det_wizard

Maybe i have missed something or i am being silly but i have not noticed anyone check that your outputting bit-perfect? when i first got my dacmagic a year ago i didnt know about bit-perfect output using programs like J.River, before that i hated the sound from optical.. but since i moved to bit perfect output through J.River it changed the sound dramatically and sounds slightly better than USB on my system.

I think your best option is the ASUS Xonar as it’s very impressive for the money, although I herd it in an ITX based computer powered by a linear PSU - which really makes a difference to the sound.