This new board ticks all the right quality design features for superb low jitter playback via aynchronous I2S USB on a Windows machine.
I think all SPDIF or adaptive designs are inherently compromised so its great to see a product that gets the design right.
Could this be the start of the era where digital finally can rival or even exceed vinyl?
It looks like it would be great feeding a DAC with a Sabre chip,
or how about a 7.1 application?
From the web site :
http://exadevices.com/exaU2I/Specifications.aspx
exaU2I USB to I2S Interface Overview
Multichannel asynchronous USB to I2S audio interface delivering 384 kHz 32bit low-jitter bit-perfect performance
exaU2I USB to I2S Interface is the missing link between a PC and the I2S input of your DAC. exaDevices USB to I2S Interface is designed for use in high-end DIY audio projects aiming to achieve sonic performance that rivals traditional audiophile grade gear.
exaU2I is the first affordable device on the market that makes it possible to stream multichannel 384 kHz and 352.8 kHz DXD audio in full 32 bit resolution from a PC to a DAC with professional mastering quality.
Asynchronous operation is achieved by using fast FPGA control core, 256 kB FIFO memory buffer and proprietary ASIO driver.
Galvanic isolation of the I2S output from the FPGA core and the USB ground virtually eliminates jitter and common noise originated by the PC. Isolation is achieved by using Giant Magnetoresistive (GMR) Digital Isolators. The barrier capacitance between the board circuits and the I2S outputs is 17 pF.
The I2S output is powered by the external DAC power supply and it is completely independent from the USB power supplied to the board.
Two precision quartz oscillators allow very accurate clocking with minimum jitter for the 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz sample rate families.
Two voltage regulators with low-pass filters provide low-noise power to the FPGA core and the two precision quartz oscillators. This further minimizes jitter and noise.
Custom designed ASIO driver provides automatic sampling rate switching and bit-perfect data transfer. The exaU2I USB ASIO driver operates in asynchronous mode and it is completely independent from the Windows sound system
