Jacques

Thanks for the kind answer. Regarding your point that PCs don't support 24/192 natively, does this mean one will need a special sound card to output the 24/192 bitstream via the USB, or that the card will be needed to play 24/192 on the computer? Finally, if one wants to use a computer/outboard DAC as an audiophile source, and using the computer to play Blu-Ray discs (but avoiding mediocre-sounding receivers geared towards video applications), will it be possible to output the audio bistream of a Blu-Ray disc via USB, and the video bistream via HDMI straight to the TV?

Dear all, This is my first forum posting. I'm not very well versed on the technical aspect of computers and associated DACs, and I'm just dipping my toe into the world of computer audio which I basically discovered through this site. The reason I got hooked into computer audio is that I really care about high-res music for the sound advantage it brings (even in stereo), and I have high hopes that computer audio will succeed in increasing the availability of high-res music where SACD and DVD-A by and large failed. I have already downloaded MediaMonkey and started buying a few downloads (FLAC 16/44 or higher), focusing on stuff only available as downloads. My questions to the forum are the following. Are we likely to see more and more computers equipped with HDMI connectors and proper internal soundcards that take full advantage of them (as this would help consumers at large to use the computer as the native DVD/Blu-Ray player)? And if so, are we likely to see music DACs equipped with HDMI inputs, to replace the USB input? My understanding is that USB inputs, while allowing DACs to be easily connected to computers without the need of external soundcards, often do not allow for the full 24/192 resolution (the Benchmark Pre is an example). Thanks for your help.