Quote:
Originally Posted by vagarach /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Does firewire have an advantage over USB for jitter? I vaguely recall some EE on here getting all hot and bothered about how USB was the devil when it comes to sending info to a DAC.
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The responsibility for using the data lies solely with the DAC, which means that, as long as the audio data that is being sent to the DAC is error-free (and the protocol being used can keep up with the minimum required rate, which is trivial for audio data), the protocol (and associated hardware) ARE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT.
Now, some DACs have decided to rely entirely upon the timing by which the associated data arrives (whether it be by USB, Firewire, ethernet, I2S, or the U.S. Postal Service). This is a mistake, because computers have difficulty feeding data to an external source at a PRECISE rate (especially when they are doing a bunch of other things, e.g. running an operating system like MacOS or Windows, an internet browser, some fancy UI for the audio player that is being used for audio playback, etc.).
Short answer: a USB DAC that deals with incoming jitter (or, even better, uses an asynchronous method wherein it asks for untimed data) should sound great, regardless of what transfer method is employed.