Question about what output to use on my soundcard (Essence STX)

[kissenger]

I've been playing audio from my PC either through a pair of headphones, through the dedicated headphone out on my STX, or through my standalone amp/speakers, by way of my GPU's HDMI output.

I want to bypass my GPU and output to both sources from my STX but I'm not sure how to connect my amp to my STX, and I know you can cause some damage if you connect it to the wrong output. So what should I be connecting it to?

Easiest way would seemingly be the L/R outs, but the manual specifically states they have a built-in amp "to drive headphones". But that could just be a typo. I would use SPDIF to be safe but my amp is fairly minimal and doesn't have SPDIF.

 

[kissenger]

Thanks mate. That works nicely.

 

[kissenger]

No, it actually doesn't have HDMI. The way I had it set up was the HDMI was going into my monitor, which has a headphone out, and that was connected to my amp. Bit crap, I know, but that was how I had to have it with my old sound card unless I wanted to plug/unplug things every time I wanted to go from headphones to speakers.