SPDIF - into a DAC will this work???

also, my music is on itunes and is a mix of AAC and itunes lossless files will Dacs play these files?

Edit: this shoul be obviouse, I am rather new to computer audio!

theface:

Hi my pc has a intergrated sound card with a SPDIF out (looks to be a RCA socket) are there any DAC's on the market for under 200 that can take in digital audio from a SPDIF cable?

or do I just use the a USB socket?

if I have the choice which is best to use?

Thanks in advance.

Face.

Depends which one you buy - some are USB only, some are optical/digital (ie SPDIF) only. At 200, the DACMagic is the obvious choice as it has all three, though I would use the SPDIF electrical connection rather than USB.

Anything your media player can play can be recognised by a DAC, basically.

Hi thanks for confirming all that, will the Beresford Dac at £100ish do the same job?

Yes, though I don't know if it has USB in addition to SPDIF inputs (an owner will confirm shortly, I expect). And will do almost as good a job, but without the pretty blue lights

sound,

Despite the blue lights of the cambirdge Dac matching my samsung monitors power indicator, for £100 ish i think I'll have a go with the Beresford as i do have the SPDIF out on my sound card (though having said that wont be able to use a laptop) have to think a bit about this one.

I am currently just using the 3.5mm jack plug on my sound card directly into my amp, at reasonable volume I can hear computer noise and the mouse wheel when scrolling though web sites, hopefully things will sound better.

This is for use on my "2nd system" may well end up messing about doing an A/B on my main hifi V's my Creek cdp.

JohnDuncan:

Yes, though I don't know if it has USB in addition to SPDIF inputs (an owner will confirm shortly, I expect). And will do almost as good a job, but without the pretty blue lights

it doesnt have a usb connection.

I have been reading for the last hour or so, this is all making sense now.

There is a new Beresford Dac around the corner with a USB socket. have seen picture in another forum. looks like thats the one for me.

This leads (excuse the pun) to another question. Digital coaxal cables.....considering its a digital signal, how important is cable quality on the digital side, i'd have thought they will all do the same job? I will need a 5 meter cable have seen a few on ebay for less than £20, or is it worth spending more?

cheers, face.

Well, cheers stanley. go put out a dac with usb months after i get a soundcard (which on its own is nowhere near as good as people say it is) with spdif connection. thanks a lot fella.

ahem. apologies for the rant.

im afraid im not going to touch your cables query as it tends to be controversial round these here parts, and im not that good with cables and connections anyway. hopefully someon else will weigh in but in the meantime try aforum search.

Sorry, and good luck

theface:

Digital coaxal cables.....considering its a digital signal, how important is cable quality on the digital side, i'd have thought they will all do the same job? I will need a 5 meter cable have seen a few on ebay for less than £20, or is it worth spending more?

Yeah, you've opened a can of worms there. Personally, I think you'll possibly get better results from one of the proven cables (see WHF's reviews on this site for examples). However, given I have no idea what cables you are talking about on eBay, it's obviously impossible to say whether one is better than the other.

ÿ

theface:

This leads (excuse the pun) to another question. Digital coaxial cables.....considering its a digital signal, how important is cable quality on the digital side, i'd have thought they will all do the same job? I will need a 5 meter cable have seen a few on ebay for less than £20, or is it worth spending more?

cheers, face.

 It's worth spending what makes you happy. Cables are a bit on the black magic side of HiFi.