[Mad Max]

10th ed is probably better in terms of sound quality, knowing Kingwa.
- It has more internal shielding of various sections, and the usual discrete topology according to the website.
- 10th ed also has far better USB input circuitry, MkIV's PCM2706 USB receiver is sound-quality-crippling rubbish but at least it has great SPDIF input (DIR9001 chip) so an XMOS-based USB-to-SPDIF converter can bring out DAC19's awesomeness when switching to a USB source for your music.
- No muting of the source to maximize sound quality, if a source switches its SPDIF output off when music stops, this will cause DAC19 to output a click sound, apparently.  Does anything even do this?

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

10th ed is probably better in terms of sound quality, knowing Kingwa.
It has more internal shielding of various sections, and the usual discrete topology according to the website.
10th ed also has far better USB input circuitry, MkIV's PCM2706 USB receiver is sound-quality-crippling rubbish but at least it has great SPDIF input (DIR9001 chip) so an XMOS-based USB-to-SPDIF converter can bring out DAC19's awesomeness when switching to a USB source for your music.
No muting of the source to maximize sound quality, if a source switches its SPDIF output off when music stops, this will cause DAC19 to output a click sound, apparently.  Does anything even do this?

First of all thank you for taking the time to get back to this.... So if one were to get one from this year it would be a smart investment to get the usb to spdif converter? Or is there any better way to go to the computer then this?

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

Also I am trying to understand again when it would make the click sound. You mean when the song finishes, or literally any time the music in the song pauses?

 

[Mad Max]

Also I am trying to understand again when it would make the click sound. You mean when the song finishes, or literally any time the music in the song pauses?

 
Good question.
 
This thread is not about the current DAC19, the current one doesn't need a USB-to-SPDIF converter for PC source.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

I have the DAC 19 hooked up the the C-2 amp connected by ACSS cables and using the USB portion.  I feel like its a very black background and it sounds pretty dang good. BUT i don't know what i am missing by using the Coax or optical portion. When trying to do research on it i see that user Slim.a writes about the usb portion of the DAC 19....
 
"The usb input is just an afterthought (in my opinion) and uses off the shelf PCM270x chips. It is limited to 16/48 and there is nothing earth shattering about it.

Until asynchronous usb chips become widely available those usb inputs can be considered (in my experience) as temporary means of connection. For the best sonic performance it is advised to use the optical or the coaxial input. A good spdif connection (whether optical or coaxial) can galvanically isolate the computer from the DAC. Most usb connections do not provide any galvanic isolation which can cause noise pick-up problems at the dac level."
 
So what is slim.a referring to when it comes to the PCM270x chips being used? When i run it through usb, am i not using the burr brown chip? 
 
anyone to help shed light on what they know on this topic will be helpful... Mad Max has been helpful but i dont want to keep bothering him ha.