[Kayk]

Here's my setup, don't ask me why I drew this, I was bored:

I'm looking to get rid of my sound card and switch to digital, here is my criteria:

-$120 budget max
-Has a coax input, RCA stereo output
-Non portable, medium sized

I don't want to stick with my sound card anymore (although it is nice) because something in my desktop occasionally causes interference that I can hear through my headphones and I can't stand it. I was gonna pick up a gaming sound card (since its a gaming desktop), however I remembered that my ATI 5770 has audio drivers itself to pass through a really nice digital output. So would ditching my sound card and setting up a digital connection through my GPU improve sound quality at all? That might be an opinionated question, but I don't have too much experience with DACs (besides the connections a DAC takes, what makes the expensive ones so nice?).

 

[Hybrys]

Used, old school Zero DAC. I would link you to my FS one (oddly enough, with only the Coax input working) if I hadn't set it aside for someone earlier today.

Best part, when you have some cash, you can buy an HDAM and improve the sound further for only $30-55.

The only problem I see happening is using the TV as a relay. If it adds noise, it might bother you more. Or it might be perfect, who knows. No real way to tell trying.

 

[orl2222]

Im using a 5770 card, using the HDMI to my receiver, (insignia which allows HDMI pass thru for sound) and using the same 5770 card to my monitor thru DVI. and yes it sounds better by far,because the receiver does all the decoding. a added lil plus here too, if you gave a bluray drive on your system, it also passes tru all the new DTS and Dolby codecs. I did ditch my sound card this works alot better.

 

[Kayk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Best part, when you have some cash, you can buy an HDAM and improve the sound further for only $30-55.

What is an HDAM, how does it work and where can I look at some for sale? Also, it's an Asus monitor with crappy speakers that I don't plan on using, but your statement probably still stands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by orl2222 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Im using a 5770 card, using the HDMI to my receiver, (insignia which allows HDMI pass thru for sound) and using the same 5770 card to my monitor thru DVI. and yes it sounds better by far,because the receiver does all the decoding. a added lil plus here too, if you gave a bluray drive on your system, it also passes tru all the new DTS and Dolby codecs. I did ditch my sound card this works alot better.

I don't plan on getting a blu-ray drive any time soon (hell, I don't even have a DVD drive in my desktop after my old one crapped out on me). If I play a 1080p blu-ray movie from my hard drive on VLC, will it produce the same result?

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayk /img/forum/go_quote.gif What is an HDAM, how does it work and where can I look at some for sale? Also, it's an Asus monitor with crappy speakers that I don't plan on using, but your statement probably still stands.

It's a more complicated opamp, basically. Look up Audio-GD for a quick look at three of them.

 

[Kayk]

Yeah I've been doing my research, specifically looking at the Compass, Fun, and Zero DACs. I think I'm just gonna upgrade my EF2 to a DAC/amp that can handle digital audio for both of my computers.

People who talk about the compass seem to give it a ton of praise, the guy who designed it seems to have a lot of talent with this stuff. I also see that the Fun is basically the 2.0 version of the Compass, but it's a relatively new product and I haven't heard too much amazing stuff about it, along with the fact that I don't need the modularization it seems to have (but I like tinkering with that kind of stuff, so it might come in handy).

If anyone owns a Compass or a Fun, let me know what you think of it.