mistersprinkles1983 t1_jdoemac wrote on March 25, 2023 at 10:50 PM

"The PC motherboard may limit my options."
Why don't you TELL us if you have optical or coax digital outputs????

Nrrve OP t1_jdofa0o wrote on March 25, 2023 at 10:55 PM

Haven’t settled on the motherboard yet. But you’re definitely correct. It maybe difficult to find ones with anything other than USB.

But assuming you had all the options, what do you recommend?

mistersprinkles1983 t1_jdor9hl wrote on March 26, 2023 at 12:25 AM

Sorry I thought you already had the PC. Honestly I'd suggest going for a motherboard that has a DAC out USB port. Those are filtered better. Back when I first got into HIFI in 2015, USB filters were all the rage. There were a lot of them, from cheap to expensive, with one of the most affordable being the Audioquest Jitterbug. I don't hear anyone talk about that stuff anymore. Not sure if it still makes a difference.
Anyways Optical and coax digital tend to top you out around 96Khz vs USB which can go all the way up to DSD so you're limiting yourself by not going USB. Some (some) people have said optical in particular sounds cleaner if you use a good cable. Personally I've never had high end enough gear to notice a difference between optical and USB and I prefer having the option to go to higher sample rates with USB.

Also if you want to go down the "I need a clean signal!" rabbit hole, you might want to see if USB filtering is still a thing in the hobby I haven't looked into it for awhile.

HTH

Nrrve OP t1_jdoua5y wrote on March 26, 2023 at 12:48 AM

No worries. And thank you for the suggestions.

A DAC out USB port is made especially for that purpose? Interesting. I’ll look into that.

Does the output option affect CPU usage? I assume it’s minimal if any.

mistersprinkles1983 t1_jdowrft wrote on March 26, 2023 at 1:07 AM

Yes. It affects CPU usage but that hasn't mattered since like the 486 days. If you are using the line out 3.5mm jack on your motherboard, your CPU is doing some of the processing, but we're talking like less than 1% usage hit on a midrange modern CPU like a 13600K. If you are using digital out, the processinmg is done entirely outside the computer. It's sending a raw digital signal to your DAC and your DAC does all the work. DAC out USB ports are regular USB ports but there is filtering on the motherboard to prevent some of the noise issues that can sometimes arise with USB. It's a good feature to have on a mobo if you like audio more than the avg PC user.

Nrrve OP t1_jdoxjzo wrote on March 26, 2023 at 1:13 AM

That’s very helpful to know. Thank you. I assume they are labeled or advertised as much?

If you don’t use it for DAC out, can it be used for normal USB purposes?

Speaking of which, does it matter what USB port version is used for a output to a DAC, as in 2.0, 3.0 etc?

I guess that depends on what the DAC USB input is spec’d to?