[TwitchBladE]

Question: 
 
I just set up the matrix mini i via toslink and I cannot get windows or asio to identify the dac.
 
Any suggestions?

 

[nagual]

Set, in Control Panel/Sound, whatever  you are getting s/pdif from, as Main Device, disable all inputs.  Windows will not list the DAC.

 

[TwitchBladE]

I've been using Realtek Digital Output(Optical) as the playback device.
 
Is that the correct one? I have everything disabled in windows "sound" except that one. I get sound, but asio4all cannot identify the dac nor can I see the dac in the device manager. 
 
It does not give me the option to set that device as the "Default Device", which is what I think you mean by "Main Device".

 

[nagual]

Here, windows XP does not "idendify"  asio4all or my dac (Fiio D3).  Asio4all is set as the output in Foobar.

 

[TwitchBladE]

Windows 7 here. 
 
What I mean is in asio4all the dac does not show up as an output option - only realtek does. 
 
In the asio4all explanation guide, the dac shows up as an output option in asio4all. 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/221237/asio4all-explanation

 

[nagual]

Quote:

Windows 7 here. 
 
What I mean is in asio4all the dac does not show up as an output option - only realtek does. 
 
In the asio4all explanation guide, the dac shows up as an output option in asio4all. 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/221237/asio4all-explanation

Yes, but it´s an USB dac.  USB bus provides more rails than just for the audio signal.  Optical cable only carries the "sound", afaik.  What really matters is to get bit-perfect.

 

[kn19h7]

In your case, I think a simple explaination is that just treat the Realtek toslink output as your DAC...

 

[Roseval]

Toslink (SPDIF over optical)is a typical unidirectional protocol. It simply sends data, it doesn’t receive data. A logical consequence is that the PC will never know if there is a DAC connected to the optical or not.
The PC only sees the internal onboard audio hence you will see something like Realtek SPDIF or so.
 
If you connect the DAC with USB, now you have a bi-directional protocol. The DAC will talk back to the PC and you will see something like USB Audio device pop-up in the sound panel.
 
As you are on Win7 and want bit perfect output, try a media player supporting WASAPI.

 

[TwitchBladE]

Quote:

Toslink (SPDIF over optical)is a typical unidirectional protocol. It simply sends data, it doesn’t receive data. A logical consequence is that the PC will never know if there is a DAC connected to the optical or not.
The PC only sees the internal onboard audio hence you will see something like Realtek SPDIF or so.
 
If you connect the DAC with USB, now you have a bi-directional protocol. The DAC will talk back to the PC and you will see something like USB Audio device pop-up in the sound panel.
 
As you are on Win7 and want bit perfect output, try a media player supporting WASAPI.

 
Perfect reply! 
 
Another question though, would there be any benefit to using toslink over usb for this dac? Assuming I used ASIO4ALL for the usb and WASAPI for toslink.
 
I notice if I use ASIO4ALL over usb with the matrix, when playing a 44100Hz file, ASIO4ALL reads that the file is 44100Hz like it should, but the lcd display on the dac reads 48000Hz. Is the dac upsampling 44100Hz to 48000Hz and thus not being bit perfect?

 

[Optimus Praim]

I would also like to know that...

 

[Roseval]

The obvious answer is don’t ask, do!
 
You have 2 different interfaces and it is possible that they do differ sound quality wise.
If you compare see to it that everything is equal. Don’t use different drivers (ASIO4ALL and WASAPI) otherwise you don’t know if the difference is due to the driver or due to the interface.
 
ASIO4ALL is kernel streaming.
I recommend to try WASAPI on both Toslink and USB.
When configured properly this should allow for playing the audio at its native sample rate.
 
Check the specs of the DAC.
Toslink is in general limited to 24/96.
USB depends very much on the implementation in hardware at the side of the DAC
16/48 is very common.
The USB audio class 1 standard allows for 24/96
Modern DACs do 24/192 over USB

 

[TwitchBladE]

Alright, well I've tried WASAPI with both usb and toslink and foobar gives me the following error when trying to play any music files: Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported stream format: 44100 Hz / 16-bit / 2 channels.
 
All of my music is 44100 Hz 16-bit, CD audio. When I play the music through foobar with usb and asio through my dac, asio tells me it's outputting the proper 44100 Hz 16-bit, but the dac will read 48000 Hz. Then, when streaming any other kind of audio on my computer, such as a game or youtube video, the dac will read the proper 44100 Hz.