|
|
Post by magico309d on Dec 29, 2010 11:02:43 GMT -5
I don't see the need to spend the money on some of the cards like the Xonar to simply use SPDIF out. Many motherboards are capable of bit perfect via optical and there are plenty of other solutions. I have 3 cards. Audiotrak Prodigy HD2, M-Audio 2496, and Chaintech AV-710. All of which were under $100. The later 2 can be found used for under $50. I have actually been using USB as of late on a couple of my PC's and it works great. I am not listening to anything over 24/48 so drivers are not an issue for me. Yep, I've had pleasing results with old Revo, Xfi cards, and even just the audio output from my new media-centric W7 laptop isn't too shabby. Since I'm planning a dedicated music only server that's relaxing to use, I'd like to set it up to handle high resolution files in pure form from the start. At this point, that still requires a sound card like the STX and even then it's only available from it's electrical SPDIF output. |
|
|
|
Post by bobbyt on Dec 29, 2010 17:43:07 GMT -5
Where are all these motherboards with optical outputs you guys keep talking about? I wasn't aware it was that common.
Mine has coax, which I thought was pretty standard these days, but are PC makers including optical too or are you guys using some kind of jumper/riser?
|
|
|
|
Post by srb on Dec 29, 2010 17:50:08 GMT -5
Where are all these motherboards with optical outputs you guys keep talking about? I wasn't aware it was that common. Mine has coax, which I thought was pretty standard these days, but are PC makers including optical too or are you guys using some kind of jumper/riser? My Gigabyte motherboard has both coaxial and optical (and that was one of the criteria for choosing it). The coaxial goes to a 2 channel DAC and the optical to an AV receiver. Steve |
|
|
|
Post by merlinwerks on Dec 29, 2010 18:43:33 GMT -5
Where are all these motherboards with optical outputs you guys keep talking about? I wasn't aware it was that common. Mine has coax, which I thought was pretty standard these days, but are PC makers including optical too or are you guys using some kind of jumper/riser? I believe it's more prevalent on the motherboards used by the "roll your own" crowd vs. the big manufactures (HP, Dell, etc.) Check this page at Newegg, go to the "S/PDIF Out:" dropdown on the left, there are 100+ mobos listed with optical out. And that's just for the Intel boards ;D |
|
|
|
Post by kellys on Dec 30, 2010 3:56:17 GMT -5
I have built three or four computers now and have always built them audiocentric. There is usually a fair difference in the quality of the digital outs between the ones on the motherboard and on a dedicated soundcard. The soundcard digital output will be the better transport for the audio. At the hardware level, it isn't an issue with being bit-perfect, is a jitter issue. A midrange card from a respected manufacturer will give you better sound quality than the motherboard will. I wouldnt bother spending $200 on a soundcard though if you don't plan on using the analogue outputs. Keep the card to around $50 or so from an online vendor.
You will need to do some configuration in Windows to get the best sound. I have found WASAPI exclusive output drivers give the best audio quality. ASIO is ok, but there will still be other sounds layered as well. FOOBAR is a good free player, and J River is a better paid player.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vespid on Jan 17, 2011 18:44:33 GMT -5
As best I can tell, that driver is for a C-Media Electronics Integrated USB Audio I/O controller chip. The latest tech data sheet I could find on that chip was dated February 2007, which refers to version 1.6 of the chip, so take this for what it's worth. That chip is capable of 48 KHz sample rate and embedded 16 Bit dac. Do you have knowledge if that is the chip used in the XDA-1? |
|
