Hello, I'm going to buy these speakers: http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Professional-LSR305-Studio-Monitor/dp/B00DUKP37C
And, they seem to have weird inputs that i have never worked with before. I heard that I would need a "converter" as I only have onboard sound from the Sabretooth Z77 motherboard. However, I was wondering could i get a DAC that is a "converter" as well as being what it is made to be? Could i hit 2 birds with 1 stone here?
Thanks.
Well, they use a standard XLR, which is common among professional audio people, and a standard stereo connector, but it's a 1/4" size, so you'd need an 3.5mm adapter, which are dirt cheap. I'm not sure if the speaker comes with one, butI found one for 44 cents, and is gold-plated, but shipping will kill ya, so may need a fancy cable, and a few other things to justify shipping costs.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10429&cs_id=1042907&p_id=7143&seq=1&format=2
Alternatively, see if you find one on Amazon as an add-on item, so it will ship with your speaker.
What i was wondering is: Is it possible to get a DAC that fills the role of a sound card, converter aswell as a DAC?
Yes, but you linked a speaker, not a DAC.
You would need to goeither optical out of your PC--->DAC or, more commonly, USB--->DAC then DAC--->Amplifier---> speaker
Nut those speakers have an integrated amplifier-- so all you need is the dac and what the above posted mentioned.
Well, DACs with XLR inputs are pretty expensive, at least the ones I found from the quick minute I browsed, hovering around $500. There is something that puts me off about getting a $500 DAC for a $100 speaker for the sake of avoiding getting an adapter. So that rules out the XLR input, which leaves the stereo input. I suppose if you really want to, you can search around for a DAC with native 1/4" stereo out, but I'm assuming those will also cost a pretty penny, especially since the more inexpensive DACs are also aimed to be compact. Personally, I'd much rather get a $100 DAC with a quality 3.5mm adapter, and call it a day.
ASUS Xonar Essence One has Balanced XLR outputs - but you would have to justify the cost they are NOT cheap