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X-Fi Titanium HD digital output

D

DeadByDawn

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
477
Hello all,
Is the rca digital out on this card the same as typical digital coax cable?
In other words would i be able to hook this up directly to my desktop DAC via a digital coax?

Here is the back of my desktop amp:
0000012511_4355.jpg


Thanks in advance
 
yes, the titanium x-fi hd supports digital output through both digital coaxial or toslink fiber-optic connections. The stereo RCA output jacks double as digital in/out connectors.
 
Are you getting this card or do you already have it?

If you are connecting digitally, why not just keep your existing card?
 
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450 said:
Are you getting this card or do you already have it?

If you are connecting digitally, why not just keep your existing card?
Click to expand...

I have the x-fi fatality Champion, but its been having some issues in the Bad Company 2 game where the sound goes distored. (at least i think its the card).
Additionaly i am always looking for a way to upgrade my sound.
I do however like to go with my Klipsch 5.1 pc speakers setup from time to time. I am going to need to see if i can have both cards if i get a the HD one.

Procyon12,
I have not really considered USB. I figured i would get the best quality possible using the toslink to my Headroom amp. I figured that if i used the usb, it would not leverage the high quality DAC i have in my Headroom amp. So i am interested now and have a few questions for you:
1. If i use the USB connection, how does the PC know to output sound through it?
2. What is the role of my sound card if i use USB? Do i need to disable it first? What will is see in Control Panel?
3. Is there such thing as audiophile grade usb cables?


Thanks in advance
 
DeadByDawn said:
Procyon12,
I have not really considered USB. I figured i would get the best quality possible using the toslink to my Headroom amp. I figured that if i used the usb, it would not leverage the high quality DAC i have in my Headroom amp. So i am interested now and have a few questions for you:
1. If i use the USB connection, how does the PC know to output sound through it?
2. What is the role of my sound card if i use USB? Do i need to disable it first? What will is see in Control Panel?
3. Is there such thing as audiophile grade usb cables?


Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

1. two things about USB:
a) you can completely avoid the coxial/spidf stage. thats one less conversion, one less step, one less piece of circuitry between the source and your ears.
b) when you use a spidf bridge, you remove the spidf circuitry from the internals of your computer where it is subject to pollution of the power and clocking varriances of your components in the PC.

Technically speaking, USB direct will provide the best sound.
practically speaking: the best solution seem to be usb to spidf bridges because the best DACs around dont seem to have good USB bridges or sometimes USB is absent completley, and the best USB bridges dont have any DAC and require an external one.

for your application: it depends on the DAC you have. some DACs dont have very good USB circuitry, while some others have excellent USB circuitry. for example, the Arcam rDAC i would use USB. where as say a Rega DAC, i would use the V-link that i linked, into coxial plug, because the USB circuitry in the Rega just isnt very good while it is an excellent DAC. i dont know your DACs usb peformance. i would look into the specs of your DAC. if it offers asynchronous usb connection, and all the bit rates and resolution you require, i would definetly try that out.

2. The usb bridge BECOMES your sound card. when you open sound options in the control panel, you should see all your sound output options listed. select the USB source as the default source and thats all you have to do. you can actually even continue to use a traditional sound card for all your sounds, but then set up your music application to use the USB bridge.

3. no, not really. the main thing is just a good quality cord that can deliver the power without any drops, even for a microsecond. people have had success with Belkin Pro USB gold plated, but i suspect something like this would be adequate. if you dont have any cuts in your sound, you should be good to go. this is not for audio quality purposes, but for power stability. some of these devices draw alot of power out of the USB, and will cut sound if the power delivery drops below a certain threshhold
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030301&p_id=5438&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030302&p_id=5448&seq=1&format=2
 
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