I have ATI Radeon HD 4850 with HDMI 7.1, but I setup my computer to use 2 channels stereo and 16/44.1 bit rate for the optimal sound as advised by one of the guru’s from this site, and it does sound as CD sounds. But then do I need a high end audio card in my computer?
I am looking into very small PC by Asus or all in one touch screen computer from Samsung; both have built in HDMI port, Will I still be able to get the same quality of sound from these small PC’s?
On the other hand, I am also considering ASUS Xonar Essence STX 2 Channel PCIe Audio Sound Card.
I am not interested in playing movies or games. Just music. I have Kerll Power amp and Arcam Pre connected to this computer.
Please advise
To the highlighted part: no, I'm quite sure you won't achieve the same audio quality with a small PC. A dedicated (HT)PC with a powerful (and silent) PSU to my mind and ears is the way to go. It certainly makes a difference.
If you're into 2-channel music only: with such a good poweramp I'd indeed consider upgrading your soundcard to a, say, Lynx L22 and, very importantly - if you have no strict need for it, get rid of your Arcam preamp; output from the Lynx L22 analogue out with a dedicated interconnect cable(not the one the comes with the Lynx soundcard) straight into your Krell poweramp. Then, use JRiver's internal volume control.
Or, simply start out trying with your ASUS soundcard, outputting from the analogue out directly into your poweramp the same way as described with the Lynx soundcard. If you choose this option it's very important you make sure the JRiver volume control isn't bypassed(i.e. set to max/full output); instead leave the Lynx(or ASUS) soundcard's volume control at max and, again, use JRiver's internal volume control.
For a few years I used my 2-channel audio setup this way with an RME HDSP 9632 soundcard, but now it functions as an S/PDIF digital output (via AES/EBU) to a NuForce DAC-9.