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Motherboard has two outputs.... Coaxial and Optical... which is better to input to DAC

post #1 of 6
5/11/11 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 

So... my motherboard MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) has Coax and Optical outs...

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574

 

I'd like to send the cleanest signal to my DAC which then feeds into my Little Dot headphone amp...

 

Do the Coax outputs on motherboards in general, have a pretty clean signal to feed a DAC

 

Or.. the Toslink output?  I heard the Toslink can be a little "cold".

 

Just looking to get the BEST signal from my lossless audio files to the DAC, then to the tube amp, then to the headphones.

 

Thanks!

 

Q

 

 

 

 

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post #2 of 6
5/11/11 at 7:09pm

Why don't you try both and see which one you like?

 

Not like your DAC is gonna blow up if you try them both.

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post #3 of 6
5/11/11 at 7:28pm

from what i have read here on the forums, i believe the general consensus is that coax has the upper hand.  I do not know from personal experience

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post #4 of 6
5/11/11 at 11:19pm

It's all about USB, yo.

Also, get a power filter for your computer if you can, it helps a bit.

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post #5 of 6
5/12/11 at 3:03am

In general the coax is lower on jitter but there is a electrical connection between PC and DAC allowing stray signals to disturb the DAC.

In case of Toslink it is the reverse, galvanic isolation by design but a bit higher on jitter.

How this works out in practice is indeed a matter of trying.

 

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post #6 of 6
5/13/11 at 4:28pm
Thread Starter 

They both ended up working fine.  I think the Coax has a slight advantage.

 

BTW, this motherboard has 24/192 output ont he optical and coax, so no need for a fancier audio card.

 

I don't think USB can do 24/192 without special drivers.

 

 

 

 

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