New HTPC build - Optical or USB to the AMP?

[Jingles]

So I am upgrading my old HTPC (the SSD died after 11 years of service) and the new motherboard (a Gigabyte B550 I AORUS PRO AX) doesn't have optical out (where the old motherboard had optical out) so I will need to connect it to my amp (a Rotel A14 MK2 driving a pair of KEF LS50 Meta's) via a USB cable.

I was thinking about installing a soundcard that has optical out so that I can connect the new HTPC to the amp via optical because I always liked how it sounded. But then I saw this:

tX-USBx10G (https://sotm-audio.com/sotm_shop/index.php?id_product=121&id_product_attribute=2017&rewrite=tx-usbx10g-christmas-edition&controller=product&id_lang=1#/98-tx_usbhubin_clock-no_sclk_ex_installation)

Which sent me down the rabbit hole. Now I am thinking what's likely to be better in terms of pure sound quality, a soundcard like a Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 or the tX-USBx10G powered externally?

What are your thoughts, which option would you choose and why?

[CageyH]

I bought a 2nd hand Matrix Audio USB card, fed by an external linear power supply to feed my DAC.
I never really liked optical though.

The card is called the Element H, and I paid about €120 for it.

[Jingles]

Cheers CageyH! The Element H card is also cheaper than the tX-USBx10G I was looking at and it has shielding too which is a bonus.

How do you like the the Element H, are you happy with it?

[CageyH]

It works fine. Slightly better with the external LPSU.
I see no reason to buy a dedicated streamer for my HiFi.

[Gazjam]

Hi James

was going to suggest taking the SPDIF tap from your motherboard and adding a coaxial output, had great success with that with music servers I’ve built in the past.
Checked you MB though, no such option.

I’d try and avoid USB personally, takes a lot to dial the noise out and get it sounding good.
That said,
Kevins suggestion of the Matrix with linear psu is a good shout, but I’d avoid taking directly from a motherboard usb and use the SoTm card as well.
more expensive, but better sound.

Eliminating electrical noise was always the focus I worked on building my servers,
biggest improvement I got was ensuring a stout power supply, 1000watts with low ripple spec, or even better, splitting the motherboard power rails and powering with separate linear supplies.

[CageyH]

The Element H is a PCI-E fitting, so does not use the onboard USB headers.

[Gazjam]

Yeah,
same as the SoTm tX-USBexp card I used to install,

Avoid anything connected to Motherboard noise, especially with USB.
SPDIF headers not affected any where near as much I found.

[Kember]

On my old HTPC, I currently use a Meridian 518 DAP that has been modified to have a USB input. 518s do de-jitter, resolution enhancement, act as a digital preamp, noise shaping (dither), AES/EBU, S/PDIF and optical inputs; and have AES/EBU and S/PDIF outputs. They are a relatively cheap and underrated bit of kit. You can get one in good nick for around £250. I use mine in line with a 566 DAC (that has the ability to switch inputs from the remote, unlike the 563).

I also have used a Matrix Audio USB X-SPDIF 2 DDC to connect some of the streamers I have had to DACs or direct to my Meridian DSPs. It adds nothing at all that I can hear to the sound, either positively or negatively, that I can discern.

I also have an old Onkyo Wavio soundcard that’s perfectly fine for Redbook stuff. It, too, is PCI-E, and USB-driven.

But the Meridian setup sounds best to my ears.

[CageyH]

There is a JCAT Femto USB for sale over on PFM.

[Kember]

Another thought.

I’ve just been playing with an old Mac Mini and have taken the signal out via a bog standard USB cable to an external SOTM dx-USB HD box that can feed a DAC with a choice of optical, RCA or AES/EBU signals.

It really makes a heck of a difference to feeding the USB signal straight to the Topping DACs I’m tinkering with. ISTR that I bought it for around £50 on here as part of a bundle with an Innuos Zen. Great bit of kit.