Best USB to SPDIF transport out there?

[sk007]

I need such a simple but high quality transport to feed signals to my various DAC's, so that I can listen to music tracks on my computer. don't need many features, just USB in and Coaxial out connection-wise, and be able to handle 24bit/192khz and support ASIO, or kernal streaming.

I know there are some high-quality DACs now have USB inputs, like the DAC1 USB, and bel canto DAC3, but they give me less flexibility in terms of choosing a specific DAC and listen to music on my computer, because many nice sounding DACs doesn't have any usb input. also, as the owner manual on DAC3 states that DAC3 doesnt support 24bit/192khz over usb and suggests that a standalone sound card of high quality with digital output to DAC3 is still preferred over USB to DAC3 in terms of computer based audio listening. so before I go with the standalone sound card route, is there any simple usb transports out there that has good performance, well, at least say, USB ->transport -> DAC on par with USB -> DAC，whereas this DAC could be Benchmark DAC1 USB or the bel canto DAC3

any input would be appreciated.

 

[cconnaker]

This one from Empirical Audio is about as good as you will get for now. Offramp

You won't find a single USB anything that supports 24/192. I wish this was available, but for now you'll need FireWire to support the higher resolutions. Weiss Engineering just released the Vesta that converts FireWire to SPDIF.

 

[monolith]

I'm not sure how much you're looking to spend, but if I had the money right now I'd get the Blue Circle Audio USB Thingee, which seems like a good deal at about $150.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

For budget minded M-Audio Transit with up to 24/96 support is hard to beat.
Benchmark DAC1 supports 24/96 directly from USB.
Trends UD-10 seems like a solid option but supports only 16/48 afaik, it's based on PCM2704, same chip Stello DA100/220MK2 uses for USB receiver, you can just get Stello and not to worry about converter box, most of the times Redbook is all you need.

 

[drlee27]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any experiences with Empirical Audio's expensive offerings? Do they bring about audible or significant improvements?

 

[cconnaker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drlee27 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does anyone have any experiences with Empirical Audio's expensive offerings? Do they bring about audible or significant improvements?

I've listened to several of the Empirical offerings and I can tell you they are worth every penny in my opinion. As far as significant improvement goes, that depends on your current system. If you're running a $30,000 Naim 555 CD player, then you may not see a significant improvement.

Steve Nugent designs some really great products for Empirical Audio and also does consulting and designing of DACs in other products for other manufacturers. He knows his stuff.

 

[sk007]

wow, im looking at their website right now, and do they have some interesting products, and awesome too according to the reviews

Quote:

Originally Posted by cconnaker /img/forum/go_quote.gif This one from Empirical Audio is about as good as you will get for now. Offramp You won't find a single USB anything that supports 24/192. I wish this was available, but for now you'll need FireWire to support the higher resolutions. Weiss Engineering just released the Vesta that converts FireWire to SPDIF.

 

[sk007]

I think i've come across a FS post here for a Red Wine Audio USB Select which is basically a modded M-Audio Transit, but it goes for $300+, so does anyone have any experience with it?