[Profparched]

Hello All,
 
I am a audiophile who has recently decided to enter the world of headphone listening. I recently purchased a pair of Denon AH-D5000 headphones and realize I need to purchase a headphone amp to get the type of quality I am looking for. After doing alot of research I have decided to purchase a Burson HA160D Amp/Preamp/DAC. Now I need guidance on what to do in regards to a soundcard. I need a soundcard that will not only allow me to hook up external computer speakers for basic listening but will also have a digital output to feed to an external DAC when i want to do my critical listening.
 
I have read many articles that talk about jitter,S/PDIF etc.  Any feedback that will help me make a good selectionwould be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks.

 

[ROBSCIX]

The XOnar DG is low priced and has surround and optical S/Pdif output.  Not sure what you need, either optical or coax.
You can also look around in the buy and sell threads/forums for good prices on soundcards.  S/Pdif is present on most soundcards, just make sure it has the one you
need, either optical or coax if your unit only has one type.
 
Hope this helps.

 

[Profparched]

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if quality varies amongst sound cards in the quality of the digital output. I have concerns about jitter. FYI the Burson HA160D accepts coax or USB.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if quality varies amongst sound cards in the quality of the digital output. I have concerns about jitter. FYI the Burson HA160D accepts coax or USB.

Yes, it does actually.  As to if you can hear it or not is usually the question.
 
Why don't you just use the USB?

 

[tmars78]

Quote:

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if quality varies amongst sound cards in the quality of the digital output. I have concerns about jitter. FYI the Burson HA160D accepts coax or USB.

I wouldn't worry too much about jitter. People tend to blow it way out of proportion. Your motherboard doesn't have a digital out on it? I know some do, and if your does, I would just use that. 

 

[ROBSCIX]

I would suggest getting a higher quality interface such as the HiFace or Teralink X2 especially if you are running a high end unit.
 
 
Quote:

I wouldn't worry too much about jitter. People tend to blow it way out of proportion. Your motherboard doesn't have a digital out on it? I know some do, and if your does, I would just use that. 

I find some people make light of the subject or don't understand it properly.
 
Use a cheap digital out on a point of a cent onboard chip to send a signal to a $1200 DAC, you must be one of those guys that thinks digital is the same from every source?

 

[tmars78]

Quote:

I would suggest getting a higher quality interface such as the HiFace or Teralink X2 especially if you are running a high end unit.
 
 

I find some people make light of the subject or don't understand it properly.
 
Use a cheap digital out on a point of a cent onboard chip to send a signal to a $1200 DAC, you must be one of those guys that thinks digital is the same from every source?

As long as it is implemented properly, yes, its a digital signal, it will all be the same. I'm not getting into this argument though, it'll just go in circles, as it always does. 

 

[ROBSCIX]

 
Quote:

As long as it is implemented properly, yes, its a digital signal, it will all be the same. I'm not getting into this argument though, it'll just go in circles, as it always does. 

Nobody is arguing.  A digital signal also has a very precise timing component so ignoring issue involved with this aspect can lead to have a bad S/Pdif source.
Do some testing on your own...compare a onboard to a higher end interface such as the HiFace and use your ears to make the decisions.
Jitter is a fact of digital electronics, as to where and when it plays into signal degradation tends to be a bit of debate.  However, this is a bit off topic.
 
That being said, I wouldn't be driving a high end external DAC using the digital output onboard chip.
 

 

[Profparched]

Well I guess it's easy to understand why i am so confused. So many different opinions. I am hesitant to use the USB input on the HA160D because i read the following information on a review of the HA160D on tweekgeek.com:
 
 
The HA-160D also features a USB input function which is compatible with both Mac and PCs. However, we have found that using the M2Tech USB to S/PDIF converters greatly improve the performance of the Dac over the HA-160D's stock USB input. This combination, when using your PC as a source, takes the performance of this dac from very good, to giant killer.
 
And then I read a review on 6moons.com of the KingRex UC192 (which has been favorably compared to the M2Tech HiFace)
 
This type device is obviously popular. It's a stop gap between legacy and computer audio. Ideally you'd want an integrated high-resolution USB or Firewire device like my Weiss DAC2 or Burson HA160D to eliminate the jittery cable interface any DDC adds by design.
 
The review went on to say:
 
Should one expect miracles from a $189 black box? Not. The asynchronous USB receiver in the Burson HA160D for example ought to be immune to its help. But even a good CD player with a digital input could sound better when fed from hard disk via the KingRex.
 
So can anyone help me figure out the best method to connect my computer to the Burson HA160D?

 

[ROBSCIX]

I mentioned the M2Tech HiFace which is a low jitter S/Pdif converter.
 
Do you have any Friends that have any USB to S/Pdif low jitter converters for you to test to compare them with the USB input on the Burson?
 
There are many external units out there with USB input but people still use the S/Pdif inputs instead for higher quality sound but it depends on the unit
and both the USB and S/Pdif implementations.