Analog or DAC?

fn9

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 9, 2011
Messages
101
I have a z68 itx MB with a Realtek ALC892 audio chipset.

I'm currently running my 2 channel amp via a 3.5mm to rca cable, and I'm wondering if I could gain any quality by instead using a DAC such as the FiiO D3.
 
Depends on the speakers how much you will notice the difference, but yes you should definitely get better quality compared to on-board
 
onboard is going to be worse than just about any dedicated solution, even just a soundcard. How much worse? Depends on how picky the listener is. If you think you're interested in improvement, though, then you'd probably appreciate the difference if you got some cool DAC.
 
Thanks, I assumed as much but good to have it confirmed. Speakers are Polk Monitor 30s.
 
I have a z68 itx MB with a Realtek ALC892 audio chipset.

I'm currently running my 2 channel amp via a 3.5mm to rca cable, and I'm wondering if I could gain any quality by instead using a DAC such as the FiiO D3.

You will get better sound with a DAC over onboard. With those monitor 30s it might not be a huge difference
 
With speakers you won't hear a lot of difference going to a DAC. If you ever decide to plug in a headphone, however, it will be quite an improvement. IIRC adorama as a Fiio E10 for $45, not a bad investment as it has a line out for your speakers but also a headphone amp.
 
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