Another excellent presentation on the subject from Xiph.

http://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml

You'll probably need to use Firefox or Chrome to view the video, because it's in WebM format.

I haven't viewed THAT one, but took the opportunity to go back and view the initial one.

WOW! I learned a lot. Incredibly informative.

Thank you very much, Chris.

The initial one was more about video. Although, he covered PCM audio quite a bit, and it was enough that the majority of the questions were about the audio portion of the video. So this second one is to answer a lot of those questions.

That. was. awesome.

Very cool video. So. Chris, given this video, can you explain why you recommended the HRT Streamer USB DAC over other (MUCH CHEAPER) alternatives? If I can't hear it, I don't care.

Me? I don't remember recommending that.

I don't usually go in for fancy DACs, but do look at the analog components that sit before an ADC, or after the DAC. While most have specs that out perform human perception by so much it's ridiculous, there are some with pretty serious design flaws that cause strange interactions with what they're connected to. This is especially true when driving headphones. Also with ADCs its important that their decimation filter remove all content above the Nyquist limit, or that limit be raised by running at a higher sampling rate.

I could swear it was you. It was someone whose opinion about electronics I trusted implicitly. Hell, time to remove that from my Amazon cart.

Ah, I guess I did mention it, not so much of a recommendation, but yeah...

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=334980#Post334980

I think I liked HRT because they make a USB DAC with XLR jacks.

These days though, I'd be recommending Focusrite interfaces, but I'm also more concerned with recording performance, to go with the playback.

So as far as playback, would you recommend anything special, or would a $30 USB DAC work fine?

You're using RCA cables to connect it to an amp? Yeah, in most cases anything will get that job done in the same way.

yeah, it would actually be outputting from my computer to a headphone amp (used solely because I have it and I like a physical volume knob).

Yeah, that should be OK with what ever. As long as it is solid state, that is to say it doesn't have anything funny going on with the input impedance.

I like physical volume knobs too. The Focusrite I have has two headphone jacks, each with their own volume knob, and another volume knob for the line output.

Maybe me? I always point it out when something has blue lights.

Bluuuuuue.

Speaking of blue lights I owe a thanks to whoever it was that selected the led used on the front if my ADA1000. Its bright enough to confirm its powered but will not draw your attention when watching a show or a movie. I wish I could swap all the led's out to match.
My reciever and amp are right below my screen. Its a little detail but much appreciated.

Thanks so much for sharing, that was very informative.

Very good, Chris. Unfortunately, despite the availability of info such as this, there still exist "audiophiles" who believe in the fantasy that digital sampling is a naive "connect-the-dots" type process and can only approximate the original analog waveforms. They waste effort and money on obsolescent analog reproduction media(LPs, etc.)instead of being able to fully enjoy the wonders of modern audio technology.