DAC<\/span> – A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is a device that converts a digital (usually binary) code to an analogue signal (current, voltage or electric charge).<\/p>\n TOSLINK<\/span> – A standardized optical fibre connection system that is most commonly used in consumer audio equipment, where it carries a digital stream from components to an AV receiver that can decode the stream of audio and output it through a set of speakers or headphones.<\/p>\n Coaxial<\/span> – An audio connection method used for transmitting digital audio streams from components to an audio processor similar to a TOSLINK system. Unlike an optical cable, coaxial cables make use of shielded copper rather than light.<\/p>\n Digital audio connectors<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong>Seldom used by gamers, digital connectors will feature on sound cards that pander to those who use their PC for multimedia in addition to gaming.<\/p>\n Digital connectors come in the form of an orange coaxial connector and a TOSLINK port. The coaxial connector is the same shape as a normal RCA port, and is used to transmit digital signal over copper cable to an external sound processor.<\/p>\n The TOSLINK is an optical connection and transmits digital signal to an external sound processor the same way a coaxial cable does, except the optical makes use of light rather than a copper connection transmitting an electrical signal.<\/p>\n Since digital connections simply pass through the audio, they do not process the sound in any way. This means that buying an expensive high-end sound card and connecting it digitally to an external processor effectively wastes the processing capabilities of the card.<\/p>\n EVGA motherboard – digital connectors<\/em><\/p>\n Analogue audio connectors<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong>Analogue audio connectors are found onboard motherboards and on almost all gaming audio cards.<\/p>\n They consist of a various coloured 3.5mm audio jacks, and pass through analogue audio to speaker systems and headphones. The audio is processed by the audio chip on the soundcard and the processed signal is passed through to the speaker systems. When multi channel audio is required by the speaker system, three 3.5mm connectors are used to pass the various channels of audio over to the speakers.<\/p>\n This is where high end gaming soundcards come into play as they are now tasked with processing the digital signal and transmitting what you end up hearing on the speaker system or headphones.<\/p>\n Asus DX – analogue connectors only<\/em><\/p>\n USB audio<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n There are a variety of headphones and sound bars that connect to a PC via USB. The digital audio signal is sent via USB to a DAC unit built into the headphones, which then processes the sound and feeds the processed analogue signal to the speakers.<\/p>\n USB audio devices cut the soundcard out of the equation.<\/p>\n Logitech G35 – USB headset<\/em><\/p>\n Audio over HDMI<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n With the advent of HDMI connectivity in the PC space, gamers are able to pass their audio and video through a single cable.<\/p>\n Modern graphics cards such as the HD6970 from AMD come with built in audio processing chips, and are able to process audio and stream this over the HDMI cable to your monitor.<\/p>\n HDMI equipped monitors will often sport a 3.5mm audio jack and an optical TOSLINK port. Plugging headphones into the 3.5mm jack will allow you to hear the sound that has been processed by the graphics card.<\/p>\n The TOSLINK port provides connectivity options to pass through the audio to an external sound processor, such as an A\/V receiver or an external DAC unit. This means that the graphics card has not processed the sound, but simply passed through the original audio signal.<\/p>\n If you’re in the market for a sound card in the near future, consider first how you want the card to act as a bridge between your PC and your audio equipment. After all, you don’t want to invest in a set of G35 headphones and a Xonar Xense soundcard only to find out that they don’t work together.<\/p>\n![](\"\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/EVGA_back_panel_optical_highlight_634775615.jpg\")
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