what will make a bigger difference?

[Riddleofsteel]

I use Realtek HD 888 motherboard audio. If I want to notice the most improvement in music quality, would I be better off getting a nice dac/amp combo or a dedicated PCI sound card like the Xonar? I think I'd be set with the dac/amp but I want to be positive. Thanks.

 

[Nenu]

External DAC, choose wisely.

 

[JulioY]

Why? I have the X-fi Extreme Music and was wondering the same thing.

 

[Nenu]

Because they (2 channel audio DACs) are dedicated to one task, making stereo sound as good as possible for the price.

 

[Riddleofsteel]

Someone told me that if I use a dac it will interfere with EAX, is this true? Also, does optical connection provide error correction or not? Thanks again.

 

[JulioY]

Does anyone know which DAC the X-Fi Extreme Music use? Thanks.