Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Computer Audio › HDMI audio card outted to mini usb? Is this possible
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

HDMI audio card outted to mini usb? Is this possible

post #1 of 7
6/25/11 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 

So what is the deal with no soundcards outting via usb if the sound quality is much nicer than standard 3.5mm. 

 

Is it possible to install a sound card that outs via HDMI and use a simple HDMI to usb cable for dac amps?  Im looking at the asus xonar HDAV 1.3 slim audio card which has HDMI out for audio, but i also wanted to buy an rsa predator and that uses a mini usb to usb connection...so i was curious if it were even possible for hdmi to convert to mini usb without an issue...if it does wouldnt this be an immensely high quality experience?

 

 

 


Edited by swbf2cheater - 6/25/11 at 1:06am
Reply
post #2 of 7
6/25/11 at 8:12am

Hi!

 

I am confused.

 

A soundcard (=DAC and amplifier) to output sound via USB to put the sound into another DAC and amp?? Why?

 

Optical = digital out I understand or digital via USB but for that the DAC is acting as a soundcard. There are HDMI to optical converters which in turn you can put into a lot of DACs, like the fiio D3 or an icon HDP. However having a digital sound converted into analog (3.5mm) and then converted back into digital to convert it again into analog does not make much sense....

 

So yo uwant to use a soundcard (asus xonar) and not let it do the sound? I would split the sound from HDMI to digital spdif cinch or optical but I don't really see the point in doing that.

 

As I understand the Asus soundcard has digital spdif out so why would you use usb?

 

Ok, I checked, the RSA predator does not support anything else than USB.

 

so why don't you use the RSA predator for sound and your soundcard for, well video out?

Reply
post #3 of 7
6/25/11 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 

The reason is pure source quality and simply getting the very most out of it, and no I would want to use the Xonars sound via the HDMI and NOT the video.  

 

3.5mm and RCA are inferior to usb sound quality in my opinion and expensive internal sound cards only offer these connections.  I have a usb dac amp, a very expensive one and it cant achieve optimal sound quality via 3.5mm.   USB dacs are simply better in every way, again IMO

 

so...HDMI audio is usually more pure than even a USB connection.  Any USB dac like the RSA predator for example usually uses a mini USB connection.  This Xonar card outs audio via an internal soundcard with HDMI.  So i thought I could use this card and connect it to a Predator or any other USB dac with a simple HDMI to usb cable.  

 

just a thought, if that worked or if someone made a cable that is universal, it would be the best level of pure audio quality.   

 

 

Reply
post #4 of 7
6/25/11 at 10:16am

So why do you want to use the Xonar at all??

 

Just plug in the rsa predator in the USB port and you have your superior quality directly from the source and the shortest possible signal way. Which benefit do you get routing the sound through the soundcard first? The USB DAC is a soundcard, so I really do not understand the point and how you create superior quality in your proposed setup?

 

 

Reply
post #5 of 7
6/25/11 at 10:55am
Thread Starter 

sigh, the reason is because my pc already has this xonar card and i was only curious if usb dacs would play through it via an HDMI to usb cable.  I didn't want to upgrade or switch it out for something else, and wanted to know if HDMI > USB audio and if it were possible.  My concern and question was answered in the last post you just made, I was just curious if the hdmi out would be superior to the USB

 

and if it was, would it even work with a mini usb to hdmi cable

 

 

 

 

 

 


Edited by swbf2cheater - 6/25/11 at 10:57am
Reply
post #6 of 7
6/25/11 at 11:54am

Why exactly do you find 3.5mm and RCA to be inferior to USB?

Reply
post #7 of 7
6/25/11 at 12:17pm

Won't work, USB audio requires a handshaking driver in order to output to, something I highly doubt the HDMI spec even has.

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Computer Audio
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Computer Audio › HDMI audio card outted to mini usb? Is this possible