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Usb or Optical

Have a custom built computer has latest greatest Realtek Audio 1220 vb or whatever its called.  I have a Little Dot Mark ii tube amp and i just bought a SMSL D300 dac.  Should i go optical from computer to desktop dac ? or usb from computer to usb on back of destop dac ?????  im not trying to get dsd or any crazy hi res 24/192 is fine.  Whats going to give me the best sound ?

 

thanks for all input is welcome.

128x128audiomike33
sns
3,209 posts
 

That SMSL is rare streamer/dac with optical input, so optical solution really inexpensive for you. Whether usb or optical superior will have to be determined by you.

audiomike33's avatar
audiomike33 OP
117 posts
 

Thank you for your reply I'm going to try optical and USB and actually see if there is any difference.

edcyn
1,876 posts
 

When I had a DAC with an optical input, I found that it got me slightly better sound than USB when I connected it to the only other optical-equipped component in my system, a Sony CD player..

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,598 posts
 

USB (though iFI Silencer and ViaBlue) sounds much better on mine. I think.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I would invest in a JCAT USB card ($495), though it’s probably more than you want to spend. Alternative, the Matrix Element H USB card ($329) or the SOTM tX-USBexp USB 3.0 card ($350) might be options. That being said, it’s hard to say whether the motherboard USB output would be better or worse than the motherboard optical output. You would just have to test to see.

If you are using an AMD processor, then look into a Pink Faun S/PDIF card ($360). That will likely be better than a USB card, since you are not looking for DSD.

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