• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Soundcard vs USB DAC

Stinger2K

New Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
5 (0.00/day)
Which is better?
I'm looking for a device that will provide me with an optical output for my HTPC, so I could plug it to my reciever.
 

Kursah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
14,664 (2.30/day)
Location
Missoula, MT, USA
System Name Kursah's Gaming Rig 2018 (2022 Upgrade) - Ryzen+ Edition | Gaming Laptop (Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022)
Processor R7 5800X @ Stock | i7 12700H @ Stock
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming BIOS 6203| Legion 5i Pro NM-E231
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Push-Pull + NT-H1 | Stock Cooling
Memory TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32GB (2x16) DDR4 4000 @ 3600 18-20-20-42 1.35v | 32GB DDR5 4800 (2x16)
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 4070 JetStream 12GB | CPU-based Intel Iris XE + RTX 3070 8GB 150W
Storage 4TB SP UD90 NVME, 960GB SATA SSD, 2TB HDD | 1TB Samsung OEM NVME SSD + 4TB Crucial P3 Plus NVME SSD
Display(s) Acer 28" 4K VG280K x2 | 16" 2560x1600 built-in
Case Corsair 600C - Stock Fans on Low | Stock Metal/Plastic
Audio Device(s) Aune T1 mk1 > AKG K553 Pro + JVC HA-RX 700 (Equalizer APO + PeaceUI) | Bluetooth Earbuds (BX29)
Power Supply EVGA 750G2 Modular + APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 | 300W OEM (heavy use) or Lenovo Legion C135W GAN (light)
Mouse Logitech G502 | Logitech M330
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Core RGB | Built in Keyboard (Lenovo laptop KB FTW)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 | Windows 11 Home x64
Well honestly in your case, I'd use a digital output to your receiver from your sound card. Use something like EqualizerAPO if you want to tune the sound before the receiver or just handle it with the receiver.

I use a USB DAC and AMP for my headphones, but my previous setup was running optical to my Denon AVR-1613...which has since been relegated to entertainment center duties.

I don't see you getting much benefit from an external dac, unless you have a truly crappy sound card...but using an optical signal should pass through as bits (0's,1's) so you shouldn't deal with much processing from your onboard audio, leaving your receiver to act as the DAC instead. You don't provide system specs, but it has been quite a while since I've seen an HTPC build not use a board that already had optical out. If that is the case here, which it seems it might be judging by your post...I'd try to keep everything internal to the HTPC and use a cheap sound card like a cheaper Asus xonar or whatever will fit.

Give us some more info on your current build if you would please and welcome to TPU! :toast:
 

Stinger2K

New Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
5 (0.00/day)
Hey, thank you for the welcome and response.
My onboard sound-card produces bad sound quality and distortions (realtek), it is an old motherboard without an optical output.
I have seen some external USB dac+amps that do provide optical outputs and also replaceable OP-AMPs but if the receiver is going to be acting as the DAC this is all useless right? if that's the case am I better off with a simple soundcard like the Xonar DG (these are pretty cheap second hand) or even unbranded sound cards from ebay?
 

Kursah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
14,664 (2.30/day)
Location
Missoula, MT, USA
System Name Kursah's Gaming Rig 2018 (2022 Upgrade) - Ryzen+ Edition | Gaming Laptop (Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022)
Processor R7 5800X @ Stock | i7 12700H @ Stock
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming BIOS 6203| Legion 5i Pro NM-E231
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Push-Pull + NT-H1 | Stock Cooling
Memory TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32GB (2x16) DDR4 4000 @ 3600 18-20-20-42 1.35v | 32GB DDR5 4800 (2x16)
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 4070 JetStream 12GB | CPU-based Intel Iris XE + RTX 3070 8GB 150W
Storage 4TB SP UD90 NVME, 960GB SATA SSD, 2TB HDD | 1TB Samsung OEM NVME SSD + 4TB Crucial P3 Plus NVME SSD
Display(s) Acer 28" 4K VG280K x2 | 16" 2560x1600 built-in
Case Corsair 600C - Stock Fans on Low | Stock Metal/Plastic
Audio Device(s) Aune T1 mk1 > AKG K553 Pro + JVC HA-RX 700 (Equalizer APO + PeaceUI) | Bluetooth Earbuds (BX29)
Power Supply EVGA 750G2 Modular + APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 | 300W OEM (heavy use) or Lenovo Legion C135W GAN (light)
Mouse Logitech G502 | Logitech M330
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Core RGB | Built in Keyboard (Lenovo laptop KB FTW)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 | Windows 11 Home x64
I'd go with a cheap Asus or even old creative card, there's some HT Omega cards that are pretty good..but if you're using digital out you're pretty much bypassing most of what cards do to the signal...though some can force EQ on that output still which is handy.
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,255 (4.66/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X12 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei RAW
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
I would recommend upgrading to an HDMI receiver and feed it an HDMI signal (up to 7.1 PCM). Doing this will use the DAC in the receiver which is likely far better than anything you can reasonably get for a computer. Optical/coaxial is limited to stereo lossless or 5.1 lossy.


I don't like any sound cards that are available on the market right now. USB DACs tend to be better than internal DACs but the selection in terms of more channels than stereo is extremely limited/not good.


TL;DR:
2 channels = USB DAC/AMP
>2 channels = HDMI receiver
 

Stinger2K

New Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
5 (0.00/day)
I would love to upgrade to an HDMI reciever however I am trying to make use of an old JVC reciever that I already have lying around.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,275 (2.37/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
Which is better?
I'm looking for a device that will provide me with an optical output for my HTPC, so I could plug it to my reciever.

If your running optical it doesn't matter. A USB DAC will give you the same digital signal as a sound card.

Optical has limitations. HDMI as mentioned would be better

So a ASUS Xonar DG would work fine
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
53 (0.02/day)
asus xonar essence ST, STX or ZXR + premuim headphones
for clearest sound quality
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,059 (0.45/day)
Location
Baltimore MD
Processor Ryzen 5900X
Motherboard ASUS Prime X470 Pro
Cooling Arctic liquid freezer II 240
Memory 2 x 16 Gb Gskill Trident Z 3600 Mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Ventus 3060 Ti OC
Storage Samsung 960 EVO 500 Gb / 860 EVO 1 Tb
Display(s) Dell S2719DGF
Case Lian Li Lancool II Mesh
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech G703
Keyboard Logitech G513
Software Win 11
I would go with the soundcard, USB DSP's can be kind of hit an miss
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,255 (4.66/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X12 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei RAW
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
A USB DAC will give you the same digital signal as a sound card.
USB can be electrically isolated from the computer while the sound card is in the thick of it. Additionally, DACs run cool; computers are hot.
 

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,730 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
If you are going to use optical, the sound card doesn't matter. You could even use onboard sound. Optical will pass the digital signal to the receiver for processing, and everything will happen there.

Optical will be fine for Stereo. Optical will do up to 5.1, if you use Dolby or DTS... but that's really only for movies. If you want greater than Stereo audio without using something like Dolby or DTS, you need to use HDMI.
 

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,730 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
I thought I'd post this side-question here, since it is somewhat relevant.

Sound cards are, or at least, were, able to offload the sound processing from the CPU over to the sound card. In the case of SPDIF, or HDMI, where the digital signal is passed along to an external receiver, there shouldn't be any sound processing on the computer at all (barring any effects that may be present on the computer, like CMSS, crystalizer, etc), right?

What if you're passing along Dolby/DTS audio to the receiver? Does the computer decode that, or is it done on the receiver?
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,275 (2.37/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
The only information that can be changed at the PC level is the number of channels. There is no processing that I'm aware of until it reaches the DAC.
I had an issue one time with the wrong sound driver in the card and was only getting two channels instead of eight. So DTS was not working at all.
 

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!
Supporter
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
Messages
9,211 (2.53/day)
Location
Washington, USA
System Name Veral
Processor 5950x
Motherboard MSI MEG x570 Ace
Cooling Corsair H150i Elite
Memory 4x16GB G.Skill TridentZ
Video Card(s) Powercolor 7900XTX Red Devil
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 1TB, Samsung 980 1TB, Teamgroup MP34 4TB
Display(s) Acer Nitro XZ342CK Pbmiiphx + 2x AOC 2425W
Case Fractal Design Meshify Lite 2
Audio Device(s) Blue Yeti + SteelSeries Arctis 5 / Samsung HW-T550
Power Supply Corsair HX850
Mouse Corsair Nightsword
Keyboard Corsair K55
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Professional
Benchmark Scores PEBCAK
asus xonar essence ST, STX or ZXR + premuim headphones
for clearest sound quality
Ran that, sounded worse than my onboard audio from my motherboard.

@OP can you fill out your specs so we can see what kind of hardware we're dealing with?
 

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Messages
12,944 (2.62/day)
Location
Loveland, CO
System Name Ryzen Reflection
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling 2x EK PE360 | TechN AM4 AMD Block Black | EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G | 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage WD SN850 500GB (OS) | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s) Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS | Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS | Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case Lian Li PC-011D XL | Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s) FiiO K7 | Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
asus xonar essence ST, STX or ZXR + premuim headphones
for clearest sound quality

The key with high end headphones is the amperage being fed to them. I don't know what type of amp is in those sound cards, but an external amp is usually the best way to go like a FiiO.
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,255 (4.66/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X12 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei RAW
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
Sound cards are, or at least, were, able to offload the sound processing from the CPU over to the sound card. In the case of SPDIF, or HDMI, where the digital signal is passed along to an external receiver, there shouldn't be any sound processing on the computer at all (barring any effects that may be present on the computer, like CMSS, crystalizer, etc), right?
There is sound processing in the computer, yes. For example, if you enable "All Speakers," the CPU is applying the effect before sending the PCM wave signal.

What if you're passing along Dolby/DTS audio to the receiver? Does the computer decode that, or is it done on the receiver?
The computer encodes it and the receiver decodes it. The above still applies.


Remember that PCM is audio in its rawest digital format. It doesn't contain any header information telling the DAC to do this or that. All the DAC does is convert the sound (represented as bits) into an actual wave (driving speakers). Sound cards usually have an APU (Audio Processor Unit) in addition to the DAC.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,673 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches
Software Windows 11 Enterprise (legit), Gentoo Linux x64
Kinda on topic:

Today, I noticed a background buzz sound in game menus. Started in Elite Dangerous, and once I heard it, I couldn't tune it out, and began to hear it everywhere when using 3d clocks. Turns out my supposedly "electrically isolated" sound section of my fancy gigabyte mobo is picking up on when my GPU throttles up, in particular on high FPS menu scenes that aren't vsynced. I don't have a DAC lying around, but there is one built into my viewsonic monitor. It sounds loads better dumping the HDMI bitstream to that and letting it process it.

I'm seriously questioning why onboard sound is a thing at all, as I supposedly have one of the best isolated ones available on a z170 mobo in reviews.

2 questions, semi on topic:

1.) Is what I am experiencing with my gigabyte mobo "normal?"

2.) What would I gain by using a DAC that costs a little more than the probably 5 buck on in my monitor? Keep in mind I am no audiophile, and use a $50 set of headphones (well reviewed, but still).
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,255 (4.66/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X12 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei RAW
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
Onboard sound is more than enough in 95% of cases. I have my Klipsch 5.1s plugged into the Realtek onboard in my system and it handily beats the HT|OMEGA Striker 7.1 I had (it had similar problems to what you described).

Obvious noise in onboard audio is not "normal."

USB DAC? Not much other than isolation. The big gains come from an amp and analog volume control. Do you need a really fancy amp? Not unless a) you need a lot of volume or b) your speakers/headphones are difficult to drive.

For headphones, your average in computer DAC is good enough.
 
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
7,096 (1.46/day)
Location
Rīga, Latvia
System Name HELLSTAR
Processor AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling 2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory 4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX + under waterblock.
Storage Optane 900P[W11] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO[FEDORA]
Display(s) Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software FEDORA 39 / Windows 11 insider
The key with high end headphones is the amperage being fed to them. I don't know what type of amp is in those sound cards, but an external amp is usually the best way to go like a FiiO.

Not only the amperage lol. It is like you only need gasoline to drive... without a car. Don't recommend such vague things that you actually don't know.

Note. High Independence - like my Beyerdynamic DT-150 needs higher voltage thus drive the set with lower distortion. And lower ones needs specially low output Z thus thus gain the same lower distortion. There is always balancing and trade-offs.

Each device is constructed for their own task. Some internal sound cards and DAC have dedicated headphone amplifier section, some just rely on venerable POS 4556, some just don't have such thing at all like me Ti HD, I don't need it. I use Tube OTL amp for headphones if I really wan't something tasty.

HDMI vs Toslink vs USB.

Depends on... drivers... each of them has some funny things connected to sync, jitter and interrupts. Okay, you may think it is digital... but that doesn't exclude crackles, pop ups and driver stupid on forced re-sampling etc things, that suddenly starts living on your own. HDMI now seems to be most stable, but those are only for AV devices, and the royalties pay... no no. But the latter two tend to make funny things on some funny hardware/software setups. USB suffers when you use many devices and if you have some nasty device and it suddenly chokes up, like external HDD spinning up, DPC latency spikes so much and it gives a pop in speakers. It only may occur once a week... but I despise it. I had some(like 3-4) poor motherboards, that despite the isolation, it caused noise, you could hear mouse moving, it could be anything, resonation in inductors, piezoelectrics in some caps, interference, bad power supply on mobo etc. TOSLINK is stable on creative cards, had some issues on Realtek, like pop ups during boot, sync loss, issues setting right bitrate mode, Xonar's had some trouble in switching sample rates, C-Media horrid drivers. And yes, only for stereo. But... it offers great lengths for placing up stuff thou... It is a valuable argument vs USB in your case especially.

Most of peps lately just take some SB-Z (due to Surround, DTS etc features that some like) and via toslink to external DAC. So they get the best of both worlds.

Personally I? I still stick to fully analog setup... Robust as hell, zero issues, each part is handpicked and checked in my route from A to Z. And that is why I am still sitting on my old card... there aren't really better DAC's in the wild that I like sound wise... PCM1794A is still my favorite and it is old as shaite... The audio industry is kind of on ice producing rubbish crap(like Beats) instead of really making affordable the custom DAC's and DSP's.

On hardware assisted audio, that is dead only on PC and thank Microsoft to that.

Meanwhile... we don't see real audio processors anymore in the PC area. Some say the CPU is enough... yes it is for general usage kitten videos, but that doesn't solve the latency issues using some audio tasks, like even simple crossover... in heavy multitasking scenarios, like gaming even. There are no info how really the CPU chews the audio data(in how many cycles). There are audio DSP CPU's like SHARC, TI DA series seen in very pricey AV systems... and... Qualcomm Hexagon as a prime example as one the most evolving things lately in my books... due to nature of mobile industry... Yes CPU is enough, but a general purpose CPU will never as good a specialized one. The Snapdragons start to evolve so that they have one, and it is really nice design wise. It is thought out from the start, that audio tasks for human being will be always processed and thus requiring attention in processing, due to possible power savings and efficiency increase to load off main cores, as they are tweaked to do many things in one CPU cycle and less time a win win situation.

Conclusion.

For HTPC... use only HDMI, or get a any Creative/Asus card that has DTS etc processing license. Many people use it, as their AV device also is capable of understanding it, and most integrated audio chips without hacks don't work with that.

Headphones? Music? Use a special external device. Coupled and picked up basing on the specs of each other. USB preferred lately...

Headphones? Gaming? Use a sound card via SPDIF to external device, or pick up a sound card with a decent headphone amplifier... you can stick up many effects etc things that the cards offer, and some find them useful.

Kitten videos - don't care... even a AM transmitter is fine.
 
Last edited:

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,255 (4.66/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X12 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei RAW
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
I'd amend gaming (>stereo):
if cheap, just use onboard
if expensive, use HDMI to receiver

I can't recommend sound cards anymore.

Personally, I prefer stereo headphones for gaming. They tell you what you need to know.
 
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
7,096 (1.46/day)
Location
Rīga, Latvia
System Name HELLSTAR
Processor AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling 2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory 4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX + under waterblock.
Storage Optane 900P[W11] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO[FEDORA]
Display(s) Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software FEDORA 39 / Windows 11 insider
I can't recommend sound cards anymore.

Personally, I prefer stereo headphones for gaming. They tell you what you need to know.

Yea agree on the first one. If you still have one, use it... albeit on ebay... creative titaniums can be fetched for 15-20$... I ain't a bad deal... their win10 drivers are okay now too.

About gaming on headphones... How you can do it for longer time like few hours... the sweat, I get neck pain also, as you have to hold them on for long... For music you just lie comfy in chair holding your head against it... But in gaming you tend to take such stressed poses sometimes :D. Well... usually you are killing someone... no wonders the beast awakens.
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,255 (4.66/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X12 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei RAW
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
I only take mine off when I leave the computer and I generally only leave the computer for three reasons: food, restroom, drink. I often I don't even realize I have them on. I even habitually put them on when I sit down even if my speakers are going.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,673 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches
Software Windows 11 Enterprise (legit), Gentoo Linux x64
Obvious noise in onboard audio is not "normal."

It's not really "obvious" but it's hardly ignorable once you hear it at the same time.

Hmmm... Now I have to debate if a little hiss in my onboard audio is worth an RMA to gigabyte.. Thanks... I guess. :p
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
7,096 (1.46/day)
Location
Rīga, Latvia
System Name HELLSTAR
Processor AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling 2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory 4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX + under waterblock.
Storage Optane 900P[W11] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO[FEDORA]
Display(s) Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software FEDORA 39 / Windows 11 insider
It's not really "obvious" but it's hardly ignorable once you hear it at the same time.

Hmmm... Now I have to debate if a little hiss in my onboard audio is worth an RMA to gigabyte.. Thanks... I guess. :p

I bet the hiss is either unmuted MIC input. Or poor cables, inproper cable wiring (ground shield only from one side). Very high gain second pre-amplifier stage.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,673 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches
Software Windows 11 Enterprise (legit), Gentoo Linux x64
I bet the hiss is either unmuted MIC input. Or poor cables, inproper cable wiring (ground shield only from one side). Very high gain second pre-amplifier stage.

Not unfiltered mic input, as that would still apply when switching to my monitors DAC.

It could be the others I guess. But I mean, I'm hooking into the back panel of my mobo, not sure how much more direct it gets. Plus it only happens when my GPU reaches 3d clocks.
 
Top