Best computer to DAC set up?

[guitarded]

i always thought something optical or toslink or spdif was better than USB for connecting to a computer due to jitter

is it now better to use USB vs standard audio cables to connect to a dac?

 

[zirgated]

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitarded /img/forum/go_quote.gif i always thought something optical or toslink or spdif was better than USB for connecting to a computer due to jitter is it now better to use USB vs standard audio cables to connect to a dac?

Rarely.

If your transport (be it USB or SPDIF) is jittery, the DAC will get jittery input. It would have to be very jittery to not decode bit perfect data due to that, so provided the DAC uses its internal clock and has a continual source of data (due to buffering), there should not be a problem.

Now, many implementations of both are poor quality. A USB bus's clock should not be relied upon, whereas a high-end transport might be ok; so from that perspective, a good SPDIF source would be able to beat a USB source.

The cable, in both cases, really shouldn't matter.

 

[spacemanspliff]

I would go with spdif over usb personally. I just think spdif is the premier digital source.

 

[jbloudg20]

Somehting like a Esotertic D70 -> Orpheus should do you nicely.

 

[SysteX]

^Oh yes it would!