Sound Card with External DAC

Talking about whether CD-ROM drives are truly accurate misses the point of computer based systems. The original question was about putting together a high end computer based system and if that's the case the CD-ROM is not important in playback since the music will be stored and played from the computer's hard disk. The role of the CD-ROM will be solely to rip the CDs to the hard disk. If properly setup, this type of computer/hard disk playback is of very high quality. Systems of this design are routinely used in recording and mastering studios.

As far as soundcards go, I recommend RME. It can be configured with optical (Toslink), RCA (SPDIF) or XLR (AES/EBU) digital I/O.

Well yes Onhwy61, but he did say, "this computer and its TRANSPORT will serve as the source...." although I agree with you, a harddrive based playback system probably would be better. It truly is an interesting topic. I am curious where the integration of HD technology with digital audio playback will take us.

Would RME soundcard give me better results than inexpensive devices like xitel or link 1200?

Seems like a waste of the RME's capabilities just to use it as a link to an external DAC. Do we have to pay that much simply for a quality link?

Gonglee3, for 2 channel applications most of the RME product line is overkill, but they do offer superior performance. Is the subtle increase in performance worth the additional cost and complexity? I think we each have to answer that question for ourselves.

Even though you don't plan on using any onboard DACs on your PC's sound card, a good PC sound card with built-in clock synch features and digital I/O will provide excellent high end audio results when you interface your hard drive music source with a high end DAC with word clock synch connections. This will dramatically reduce jitter that can arise from interfacing problems. Lower cost interfaces like the Xitel are similar to other low cost solutions from Edirol and M-Audio which do not take into account jitter generation. If you are serious about PC audio, then consider the RME Audio or Lynx Studio Technologies Model 2 or Model 22 sound cards.

"Sound on Sound", an excellent professional audio magazine from the UK, gave an excellent review of the Lynx Studio 2. The article's author explains why the internal clock provides a deeper sound stage, clearer detail and a more natural sound than sound cards which do not possess a clock mechanism. Keep in mind that the review just evaluates the card's DACs, which goes to show that onboard DACs can sound just as clear and focused as an outboard DAC. Even bypassing the DACs on the card, you can still take advantage of clock synching features. Just go to http://www.soundonsound.com and search for "Lynx" and "RME" to read their reviews. I find that their evaluations and opinions of sound quality coincide with mine. In this magazine, you'll never read a rave review of SoundBlaster sound cards for audio quality.