[Tamirci]

With only $30 difference, I wondered if the cost were ok for an increase in terms of performance (besides the fancy new look + extras)
 
What would you say?
 
02 US
 

1. High speed USB2.0 connection 
   Independent power module provides pure and strong power supply 
   Independent APU MU6010 for 24 bit/192kHz audio processing 
   High quality S/PDIF transmitter 
   Optical toslink & coaxial RCA digital output 
   Stereo RCA, 2x 3.5mm headphone analog output 
   Support 24bit/192kHz digital output
   Specialized ASIO driver - support Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (32/64bit)
   Aluminum alloy chassis for minimum interference
2. Input: USB2.0
3. Digital Output: Coaxial, Toslink (Support PCM/Dolby Digital/DTS)
4. Analogy Output: RCA, 3.5mm x2 (Stereo)
5. Output upsamping rate: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz

 
US Dragon
 
[size=medium]Specifications:[/size]

1. Input: USB2.0 or USB3.0
2. Digital Output: Toslink (Support PCM/Dolby Digital/DTS)
3. Analogy Output: RCA L+R
4. Headphone output 3.5mm, 6.3mm (Stereo)
5. MuLink Digital Output 
6. Output upsamping rate: 44.1KHz, 48KHz, 88.2KHz, 96KHz, 176.4KHz, 192KHz, 352.8KHz, 384KHz
7. Suitable Headphone Impedance    10 ohm---300 ohm

 

[criegels]

Have a 02 Dragon on order, the specs looks great honestly. That PCM5102 looks to essentially be a more integrated PCM1792 with a on-silicon hardware mute and I/V amp circuits. Looks like Musiland have developed their own Xilinx Spartan programming to enable it to operate as a USB transceiver/decoder of i2s data at 32bit/384kHz, i'd prefer to have a dedicated purpose-built chip handling this functionality with a full spec sheet of performance measurements - though there seem to be a very limited few available. Anyway, excited to have a PCM5102 for RCA out and to hear its output amplified through TIs most powerful purpose build headphone amplifier - TPA6120.

 

[jondaeh]

criegels:
 
Have you recieved the 02 Dragon? What are you're impressions? Is the built-in op-amp good enough to drive a decent pair of headphones, or do you recommend an additional amp?

 

[astrallite]

The PCM5102 on the Dragon is listed at 112db SNR while the PCM 1792 has 129db SNR, I'm not sure how they are so similar.

 

[criegels]

the onboard amp is plenty powerful for dynamic headphones. I need a powerful amp for orthodynamic phones.