[philodox]

Are there differences between the digital outs on various sound cards? If so, which is the best?

Does anyone have any experience with this external sound card by Zalman? I can get it at a fairly reduced price.

http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/view.asp?idx=112

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Are there differences between the digital outs on various sound cards? If so, which is the best?

Yes, some cards have better jitter specs than others, and I think that EMU cards have very good ones.

 

[mshan]

Is 75 Ohm (connector to connector) truly important for a coaxial digital interconnect?

If so, can anyone explain why?

What about rfi shielding?

 

[philodox]

Jitter is not an issue if you use an optical cable correct?

Anyone know anything about this Zalman soundcard?

 

[thomaspf]

Jitter is the variation in the underlying clock of a digital signal. For an S/PDIF over either coaxial or Toslink connection you need to look at the sending and receiving side and then look at the amount of jitter on the output of the digital receiver.

It is believes that otpical connections result in higher jitter on the receiver output but there are many variables.

Better DACs condition the jitter through potentially multiple stages before performing the D/A conversion.


Cheers

Thomas

 

[dwin902]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Jitter is not an issue if you use an optical cable correct? Anyone know anything about this Zalman soundcard?

That Zalman item looks like a breakout box for connecting Zalman's "multi-channel" headphones to your computer. You'd be better off with one from M-Audio or even Creative.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaspf It is believes that otpical connections result in higher jitter on the receiver output but there are many variables.

You should still use optical cables with computers though to avoid polluting the ground on the DAC and potentially rest of your system.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar You should still use optical cables with computers though to avoid polluting the ground on the DAC and potentially rest of your system.

Also some cards coax SPDIF outs are out of spec.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mshan Is 75 Ohm (connector to connector) truly important for a coaxial digital interconnect? If so, can anyone explain why?

And out of spec would cause more jitter. Something about causing reflections.