[mjperk]

Hello all,
First time poster here. I just picked up an Aune T1 MKII and am enjoying it so far. I do have a [noob] question that I couldn't find any search results for and am hoping it is an easy one.
 
I'm wondering what the difference in line in versus USB input is with this unit. I have it connected to my computer via USB and selected the T1 MKII as my playback device via the computer sound settings panel. With this setup, in USB mode, does playback use the Aune DAC, or the computer's? What is the difference with line in? My thoughts were that line in should be used when your music is coming via the source cable input instead of USB and would probably only utilize the amp function, not the DAC. Is this correct? If so, I'm guessing that I am in fact using both the AMP/DAC while in USB mode. Thanks in advance!

 

[PurpleAngel]

When using the computer's USB or optical or coaxial output, your bypassing the computer's DAC feature.
The USB connection also bypasses the computer's (built in) sound card feature, where as optical/coaxial will work with the computer's sound card features.
If you used the Aune T1 MKII's line-input with the computer, then you would be bypassing the Aune T1's DAC and using the computer's DAC feature.
I would guess the Aune T1's DAC chip is better then whatever DAC chip is built into the computer's motherboard.
So stick to the USB connection

 

[mjperk]

Thanks for the great reply. I think I get most of it but am unclear what you mean by "sound card features." What does using USB disable that optical or coax won't? When I plugged it in via USB and selected it as the default source, I was still able to control volume via the computer. If I'm bypassing with USB, wouldn't this be disabled?
 
Thanks again.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for the great reply. I think I get most of it but am unclear what you mean by "sound card features." What does using USB disable that optical or coax won't? When I plugged it in via USB and selected it as the default source, I was still able to control volume via the computer. If I'm bypassing with USB, wouldn't this be disabled?
 
Thanks again.

 
I guess S/PDIF (optical & coaxial) is more integrated with the on-board (built in) sound card (Realtek ALC898), so it makes it easy for them to work together.
S/PDIF and the sound card only real job is for dealing with digital audio.
 
Where as USB has no real direct connections to the sound card and I guess no real good reason for any directly connecting USB to the sound card.
USB seems to be designed to work with a lot of different computer functions, beside audio
USB makes it easy for connecting an external DAC/amp for playing music, as music is usually just basic 2-channel audio, it really has no need for sound card features.
I'm guessing the Windows OS itself has some software functions, like a master volume control, for any audio source, separate from the sound card.
So that is why you can still control audio volume without the need of a sound card.
When you plug in USB DAC (or DAC/Amp) into the computers USB port, Windows automatically make the USB DAC the default audio device (no sound card involved).