[kiowa]

I've always used an internal sound card. I'm just coming to understand why an external DAC/AMP is better audio. Most people will use the motherboard's dedicated audio chip to connect to the DAC, correct? Is it just a 1-to-1 relaying of the digital signal to the DAC? Does the type and quality of the dedicated internal audio chip matter at all? Would it be better to use an internal pci-e soundcard to forward the signal if you have a good spare?

 

[tomb]

No. You do not use anything from the PC except the software media player and a digital stream, either through optical, SPIDF, or USB to the external DAC. The PC doesn't even need a sound card or audio chip on the motherboard, period - and you should not use it. Everything but the digital music stream is in the external DAC. Otherwise, you have compromised (wasted) the quality provided by the external DAC.

DAC stands for Digital Audio Convertor. If you use any audio device in the PC, it's already been converted away from Digital and it won't even work with the external DAC.

 

[kiowa]

USB, interesting. I didn't think it would get an audio signal or be the right way to deal with an audio stream. I plugged my Alesis IO/2 audio interface via USB. It registers as a sound device. So this is a big reason why ppl say don't need a sound card because you could use USB to a DAC. The SPIDF/Optical are always located with the 1/8" jacks so I thought it would be considered part of the sound card but it is just the digital stream output to the DAC. I understand now...since you mentioned usb I plugged in my Alesis and then the headphones 1/4". do hear a difference. This device is really an interface for instruments to record but its a DAC I suppose. Thanks, now I'm going to find a good dac/amp to use.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I've always used an internal sound card. I'm just coming to understand why an external DAC/AMP is better audio. Most people will use the motherboard's dedicated audio chip to connect to the DAC, correct?

If you use SPDIF, then yes, since they typically have one chip that has DSP and DAC functions in it (kind of like how Snapdragon chipsets for CPUs include

Is it just a 1-to-1 relaying of the digital signal to the DAC?

Not really if you mean 1-to-1-to the source material when some actively use the DSP, usually for simulating surround sound on games.

Does the type and quality of the dedicated internal audio chip matter at all?

Yes, in the sense that an actual badly designed chip is a problem or there are specific features you need out of a DSP chip or the entire circuit.

No, in the sense that can you actually find a measurably, laughably bad chip as opposed to a crap circuit or one that simply does worse at one thing.

For example noise shielding on soundcards can be a problem, so you send it out in digital and chances are noises in the computer don't affect that signal, unless you're using USB and your motherboard's USB power circuit sucks. Or you don't necessarily spend a lot more on a DAC-HPamp vs just an amp, might as well spend another five bucks on an optical cable too.

Would it be better to use an internal pci-e soundcard to forward the signal if you have a good spare?

You mean over the motherboard audio chip? Not really. I'd be much more inclined to not have something that could get in the way of airflow to the graphics card that will just make its fans work harder and you get more environmental noise.

If over USB, then that depends. If you're getting noise, then yes. If you want to use high res audio, USB handles more bandwidth than SPDiF.

 

[buke9]

Dac actually stands for digital to analog converter as they are not only used for audio.

 

[kiowa]

Great. Once I plugged in my DAC via USB it all made sense. Awesome. I'm set to find a good dac & amp. Will get out the forums.

 

[kiowa]

*update because I started using external sound cards. I got the Schiit Magni Amp and a Schiit Modi D/A converter. It's a pretty great way to get started...simple and low investment. A lot of common questions were de-mystified. I see that using optical from the motherboard directly to the dac & amp is purer than using a pci-e soundcard. Issues I had, such as Creative Soundblaster Z static sounds and software control, were because of drivers. The operating system has to process them, send it through an additional component, which adds its layer of filtering/processing to then have the kernel produce sound. So, spdif directly from the mobo simply sends those bits over to the Schiit. So, I have a real clear sound on my Beyer Dynamics T5p. Peace.