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Poll

Asus Xonar D2/PM: For stereo music of CD quality (16bit/44.1 kHz) output, which of below gives best output?

Optical PCM
[ 1 ] (100%)
Optical Dolby Digital Live
[ 0 ] (0%)
Optical DTS interactive
[ 0 ] (0%)
Analogue sampling of 16bit/44.1 kHz
[ 0 ] (0%)
Analogue sampling of 24bit/192 kHz
[ 0 ] (0%)

Total Members Voted: 1

Topic: Asus Xonar D2/PM stereo optical vs. RCA (Read 2102 times) previous topic - next topic
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Asus Xonar D2/PM stereo optical vs. RCA

Hey hello,
I'm wondering which connection should I use for output from Xonar D2/PM - optical or phone jack connector? THe soundcard's got pretty good analog output characteristics. Two months before I've bought Logitech Z625 2.1 set, which allows both inputs. I can't hear much of a difference between FLAC file from personally ripped CDs put via both media. The question remains nevertheless: which one is better?

Re: Asus Xonar D2/PM stereo optical vs. RCA

Reply #1 –
Doesn't really matter, use whatever you like.  Although if you got hum or buzzing (ground loop) using only an optical connection will fix that.
 

Re: Asus Xonar D2/PM stereo optical vs. RCA

Reply #2 –
If the Logitech has a good DAC, then optical is in theory better because there's no loss of signal between the card's DAC and the speakers.

In practice, there should be no audible difference, unless you have a really poor or damaged analog cable, or the sound card suffers from things like interference or crosstalk.

So I'd do some research on what kind of DAC the Logitech uses. If it's just as good or better than that of the Xonar, then I'd use optical. Note that with optical, you don't actually even need the Xonar anymore (unless you need it for things like ASIO or headphone output.) The sound coming out of the optical port is the same as if you'd use the mainboard's optical output (if it has one, of course.)