Soundcard for headphone listening

[henders]

I'm looking for a soundcard (or DAC) for headphone listening. I'm tired of putting up with the poor quality headphone output on my laptop. The soundcard needs to be portable so I can listen while on the move. I've been looking at some of the headphone amps available in the USA, but really don't know what to go for. I've got a budget of about £200.

Any ideas, experience or recommendations?

[ShaunG]

If you are going to be listening with just headphones then a combined DAC and headphone amp is a good solution.

In the next couple of weeks we will be getting inital stock of iBasso D2 headphone amp & DAC and the rest of the iBasso range.

The iBasso D3 model in addition has a line out socket, enabling you to pass the signal onto an amplifier for speakers.

By all accounts the iBasso headphone amps sound very nice and we will be posting some opinions on the HiFi Headphones blog and here on the forum as soon as we get chance to have a proper listen.

We'll also be give the press in the UK (What HiFi, Stuff, CNET.co.uk and TrustedReviews among others) the opportunity to review the iBasso range, so you will be hearing more about iBasso in the coming months.

[oddball74]

Hi, i was looking at getting the new Asus Essence sound card as im running an old audigy at the mo, i heard some good things about it on headfi.

My question is, i have Beyerdynamics DT770 pro (80 ohm) headphones and i do play games on the pc but nothing major, and i like the look of the Ibasso D2 boa usb/dac,could aslo hook to my ipod, so is that the better option for mainly music/movies mild gaming on a pc?

THX.

[ShaunG]

Yes, the iBasso would be a good solution for a music, movies or gaming with headphones on a PC.

An external headphone amp/DAC like the iBasso D2 is effectively a high quality USB soundcard, with the added benefit that you can use it to amp your iPod or MP3 player.