Coax or Optical from PC to DAC? Will it Bypass computer sound card?

[admin_exported]

Thankyou for all your previous answers. This in turn has produced a few more questions. Just to recap I have a new HP PC, my music is stored on the hard drive uncompressed (itunes). I have Monitor Audio BR5 floorstanders and I am about to buy a a DacMagic and a £400 5 star AMP. So my questions are these please.

1) Do I use Coax or Optical from my PC to my DACMAGIC.

2) If Coax where do they fit in, and what quality cables do you recommend?

3) Will the Optical or Coax bypass my computers sound card when connected to Dac
agic?

 

[Andrew Everard]

1) Whichever output your computer has. They tend to be optical, either on a standard TOSlink socket or a miniTOSlink, as part of the headphone socket.

2) If there's no obvious electrical/coaxial digital output, then stick to optical. And without getting into the cables or digits is digits debates again, I'd just buy a well-made optical cable for about £20 or so.

3) Well, yes and no. You'll bypass the soundcard's digital-to-analogue conversion, but you'll still be using it as a means of digital output.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your answer. Last couple of questions please.

1) How much bearing will my computers sound card make on the final quality of uncompressed music coming through my speakers via optical(chord company) DacMagic, Pioneer A A6 AMP, M/Audio BR5's?

2) I hear a lot of people are swapping the CD players for DacMagic e.t.c How good really is the above set up (Price wise) when compared to a Dedicated CD player, AMP and good speakers? is it £500, £1000 or beyond?

 

[Gusboll]

Re question 2) - there is a 14 page debate about that! - http://whathifi.com/forums/t/224750.aspx

 

[Anonymous]

If you use iTunes or Rogue Amoeba's airfoil to send any audio to an Aiport Express, you have an digital output that avoids the issues with XP and you can leave the computer in another room. Apple's iPod Touch will act as a remote control for VLC and iTunes too.

Ash