Audio Interface or not for Monitors with USB input

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celwin

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 18, 2006
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Say the studio monitor speakers have a USB input. Would the sound from PC -> Audio Interface -> Monitors sound better than PC -> Monitor speakers via the USB input?
 
celwin said:
Say the studio monitor speakers have a USB input. Would the sound from PC -> Audio Interface -> Monitors sound better than PC -> Monitor speakers via the USB input?
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You would need something to provide the signal to the USB. The monitor either contains an embedded media player or it's capable of receiving I2C or similar analog to digital converter feed. Your PC does not provide that off the shelf.

In principal, the less DA/AD conversions is done in the signal chain, the better.
 
Nothing will ever improve the quality of the sound, the best you can hope for is minimal degradation of it. But as said, the more times it converts, the more is lost along the way.

The shorter the distance the analog signal travels the better IMO, so if your monitors have a good dac and amp in them, I would just have them as your audio device.
 
Thanks for the responses. I bypassed my audio interface and went direct to monitors today. First thing I noticed is how much louder it is. I had volume on monitor to max through the interface. I now have it half way and still had to lower volume in windows for comfortable level of listening. And most importantly that annoying humming sound I had for months and could never eliminate is completely gone. I had completely forgotten the monitors accepted a direct USB connection until I was doing some cleaning a few days ago.
 
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