All the DACs money can buy, pt. 2
Jun 11, 2008 at 7:11 AM Post #46 of 198
List updated.
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I might make a separate page using a database and some sorting features. We'll see...
 
Jun 12, 2008 at 2:16 PM Post #50 of 198
It would also be useful to note which isochronous mode USB DACs operate in (or if they use some other mode such as bulk mode - that typically requires driver installation rather than using the generic USB audio drivers in most OSes). For isochronous, adaptive mode is relatively common, IIRC there's another mode that's worse, and asynchronous mode is better as the DAC controls the data flow rate reducing jitter (or so I have read).
 
Jun 12, 2008 at 10:11 PM Post #52 of 198
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It would also be useful to note which isochronous mode USB DACs operate in (or if they use some other mode such as bulk mode - that typically requires driver installation rather than using the generic USB audio drivers in most OSes). For isochronous, adaptive mode is relatively common, IIRC there's another mode that's worse, and asynchronous mode is better as the DAC controls the data flow rate reducing jitter (or so I have read).


Maybe, but that information can be hard to come by, and I'd want some sort of proof or confirmation from the manufacturer. It seems that more and more of the higher-end USB DACs are using ASRC by default, and you could probably discover most of them by searching for which ones use upsampling.
 
Jun 13, 2008 at 12:06 AM Post #53 of 198
Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Maybe, but that information can be hard to come by, and I'd want some sort of proof or confirmation from the manufacturer. It seems that more and more of the higher-end USB DACs are using ASRC by default, and you could probably discover most of them by searching for which ones use upsampling.


The ones that do asynchronous isochronous mode - at least at the moment - are advertising that fact because it's meant to be much better for overall jitter, so that shouldn't be too hard to find (Cosecant have one, Wavelength have one, Three-Two have one, there may be others.)

As I understand it ASRC requires upsampling (in most cases), but upsampling need not imply ASRC. An ASRC field would be useful too - and again, that's a feature that manufacturers are keen to advertise.
 
Jun 13, 2008 at 12:18 AM Post #54 of 198
True, but there are also a lot of DAC sheets that say 'jitter-reduction technology' and leave it at that. There are some that do explicitly mention ASRC, like the ones you mentioned, and the Lavry DACs and Benchmark DAC1, but sometimes it's not clear what sort of efforts a manufacturer has made to reduce jitter. But it's definitely something to think about adding in the future.
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Question... Does asynchronous isochronous mode only apply to USB devices, or is it directly related to ASRC?
 
Jun 13, 2008 at 10:56 AM Post #55 of 198
Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Question... Does asynchronous isochronous mode only apply to USB devices, or is it directly related to ASRC?


"Isochronous" applies to USB only - it means (roughly speaking) that there's a fixed reserved bandwidth between the two USB endpoints, so theoretically data packets are sent at (approximately) evenly spaced time intervals. Asynchronous mode is one of the isochronous modes, as is adaptive mode and some other mode I can't recall right now.

Some USB devices don't use isochronous mode - they may use bulk mode, which (I think) usually means they have to use their own drivers, and thus may not work at all for OSes without appropriate drivers.
 
Jun 13, 2008 at 5:13 PM Post #56 of 198
Jun 14, 2008 at 3:04 AM Post #57 of 198
Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif
True, but there are also a lot of DAC sheets that say 'jitter-reduction technology' and leave it at that.


Which - if that's all they tell you - is marketing bamboozle-speak. You don't know what they're doing and you have no way to find out if it's any good - unless you audition it somehow.

I wouldn't mind the DAC list showing something like "manufacturer claims unspecified jitter-reduction technology" if that's all that's known, but more details where possible would be better still.
 
Jun 30, 2008 at 4:46 AM Post #60 of 198
It looks to me the expensive dac uses the PCM 1704U-K. Is this the better dAC ?

Also I notice NOS are good for warm vocal sound, but lacks dynamics. Is this true?
 
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