I bought an external DAC? And if so, which one and how much??! Anything else I could do to get a better sound - i.e. is outputting from the laptop's headphone socket the way to go?

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Is it a mac?

 

[Anonymous]

no PC

 

[Anonymous]

You should notice a big difference by going to an external DAC. I used headphone socket for a bit before buying my DacMagic and its not even comparable.

Recommend Beresford 7520 (£185) or CA Dacmagic (£230).