This is not necessarily a 970 question, but I'm asking for help from the experts here. I have noticed a big difference in audio quality between two sources and I'd like advice.
I'm running a 970 into an Acurus A150 to Vandersteen 2Ces (no sub). Most of my music is stored in WMA lossless on a NAS. The computer inputs digital optical to the 970. I also have a cheap philips dvd player using coaxial to the 970. The sound from the computer sounds very thin compared to the dvd player. The dvd player seems to have more bass, it's just a world of difference. I would like to continue using the computer, the convenience of selecting an eclectic playlist and letting it go is hard to give up. Are there any suggestions for improving sound from the computer? Could the coax be that much better? Would a sound card replacement make a difference? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Additional info, my computer has both coax and optical out. Tried both and there was little difference between them. Appears to be a hardware issue, either moving bits to the 970 or with my rips. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

It's most likely a sound card issue, if I had to guess. The interface itself shouldn't make any appreciable difference.

Had the same problem until I put a Behringer U-Control 202 (i think thats the model no)between the laptop and 970. it has USB to optical. It brought the sound quality up to what I get from the DVD. At only 30 bucks I had to try it and I am pleased. There is a Behringer USB audio driver that can be downloaded or you can use the standard USB audio codec driver. The behringer driver seems to have a bit of a filter to it and I normally just use the standard driver. It is hard for my to tell the difference anyway. Theis Behringer box actually bypasses the sound card so that is good. Also MS Media Player version 11 beta is pretty cool.
The volume settings will effect the sound too. I put "wave" up to max in the speaker properties and on the media player, i put the volume at 50%.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into the Behringer.

I have had better performance in the past from the computer. You know how difficult it is to discern a slow degradation. My computer power supply was last replaced over four years ago, I'm thinking that my caps are going and my 5 and 12 volt rails are noisy. I will first pursue a computer power supply replacement.

I have been reading much about jitter. I was concerned earlier about the quality of my rips (wma lossless), but the more I read the more I think that jitter only applies to the signal being converted to analog. The data I rip from the disk to my hard drive should retain its fidelity. Therefore I will focus my efforts on the playback. The outside converter box is an option, but what would the effect of routing the computer digital output through a master clock sound like? I've read several clock reviews that report the result of a master clock to be subtle but evident. However, all reviews are clocking digital signals produced from high end audio equipment, which should produce a quality signal already. Do you think a clock addition would bring my computers output up to hi-fi specs? And furthermore, will the 997 have a clock input?

Again, thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm on track to get my rig back to sounding right and possibly even upgrading it.