schaqfu
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
- Posts
- 215
- Likes
- 10
QUESTION: what is the most ironclad bullet-proof way to get absolutely bit-perfect 192Khz / 24-bit S/PDIF output from both my desktop and laptop (playing Apple Lossless files, hopefully some day in 24-bit tracks) to my external HeadRoom DAC? I want zero upsampling/conversion/processing/etc., just pure digital 1s and 0s culled directly from the files.
I just purchased a HeadRoom Desktop Amp with the Home DAC chipset upgrade integrated. I bought it because it's the highest quality DAC I could find and can handle 24-bit/192Khz natively. To my dismay, I now realize that its USB transport can only render 48Khz streams, not 96Khz or 192Khz. Which is common I now see, but it sucks, esp because even USB 1.1 has enough bandwidth to support at least 24/96. But I digress...
I want the HeadRoom DAC itself to do 100% of the processing of the digital stream. The solution I'm looking for -- preferably in an external USB form factor -- will be a tiny, single purpose unit that takes the high bitrate lossless audio file information from iTunes/WMP/Winamp/etc. and produces a bit-perfect S/PDIF stream, preferably over Toslink but Coax okay too. I want to avoid soundcard implementations both because I don't trust them and because I'm honestly quite satisfied with my Creative Extigy for powering speakers and don't want to duplicate it. I strongly prefer a *hardware-only* option that will work with whatever media player software I choose, rather than requiring me to hassle with specific software implementations or plug-ins. I want it off-loaded from my CPU and software-independent. Quick sketch of my criteria:
1) Bit-perfect 24-bit/192Khz S/PDIF output
2) Zero upsampling/conversion/processing/etc.
3) Hardware-only, software-independent; compatible with iTunes/WMP/etc.
4) (preferred) Not a soundcard
5) (preferred) External USB formfactor
6) (preferred) Toslink; but Coax okay; both even better.
Can anyone help? Is there such a device? A tiny USB 2.0-based unit that does one thing and does it really well?
Thanks!
I just purchased a HeadRoom Desktop Amp with the Home DAC chipset upgrade integrated. I bought it because it's the highest quality DAC I could find and can handle 24-bit/192Khz natively. To my dismay, I now realize that its USB transport can only render 48Khz streams, not 96Khz or 192Khz. Which is common I now see, but it sucks, esp because even USB 1.1 has enough bandwidth to support at least 24/96. But I digress...
I want the HeadRoom DAC itself to do 100% of the processing of the digital stream. The solution I'm looking for -- preferably in an external USB form factor -- will be a tiny, single purpose unit that takes the high bitrate lossless audio file information from iTunes/WMP/Winamp/etc. and produces a bit-perfect S/PDIF stream, preferably over Toslink but Coax okay too. I want to avoid soundcard implementations both because I don't trust them and because I'm honestly quite satisfied with my Creative Extigy for powering speakers and don't want to duplicate it. I strongly prefer a *hardware-only* option that will work with whatever media player software I choose, rather than requiring me to hassle with specific software implementations or plug-ins. I want it off-loaded from my CPU and software-independent. Quick sketch of my criteria:
1) Bit-perfect 24-bit/192Khz S/PDIF output
2) Zero upsampling/conversion/processing/etc.
3) Hardware-only, software-independent; compatible with iTunes/WMP/etc.
4) (preferred) Not a soundcard
5) (preferred) External USB formfactor
6) (preferred) Toslink; but Coax okay; both even better.
Can anyone help? Is there such a device? A tiny USB 2.0-based unit that does one thing and does it really well?