[zslipknot]

So I'm using a THX-789 with just the balanced source out of a focusrite scarlett 2i2. Curious if there is even a point of me spending a lot on a source. If anyone has something with balanced out and is willing, I would love to demo. I'd pay shipping and a whatever extra you need. Thanks mucho. If anything some frugal opinions on a source would be nice.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

With what headphones? The chain from end to end matters.

Most of the time when you spend more you get better build quality and more options like filters, MQA, connectivity, remotes, display etc.

USB audio interfaces are good for what they're for but they're not hifi. You can't play DSD or high sample rate PCM through them. A lot depends on what kind of music you want to play.

 

[zslipknot]

With what headphones? The chain from end to end matters.

Most of the time when you spend more you get better build quality and more options like filters, MQA, connectivity, remotes, display etc.

USB audio interfaces are good for what they're for but they're not hifi. You can't play DSD or high sample rate PCM through them. A lot depends on what kind of music you want to play.

Mostly 6xx headphones. I use spotify a lot for the convcience with new songs. Also do a lot of gaming on windows. But I do have a big libary of lossless and DSD tracks and foobar with plugins. I have a xmos decoder, but I use that for my minidsp car PC. Headphones are also balanced along with everything else.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Mostly 6xx headphones. I use spotify a lot for the convcience with new songs. Also do a lot of gaming on windows. But I do have a big libary of lossless and DSD tracks and foobar with plugins. I have a xmos decoder, but I use that for my minidsp car PC. Headphones are also balanced along with everything else.

How are you playing your DSD over foobar with only the Focusrite?

 

[zslipknot]

How are you playing your DSD over foobar with only the Focusrite?

I’m not. I said I have the files because I use it in my car computer via decoder.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

If you want DSD or something better than 24/192 (not that there is much high rate PCM lying around) or you are not happy with the sound of your audio interface through your headphones, get a better source. If not, not.

 

[sajunky]

@zslipknot. You can play DSD files in Foobar with SACD Decoder component either in DSD mode or converted to PCM. On R2R DACs the converted DSD material doesn't sound worse than original DSD.

And if a PCM sample rate is insanely high, SoX (another Foobar component) do resampling to a rate that is supported by your DAC and will be playing without adding a large amount of jitter. Yes, at higher sample rates jitter becomes annoying on many middle range DS conververs, so there is no benefit of increasing sample rate above a certain point.

If playing hi-res files above 196kHz is a goal, then Windoze 10 (or Linux) PC is required. Also remember that a bandwith limit of USB2.0 is 768kHz, probably lower, as USB bandwith is shared amoung all devices on the same root hub. In practice you need USB3.0 port to go above 256 or 512kHz.

If you need details, I think you can ask in this thread.

 

[zslipknot]

@zslipknot. You can play DSD files in Foobar with SACD Decoder component either in DSD mode or converted to PCM. On R2R DACs the converted DSD material doesn't sound worse than original DSD.

And if a PCM sample rate is insanely high, SoX (another Foobar component) do resampling to a rate that is supported by your DAC and will be playing without adding a large amount of jitter. Yes, at higher sample rates jitter becomes annoying on many middle range DS conververs, so there is no benefit of increasing sample rate above a certain point.

If playing hi-res files above 196kHz is a goal, then Windoze 10 (or Linux) PC is required. Also remember that a bandwith limit of USB2.0 is 768kHz, probably lower, as USB bandwith is shared amoung all devices on the same root hub. In practice you need USB3.0 port to go above 256 or 512kHz.

If you need details, I think you can ask in this thread.

Cool thanks, sounds like a good experiment.