The subject says it all. Does such a card exist? I've seen a few mentioned as being bit perfect by some people only to see others say its not the case. It also needs to be usb or battery powered. In case you care, this will be feeding my Ack dAck while I'm on the bus
I don't know of any such device that's USB or battery powered. You'll probably end up having to get one of the devices that has an optical out and an optical to coax converter.
Thanks for the quick reply Wodgy! Which devices meet the requirements, but only output toslink? I have a Monarchy SuperDIP to convert from toslink, but its not battery powered and, as it doesnt have a wallwart, its hard to guess whether it could be made battery powered. What converter would you recommend for portable use?
Alternatively, is there a non-usb/battery powered one that I might be able to rig up with a battery pack? I'm not too worried about size, weight or battery life (as long as its at least 2 hours).
If you're using Windows, the M-Audio Sonica (no longer for sale) and M-Audio Transit are known to be good. There may be others.
I'd head over to PartsExpress and pick up one of their converters. They come with a wall wart but it's a low DC voltage, so you can substitute it with a battery pack with a little work if you pick up the right connector at Radio Shack.
In that case, try the Edirol UA-1X (not the UA-1D). No one has tested it yet, but according to the Japanese Edirol support pages, it can output a 44.1kHz stream. With Linux that's all you need; there is no kMixer that can foul things up if it's not bypassed. The UA-1X doesn't require a driver so it should work with the Linux kernel USB audio implementation (however, buy from a store with a return policy, just in case).
I had an email exchange with an Edirol rep who says that all their products resample. Getting the point across that I really wanted bit-perfect was like pulling teeth, and I'm not sure that she really knew what she was talking about, but I had scratched them off my list
Was this recently? The UA-1X is a just-released product. The Edirol UA-1D did resample (that's why I said not the UA-1D in my earlier post). You can use Babelfish to browse their Japanese support site -- go to the FAQ. The answers there indicate that the UA-1X doesn't.
Ego-Sys has several ASIO capable USB devices. I have an older one, the Waveterminal U2A. ASIO output is slower to start and seek compared to the PCI ASIO soundcard, and its digital output doesn't sound as good. I just have it slaved to the optical and coax output on the computer. You'll pay around $200-$250 for a similar device. If you're going to be on a bus anyway, perhaps it's not that important to fuss about the bit accuracy issue.
It was at the end of may and I specifically inquired about the UA-1X. Heres a quote from her last email: "Again, no Edirol audio interface has a bit for bit transfer of data."
Originally Posted by Adriel If you're going to be on a bus anyway, perhaps it's not that important to fuss about the bit accuracy issue.
Home, office or bus, whats the difference? I can't hear anything but the music with my ER-4s in, so background noise isn't an issue. I'm dropping $550 on a DAC... I am @#%* well going to fuss about bit accuracy
Originally Posted by momerath Home, office or bus, whats the difference? I can't hear anything but the music with my ER-4s in, so background noise isn't an issue. I'm dropping $550 on a DAC... I am @#%* well going to fuss about bit accuracy
I like your attitude! I'm of the same mindset.
You may want to look into the Ego-Sys devices Adriel mentioned; I have no information about them. Another unknown is the AudioTrak Optoplay option. Personally, I'm still inclined to think the UA-1X may work for you. (There are a lot of misinformed tech support people, and while it may be impossible to bypass kMixer on Windows, as long as the card supports 44.1kHz this shouldn't be an issue under Linux. I doubt the support people have any knowledge of Linux.) Otherwise, you should look for a device that uses a chip from either the TI/Burr-Brown PCM270x series or the PCM290x series. Both of these can work at 44.1kHz and are supported by the Linux kernel. You may also want to root around for Sonica or Transit workarounds on Linux. The Transit is apparently capable of using the standard USB audio drivers on Mac OS X instead of the M-Audio drivers as long as a separate program first loads the firmware. Perhaps there's a similar workaround on Linux. If you're into DIY you could also build a simple interface device using one of the PCM270x chips.
I used to have an OPTOPlay, and the DAC was so-so, better sounding than an Audigy2 but worse off than a DMX 6Fire to my ears. It houses an AK4353 which also outputs TOSLink thru an adaptor - I think this is also the same chip used in the Transit. Should give you similar performance as well, so just go for whichever is cheaper. Driver support in Windows is easy, but I really haven't tried it with Knoppix (which I boot into about once a month or so
) To me, the OPTOPlay is cheap and easy way to get decent sound ...
I have an Edirol UA-3FX which has a switch that allows setting output at
32/44.1/48. It supports the standard USB audio interface, and can be
used with Linux (has a switch for normal or enhanced functionality). It
also has a nice large volume pot on the top (for analog only.
Toslink in & out (no coax)
Line in & out (RCA)
Mic in (powered 1/8)
Guitar/Mic in (1/4)
Headphone out (1/8)
It has a variety of guitar/mic effects which are fun to play with (I play
bass), but nothing to write home 'bout. It has an ADC & a DAC and can
record at 96/24 which is kind of fun. Overally I like it and it sounds good,
but I am getting a Transit for greater portability.
As to whether it is bit perfect at 44.1, I don't know. Any ideas on how to
test?
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