Sound Card with External DAC

yes, CDROMs transfer data. If you don't do D-A conversion till the audio data gets out of the computer, then nothing is lost along the way. A bit is a bit. We are in digital world here. Until the digital data is converted to analog signal, then nothing is lost. Some error checking is performed when the CDRom is reading data, either by the operating system, or the IDE controller, or the CDROm itself.

Who uses CDROM's built-in DAC these days? Windows XP reads audio data in digital by default.

yes the computer transfers and works with data. Digital audio is one form of data. Data integrity is very important in computer design. It is an insult to a computer engineer to say that the computer does not maintain data integrity.

Once you got the data out of the computer, then it is pretty much up to the DAC to give you an interpretation of the digital data.

Boogie, maybe you should take it over to the "cables" forum and explain to all the nice Audiphiles that their ears are all wrong.

They, for some reason, think that digital cables sound different. 1s are 1s and 0s are 0s, data is data, by your own admission.

And thats just the cable issue you didnt address the "transport" at all. I guess all those audiophiles who think they make a difference must be wrong as well.

"It is an insult to a computer engineer to say that the computer does not maintain data integrity." Who said that. Let me read my post again. Umm nope.

Well since we are drawing conclusions....

It is an insult to an Audiophile to conclude that all his hard earned money and time are misguided on useless CD transports and high dollar Digital cables.

I guess dejittering is a waste of time/money as well?

Jposs, I said "should" sound better. Definately not absolutely will. Should isnt absolute by any stretch of the imagination.

While trying to not delve into semantics, I had a problem with "any", not "should". But I dont think its necessary to argue with you, because I dont think we disagree.

You're right. It is an insult to an audiophile to conclude that all his hard earned money and time are misguided on useless CD transports and high dollar digital cables.

My point is, CD-audio data is read correctly in digital by CDROM drives, and nothing is loss until it is manipulated or converted to analog. Whatever is stored on disk is read "as is" by the stupid CDROM drive. Hehe, you want pure signal path, the digital signal path is as pure as you can get. :) Data integrity is always the case in the computer. If it is not the case, imagine corrupted files and data happening all the time as you're working with a computer. Since corrupted files and data happen like once in a blue moon on a healthy computer, then you can be sure that data that contains audio information is kept in its full integrity as well.

Well, we're not talking about error-correction stuffs when reading the CD by the CDROM, but the same error-correction is used for other types of data (i.e. spreadsheet, documents) as well.

At the end of the pure digital path, you got a DAC. This is where the action is. Some DAC do tricks like upsampling and others do tricks like dithering. As long as the CD audio data is concerned, it remains pure until this stage.

Dejittering? for what? a bit, is a bit.

Jposs, I figured we were on the same page, I just wanted anyone reading our stuff to garner good usable information. That, and the snobbery thing sorta lit a fire under my butt, but its all in good fun, without tort and retort life would be too boring. =)

Boogie, I think we are from different schools on this issue. Some, feel data is data, others, such as myself, believe there is something more, shall I say, ethereal.

I will acknowledge that it stands to reason that the data should be just that, data, but too many times a simple change, such as a transport drive or digital cable change, made a difference in the sound. Sometimes a very large difference.

I feel that by default musics 3 demensionality is more than simple data, it conveys both Time and Space.

I would like to be clear that, simply because I said most computers and their CD-ROM drives probably arent the best medium for garnering musical data, doesnt mean that they(computers) somehow dont have data integrity. They are marvelous machines, in fact after audio gear, they are my second hobby, and probably command more of my time than the audio stuff. I have and maintain several. I do not questions the computers data integrity. As a matter of fact they are designed for just that. However, data integrity, while critical, is not synonimous with high quality audio, IMO.

I think I am going to start a thread, in the digital forum, to gather some opinions on this matter. I think it will be enlightening and fun.