I wanted to upgrade my standard speakers with a decent 2.1 system and after lots of research, finally narrowed down to Swans(HiVi) M50W and currently sitting on my table which are connected to my on-board sound card (Realtek ALC 892) it also has Coaxial and Optical S/PDIF out ports. I am very much disappointed with the performance, so decided to change the source and narrowed down to go with a new sound card or with DAC. This are my narrowed down list
Sound Card upgrade: Asus Xonar Essence STX
DAC upgrade:
O2+ODAC RevB
Audio GD NFB-15
Modi 2 Uber
HiFime UH1 384Khz USB DAC, headphone amplifier and I2S/DSD interface
FiiO E17K
Usage is 45 Music:45 Movies:10 Gaming. I also use head phones to listen music and watch movies especially at nights.
I need experts over here to guide me to get best with in my budget that I have narrowed down or any other advice will help.
NOTE: I live in Bangalore India, All of the above need to be sourced in as they are not available locally except the STX and E17K
Thanks in advance