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have not tried PC audio as yet, do not even know how to make the basic connections and need some pointers please.I read a lot about USB connections to an external DAC. Is the computer side connected to a standard USB port or a specialised sound card with USB port in it. How is then the information directed to that USB port?
If there is a link to a previosu thread I would value anyone pointing me to it, I have looked but nothing this simple comes up.
My external DAC is a CEC stand alone that I have my CD transport connected to to i, It does not have a USB connection however I do have a cable with USB to superlink plug converter.- that should work?
thank you in advance.
Follow Ups:
An internal sound card is not required. The music data is sent directly over a standard USB output port.I am not familiar with the superlink cable, but hits on the web on 'superlink cable' are for a data transfer cable to transfer data between 2 computers. This will not work for music.
You will need either a USB sound card/DAC to send music directly to your stereo, or a USB device that converts the USB information to optical or SP/DIF out that can then be used to send digital data to your DAC.
For the sound cards/DAC prices vary from about $100-$X000 depending. The EMU 0404 USB Dac is about $200, and has very good sound for the money. Benchmark recently updated the DAC1 with a USB port and it is about $1200. I like the sound of both of these. I have not tried them, but Wavelength has a series of DACs from about $1800 that many people enjoy.
Devices to convert USB to digital can be purchased for as little as $40, but sound quality is questionable. Plan to spend $100 or so for something like an M-Audio Transit.
Another option is the EMU 0404 USB, which can also route the data digitally to your DAC, or play directly to your stereo with decent sound. One down side of the EMU is that it does use quite a bit of CPU (about 20% overhead on a 1.4ghtz Pentium M). M-Audio also makes a USB DAC that can do this as well, but I prefer the sound quality of the EMU.
Thanks LynnOk so let me get the chain right
computer USB port usb cable to DAC.Is that it?
One of the other devices you mention are needed as well or is it not an issue if the dac has USB port.
Does the computer detect the dac as a sound card? Is there extra software needed for this to happen.
One thing Im not clear, which could be the source of my confusion, does the DAC accept data directly from the USB cable
from the computer ie is the USB data from the computer the right format for a DAC to acccept?Im sorry if all this sounds fairly basic
maybe I should just hook it up directly to the CEC and see what happens.
Hi,If the DAC has a USB port you are good to go. Some DACs have special drivers, many are just recognized as a sound device by Windows without a special driver.
In Windows, you just select the USB DAC (after installing drivers if the DAC needs one) as you would an internal sound card in your playback software.
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