DO I NEED A SOUND CARD?? please see below?

Question

i use my pc's onboard sound card that is built into the motherboard to connect to a 25 watt rms surround sound system. i use a 3.5 mm jack to stereo red and white cable for this. if i were to buy a sound card for around £20 and connected using an optical cable, would i notice a difference in quaility. i am a music lover and i dont know if i am doing my digital collection justice. Also, what is coaxial connection?

Answer 1

I suspect any improvement would be slight at best, but, as with many similar questions .. it depends.

If your amplifier is good enough to allow a digital signal to be handled well, AND you have medium to high end speakers AND you have good hearing you may benefit from a digital connection for high quality program material, but otherwise probably not.

Regarding program material, what are you playing (MP3, CD, etc)?

If MP3, unless you are playing at least 128 kbps versions you have sub CD quality sound (see link) and there would certainly be no point in paying extra to convert to digital.

On your other question, coaxial and optical are the two versions of the S/PDIF (Sony/Phillips Digital Interface Format) standard -- one uses light pulses (Optical TOSLINK cables) while the other uses electrical pulses (Digital Coax cables) to send digital multichannel audio.

Quoting from the article at the second link:

"Note that there are no differences in the signals transmitted over optical or coaxial S/PDIF connectors—both carry exactly the same information. Selection of one over the other rests mainly on the availability of appropriate connectors on the chosen equipment and the preference and convenience of the user. Connections longer than 6 meters or so, or those requiring tight bends, should use coaxial cable, since the high light signal attenuation of TOSLINK cables limits its effective range. On the other hand, TOSLINK cables are not susceptible to ground loops and RF interference like coaxial cables."