Onboard vs Xonar DG for SPDIF Optical

synixx

synixx

synixx

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So I currently have an external spdif (optical) DAC which sounds great as it is, but i'm wondering if getting a cheap soundcard like the xonar DG would improve sound quality over SPDIF? I understand that it is all digital, however I have heard that the timing regulation carried out by the onboard clock can be a bit sloppy, and sound quality can be improved if the optical output is controlled by a superior clock. Has anybody done comparisons of these two sound cards over optical?
 
no

spdif is a raw digital signal to your DAC adding another piece of hardware won't improve the signal.
 
It's a whole load of nonsense used by audiophiles so they can justify spending ever increasing amounts of money in order to try and reduce 'jitter'.

If you're using optical, it either works, or it doesn't. :)
 
No quality difference. The only difference would be that having a discrete card offloads sound processing from the CPU. Sometimes you can get sound pausing/cutting out if the CPU is being heavily utilised but that only happens in extreme cases and 99% of the time will be fine.
 
Cheers guys, nice to get it cleared up so I can just enjoy my new DAC without worrying if it could sound better!
 
Correct me if im wrong but the only difference would be for gaming? the xonar could mix the virtual surround and then send it to the dac?
 
That's correct. If the OP does want to make use of Dolby Headphone for example, then buying a DGX would be worth while.

It's only when listening to music that buying a sound card won't bring any improvement over using SPDIF from a motherboard.
 
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