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<blockquote data-quote="mm1352000" data-source="post: 1032066" data-attributes="member: 82144">Yes.Yes and no. If they really are only speakers then yes; however if they have any sort of processing in the pre-amp phase then it may make sense to do a A-&gt;D conversion for processing, then do D-&gt;A before amplification, then finally send the signal to the speakers.Exactly.In general, you want to:<ol>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Minimise the number of A-&gt;D (and D-&gt;A) conversions. These result in quality loss.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Minimise the electrical noise/interference around any analog signal.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Minimise the distance any analog signal has to travel. Especially unbalanced analog signals like those usually carried by 3.5 mm minijack cables.</li>
</ol>So to answer your question, if the amp were far from the PC or the path from the PC to the amp was electrically noisy... you might want to think about using a digital link. However, if the quality of the amplilfier's D-&gt;A converters was not as good as the quality of the PC's D-&gt;A converters... you might have to think twice... or even think about 3rd party DACs (if you were an &quot;audiophile&quot;). But really, when it comes down to it, I think what you should do mostly depends on how much money you want to spend and how much you care about audio.No. There are [small] special purpose chips whose sole purpose is to do D-&gt;A and or A-&gt;D conversion. All the stuff about THD, SNR, 48/96/192 kHz, 16/24 bit etc. on the motherboard audio specifications - some of that comes from the specification of those chips. It doesn't load up your CPU or anything like that.It is.Depends on the quality of the D-&gt;A converter in the amp and the distance and environment in which the analog signal would have to travel.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mm1352000, post: 1032066, member: 82144"] Yes. Yes and no. If they really are only speakers then yes; however if they have any sort of processing in the pre-amp phase then it may make sense to do a A->D conversion for processing, then do D->A before amplification, then finally send the signal to the speakers. Exactly. In general, you want to: [LIST=1] [*]Minimise the number of A->D (and D->A) conversions. These result in quality loss. [*]Minimise the electrical noise/interference around any analog signal. [*]Minimise the distance any analog signal has to travel. Especially unbalanced analog signals like those usually carried by 3.5 mm minijack cables. [/LIST] So to answer your question, if the amp were far from the PC or the path from the PC to the amp was electrically noisy... you might want to think about using a digital link. However, if the quality of the amplilfier's D->A converters was not as good as the quality of the PC's D->A converters... you might have to think twice... or even think about 3rd party DACs (if you were an "audiophile"). But really, when it comes down to it, I think what you should do mostly depends on how much money you want to spend and how much you care about audio. No. There are [small] special purpose chips whose sole purpose is to do D->A and or A->D conversion. All the stuff about THD, SNR, 48/96/192 kHz, 16/24 bit etc. on the motherboard audio specifications - some of that comes from the specification of those chips. It doesn't load up your CPU or anything like that. It is. Depends on the quality of the D->A converter in the amp and the distance and environment in which the analog signal would have to travel. [/QUOTE]

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