Sound card vs Dax (:

[ginoalexander90]

I know its been asked before, but just in very quick short terms what are the differences does anyone know?




From what i can gather:




Sound cards
1. have more inputs so you can have more sound equipment plugged into them

2. they have software that can tweak your audio more, things like surround sound software for gaming to make it abit more realistic/surround sound like even while wearing headphones





Dac/amp combo

1. take the sound and microphone etc out of the computer, to get a slightly more stable/possibly even more clear good sound since its away from the interference


2. abit easier to use no software that can mess up no drivers just plug in and forget about it







Is that about the most of it guys? If thats the case I will probably buy a dac/amp since the software/surround stuff seems a little gimmicky (as they try and sell surround sound 7.1 headphones which are not real, its just to do with if you have good speakers or not)



thanks for any help!


alex

 

[CountMike]

It goes further than just connectors. All sound produced in a computer is digital and it requires conversion from analog to digital and back to analog to produce sound in analog speakers. Sound cards, discrete or built in MB have CODEC (CoDe-DeCode) chip, something like two way DAC.
Digital sound (data stream) is sent from computer via digital connection to DAC/Amplifier which converts it to analog amplified sound. It could use wired (coax cable) or fiber optic cable (Toslink). and that can eliminate electrical interference with longer cables to amplifier. It may or may not need active speakers.
It may have more of those outputs than sound card so that's not the difference.

 

[ginoalexander90]

hi judge i have to be honest i didnt understand all of that

just in a simple way what would be the benefit of picking a Dac/Amp (like the majority do) over a soundcard?



ive been told to not bother with surround sound software (that comes with sound cards) as its not really perfected yet


would that be the only reason to go a sound card over a Amp/Dax?


thanks for any help anyone

 

[CountMike]

‚A quality DAC/AMP will have better sound than sound cards and probably cheaper than high quality sound card. Lesser chance of electrical interference specially if you connect it using optical fiber (Toslink) between it and a computer. There's large choice of DAC/AMPs so choose one that has adequate (for you) number of outputs.

 

[ginoalexander90]

Gave you best answer judge thank you



i use Beyer DT770 would you maybe be able to reccomend one a Amp/Dac? I would only need one audio in slot for the headphones, and one microphone slot



ive heard the terms Magni, Filo, an one other popular one thrown around that i've forgot an its only like £60 on amazon but everyone seems to love it lol thanks again last question


alex