cconroy
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2005
- Posts
- 79
- Likes
- 10
I've just recently delved into the headphone world with a pair of Etymotic ER-4p IEMs, and I'm enjoying them greatly. However, I know that I will eventually want to purchase some good open phones with a decent amp. Of course, I don't want my source to be crappy if I'm spending possibly a few hundred dollars on an amplifier. I've read some good things about computer as source, and I have a few questions:
I know next to nothing about the differences between soundcards (even tho i'm a comp sci major). I have a Sound Blaster Audigy, and I dual boot between linux and Windows (although primarily I use linux due to my coursework).
My soundcard has a port labeled "digital out" which looks very much like the other 1/8" connections for the Mic in and the speaker outputs, etc. There is also an IEEE1394 Firewire port for the soundcard. All of my searches on DACs so far have led me to discussions on USB DACS which I'm wary of because of driver dependence and other weird issues. I've got a soundcard with digital out, why route it through USB?
Also, my mini-stereo setup has an optical out.
So, 1) are either of these ports up to par with the USB signal (I assume so as they are supposed to be digital and therefore exact) 2) what are some good, inexpensive pieces of hardware to convert these digital signals to an analog signal for an amp? Is there any setup that would let me switch between say, the optical out of my stereo and the digital out of my soundcard?
Thanks.
I know next to nothing about the differences between soundcards (even tho i'm a comp sci major). I have a Sound Blaster Audigy, and I dual boot between linux and Windows (although primarily I use linux due to my coursework).
My soundcard has a port labeled "digital out" which looks very much like the other 1/8" connections for the Mic in and the speaker outputs, etc. There is also an IEEE1394 Firewire port for the soundcard. All of my searches on DACs so far have led me to discussions on USB DACS which I'm wary of because of driver dependence and other weird issues. I've got a soundcard with digital out, why route it through USB?
Also, my mini-stereo setup has an optical out.
So, 1) are either of these ports up to par with the USB signal (I assume so as they are supposed to be digital and therefore exact) 2) what are some good, inexpensive pieces of hardware to convert these digital signals to an analog signal for an amp? Is there any setup that would let me switch between say, the optical out of my stereo and the digital out of my soundcard?
Thanks.