Which Would Be The Better Way To...

Set up a 2-channel audio system on my computer?

I really could use some advice here. I'm rather new to computer audio but would like to try using my computer as a music server. I have the following gear that I was planning to use for this:

1.) M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcard.

2.) Parasound Zamp v.3 Zone Amplifier

3.) Parasound Zpre2 Zone Preamplifier.

I think you can see where I'm going with this. The M-Audio sound card has standard RCA output jacks. Connect it to the preamp and connected the preamp to the power amp and then connect a pair of passive bookshelf speakers. (I haven't got speakers for this yet but was considering picking up a pair of these Infinity Beta20 bookshelf speakers).

I was pretty much set on this setup until I read another thread in this forum that suggested looking into KingRex components. I did a little reading of reviews and concluded that going with a Class T amp may be better than the setup I described above. So now I'm thinking I could sell the Parasound gear and go with this setup:

KingRex T20U Amplifier & PSU

KingRex Preamplifier

My only concern with this is the amp's power output. Seems those Infinity speakers I listed above would like more power than 13W@8 ohms, Which the T-20U is RATED AT. However, it does state that "KingRex T20 AMP has more power compared with the original T-AMP with the loudspeakers of average sensitivity (86~90dB, 4~8Ohms). You can easily reach levels comparable to vivid performances in medium space." in the description.

The only other option I could use would be to eliminate the M-Audio soundcard from the equation and go with a KingRex UD-01 DAC and PSU to use with my Parasound gear.

So I'd like to know, if the goal is to set up a computer to be used as a music server, which method described above do you think is the best option to implement in a medium sized room? The sale going on at Audiomagus ends at midnight on Sunday. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Well, doing a little more reading I've discovered a couple things:

1.) I do not need the KingRex preamp unless I plan to connect a tuner or CDP to the amp. The TU20U amp has volume control and a USB DAC built in, thus the computer plugs directly into the amp via USB cable.

2.) My M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card has a built-in DAC. It also has S/PDIF digital I/O with 2-channel PCM. So if I wanted to, I could still use my soundcard with an external DAC and Parasound gear. But the KingRex UD-01 DAC only has a single USB input. So if I wanted to go this route I would need a DAC that has a Coaxial digital Input such as the Super Pro DAC707SE with USB or the Citypulse DAC DA7.2x II. These look like better solutions and appear to be much more versatile, especially the Citypulse DAC.

I'm still unsure with how to proceed. I'm also a little unsure if I were to get a DAC such as the Citypulse, if I could use it with two separate systems since it has two sets of RCA analog outputs (fixed and variable) as well as Balanced XLR analog outs. So I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that I could connect one output to my Parasound gear set up on my desktop and another to my home stereo system.

I know I've opened up a lot of different options and asked a lot of questions. If anyone would please offer some advice or point out what they would do and why, I could really use the help. It appears that I know just enough to be dangerous. But this is fun and i want to learn. Please offer some helpful guidance if you can. Thanks.

My mistake; the Citypulse DAC I listed above does not have a USB input. If I want Coax, Optical and USB I would need the Citypulse DA2.03e II DAC USB version which is a couple hundred bucks more. I'm starting to wonder if I should wait until I know more about these components. I wish a few of you who are in the know would chime in. It looks like I'm having a conversation with myself and I could really use a bit of advice.

My girlfriend says I always over-analyze everything!

When you say there doesn't look to be anything wrong with my original choice, you're referring to the Parasound components with the soundcard solution, correct? I know its hard to say without hearing it but after reading the reviews of how "tube-like" the KingRex gear is, I tend to think it may sound noticeably better than my original choice. Guess the only way to know is to try it both ways. I realize not many people here are going to be able to tell me which way is better since my first solution is not a popular one.

I'll tell you what I'm really wondering about though, is if there would be much improved sound using my original choice (Paraound gear w/M-audio soundcard) but running it with an external DAC in the mix, i.e, running the S/PDIF digital output from my soundcard to an External DAC via Coax cable. Does anyone feel that connecting one of the Citypulse DACs I listed above would be a noticeable improvement over just using the DAC that's built into the M-audio soundcard?

Well I did some more digging. The option of running an external DAC with my Parasound gear is starting to look like it's not the best option. The DACs I am looking at and have listed above that I was wanting to connect via Coax all accept 24bit/192KHz digital signal input. But my M-audio soundcard is only capable of 24bit/96KHz output. So I don't know how much that will affect thing but its certainly not optimal. M-audio does make a soundcard that's capable of 24bit/192KHz digital signal output; its their Audiophile192 soundcard.

Damn it this is hard. Why didn't anyone realize this and alert me? I guess I gota figure it all by myself. I feel like I'm keeping my own personal journal here. That's OK, hopefully someone in the know will read all this I've documented and comment. If not, oh well. Y'all got to sit back and laugh at my frustration.

I'd still like to know if I were to upgrade to the Audiophile 192 soundcard if it would work and work well connecting an external DAC. If you look at the pics in the link I supplied, you can see it has a S/PDIF Coax output jack which seems to imply it will indeed allow a DAC to be connected. But will it do any post-processing when a DAC is connected via S/PDIF and render an external DAC worthless?

Hi droht, thanks for your helpful comments. I was writing my last reply as you posted your reply and didn't see it until after i posted. Hope that explains my some-what sour tone.

Yeah, I realize this and I stated above that I know not many people have Parasound gear for any type of desktop sound setup.


I don't think connecting a DAC to a soundcard is that rare, is it? I thought lots of computers have soundcards with a Coax output or some kind of digital output device that is capable of outputting 24/192. Thus you can run sound to an AVR or whatever component you have that accepts an optical Coax input. Meaning what ever component that is, it has a built in DAC, correct? So what I'm considering (connecting a DAC to a soundcard) shouldn't be a big deal. At least that's what I thought.



That it is!

Nope, not true. Take a look at the picture of the soundcard I currently have. It has RCA output jacks and an on-board DAC.

"Either way you look at it you are going to need a DAC, the pre only has analog inputs so something has to convert the digital to analog."


I'm not sure we're on the same page here. I'm like 99.99% sure all I would need to do is connect RCA interconnects between the jacks on my soundcard to the input jack on my preamp. No external DAC needed.

The first card I posted a link to (Audiophile 2496) has two sets of RCA (analog) jacks and can be clearly seen in the pic I posted. If I were to connect RCA cables to my preamp I would NOT need an outboard (external) DAC because the soundcard has an on-board DAC which is how it is able to output an analog signal via the RCA jacks. Does that make sense?

However, It also has a breakout cable that has I/O Coax jacks. If I WANTED (I don't have to do it this way) I could use the breakout cable on the soundcard and connect a Coax cable to it. I could then run it to an outboard (external) DAC and then run RCA cables from the DAC to my preamp. Does that make sense?

I know you're trying to help but you're misunderstanding what I'm trying to figure out and do. Re-read the second paragraph that follows the number 2 in my second post in this thread. That explains what I was asking about in the posts that follow.

Well I'm glad we're past the "you gotta have an outboard DAC" stage. That was a little frustrating but I reckon when one tries to communicate their thoughts, sometimes it gets read incorrectly and confusion arises. Glad to see we're back on the same page with each other, and I appreciate your suggestion to stick with the Parasound gear. Perhaps I am way over-thinking the whole idea. I just was interested in trying some alternative ways besides a soundcard. The KingRex T-amp + USB DAC and an external DAC connected via S/PDIF coax cable to the Parasound amp are the setups I was mainly asking about. But I see now I'm going to have to try these methods out for myself in order to answer the questions I have.


Gee, hadn't thought about that yet. MP3 tracks is what I thought of at first. I guess that's the next thing I need to look into. What kind of file would you suggest I play from the computer?

Well I guess I hadn't gave much thought to this part of the equation. Yeah I'm certainly new to the computer supply side of audio.

OK, so let me throw a couple questions out there:

1.) What about websites like Rhapsody Unlimited and iTunes? Would I get good quality with either of them? Is there any downside to using those websites as a music source?

2.) Something I brought up earlier in post # 7 of this thread; if connecting a soundcard's digital output to a DAC that's capable of accepting 24bit/192KHz signal and then connecting to a pre, how much difference in sound do you think will be noticeable with a soundcard that is only capable of 24bit/96KHz output vs. a soundcard that is capable of 24bit/192KHz output?

Man, great information! Thank you so much, shane. So let me see if I understand correctly. Unless I rip songs myself, the only other HD files would be Flac files, correct? And even HD Flac files played through a sound card with either 96 or 192 will sound identical, correct? (nice setup by the way)