Sorry if I came off as a little sarcastic, but like I said, a couple of years ago I knew just as much as you. I posted on this forum with newbie questions and PM'ed people with very basic questions, and they tolerated me enough to give me good responses. So I feel I'm giving back :P If you have...

Do you mean DAC or sound card? I don't know of any good DACs with a mic input..

Also, I'd say RMA the speakers. Since you've tried different cables and different sources, I'd say it's a problem with them.

And you have a glass desk too I'm guessing? I've been on /g/ too much lately..

Quote: No, if anything they use more.

Did you upgrade from Audioengine A2s?

Quote:     I don't think if you'd get faster communication with an external card - PCI-E is still slower than being soldered directly onto the motherboard with no intermediary bus to the North Bridge. From my knowledge I also don't think the onboard DAC loads the CPU to a noticeable...

I'll bite, since I was like you at one point.. Maybe more experienced users will chime in with more informed opinions.   Quote:   Most, if not all, do. Look for a "front panel header" or something along those lines in the description. If you have a picture of the card, usually it looks...

So this is a newb question, but I can't find what I'm looking for on the internet..   I just finished installing and configuring foobar2k with WASAPI. I've got a bunch of 320kbps MP3s playing through foobar2k > WASAPI > SPDIF out to EMU 0404, and I'm confused about the right bit/khz setting...

>> good >> under $100   You're on Head-Fi, pick one of the two.

Emu 0404 USB? It's got da everything.

Long story short - I'm trying to give someone a decent pair of earphones for their birthday. They've listened to stock Apple earbuds their whole life, but they really like music, and I want to get them nice sound earbuds (no IEMs or over-the-head yet). I was looking at > $100 - Yuin PK2s...

Quote: Originally Posted by Todd R Why bother with all that? You'd be better off crimping on some connectors (spades, bananas, etc) and cover with heatshrink. The wire won't fray and the connection will last longer & be better since bare copper corrodes over time. My amp doesn't...

Quote: Originally Posted by TedGamble For the record, I said that my files RANGE FROM 128 TO 192. About 75% of them are 192. I realize that a 128 MP3 is a long way from perfect, and I also realize that I'm not getting every nuance of sq from a 192 kb file either. Right or wrong...

Heh, a day after I posted this thread, I realized just how paranoid Head-Fi audiophilia has made me. Thanks :P