[framos917]

  XLR is very popular in the pro world because it is very good in rejecting common noise (outside interference)
Try this one: http://www.presonus.com/news/articles/balanced-unbalanced

Thank you Roseval, I just went to your web site. Looking forward to spending some time there.

 

[fishyee]

No such things as ignorant questions ...  just questions to improve one's knowledge.  Thank you, framos917, knowing what you like is very helpful.
 
1.  The 305 and E5 monitors are active, so they have amps built-in with volume control.  The 305 or E5 would be great for your music.  I too am a Botti fan.  I recommend you bring your laptop and Behringer with you to Guitar Center.  At Guitar Center, you can connect directly to each set of speakers using rca cables (plus XLR adapters when needed) to do your listening.  Make sure you are listening at ear level and at volumes you enjoy. 
 
2.  Active monitors are ideal for you because they have an even frequency response and accurate timbre.  The other musical aspect that you should pay attention to during the audition is imaging/soundstaging.  Your music is perfect for testing this and the 305 and E5 do well here.
 
3.  CD quality is good enough for most of us.  Don't worry about hi rez or getting a DAC right now since all of your music is CD quality.  CD is 16bit-44.1Hz digital.  Your Behringer does 16bit-44.1Hz digital.  When you are ready, you can look into a different DAC.  You will hear smaller improvements with DAC upgrades (better detail, wider soundstage, smoother sound) but a new DAC is unnecessary for you to enjoy your music now.
 
How confident are you that your computer setup is optimized for audio playback?  Are you using Foobar?  One final question, how often do you mess with the volume?  The monitors have volume control in the back.

 

[framos917]

   
Whoa. Slow down.
 
You know what I mean. We have all been here before.
 
Agonise  for weeks over a new purchase. Endlessly compare specs and opinions. Will an extra $50 make that much difference? Then, when you do finally make your mind and decide and are sure you made the right choice you end up getting flooded with a serotonin rush. The wallet flops open and you make a rash decision to buy something in addition. For above your original, tightly controlled then remember, budget. In the mistaken believe it will just as good all over again.
 
It won't. It isn't. The speakers will make the big, big did I say big, difference. Get them and refuse to part with any more money until you get past that 'it's even better than I expected phase.
 
You know it makes sense.
 
Although you will probably want a physical volume .................& ..............a...   oh no. It's happening again. 

I hear you. I have been doing things incrementally, as I have so much to learn. I will be getting the speakers. Listen to them for awhile, enjoy them, continue to study DAC's and on to the next step. It is fun and all good. This thread sure gave me a lot of new information that I need to study for a bit.

 

[framos917]

  No such things as ignorant questions ...  just questions to improve one's knowledge.  Thank you, framos917, knowing what you like is very helpful.
 
1.  The 305 and E5 monitors are active, so they have amps built-in with volume control.  The 305 or E5 would be great for your music.  I too am a Botti fan.  I recommend you bring your laptop and Behringer with you to Guitar Center.  At Guitar Center, you can connect directly to each set of speakers using rca cables (plus XLR adapters when needed) to do your listening.  Make sure you are listening at ear level and at volumes you enjoy. 
 
2.  Active monitors are ideal for you because they have an even frequency response and accurate timbre.  The other musical aspect that you should pay attention to during the audition is imaging/soundstaging.  Your music is perfect for testing this and the 305 and E5 do well here.
 
3.  CD quality is good enough for most of us.  Don't worry about hi rez or getting a DAC right now since all of your music is CD quality.  CD is 16bit-44.1Hz digital.  Your Behringer does 16bit-44.1Hz digital.  When you are ready, you can look into a different DAC.  You will hear smaller improvements with DAC upgrades (better detail, wider soundstage, smoother sound) but a new DAC is unnecessary for you to enjoy your music now.
 
How confident are you that your computer setup is optimized for audio playback?  Are you using Foobar?  One final question, how often do you mess with the volume?  The monitors have volume control in the back.

Sounds good, I will be getting the speakers this weekend. Then I need to spend some time enjoying them and researching these articles.  It seems I get something, enjoy it, look for improvement, save up some money and go to the next step. I started by just buying new headphones for my MP3 Player, now here I am. I do not change volume much at all on desktop speakers. I rarely touch it.
 
I do have foobar. I used "Exact Audio Copy" to rip all my cd collection to Flac. I probably spent way to much time building an Foobar interface for playback, but it was fun. However, I can't really say I have it optimized for audio playback. Any recommended article would be helpful. I have tried to using an equalizer but I always come back to flat settings. I bought a ASUS Xonar U3 Sound Card but sent it back.
 
I do appreciate all the assistance everyone has provided.

 

[fishyee]

You know more than me about foobar if you built your own foobar interface. 
 
These sites may help you with optimization.  The idea is to make sure the Behringer is on its own USB hub and to minimize any additional Windows processing of the audio files.
 
https://www.ableton.com/en/articles/optimize-windows/
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Windows/Win7/USBDAC.htm
 
 
Spend a week on Roseval's website and you will be smarter than 99% of audiophiles.  If you become interested in acoustics, check out Dr. Toole's book - Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms.
 
Good luck!  Enjoy your new monitors!

 

[fishyee]

One last resource for you.  Mr Elliott knows his stuff.
 
http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm

 

[Roseval]

A very simple one is trying Foobar with WASAPI in exclusive mode.
This in general works well with USB DAC’s
As you bypass the Win mixer (as it expect multiple streams even a single stream is converted to float and back to integer and dithered) you might perceive a subtle increase in transparency.

 

[Roseval]

  One last resource for you.  Mr Elliott knows his stuff.
 
http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm

 
Have you read the part about Burn In?
http://sound.westhost.com/madashell.htm
Big fun

 

[fishyee]

I plan to read it right after I break in my cable cooker and cryo freeze my mouse that I use to click play on foobar!