USB Dac-Up Audio/Motherboard Question

[cctaylor88]

I have the Gigabyte G1 Gaming 7 motherboard (GA-Z170X-Gaming 7) mother board as well as the Mackie CR3 Multimedia monitors (speakers) which should both be linked in my signature.

Now the Mackies are not yet hooked up (just purchased), and I want to tap into the best possible audio quality that I can with what I have (I chose not to go the bookshelf speakers/amp/receiver/DAC route for a reason and so I have the Mackie CR3s!).

My motherboard advertises several features that I truly have no idea how to utilize (hence why I'm asking here), such as "amp-up audio" and an "upgradeable op-amp" as well as the "usb dac-up" audio converter. My main interest is in the USB Dac-Up audio and obviously this requires a USB connection. Does it require anything else such as switching one of the "gain boost" selector switches "select either standard 2.5x or high-amplification 6x mode," on the motherboard itself. (You can see all of these features with pictures on the link I've provided to the GA-Z170X). Does it require any special software to actually utilize the Dac-UP USB? Or a special type of USB cord?

Now that brings me to the speakers themselves. They ship with several wires including a 1/8" to stereo RCA cable to connect computer output to speakers. This is the cable I was planning on using, however the USB Dac-Up clearly requires a USB... so what am I to do? Do I need to purchase a new type of connection, is there something like a USB to RCA for example?

I'm sorry this is quite long but I'm a complete novice to actual audio and with spending money you may as well utilize your tools to the best of their ability right?

TL;dr would like to get the most out of my motherboard audio and speakers. Unsure of how to utilize the on-board audio and connect the speakers correctly.

 

[mnewsham]

Alright, well that's a lot of marketing to cut through but here are the basics.

The USB DAC-up is two yellow USB ports on the back of the motherboard that have isolated power handling so there isn't any extra dirty noise on the USB signal potentially interfering with a USB DAC.

The AMP-up audio is a selectable gain control switch on the motherboard, this is for the built in headphone amplifier and shouldn't effect your speakers.
The upgradable OP amps are again, for headphones and not really going to effect powered speakers.

All you need at this point to use your speakers is a USB DAC.

I personally like the Schiit Modi 2. A little on the high end, but offers good build quality, and is made in the US.
http://www.schiit.com/products/modi-2

It has a single USB input (which you'll plug into the yellow USB port on your motherboard)
Then RCA analog outputs that will go to your speakers.

That's it.

Just a note however, since you're using a USB DAC, you're essentially bypassing the built-in audio of your motherboard. The USB-DAC up function is literally there to allow you to more cleanly bypass the built-in audio.

You could also just get a basic TRS to RCA cable and plug it into the line-out on the backpanel of your motherboard.
This will use the built in sound-card on your motherboard, but will not take advantage of the USB-DAC up function.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd try the analog cable first. I haven't heard hum or hiss from motherboard analog out for years now. They've gotten better at RFI isolation and even the cheapest DACs are very good compared to 10-15 years ago.