[IPodPJ]

I believe pins 1 and 4 are the shield, pin 2 is hot and pin 3 is neutral.

 

[FauDrei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigzStudio /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
pin 1:  Black (shared/foil shielding)
pin 2:  Red 
pin 3:  White 
pin 4:  Black (shared/foil shielding)
 
The black cable is actually completely stripped and weaved as the shield, wrapped around the entire length of the cable.  So I am assuming the White is a ground?  Ideas?  Anyone make their own ACSS cable?

Yeah, me too... I'm thinking double litz silver in teflon tubes with fifth conductor wrapped around a'la A-GD style... we'll see.
 
As for pinout:
 
pin 1 & 4: ground/shield
pin 2: signal
pin 3: inverted signal

 

[TigzStudio]

Thanks for the info guys

 

[Currawong]

Jesse: Go into Applications → Utilities and open up Audio Midi Set-up.  You should be able to set the output to 24/96 when the Ref 5 is connected via USB.  I don't think there will be much difference between USB and optical though. Kingwa reckons the newer 24/96 is a little better than the old one though.

 

[realmassy]

So, finally I got the Halide Bridge USB SPDIF converter, and now the Ref.5 really sings!!
The difference is HUGE, I wasn't expecting at all, it's like having upgraded the dac again I don't know how good are the other converters (musiland, hiface etc etc) but the Bridge is very very good, though it costs half of the Ref5 :-O

 

[DaveBSC]

The Hiface is a giant killer considering it costs as little as $150. Asynchronous mode and separate clocks for 44.1 and 48 make all the difference. It's going to get harder and harder for companies to justify charging 3X that amount for the old 24/96 limited TI chips that sound like crap in comparison.

 

[realmassy]

Yeah, i think the hiface will sound as good as the bridge, i'll test in a few weeks. But I don't like the fact the hiface uses some proprietary drivers. And they are going to release the new Evo but there's no trace of Linux drivers. To me that is not very professional. Also if you think you still need good coax cable you'll realize there's no much difference in price with the Bridge.

 

[DaveBSC]

I don't think the custom drivers can be avoided for these asynch converters that aren't using off the shelf chips. There is a Hiface competitor called the Audiophilleo that is Linux compatible and can be directly connected to a DAC via a BNC-BNC adapter.

 

[noinimod]

Quote:

I don't think the custom drivers can be avoided for these asynch converters that aren't using off the shelf chips. There is a Hiface competitor called the Audiophilleo that is Linux compatible and can be directly connected to a DAC via a BNC-BNC adapter.

the Audiophilleo's something like, USD 895? I could get both the hiface AND halide for the money lol.
 

 

[realmassy]

Quote:

I don't think the custom drivers can be avoided for these asynch converters that aren't using off the shelf chips. There is a Hiface competitor called the Audiophilleo that is Linux compatible and can be directly connected to a DAC via a BNC-BNC adapter.

The Halide uses an asynch protocol but doesn't need custom drivers.
From the website:

Quote:

The Bridge is build upon the solid foundation of the sophisticated USB audio receiver code, Streamlength™, by Wavelength Audio. Streamlength™ allows the extremely low phase noise clocks inside the Bridge to run as the master audio clock, resulting extraordinarily low jitter output

As far as I know is the only product below $1000 using the StreamLength protocol, and the cost of the Bridge is mainly due to the license of the code.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

the Audiophilleo's something like, USD 895? I could get both the hiface AND halide for the money lol.
 

Thats if you get the fancy version with the 12V trigger, remote, LCD screen, bit perfect tester, etc. The scaled down version that's just a USB to S/Pdif converter and nothing else is $495. Still a lot, but slightly more reasonable.

 

[DaveBSC]

 
Quote:

The Halide uses an asynch protocol but doesn't need custom drivers.
From the website:

As far as I know is the only product below $1000 using the StreamLength protocol, and the cost of the Bridge is mainly due to the license of the code.

It may not need custom drivers, but you're also SOL if you want to play a 176.4 or 192 file. I think all of the 192 capable asynch converters use custom code, and thus custom drivers. The Hiface has also been modified to run (mostly) on battery power, which puts it in a different league from everything else out there.
 

 

[noinimod]

Quote:

The Halide uses an asynch protocol but doesn't need custom drivers.
From the website:

As far as I know is the only product below $1000 using the StreamLength protocol, and the cost of the Bridge is mainly due to the license of the code.

There's also the ART Legato, which is not talked about much in this forum, and it uses the same async wavelength tech. I'm looking at getting one myself, actually. And there are actually measurements. Yes, measurements, for this spdif converter. The designer, Pat, is good buddies with charles hansen and gordon rankin (if that means anything at all) and the Legato does seem to have sound engineering behind it.
 
http://www.analogresearch-technology.net/LEGATO.html
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=gbb7mg2ql5a4k4tt4ia736da0iut4fr0&topic=67762.20

 

 

[realmassy]

Yes! You're right noinimod, and the legato is well regarded on the computer audiophile forum. Too bad has no support for hi-res.
Please keep us updated if you're going to try that.

 

[DaveBSC]

"In order to avoid costly compromises needed to accommodate multiple sampling rates the Legato operates only at 44.1 kHz."
 
I'm sorry, but that's a really weak argument. What, they couldn't spend $10 for a second 48kHz clock? And even with only one, why can't it operate at 88.2 or 176.4? That doesn't seem like sound engineering to me at all. If you can't even get it to play high-rez files without "compromise", what good is it?