bmillar

This may be a dumb question, but USB-out ports are also located on (or attached to) motherboards. If a concern is that PC electrical noise will permutate a soundcard or other componets, does that same interference also affect the USB-out?

Since discovering that connecting my CDP directly to my Stax headphone amp blows away my PC, it looks like I need to get an external DAC... In selecting a new DAC -- should I use the optical output off the PC motherboard to send signal to the DAC - ie., does this introduce any noise or distortion vs. investing in a soundcard carrying an optical out? Thinking about Peachtree Audio DACiT for input from the motherboard optical out. Thoughts on that? Instead -- how should/would the new Halide DAC HD do to pass the PC signal directly from the PC USB port to the analogue inputs on the Stax amp? Likely a good option?