Winter

It sounds as though you'd appreciate a nice set of monitors. I have a buddy with the Rokit 8's from KRK and they slay, although for a desktop system of your size you could get into a set of the Rokit 5's and get an interface all for under 400 if you shop wisely. I also second the Genelec recommendation if you can track down some good second hand pairs

I am still thinking about the Dragonfly but am also currently entertaining the idea of an Audioengine D1 paired with a set of SR-325's since I primarily listen to nothing but metal. I do love the sound of tube amps (for guitar) but don't know what an amp for headphones would sound like which is why I wanted to give the Valhalla a try from Schiit.

Great thank you all for the advise, I'm going to have to decide on the speaker vs can option before i do pick anything up. I was entertaining the idea of an Audioquest Dragonfly paired with a new set of cans for an affordable listening setup but since the Dragonfly seems to have been marketed as an ultra portable dac/amp combo I don't know wether or not I would benefit more from something that is designed to stay in one place like a larger dac. I am going to look into speaker options today on eBay as a saw a nice set of psb1's for a steal. Thanks again for the help.

Great thank you for the response I'm going to mull it over for a bit and then make a purchase.

Oh I'm sorry I will clarify. I don't know wether or not to invest money towards speakers and still lack other necessary components or pick up a headphone amp and dac and have a nice headphone listening station. Thank you.

Hey All, I just joined the forum in search of some help in setting up a harmonious relationship between a computer and a set of speakers...in other words a Computer Audio system. A bit of background: I have been on the search for audio nirvana for about a year and a half now and started first by buying a set of SR60i's from Grado. I like the headphones but they have developed the grattle and I don't listen to them as much as I'd hope to. I recently bought a computer with just audio in mind and would like to set up a good listening station in my "man cave". As of right now I have a new Mac Mini with an LG external optical drive and a Glyph 1tb drive. I'm waiting to set up a wireless network so I can download XLD and start a ripping! I've decided on format for my rips and don't have any issues with XLD, I do have an issue setting up an actual listening station and am torn between getting a set of bookshelf speakers or a sweet headphone setup. The room is small enough that a pair of bookshelf speakers should work quite nicely, right now the only audio equip I have is a crappy sony all in one stereo, a "home theater" receiver with built in dvd player and a set of DOGG digital floor standers that I got for free from my boss. I don't know what source component to pick up first. I'm thinking because I've already bought my computer and have that setup near complete(at least for now) that I pick up a good DAC. I am extremely interested in the Bifrost from Schiit as I whole-heartedly support Schiit's dedication to using American made components and keeping that same philosophy as they manufacture their gear. I would then run the DAC from my computer into one of their headphone amps so I can power my Grado's. I have about a $400-500 budget and I listen to strictly metal if that helps as I know a lot of popular music is mastered or re-mastered for the audiophile market, and let me tell you, metal is not one of them! Some of the stuff I have sounds like it was recorded in a cave in Belarus! So if you can give me any guidance it would be greatly appreciated! Thank You