Splorfus

Thanks for the posts everyone. It sounds like the Audioengines are more popular than the Swans and that Behringer and Genelec make some decent options. With so many suggestions it sounds like the best way for me to start is to head down to a stereo store and start listening to things. If anyone knows of any particularly good stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'd be happy to check them out (otherwise I'll just randomly pick ones off Yelp.)

The desk is against a half wall. About a foot above my desk the wall stops and opens up into the kitchen. The speakers will be placed on my desk top. I don't mind getting foam speaker pads to set them on if they help.

I've loved music my whole life, but I'm a new audiophile. I recently got a decent pair of headphones, a headphone amp, and an ODAC. I'm very happy with that set up, but now I can't bear to listen to my crummy PC speakers. I think they were around $30 and they are utter garbage. So I'm looking to upgrade. I have $500 to spend on active computer speakers or passive bookshelf speakers and a receiver. I am considering the Swan M200MKIII, but a lot of people seem to think getting passive speakers and a receiver is a better way to go. Unfortunately I have no idea where to begin in the search for good passive speakers or a receiver. I listen to a wide range or rock music and like a balanced sound. I live on the third floor of an apartment with sensitive neighbors so a really bass heavy setup isn't such a good idea, although a setup where I could add a subwoofer should my living situation change wouldn't be a terrible idea. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is all very new to me. Thanks!

Thanks everybody. Sounds like the DAC to get.

I'm trying to figure out which speakers to get. I'm planning on plugging them into an HRT Music Streamer II. Right now I'm looking at the Swan M200MkII and the Audioengine a5s, but I wonder if I might be better off with a passive speaker and a receiver for about the same price. You can buy the Swans for $240 if you get them open box. The A5 is $300 and is the absolute most I'd want to spend. Are there any preferable speakers + receivers I can get that won't break that budget? I like an even sound. I'm not a bass nut. Finally, if I got a receiver with SPDIF in or HDMI in and used that to connect to my motherboard, would that negate the need for me to get the HRT?

I'm looking for a DAC for $200 or less. I'm hoping things will sound much better than they do coming out of the soundcard built into my motherboard. Right now I'm thinking about the HRT Music Streamer II. Is that a good choice or should I consider other options? I mostly listen with a pair of wireless Sennheiser RS 180s, but I also listen to my Grado SR80's now and then. I plan to get a pair of decent speakers in a couple months so whatever I get should work with speakers as well. I don't know if the wireless headphones or speakers rule out the benefits of getting a DAC/headphone amp combo instead of just a DAC. Thanks!

Are headphone amps only useful for wired headphones? Some of my music is mp3 some is flac. Both sound worse in my headphones when coming through my computer than when coming through my stereo so I figure the computer must be to blame. Right now I'm just using the soundcard built into my ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 motherboard. That Squeezbox seems cool. Is it comparable in quality to what I would get with a similarly priced external DAC?

I am super new to all of this so I appreciate any help. I am using the Sennheiser RS 180 wireless headphones and noticed that they don't sound as good with my new PC as they do when hooked up to my stereo. I am currently plugging them into the headphone out of my Asus P8Z68-V/Gen3 motherboard. What is the best way to get these to sound as good as they can. DAC? A better soundcard? I will do some gaming so the surround sound that comes with a soundcard would be nice, but I care much, much, much more about how my music sounds so I don't want to sacrifice music quality for surround sound in games. My budget is $200. My wireless headphone transmitter has RCA out which I currently cant use because my motherboard doesn't have an input in it. How much of a difference does RCA make over the headphone jack? My motherboard has an optical audio out. Would it be better to use that or some type of USB solution? In a few months I will be spending another $200 to get decent 2.0 speakers to use with my PC. I want to make sure whatever I add now will work well with a speaker setup as well. If I go under budget here I can use some of that money to get better speakers later which would be great. Thanks!