[quastar]

This is my first dip into buying any kind of external amplifier, and I just have a few questions.  I have an Auzentech X-Fi Forte and I've been wanting to try something new.  Here we go:
 
1) I was wondering how to connect it to a external amplifier, while bypassing the built-in Forte amp and at the same time still using the Forte's DAC? 
 
2) If I do this, will I still able to utilize the soundcard's DSP for gaming purposes?
 
3) In the future, if I buy an separate external USB-only DAC (w/o digital out), does this mean that any audio source will completely bypass the soundcard, effectively making the soundcard useless?
 
Thanks.     

 

[proton007]

1) Use the line out provided by the Analog I/O Cable, it bypasses the internal amp.
2) Yes.
3) Yes.

 

[quastar]

Thanks for the reply.
 
So would I connect it to the green or blue color line out?   
 

 
 
And I'd need a cable like this? http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimited-AUD-1100-06-6-Feet-Stereo/dp/B000SE6IV8/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b

 

[proton007]

The blue is line in.
The green/front is one to use for 2.1, in your case the amp.
And yes, the interconnect is a regular 3.5mm jack cable as you mentioned.
I think this should be sufficient for a decent setup, DAC wise you're pretty much ok.

 

[Blotto80]

How do you think the line out from a forte would stack up to a dedicated DAC. I'm thinking of getting a SPDIF DAC so I can continue to use the forte's gaming features.

 

[proton007]

You should still be able to use the gaming features when using line outs.
Your DAC is pretty good, high S/N, low noise, low THD. You'd be achieving the same with an external DAC.
SPDIF input DACs are kinda mid-range (expensive).

 

[quastar]

I got this from http://www.guru3d.com/article/auzentech-xfi-forte-71-soundcard-review-test/8.
 
"[size=x-small][size=x-small]The LME4972 is the front Left and Right channel opamp for the Forte 7.1 and is considered to be a quality audio opamps by many"[/size][/size]
 
[size=x-small][size=x-small]"The JRC 4580's opamps are used for the output channels: Rear Left & Right Channels, Center channel, Subwoofer channel and the Rear Left and Right Channels.[/size][/size]" 
 
So does this mean that every channel is amped?  If I connect to an external amp would I be double amping?  Also, it appears that the Forte uses [size=x-small][size=x-small]AKM AK4396VF[/size][/size] as the DAC for the front L/R and headphone outputs (http://www.guru3d.com/article/auzentech-xfi-forte-71-soundcard-review-test/5).

 

[stv014]

Having an op-amp buffer on a line output is normal, in that sense everything is "amped". What you want to avoid as "double amping" is a dedicated headphone amplifier that sacrifices sound quality (noise and distortion) for higher power output into headphone loads. In any case, it is the overall performance that matters, the headphone output of one device can still be better than the line output of another.

 

[proton007]

+1.

 

[quastar]

Thanks for the replies.  My new amp should arrive early next week.  I guess I'll put what I've learned here to the test when it gets here

.