[hidaven]

If one were to get the soloist and a better DAC would that solve the problem or is the weak link the USB coming out of the Burson products?
Also, if it indeed is the USB out on the Conductor, does Burson make an amp with better USM implementation?

 

[kkcc]

Try check out audio-gd products on various HF threads.  Their USB32 async USB implementation is really good and they dac/amp punches above their price level.  I got a NFB28 lately and like it better than the 160D or the v200/v800 combo.  

 

[mowglycdb]

Has anyone noticed that the 1 to 2 month wait message for the LCD-3 is no longer visible in the Audeze site?

 

[citraian]

Audio-GD have the same problems on their Tenor based DACs. Sometimes even worse.
The DAC in the Conductor is not bad. Is great actually. It's just the USB part that suffers due to some issues on some configurations. But they're working on it.
As for coaxial being better than usb... This is valid for 95% of the DACs out there (those that don't have a femto clock)

 

[Girls Generation]

Blanket statement.
Quote:

As for coaxial being better than usb... This is valid for 95% of the DACs out there (those that don't have a femto clock)

 

[Solude]

Let's not confuse coax input with spdif transport performance.  The DAC isn't the performer when using a coax input, the transport is.  When using USB, the DAC is the transport to itself.

 

[hidaven]

OK, so do these manufactures offer products without this garbage Tenor USB??

 

[citraian]

Blanket statement.

Not sure what you mean by this

Let's not confuse coax input with spdif transport performance.  The DAC isn't the performer when using a coax input, the transport is.  When using USB, the DAC is the transport to itself.

The DAC is still the performer when using COAX (it still transforms digital to analog). However it uses the transport's clock as opposed to USB and here you are right.
Even so, Coaxial is the better option in most cases when compared to USB and Toslink. At least from my experience...

 

[citraian]

OK, so do these manufactures offer products without this garbage Tenor USB??

It's not garbage, it's a good chip that has some driver issues. This is pretty common in the DAC world. I had DACS that didn't use Tenor and that also had issues.

 

[Tony1110]

I agree that USB is often the weak link in a lot of otherwise great DACs. Many people will argue that a great interface will improve the performance of DACs costing an awful lot more than what we're discussing here. They're a good option for those of us who already have a great DAC but don't want to spend five times the money to upgrade just because of poor USB chips and bug-ridden software. I didn't pay $1000 for my Audiophilleo but if I had done I'd have gone with the AP2 with Pure Power rather than AP1 without it.

 

[Girls Generation]

I would've too but there was no such thing as a PP at the time.
Quote:

I agree that USB is often the weak link in a lot of otherwise great DACs. Many people will argue that a great interface will improve the performance of DACs costing an awful lot more than what we're discussing here. They're a good option for those of us who already have a great DAC but don't want to spend five times the money to upgrade just because of poor USB chips and bug-ridden software. I didn't pay $1000 for my Audiophilleo but if I had done I'd have gone with the AP2 with Pure Power rather than AP1 without it.

 

[Tony1110]

Let's not confuse coax input with spdif transport performance.  The DAC isn't the performer when using a coax input, the transport is.  When using USB, the DAC is the transport to itself.

The transport is just digital to digital. The DAC is still the performer. A good transport simply gives the DAC the opportunity to perform at its best.

 

[Tony1110]

I would've too but there was no such thing as a PP at the time.

The big digital face looks cool though

 

[Girls Generation]

It's also a pre amp so it's still worth it since I'm now into speakers and power amps.
Quote:

The big digital face looks cool though

 

[Solude]

Quote:

The transport is just digital to digital. The DAC is still the performer. A good transport simply gives the DAC the opportunity to perform at its best.

 
You guys are missing the point.  Let me try again.  When using the DAC's USB input jitter is dependent on the module.  When using the DAC's SPDIF input jitter is dependent on the transport.  Good transports have good jitter numbers.  Pro tip... most transports are terrible compared to stock USB modules.  A good CD transport is generally $1500+.  Quite a few stand alone usb>spdif converter are however quite good and much less.  Metrum, Audio-GD, W4S and PS all have great stock USB modules.