I think you're getting a bit confused with the terminology. The Magni is a headphone amp, not a DAC. It takes line-level analog audio input and amplifies it to drive your headphones. A DAC converts a digital signal to a line-level analog signal. The logitech dongle is both a dac and a headphone amp (if it's what I'm imagining).

If your question is "will it make any audible difference if I use a dedicated external DAC instead of my motherboard's line out".... maybe? Audio DACs are a mature technology and a competent "low end" implementation is transparent for the purposes of human hearing... so it depends on the quality of your motherboard's audio output and how much of a golden-eared audiophile you are.

oh i was under the assumption the magni was a dac lol, im mainly using the headphones for games like tarkov where footsteps and hearing is very important and then listening to music while i study. Do i have how to work a stack right? Pc to dac, dac to amp, amp to headphones?

>Am i overthinking this whole thing or am i on the right track?

Yes.

It may yield better results, it may not. You may like it, you may not. We can't tell what your motherboard is outputting, or how it compares to the Modi, or if you'd prefer the Modi over the motherboard.

Is your motherboard audio well shielded? Is your USB well isolated from the rest of your computer? Too many variables.

If you're curious, give it a go. Even if you do hear a difference, you may not like it, or it may not materially affect your music enjoyment.

Personally, I'd say to try Modi Multibit or something like Cayin RU6. Something more likely to sound different than your integrated audio.

EDIT: Saw your primary use is games. I've found several R2R dacs to introduce a little bit of latency so that could be a dealbreaker.

the motherboard was just a budget motherboard at the time so i doubt it is is a asrock z390 pro4 and i think if i move the logi dac to the usb on the front of the case it would lessen the interference. if i wanted to compare the on board dac, logi dac, and modi what measurements would i want to look at?

Hmm, dunno, all of the measurements, maybe?

I personally stopped trying to tie measurements like SINAD and THD to sound quality, as some of my favorite sounding gear measure poorly (Soloist 3xp, OG BF2) and some of my least favorite gear measure very well (THX 789). I reckon some correlations exist but I couldn't figure it out over the 2 dozen or so stuff I've cycled through over the years.

That said, I like Schiit stuff. I don't think you'd necessarily be making a mistake with something like the Modi E, though lately I've been more into stuff like the Modi multibit.

ah okay so pretty much there isnt a golden standard thats perfect for absolutly everyone. its kinda like cars and keyboards where everyone likes different things. And are more expensive cables better? i just bought the amazon basics rca to 3.5 cable?

Haven't messed too much with cables. I went through a few professional ones (a few Mogami's, Canare, Gotham, etc.) and ultimately found Mogami 2534 to be the most preferable for me across different gear. Amazon stuff is probably fine. I have monoprice 3.5 to RCA and while not great, don't really have a problem with it either.

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