"The State of USB Audio" - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Budley007 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-03-2009, 09:10 PM

"The State of USB Audio" - Alan Taffel, The Absolute Sound, 08/2009

Did anyone get a chance to read this article yet?

Taffel pretty much poo-poo'd USB in it's current iteration for audiophile listening. He heralded coax S/PDIF in a desktop system as markedly superior to USB. Lacking coax S/PDIF as standard output in laptops, he pretty much had the same impressions when comparing FireWire, (IEEE 1394), to USB.

I've always considered TAS more "analog fare" than anything else. So this "Digital Edition" surprised me with several articles/reviews concerning digital equipment and technology I find mentioned here at Head-Fi on a regular basis.

Although I reserve judgement concerning their opinions, the entire issue was an interesting read.

Nick 214 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-03-2009, 10:39 PM

Well, what do your believe the state of USB audio is? It is a bottleneck as far as resolution goes. (Just for discussion, as I am interested)

NK

LeonvB · #3 (**permalink**) 07-03-2009, 11:26 PM

Haven't read the article, but as far as USB goes: it's good. Is it flawless? No. Right now we have either synchronous or asynchronous transfer using USB. Synchronous mode is capable of resending data that is corrupted during transfer, but it can't get priority. So you need a big buffer to cope with the delays that can occur. Asynchronous is guaranteed to get priority, but you can't resend data. So neither is ideal for video/audio, as you need the data to arrive in a timely fashion, but most of all correct. Seems we'll have to wait for USB3 to get true bandwidth reservation like that on firewire.

As far as resolution goes: yes, USB is limited. Right now it's "only" 480Mbit/sec, but on the other hand a CD is only 1.2Mbit/sec.

AtomikPi · #4 (**permalink**) 07-03-2009, 11:39 PM

I don't see any reason usb is inferior to optical or coax. In bandwidth and jitter it's at least as good. In listening tests, I don't think there has been any noticeable difference.
Also I think usb has the ability to be improved in the future with better implementations more so than optical/coax because it's computer based.

note: I have not read the article and have no idea what it says.

Bojamijams · #5 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 02:16 AM

I've read a lot that suggest that USB has significantly higher jitter then coax which is lowest.. even optical s-pfdif has less then usb

spacemanspliff · #6 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams

I've read a lot that suggest that USB has significantly higher jitter then coax which is lowest.. even optical s-pfdif has less then usb

Not really. The jitter thing is old hat. Like years ago.

Having listened to I don't even know how many different dacs in usb, coax and optical, I vote for coax. Just feels right. Usb is still pretty dang good. Just not as much life in it to me.

It is still all a matter of opinion and preference though. Subjective to you the ear carrier. lol

gevorg · #7 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 03:18 AM

There is nothing wrong with USB, it can provide high end audiophile sound as long as its properly implemented, and you don't need to go with multi-thousand dollar dacs and "anti-jitter" boxes. Yes, USB interface can be improved but some manufacturers just overhype USB jitter.

dallan · #8 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 03:26 AM

I seem to get fatigue using any computer audio. My next try is coming this week, PSaudio digital link lll with an upgraded clock(Superclock) in the USB section as well as an Ultraclock in the upsampling section. Hopefully the Superclock will help with my issues. I am going to try a/b it with my old system that is an optical fed dac....all other USB inputs that I have tried have been noticeably lower SQ than the optical input fed by the cd player(transport).

Lil' Knight · #9 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 03:27 AM

The article sounds interesting. Is there a link to it?

IPodPJ · #10 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 12:04 PM

I have never heard any implementation of USB that is close to the SQ of coax. Good, sure. Excellent or top tier, no.

GrishamJohn · #11 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 12:11 PM

Did anyone get a chance to read this article yet

Budley007 · #12 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight

The article sounds interesting. Is there a link to it?

Unfortunately, this article is in the current issue of TAS. You'd either have to purchase a copy at the local news stand or buy a single issue PDF, ($4.99), direct from their website. That being said, we probably won't get as much discussion/interest in this thread as I'd hoped.

I will mention that the equipment used is as follows:

desktop PC w/Windows 2000 and soundcard
Windows laptop w/Vista
Mac G4 w/OSX

MediaMonkey (free version)
Foobar2000
iTunes

Benchmark DAC1 Pre
Bryston BDA-1
Audio Research DAC7
Audio Opus 21 stack
Bel Canto USB Link 24/96
Focusrite Saffire (FireWire-to-S/PDIF converter)

stock USB cable (free w/printer)
Belkin Gold Series USB cable ($44.99)
Kimberkable USB cable ($50.00)
Synergistics Tricon USB cable ($550.00) <-this ain't a typo

To Taffel's credit, I felt that his article stayed pretty objective, although I get the feeling he was dissappointed that USB didn't fare better.

Given that TAS typically handles some pretty ultra-expensive stuff on a regular basis, (and mostly analog to boot), I was gratified that Mr. Taffel spent 6 months putting his research together. Was it exhaustive? Hardly. Reasonable? Sure...especially considering the venue.