![audionote diy wire audionote diy wire](https://flemmingss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/diy_speaker_cable_speaker_side_in_progress.jpg)
Now with computer audio, there are thousands of DAC offerings on the market. External DACs started to gain momentum in the late 80s when used with CD players with a digital output.Ī handsome old Sony DAS R1 DAC (circa 1987) The best option is to bypass as much of this as possible, either through a dedicated optical output from a reputable sound card (something like the ESI or to use a USB to coax converter (there are TONS of these on the market from companies like M2Tech, Musical Fidelity, Stello, etc.) and get that digital signal to a high quality external DAC.Īn external DAC (digital analog converter) effectively converts a digital binary signal (think 1s and 0s) to an analog signal that you can send to your speaker or headphone amplifier. The sound card is generally an afterthought built into a computers motherboard with some of the lowest-cost chips available, likely doesn't have a very low noise floor and probably has gimmicky features like 3D sound processing. As we all know, the built-in digital audio converter in a computer generally leaves a lot to be desired for an audiophile. As mentioned in previous posts, much of the audiophile world has really moved from compact disc players to a computer-based digital audio setup, whether it's streaming over the local area network or coming directly from the output on your desktop or laptop.