Which one's the best solution (DAC)?

[blankwire]

Right now, I'm using an analog connection (3.5mm to RCA) connected to my receiver (an Onkyo TX-SR503), then to my speakers / headphones (in signature).

Would I be better off getting a S/PDIF cable and substituting that for my analog connection (cheapest solution) or getting a dedicated sound card (essentially doing the conversion twice, how it's done now? ). I'm not sure how good the receiver is with audio quality.

 

[schapman]

Are you just using the 1 cable for analog sound for stereo?

If so, I'd bet the DAC in the receiver is better than an onboard one so I'd go with the spdif->receiver for a cheap solution.

 

[blankwire]

Are you just using the 1 cable for analog sound for stereo?

If so, I'd bet the DAC in the receiver is better than an onboard one so I'd go with the spdif->receiver for a cheap solution.

Yes I am. Thanks for confirming.

 

[blankwire]

Would buying a soundcard and using coaxial or tosslink make a difference in sound quality? It would probably take some strain off the CPU and produce less noise, but upsampling isn't something I want to get into at the moment. I just want to know if it's worth the investment.

 

[flint338]

my sound quality improved greatly when I went through my coax link to my stereo (Kenwood VR-307) instead of just going through the analog ports. It sounds perfect to my ears.

However, this is coming from my motherboard, not an external sound card .. and my mobo's DACs sounded godawful.