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Does audio on mini-itx boards crackle?

AshesAndWool
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Go to solution Solved by BrinkGG,
4 minutes ago, AshesAndWool said:

Hi guys, I am building an audio production workstation and I am going to be connecting a high end external dac to a thunderbolt 3 port on the motherboard. I was thinking of buying the Asrock mini itx tb3 phantom gaming motherboard, but it struck me today that there might be electrical interference with the audio signal on such a compact motherboard. So my question is: is it possible to have audio interference (Either when listening or recording to a drive) through an external dac connected with thunderbolt 3, and if that case should I go with the bigger atx motherboard instead? Thanks.

 

My two motherboard options:

https://www.amazon.com/X570-Phantom-Gaming-ITX-TB3-Thunderbolt/dp/B07VXYYG7F/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=Phantom+gaming&qid=1575908653&sr=8-21

https://www.amazon.com/Z390-DESIGNARE-Gigabyte-Thunderbolt-Motherboard/dp/B07K8RJZRG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Designare&qid=1575908638&sr=8-1

 

Nope. Thunderbolt is a digital signal to your A/i. As long as you have your DAC configured properly, you shouldn't have crackle. If you do and you know everything is configured correctly, then you have dead or dying hardware somewhere in your signal chain. 

 

EDIT: ^This is all true of any DAC, Audio interface, or any USB audio device. Not just for these motherboards on TB3.  

Posted

Hi guys, I am building an audio production workstation and I am going to be connecting a high end external dac to a thunderbolt 3 port on the motherboard. I was thinking of buying the Asrock mini itx tb3 phantom gaming motherboard, but it struck me today that there might be electrical interference with the audio signal on such a compact motherboard. So my question is: is it possible to have audio interference (Either when listening or recording to a drive) through an external dac connected with thunderbolt 3, and if that case should I go with the bigger atx motherboard instead? Thanks.

 

My two motherboard options:

https://www.amazon.com/X570-Phantom-Gaming-ITX-TB3-Thunderbolt/dp/B07VXYYG7F/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=Phantom+gaming&qid=1575908653&sr=8-21

https://www.amazon.com/Z390-DESIGNARE-Gigabyte-Thunderbolt-Motherboard/dp/B07K8RJZRG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Designare&qid=1575908638&sr=8-1

 

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4 minutes ago, AshesAndWool said:

Hi guys, I am building an audio production workstation and I am going to be connecting a high end external dac to a thunderbolt 3 port on the motherboard. I was thinking of buying the Asrock mini itx tb3 phantom gaming motherboard, but it struck me today that there might be electrical interference with the audio signal on such a compact motherboard. So my question is: is it possible to have audio interference (Either when listening or recording to a drive) through an external dac connected with thunderbolt 3, and if that case should I go with the bigger atx motherboard instead? Thanks.

 

My two motherboard options:

https://www.amazon.com/X570-Phantom-Gaming-ITX-TB3-Thunderbolt/dp/B07VXYYG7F/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=Phantom+gaming&qid=1575908653&sr=8-21

https://www.amazon.com/Z390-DESIGNARE-Gigabyte-Thunderbolt-Motherboard/dp/B07K8RJZRG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Designare&qid=1575908638&sr=8-1

 

Nope. Thunderbolt is a digital signal to your A/i. As long as you have your DAC configured properly, you shouldn't have crackle. If you do and you know everything is configured correctly, then you have dead or dying hardware somewhere in your signal chain. 

 

EDIT: ^This is all true of any DAC, Audio interface, or any USB audio device. Not just for these motherboards on TB3.  

Fine you want the PSU tier list? Have the PSU tier list: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1116640-psu-tier-list-40-rev-103/

 

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If you're using an external DAC then nothing on the mobo design would affect anything, you're not using anything audio from it. 

I have the Intel version of that ASRock board (Asrock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/AC) and the onboard analog audio is clean too.

F@H
Desktop: i9-13900K, ASUS Z790-E, 64GB DDR5-6000 CL36, RTX3080, 2TB MP600 Pro XT, 2TB SX8200Pro, 2x16TB Ironwolf RAID0, Corsair HX1200, Antec Vortex 360 AIO, Thermaltake Versa H25 TG, Samsung 4K curved 49" TV, 23" secondary, Mountain Everest Max

Mobile SFF rig: i9-9900K, Noctua NH-L9i, Asrock Z390 Phantom ITX-AC, 32GB, GTX1070, 2x1TB SX8200Pro RAID0, 2x5TB 2.5" HDD RAID0, Athena 500W Flex (Noctua fan), Custom 4.7l 3D printed case

 

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