External Sound Card vs DAC

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 10:25

I've just had to pull my Xonar D2 out my machine as it couldn't take the heat, literally. It was fine for video and music but since going xfire the sound card will cut out after a while during game play and I can only conclude it's due to the very close proximity to the GPU and it is getting too hot.

So, I can either go for an external sound card or as my motherboard has optical out, go for a DAC. Budget less than £100.

Auraomega · 26 Sep 2011 at 12:15

They're one and the same, a sound card is just a fancy name for a DAC

Is it for headphones, speakers, an amplifier or all of the above?

Uriel · 26 Sep 2011 at 12:29

Yeah, but when most people talk about DACs they mean external ones...

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 13:17

Auraomega said:
They're one and the same, a sound card is just a fancy name for a DAC

Is it for headphones, speakers, an amplifier or all of the above?

Maybe I should have worded it a bit better. The sound card would be setup pc > usb > soundcard > optical > amp

Where as the DAC would be set up motherboard optical out > DAC > line out to amp.

Will also be used with headphones.

Marsman · 26 Sep 2011 at 13:24

Do, or did you use Dolby Headphone at all, to get surround sound from your headphones?

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 13:26

Marsman said:
Do, or did you use Dolby Headphone at all, to get surround sound from your headphones?

No, just stereo headphones.

Marsman · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:04

A Topping D2 Headphone amp/DAC, from the famous auction site might be worth considering. £90.

There are quite a few DAC/headphone amps available, FiiO E7 for eg, but a lot are USB only.

If you want a DAC with SPDIF optical input, the choices are considerably less, especially under and up to £100.

I have a Topping myself, albeit, one of their digital stereo amplifiers. It's good quality, and nicely made. Sounds great with my small bookshelf speakers.

iostream · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:10

imb4tman said:
I've just had to pull my Xonar D2 out my machine as it couldn't take the heat, literally. It was fine for video and music but since going xfire the sound card will cut out after a while during game play and I can only conclude it's due to the very close proximity to the GPU and it is getting too hot.

So, I can either go for an external sound card or as my motherboard has optical out, go for a DAC. Budget less than £100.

I have the D2X and was considering crossfire, but may just hold on to that thought

Can I ask where you had your D2? Eg was it in between the two cards? Or perhaps below the second card? Thanks

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:22

Marsman said:
A Topping D2 Headphone amp/DAC, from the famous auction site might be worth considering. £90.

There are quite a few DAC/headphone amps available, FiiO E7 for eg, but a lot are USB only.

If you want a DAC with SPDIF optical input, the choices are considerably less, especially under and up to £100.

I have a Topping myself, albeit, one of their digital stereo amplifiers. It's good quality, and nicely made. Sounds great with my small bookshelf speakers.

I'll check the Topping range out, thanks.

iostream said:
I have the D2X and was considering crossfire, but may just hold on to that thought

Can I ask where you had your D2? Eg was it in between the two cards? Or perhaps below the second card? Thanks

It was directly below the second card. I haven't ruled out that it is just a failing card yet though. I will be trying it in another machine soon. But heat is the only reason I can think of, as it works fine for hours on end for music and video and only cuts out after about 30 minutes of gaming.

iostream · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:45

I take it you have adequate cooling in your case? What case do you have out of curiosity?

I would have thought that below the second card was the coolest place as well

And I take it you mean it's only audio that cuts out when you game?

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 15:09

It's a midi Lian Li case and has pretty good air flow. But there was no gap between the GPU and the sound card, meaning the hot air was exhausted straight into the sound card.

And yes, the it's only the audio that cuts out during game play.

PhoenixSP · 26 Sep 2011 at 15:32

could it be the gpu's are taking to much power away from the pci rails causing the soundcard to cut out ?

what psu do you have ?

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 15:42

PhoenixSP said:
could it be the gpu's are taking to much power away from the pci rails causing the soundcard to cut out ?

what psu do you have ?

That is a very good question. I'm using a 700w OCZ mod which is about the minimum for 6870cf. Might be that I need to look at a better PSU.

iostream · 26 Sep 2011 at 15:48

imb4tman said:
That is a very good question. I'm using a 700w OCZ mod which is about the minimum for 6870cf. Might be that I need to look at a better PSU.

I would have thought that the Xonar has fairly wide range of temperatures it can operate in, so the PSU is a good shout actually. Can you try removing your 6870 that is not near the soundcard (so that you can still test your heat theory) if that makes sense?

imb4tman · 26 Sep 2011 at 16:01

iostream said:
I would have thought that the Xonar has fairly wide range of temperatures it can operate in, so the PSU is a good shout actually. Can you try removing your 6870 that is not near the soundcard (so that you can still test your heat theory) if that makes sense?

I will do this before chucking the card or spending out on any new equipment.

iostream · 26 Sep 2011 at 16:18

imb4tman said:
I will do this before chucking the card or spending out on any new equipment.

Sounds good (no pun intended). Do let us know how it goes..