Hi all -

Am about to receive my new Outlaw 990. My question is: should I use my PC sound card (M-Audio Audiophile 2496) digital out, analog out, or just connect my PC via USB to the 990? PC is ONLY used for hosting my WAV, FLAC and MP3 files (all my CDs have been stored on my PC/I use foobar2000 as freeware player), so DVD/HD issues are moot ...

Read: I would appreciate discussion of 2496's DA converter vs. that of 990 for purely 2-channel use ...

Thanks in advance for opinions/advice -

- Ian

I don't know anything about your M-Audio card, so there's not a lot I can offer about how it's DAC would compare to the 990. The USB connection (which would bypass the sound card entirely) supports PCM stereo only, but with WAV, FLAC, and MP3 sources that would work fine. How far away is the computer from the 990? That might be a significant factor: USB has a limit on supported cable length and long analog cables offer an opportunity for interference if run near other wiring, but optical digital audio cables would have no problem with long cable runs.

In that situation I'd probably run a digital output (coax S/PDIF) from the 2496 to the 990. The card may have a nice D>A converter, but it's on the PCI card in a PC... a very noisy environment that results in an analog signal that's never all that great.

USB would work too, though as gonk said, you'll be limited to PCM stereo only, and I thought 16-bit only as well. gonk - can you confirm or correct that? If you have FLAC24 files (24-bit) you'll want to play them in all their 24-bit glory, and the S/PDIF connection will do that just fine. Plus, the 990's D>A converter is nothing to sneeze at.

- Jason

Ian,

I have the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 Sound card connected via a 35ft Accell Cables Digital Coax. I am using my Old DAC from 1992. which has an advance clock from those early days.

I took the cable off of the 1070 so I can use my tube Preamp. I have done research about SPDIF vs. USB and for my situation, I must use SPDIF. I did visit somone who what hook up his Mac laptop via USB to the new Bel Canto 3 DAC/Pre ($2500)and the sound was great.

Is theory, the USB was designed for data while the SPDIF was for Audio. USB over a short run going into a DAC that has a lot of attention to re-clock the signal (Bel Canto, Benchmark Dac1) has one thing over SPDIF. The USB is native to the OS while the sound card using drivers. The drivers add one more layer.

All things being equal, I am told be an enginner that they both will work equal.

IMHO, should you use an external DAC that is high end in it's design (see above) you will get better SQ that the 990. I may trade in my old DAC for a more current unit that has 24bit Dacs. I will use any DAC only for my PC sound. I like what I read about the Benchmark and is it made by a company that does Pro Audio.

Keep in touch and let me know what you do.

Liz

Hi all -

Thanks for your input ...

Computer is within audio cabinet - cables only need to be 3 feet long ...

Another option is to use the motherboard's audio - I have S/PDIF in and out, either optical or coaxial, available via motherboard connector to rear panel via an optional cable I picked up from manufacturer. Mobo is Gigabyte K8N51PVM9-RH, audio chipset is Realtek ALC880 CODEC.

The motherboard manual indicates that the Realtek chipset can support audio at up to 192 kHz/24-bit, however the S/PDIF menu/selections only show 44.1, 48 & 96 kHz as options for the I/O. I haven't read up on the Realtek chipset ... I'll do some web searching ...

Maybe I can use the motherboard S/PDIF? What do you all think?

Thanks again -

- Ian

Comparing one S/PDIF vs another... both will probably work fine and sound great. Chances are the MAudio will not resample the data, while the on-board may resample everything, even if the sample rate doesn't change. They've improved things over the years, but most of the on-board and cheap-o consumer grade cards don't care about passing the exact same bits out, so long as the bits coming out seem to work. So if you've got the MAudio, I'd use it. For an affordable card, it's got a pretty good reputation.

- Jason

Use the M-Audio.

Hi all -

OK, will use the M-Audio for S/PDIF in and out, via its coax connections ...

Thank you again for the input!

- Ian

Ian,

What lenght cable will use be using? Let me know so I can recommend one. Digital cables are really more important than analog ones!

Hi Lizard King -

I've been using Blue Jeans Cables in my newest AV setup ... and using digital coax whenever possible. For the 990, that means Oppo DV981-HD and M-Audio get dibs on its coax ins (and the M-Audio will also get its coax out) ... DirecTV HR20-100S will have to resign itself to optical. BJC uses Belden 1694A with Canare RCAP's for coax ... my 'last generation' digital setup used Canare LV-61S cable stock and the same RCAP's, and I don't perceive any difference in sonic character ... BJC (thus I) uses Mitsubishi Eska POF for TOSlink. All cables are as short as possible without tension/sharp bends. 990 to Oppo and DirecTV are 1.5 feet; PC/M-Audio are 3 feet.

One of these days I'll take pics of my system and outline my components for all to see ...

Thanks -

- Ian