jakebake

I am a gamer, but I am trying to build a good setup for audio from my computer. The stuff I listed is stuff I already own. I just got the ad700s because they have a great soundstage. I also got the astro mixamp which does dolby headphone. I am building this setup around headphones. I do have a lower budget HT system (yamaha yht393bl) which I am ok with for now for my 360 etc. I don't really want to get a sound card for my computer as I already have the presonus firepod, but I think I just want to get a good DAC. What would you recommend for the AD700's? Now like I said I already have a tube preamp and power amp I use with speakers but there is no headphone jack. So I was wondering if there was a way to use a dac with my tube preamp and still use my headphones. Or am I going to also need a headphone amp? Does this help at all?

I am pretty new to all this audiophile stuff! I just got a pair of AD700's for use with gaming as well as music. I got an Astro Mixamp for gaming and I am fine with the sound quality for that, but I would like to get some good sound quality from my computer! I did have a creative xfi titanium sound card but I sent it back because I didn't think it was all that great. I also have a presonus Firepod which I am using as my sound card/ DAC at the moment. I do not think the headphone jack of it sounds that great though. I also have a tube preamp and tube poweramp, but they don't have a headphone jack. So here are my questions for you guys... Should I use the firepod as my DAC and just get a nice headphone amp? Should I get a better DAC then the firepod? If I did get a better DAC is there a way to connect it to my tube preamp and get the tube tone from it? What suggestions do you have for a DAC or amp or both for the ad700's? THank you for any help! I would really like to figure out the best way to do this! Right now I just have it connected firepod>tube preamp>astro mixamp for the headphone jack>ad700