Hey guys,
So I've got a bunch of questions, all relating to one point, and that is to improve my audio experience. There will be a lot of cringe-worthy things, so beware!
First up, I'll explain my current setup.
I have the majority of my audio (games/movies/music) being directed out the back of my PC via a 3.5mm jack from the onboard motherboard. I also have some programs (Teamspeak/Ventrilo) directing their audio to the front 3.5mm audio jacks. The reason for this is so when I record my gameplay, I can record the gameplays audio and avoid the audio from other programs being recorded. Now, to hear both, I use a splitter/merger for the 3.5mm jacks to a female-female adaptor and then again to another splitter/merger to split the audio to my headphones and to my speakers.
This can all be seen in its ugly glory right here.
*ouch*
So, right off the bat, you guys should know that this produces a lot of excess noise from sitting amongst the cables at the back of my PC and has reduced audio quality due to the amount of cabling.
Now, I've been doing a little research as to how I can significantly improve this. What I'm looking at is getting a DAC with duel digital input with duel analogue output - this should (?) provide the exact same results while providing a far better experience.
My motherboard is a Rampage III gene, which has two SPDIF outputs.
So, with all that covered, question time!
1. Will a duel input/output DAC merge the audio or will it remain separate?
2. How common is SPDIF used in quality motherboards (such as when I upgrade, how hard will it be to find this kind of setup again on a motherboard, or would it be better to just get a soundcard?)?
3. Suggestions as to what a good DAC would be that has the duel input/output (~$200 would be of decent quality?) if it even exists?.
4. I've seen USB is also an option, but unless it's superior, I'd like to keep the USB slot usage to a minimum if possible.
5. Is there much variation between cable quality?
Anywho, thanks for reading all this, hopefully you can help me with my quest!
Capt. Mytre