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How is everyone connecting their Computer to their DAC? - Page 3

post #31 of 42
1/16/13 at 9:27am

PC -> Toslink -> TEAC UD-H01 DAC ->XLR for speakers and RCA to Asgard

 

Pesky EMI and ground loop noise can't follow my music through optical.

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post #32 of 42
1/16/13 at 3:31pm

I connect to my DAC1 via optical. This prevents any kind of ground loop or anything electrically weird (some USB conenctions to DACs I've used would occasionally send a slight buzz noise whenever I would move my PC mouse, for example).   

  

Doing a casual test between optical, usb and coaxial, I never noticed a sound quality difference, but optical seems to prevent any weird electrical anomalies from the PC that could be affecting the end-result sound.

 

Also, 

 

 

 

Quote:
I have been told USB does not have the problems with something called jitter the way SPDIF does

The jitter from an optical cable is higher than USB, sure, but in any decent modern sound system it is still far too small to be heard. Most of the jitter stuff is going to be about the clock in the DAC that is receiving the signal, anyway. If you have a good DAC, it will be able to take a jittery signal and make it totally OK. For example, my DAC1's manual dedicates a whole page describing their clock implementation and how it handles and mitigates jitter. And by mitigate, I really mean mitigate -- it might be better word choice to say eliminate. We're talking levels so low that you'd have to be supernatural (ears and brain akin to an Audio Precision Analyzer) to be concerned by it.  

  

After reading dozens of articles and forum discussions about jitter, I am on the position that jitter is not an issue in a well-setup, modern system, regardless of interconnects used. It is still in the contemporary audiophile vocabulary, though, so you'll still see high-end DACs marketing about how they prevent jitter -- but this kind of stuff is like how HDMI cable manufacturers advertise their methods of data loss prevention - it's almost always just stuff that's built into the standard spec of everything these days, just dressed up with more words to try to make it a selling point of a product.


Edited by Timestretch - 1/16/13 at 4:03pm
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post #33 of 42
1/17/13 at 3:25am
Hi,
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bedlam inside 
 
I don't like being told porkies. Maybe I'll e-mail iFi, see what they say...

 

Okay, so I did e-mail Vince at iFi. He replied quickly.

Here is what he had to say:
 
Quote:
Dear Richard,
 
Thank you for your kind enquiry and your recent purchasing of a set of iFi units.
 
To answer your question:
 
Quote:
"Most USB inputs convert USB to S/PDIF internally anyway. "
 
 
I remember you telling me about how bad SPDIF was. How is this done in my iDac? Are just doing USB to SPDIF?

 

We can confirm that iFi (using licensed technology from AMR) starts off with an Asynchronous USB connection. SPDIF is not used internally, but instead clocks and data are send separately to the dac chip.
 
The iDAC  then adds JitterLess Lite which further reduces the jitter to negligible levels. Suffice to say, the asynchronous USB transmission design in the iDAC is second-to-none in terms of jitter. The iDAC has Jitter so low it cannot be measured!
 
SPDIF is an analogue transmission standard devised for Betamax digital audio transfers!

If you have the time, you may wish to take a look at this: 
 
 
It has only been adopted to carry a digital signal and was never great for the job, just as composite video connections are not good for high quality video.
 
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
 
Best regards
 
Vincent Luke - Markets
ifi-audio.com

 

So iFi does not convert to SPDIF, though bugger me if I understand any of the rest. 

They do seem to say "our gadget is the dogs bollocks and all else is pant's", well, they would, innit?

Cheers Rich
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post #34 of 42
1/20/13 at 1:12am

I have a Meier Audio StageDAC and I connect to it as follows:

 

Sugden CD Player - Coaxial

Mac Pro - Toslink

MacBook Pro - USB

 

All cables used are good quality budget ones, no magical cables are used.

 

I don't think there is any significant differences in the sound quality of the three different ways to connect and in fact I have chosen them for completely practical reasons.

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post #35 of 42
1/20/13 at 10:05pm

I connect my pc through USB with my Antelope Audio Zodiac + DAC. Since I am looking around for upgrading the sound I get through usb, I stumbled up on the well known SOtM USB-card. I was initially looking to buy this card second hand, because it is quit expensive. On my pc I use JPlay to play the music files. It was on their forum that I start reeding raving revieuws about PPAstudio sata and usb-cables. I also saw that they came with a USB card, and states that it is better then the SOtM cards. Because of the good revies of their cables and the low price of the card compared to the SOtM (80 euro's against 300) I thought I will give it a try. So I just ordered the card. Can't wait to try it....

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post #36 of 42
1/21/13 at 12:41am

Dell XPS -> USB -> HiFace -> Coax -> Reference 10.32

Dell XPS -> USB -> Reference 10.32 (TCXO)

 

But prefer the former one, sounds slightly better to my ears.

 

It was the same with Audio GD DAC19MK3 - SPDIF for the best SQ, then USB and Optical.

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post #37 of 42
1/21/13 at 4:30am

The whole USB connection thing is pretty complex. The more I read about it the more complex it gets. Though it shouldn't make any difference, I rigged up my iPad with my Audiophilleo 1 and it sounded different to when I used my computer. Go figure!  There seem to be many ways to implement digital input inside a DAC that, try as we might, what we think will be good or will or wont matter will only really be taking pot-shots at getting the best out of things. It does seem like the USB input of some newer DACs though is far better than the ones of old. 

 

Anyhow, I've gone back to the USB input of my DAC because it IS an attempt by the manufacturer to get the best result possible (using custom firmware with everything switched off but I2S output) and the result is excellent.

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post #38 of 42
1/21/13 at 4:57am

I always use toslink and it's never given me any trouble. It seems faster than USB when switching tracks in Foobar

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post #39 of 42
1/21/13 at 2:05pm

I use an Audioquest Diamond toslink to connect my Wadia transport and Burson Conductor. I heard there were some issues with USB connection for the Conductor but I haven't tested it.

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post #40 of 42
1/21/13 at 2:19pm

USB from computer to X-FI HD for conversion to optical S/PDIF, S/PDIF to pre/pro's DAC.

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post #41 of 42
1/23/13 at 3:25pm

I run a USB cable from both my desktop or my laptop to the gamma-2 DAC without any issues.  No ferrite core on the cable either, just an inexpensive one from Monoprice.

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post #42 of 42
2/10/13 at 1:23am

Mac Mini --> Nordost USB 1m --> Playback Designs MPD-3

 

In a few weeks will try the iUSB, awaiting delivery. Theory being the iUSB cuts out EMI from the mini, let's see how the theory holds up.

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