S/PDIF or 3.5mm to RCA as Cable?

[Stavari]

I bought a new pc recently with an Asus Maximus VI Hero Motherboard. This motherboard has an awesome (for onboard) soundcard and i want to get the best out of it.

The way my audio currently reaches my speakers is with a 3.5mm Mini Jack (mobo) to RCA on a Hi-Fi system.

I recently realised that my motherboard has a S/PDIF Output and my Hi-Fi a S/PDIF Input.

My question is simple... If a Buy a S/PDIF cable will i be able to hear any difference?

 

[nukemaster]

This will vary from person to person(may even be a bit of placebo effect).

With SPDIF the signal will be digital and then converted at the speakers to analog, while with 3.5 it is digital and then converted to analog at the sound card(the cable being the weakest link).

If you had optical, it works well because it can eliminate any chance of a round loop(would cause a low buzz on most systems if you had one).

 

[americanaudiophile]

Digital connection will probably be better. Depends on the digital to analog converters in the hifi.

 

[Stavari]

This will vary from person to person(may even be a bit of placebo effect).

With SPDIF the signal will be digital and then converted at the speakers to analog, while with 3.5 it is digital and then converted to analog at the sound card(the cable being the weakest link).

If you had optical, it works well because it can eliminate any chance of a round loop(would cause a low buzz on most systems if you had one).

Ok i decided to stick to the RCA cable. I get no buzz at all currently, also i dont have the best Hi-Fi available (its pretty old) so i dont trust it to do the digital to analog conversion. Thank you very much!