[Egaku]

Hello,
 
I have an Audio-GD FUN Amp/DAC combo unit, and was wondering if the Audio-GD does the DAC conversion, or does Realtek do it?
Excuse my lack of knowledge regarding optical devices, I was just confused why Realtek Digital Output(Optical) shows up instead of something else..
For example, when using USB mode, it says something along the lines of SPDIF Output (no Realtek in the name).
 
 
Here is a screenshot of my sound settings (the rest of the playback devices not shown are all Digital Audio (HDMI), and I have show disabled and show disconnected devices enabled):

 
I hope I didn't leave anything out, haha
Thanks

 

[Egaku]

Just had an epiphany.. LOL
 
If the optical cable itself carries a digital signal, surely the digital-to-analog conversion happens at the end opposite to the source (motherboard) right?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Egaku /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I have an Audio-GD FUN Amp/DAC combo unit, and was wondering if the Audio-GD does the DAC conversion, or does Realtek do it?

 

DAC means Digital to Analogue Converter. There is no ADC involved. It leaves your computer using the Realtek system's SPDIF - Sony-Philips Digital Interface Format - output as a digital signal then that digital signal gets converted into an analogue signal by the AudioGD's Digital to Analogue Converter chip.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Egaku /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Hello,

 

I have an Audio-GD FUN Amp/DAC combo unit, and was wondering if the Audio-GD does the DAC conversion, or does Realtek do it?

Excuse my lack of knowledge regarding optical devices, I was just confused why Realtek Digital Output(Optical) shows up instead of something else..

For example, when using USB mode, it says something along the lines of SPDIF Output (no Realtek in the name).

 

 

 

It says Realtek Digital OUTPUT right there. That's because the "sound device" that the computer can recognize is the DSP chip in the motherboard made by Realtek that converts the digital audio into an SPDIF signal. SPDIF does not carry data back to the source, unlike USB, which is why not only can you send digital audio through there, but some USB DACs can upload the drivers and trigger the installation process in the computer, as well as some of them appearing as they actually are, ie, you can see "NuForce UDAC" on that same menu if you had that. As far as the computer is concerned, it send the digital audio out, but effectively has no clue what is happening to it after that.

 

[Egaku]

Excellent answer, thanks