sound card & usb ?'s....

[drdeath]

i have a sblive card in my comp. i have microsoft speakers that allow a normal wire connection (i think this is called analog)from the speakers directly into the back of the sound card. they also have a usb port that i can plug into the usb plug in my comp. i have 2 questions:

1. which offers better quality/performace - using the back of the sound card or the usb port.

2. if i plug it into the usb port, does it still use the sound card to process the sound info or does it bypass it and make it just a worthless card sitting in my computer?

[LED]

I have mine hooked up to both the sound card and USB. I noticed an increase in Volume this way. If you use just the USB and have no digital hook-up for the CDROM then you can only use digital files. At least that is what happened to me. I'm still playing around with it all.

[AuraEdge]

If you have an SBL, Definitly use analog. When u use the USB port, you dont even need a soundcard, thereby not reven utilizing the SBL (which should have MUCH crisper sound than the USB power connection)