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I am trying to understand some things about the sound from my system. First my system: Windows 10 pro 64 bit i7 4930k on an Asus Rampage IV Black Ed with 32gb of G.skill ram ar 2133mhz Sound Blaster Zx sound card connected via optical to my Logitech z906 speaker system. I've had this setup for almost 4 years now. I ask this question because I have noticed a few things with the sound quality when comparing and from of a discussion elsewhere on using optical. The primary is that the sound coming from my speakers is amazing. I've had people over that have decent home theater systems in their living rooms and they are amazed at the sound my system produces. My MB also has onboard optical out but I have noticed that it sounds much better coming from my sound card than my motherboard using optical out regardless if I am using the DTS or Dolby codecs or not. It also sounds much better than using just the analog cables. All this especially at higher volumes and better quality audio tacks. FLAC is the best so far but that comes as no surprise over optical. I have also tried other sets of speakers although they've only been pairs of speakers (that are considered higher end), but they just don't compare to using the z906's in my system. So why does it sound as good as it does when comparing to other systems or even with better (supposedly) speakers on my system?