Q-Acoustic BT 3 Internal DAC question. Bypass via Analogue?

[10derdigits]

Firstly Hi as this is my first post!!

Ok, this is my current set up: Desktop PC using onboard audio connected via Optical to a my Q-Acoustic BT3 speakers with internal DAC. Now my wife want's to treat me for my birthday to something for my PC. As far as hardware goes I'm all set apart from using the onboard audio. I'm playing most of my music as FLAC (about 90% of my collection) and some MP3, I watch some Video and play a few games. Would I be better off getting a dedicated soundcard such as the Xonar Essence STX 2 and connecting via analogue to the BT3's so it bypasses their internal DAC or would something like the Arcam irDAC be a good idea? Connect aht via USB to the PC and then analogue straight to the BT3's.

Thanks in advance

 

[Legacy260]

I run a Mac for streaming music at work and have it connected via a Dragonfly to my BT3's (via cable) and the sound is stunning. Yes the speakers give out a softer sound but the reproduction quality and clarity is stunning. Why do you want to modify or change your soundcard when you can just use the USB and the Dragonfly DAC or go Blutooth and save the hassle, with some loss of quality but not hugely.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hi, there, can't say I'm familiar with your speakers, but they're getting a decent review from the guys in whf, I do however own the arcam ir dac, still running it in. If you're prepared to spend £400 on the dac, it really deserves a proper amp as opposed to the onboard number on the speakers, don't get me wrong, it'll sound great with the q acoustics, it's just the dac is very capable, and will sound even better with a dedicated amp and speakers, it depends on budget and the lust for good gear of course. I've got mine running with arcam cd 82 as transport, a85/p85 amps with a pair of b&w cm5's, it's slightly better than the cd 82's on board dac, that was a £620 cd player not so long ago and running two 24 bit mono dac's from wolfson. So it'll fit in fine with your pc system and still be good enough if you ever feel the need to upgrade(to a proper amp and cd player) lol at a later date. But! If you aren't planning on any kind of upgrade in the future and just sticking with system you have, the arcam ir dac is probably overkill and I doubt you'll get much benefit over one of the less expensive dac's like the dragon fly. Not £400's worth of improvement anyway. Hope I've shed some light on your dilemma.