[SilverCans]

I've searched and couldn't find anything concrete. So what's a good optical out sound card < $50? Trying to avoid buying a hi-face for two reasons, cost and my dac's coax input is used by my cd transport.

 

[ROBSCIX]

What about your onboard, most new Mobo will have S/pdif output?
Unless you need an optical, you would have to check your mobo features. Maybe the cheapest way to go.

 

[SilverCans]

My board does not have on board optical out or coax.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Hmm, well figured it was worth a shot!
<$50 will limit you to used components.
I think some suggest the AV710's make good S/Pdif outputs but they are dated and probabaly hard to find.

 

[SilverCans]

yeah that card is long gone from the market.

Any other good sounding and currently available optical out cards?

 

[leeperry]

you want bit-perfect non-resampling drivers, and KS is good to have too.

VIA Envy24 based cards do exactly that(like that famous Chaintech), and so do CMI8738/8768 cards if you use those drivers: cmediadrivers

 

[SilverCans]

thanks Leeperry. Regarding the Via Envy24 any idea on some model numbers of cards? its sometimes tough to come up with model number when just punching in the chipset its based off. Also, what drivers does one use with the Via?

Edit:

Hmm having a hard time finding a cmedia 8768+ card too. The Diamond Xtreme 7.1 comes in two versions DDL and not. Not sure if the non DDL has the cmedia 8768+

 

[Kawai_man]

Ive also been interested in getting a sound card with optical output to get a better optical sound over my macbooks high jitter optical out.

I know one guy who tried a trends ud10.1 usb to sdif converter and he says the optical out from the trends sounded much better than the optical out from his macbook, only thing is that the trends is limited to 16bit I believe, it would be cool to have a soundcard that can output a 24bit low jitter optical signal.

 

[leeperry]

there's refurbished Prodigy HD2's directly from the manufacturer on ebay, I'll prolly grab one.

they have 2 discrete clocks:

and support bit-perfect 44.1/48/88.2/96/192 over toslink..automatically bit-matched too. they also support 16/24/32bit(many cards don't support 24bit, only 16/32 so 24 needs to be padded to 32).

you can get CMI8738/8768(8768+ is the same, just a name change)/8770(same as 8768 w/ DDL) cards anywhere(they all work w/ Dogbert's drivers), but they only have one clock(which isn't a multiple of 44.1 or 48, so j..... would prolly suck), they only do 16bit(but it don't matter if you don't listen at +96dB

), and do 44.1/48/88.2/96.

they all do KS exclusive and WASAPI too.

PS: I currently use a 8768 board, and I love it

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kawai_man /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ive also been interested in getting a sound card with optical output to get a better optical sound over my macbooks high jitter optical out. I know one guy who tried a trends ud10.1 usb to sdif converter and he says the optical out from the trends sounded much better than the optical out from his macbook, only thing is that the trends is limited to 16bit I believe, it would be cool to have a soundcard that can output a 24bit low jitter optical signal.

Well this seems to be a hot topic around here right now. Is there a difference between S/Pdif outputs? Many say no but many also say there is definatley a difference. I have read many good reports about the Mtech HiFace and there are other units like the one you mentioned. These USB to S/Pdif interfaces have good feedback of being "better" then some generic S/Pdif output from a mobo or soundcard or laptop.
If you want the best sound for your DAC you may be better off getting a quality unit like the unit you mentioned or the Hiface instead of going with the cheapest unit you can find. You mentioned the Trends being limited to 16bit, the Hiface is 24/192 IIRC.

 

[leeperry]

oh btw, there's a full money-back guarantee on the refurbished HD2's, so I'll definitely bite for $69 shipped...I don't really see how the sound could be better than on my CMI8768(as it's already so damn good

), but it makes for a cheap upgrade if the supposedly lower jitter is audible...and if not, I can just send it back to Korea for a refund anyway.

 

[ROBSCIX]

@SilverCans, you can get a new Xonar DS for $54 and used X-Music for $40.
The DS has optical output through and adapter and the X-Music has an optical output IIRC.

 

[leeperry]

one thing's for sure, the VIA drivers work like a treat, automatically bit-matched/bit-perfect, PCM24, KS exclusive

a far cry from the usual Creative/Asus/C-Media crapola, these drivers were coded by ICEnsemble, and VIA simply bought them....so luckily they have nothing to do w/ the DSP or the drivers

 

[ROBSCIX]

One things for sure: Your not quite sure what your talking about considering you change it every post:
Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif bit-perfect *on a PC* doesn't mean jack, look at nick charles preliminary tests w/ toslink: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f133/p...ml#post6494504

So which is it?

What are you recommending a HD2 when you have posted bad opinions of them a few times:
Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif the problem on the HD2 is that the PCB is very poorly shielded...

 

[leeperry]

oh yes, and I forgot the Envy24 is pretty much the only consumer DSP that's using 2 discrete clocks...most of them only have a 24.576MHz(512x48kHz) clock, reason why their jitter sucks at 44.1kHz...and they have to resort to lame attempts at conditioning the clock to 44.1kHz multiples(like on the asus st).

FWIW, the M2Tech Hiface also has 2 clocks...anyway, I'll order the refurbed HD2 later today and will report back on the SQ. They ship by EMS so it should be fast

PS: I guess I should also mention that my DAC runs a CS8414 S/PDIF receiver, which is supposedly vastly inferior to the DIR9001...from what Audio-GD says.