[cbbw]

Just trying to think of ways to get a quality flow of 1's and 0's to a DAC.

As the computer seems to be the storage for music, how do we cleanly get the digital signal to a DAC. The computer to USB to DAC seems to be convenient but flawed. Why are there no reasonably priced iPod type devices (utilizing flash drive storage) that can retrieve music from the computer and then output a pure digital signal? Device X could plug into the DAC directly, via a retractable USB or Firewire connector, thus eliminating the computer and the USB cable.

Started thinking about this as a move to SSD seems inevitable and reduces one source of "noise". I thought about a flash drive directly into a DAC but the flash drive would have to have a way to manage what is played. Otherwise the flash device would be as they are now and the DAC would have to have a small program/display to manage and play the files. The flash drive would not hold a ton of music in a quality format but 15-30 albums loaded from your computer could be acceptable.

Any other ideas out there?

 

[plonter]

I think that there should be flash drivers out there with a digital output and enough HD space. maybe the Irivers?

if you want something quiter than the computer you can do what i did and get a not expensive cd player or dvd player that will transfer your digital 1's and 0's like a charm.

the more (much more) expensive solution (and probably the best sounding)
is the WADIA i170 transport for the ipod.

but if you are low on budget go for the second option. i use a cheap dvd player as a transport and it works great. just get a fine dac and you are set.

don't worry too much about jitter though. the jitter issue is too much frustrating,just Concentrate on the music and not the jitter. get a good digital cable and a good reclocking dac and the jitter will probably won't be a problem.

 

[El_Doug]

indeed, it sounds like what you are describing is nothing more than an iRiver hp-120/140 flash modded

 

[iriverdude]

What exactly is a "pure digital signal?"

As for low jitter apparently Squeezebox has 10 times less than the typical CD player. As to using a iriver H140 as player, sure I have one but only 40GB, no remote control, can't read from more than 2' away

 

[cbbw]

I have read conflicting info on the Wadia as to whether it bypasses the internal DAC and the analogue sections. Seems like this unit should be a DAC itself though.

The iRiver units seem interesting but has more features than needed and has an actual HDD instead of using flash storage. I think they also need a cable to output digitally. Would like USB digital out I suppose.

What exactly is a "pure digital signal?"

Output that bypasses a built in DAC or analogue section.

This "thought" was to be a desktop solution and one that would avoid the issues associated with the computer and USB cable in the audio chain. Move to SSD in the computers, so why not look at plugging in a flash drive directly to a DAC?

Think I am envisioning something that does not exist yet and would have limited appeal as it's sole purpose is to deliver high quality sound.

Maybe this belongs in the DIY section.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[El_Doug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbw /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would like USB digital out I suppose.

so basically a computer? this is confusing, since later you said you wanted to avoid usb

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbw /img/forum/go_quote.gif Output that bypasses a built in DAC or analogue section.

this is what usb does, as well as every form of spdif. heck, you can do this with a PC and sound card with digital-out, if you wanted to avoid usb.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbw /img/forum/go_quote.gif This "thought" was to be a desktop solution and one that would avoid the issues associated with the computer

so you want a larger-chassis iRiver instead of a small one? hence it would be a desktop unit and not a portable unit?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbw /img/forum/go_quote.gif why not look at plugging in a flash drive directly to a DAC?

again, this is precisely what a flash-modded iRiver does.



edit: Help me understand what your vision is! Do you want USB or not? Do you want a computer or not? Surely something has to decode and play the music, thus you need either a computer or iriver to perform this function from flash?

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

Output that bypasses a built in DAC or analogue section.

erm that is exactly what all digital outputs do.

Quote:

also need a cable to output digitally.

And digital transport needs a cable from a source to the DAC. On a computer this is via the PCI bus, for audio components either coaxial or optical (BNC, RCA, AEU/EBU for electrical)

Why should SSD versus hard drive versus streaming be any different?

 

[KingStyles]

Use a ipod touch with a wadia 170. You get the solid state drive and the wadia does bypass the internal analog and dac of the ipod. It is the other brands od ipod docs that dont bypass it. Even the modded ipods still use the internal dac but they have the benefit of bypassing the ipod output circuit.

 

[El_Doug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingStyles /img/forum/go_quote.gif Use a ipod touch with a wadia 170. You get the solid state drive and the wadia does bypass the internal analog and dac of the ipod. It is the other brands od ipod docs that dont bypass it. Even the modded ipods still use the internal dac but they have the benefit of bypassing the ipod output circuit.

and yet he said the flash-modded iRiver was not what he was talking about, so I somehow doubt the Wadia will fit his under-described needs either

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

Use a ipod touch with a wadia 170

No. Use something like a Popcorn Hour, controlled from a PDA, with DAP like interface. Bonus of all codec support, plus 3.5" sized capacity.

 

[KingStyles]

Quote:

and yet he said the flash-modded iRiver was not what he was talking about, so I somehow doubt the Wadia will fit his under-described needs either

Probably so, just throwing it out there, you never known if it might trigger a different thought on what he needs.

 

[plonter]

for the op,maybe consider to use your computer as a transport. you can read (and ask) in the "computer as source" forum on how to get a "bit perfect" digital stream from the computer and you can have a very nice setup.
when you think of it, the computer is better than any dap out there, regarding storage space and codec support. think about it, it will also save you some money.

 

[cbbw]

I think USB would make the most sense as it is so prevalent. Not trying to avoid USB, trying to eliminate the USB wire.
Less there to create issues. No computer, no USB cable and no spinning disc.

This was brought up to see if such a product exists or to create a discussion as to an ideal path to get a WAV to a good quality DAC.

 

[iriverdude]

You think wrong. Why on earth do you think a spinnning disc is bad? The data on it is not corrupted, and it can easily retreive the data fast enough. As for USB protocol it has high latncy, the best system from a transport to a DAC would be some kind of system bus like a computer.

 

[cat6man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif No. Use something like a Popcorn Hour, controlled from a PDA, with DAP like interface. Bonus of all codec support, plus 3.5" sized capacity.

problem there is that sigma based chips in PCH can't do gapless playback........they insert a measureable gap between every 'file' they play