Wants opinion: Running Optical from onboard RealTek HD Audio to SDAC Blanced and then to amp?

So I use my SDAC Balanced via the USB, but I also have it connected via the optical from my motherboard (RealTek HD Audio, from an Asus z370-e Strix Gaming). I notice that it takes some of the sharp unpleasant edges off of certain songs and I don’t notice any sort of issues with the buzzing or anything. Is there anything I should be aware of when I run it this way. Its also the only way I can run Dolby Atmos for headphones and DTS-X for headphones (I really like DTS-X for movies).

No, there’s really no issue here. The only hiccup I can see might be is sampling rate compatibility. My ancient motherboard (from ~2011) doesn’t support 88.2KHz sampling rates via optical. If you have a number of files at that sampling rate, they won’t play if you use exclusive mode via optical. Otherwise, you’re good.

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