Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Ethernet vs. Digital Audio Out

I'm fairly certain that most audio cards will convert, mix and then output in digital on the spdif.

You might want to try to abx a few FLACS with the CD. I use a creative labs X-FI and even with all the effects/equalization etc disabled it doesn't sound as good as through my stereo (listening to both via ES500 IEM's.)

As far as the DAC is concerned, I think if you used the digital out on a sqeezebox, it would be bypassing the DAC in the sqeezebox and relying on the one in your receiver. I suppose that might warrant an ABX test to see which DAC you like better (assuming there is an audible difference).