[KyPeN]

I'm looking for a very simple USB 2.0 device that satisfies 3 simple requirements:
1)  Very basic (preferably generic) drivers
2)  Outputs 44.1khz natively (no resampling of native music files)
3)  Supports SPDIF passthrough of Dolby Digital/DTS audio
 
Basically, it's going to a Kodi machine that plays both movies and music.  The movies are all either in 2.0 48khz audio (in which case, I'd be fine with a resampling stage if necessary) and 5.1 DTS/DD audio and I'd like it to pass that through to the external DAC.  Similarly, the music is all in 16 bit/44.1khz format and I'd like it to pass through to the external DAC without necessitating a resampling stage.  I'm using an old M-Audio Transit right now, but the drivers are SUPER picky, require reset every time the machine comes out of sleep (to move from 24-bit (default) to 16-bit mode), etc.  
 
Does anyone have any suggestions?  I would think this would be a simple requirement.
 
Cheers,
Justin

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I'm looking for a very simple USB 2.0 device that satisfies 3 simple requirements:
1)  Very basic (preferably generic) drivers
2)  Outputs 44.1khz natively (no resampling of native music files)
3)  Supports SPDIF passthrough of Dolby Digital/DTS audio
 
Basically, it's going to a Kodi machine that plays both movies and music.  The movies are all either in 2.0 48khz audio (in which case, I'd be fine with a resampling stage if necessary) and 5.1 DTS/DD audio and I'd like it to pass that through to the external DAC.  Similarly, the music is all in 16 bit/44.1khz format and I'd like it to pass through to the external DAC without necessitating a resampling stage.  I'm using an old M-Audio Transit right now, but the drivers are SUPER picky, require reset every time the machine comes out of sleep (to move from 24-bit (default) to 16-bit mode), etc.  
 
Does anyone have any suggestions?  I would think this would be a simple requirement.
 
Cheers,
Justin

 
I'm confused on what your trying to ask?
You want to send audio to a Kodi machine/
But you also want to send audio to an external DAC?
What exactly is the source, in this setup?
5.1DTS/DD can not normally be sent to an external DAC, as most DACs are usually 2-channel.
Or is this external DAC more then just a DAC?

 

[KyPeN]

I'm just looking for a simple digital transport that supports 44.1khz output and DD/DTS passthrough via optical or coax output.  I don't want to send audio TO a Kodi machine (poor wording on my part), but the device will CONNECT to the Kodi machine, outputting to an outboard DAC via coax or optical.  

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I'm just looking for a simple digital transport that supports 44.1khz output and DD/DTS passthrough via optical or coax output.  I don't want to send audio TO a Kodi machine (poor wording on my part), but the device will CONNECT to the Kodi machine, outputting to an outboard DAC via coax or optical.  

 
The closest thing I can think of, is an Asus Xonar U3, USB sound card.
It can be connected to a USB port on a Windows PC and the U3 can output up to 6-channels (using DDL compression) out it's S/PDIF optical port.
But whatever the device taking in the optical signal, would need to have DDL (Dolby Digital Live) to uncompress the audio signal.
Without the use of DDL, only 2-channel of uncompressed (PCM) audio will pass thru the U3's S/PDIF.
 
DTS-Connect provides the same feature as DDL, but the U3 does not come with any DTS features or software.

 

[KyPeN]

I guess I'm not being as clear as I intended.  I apologize for that.  
 
I don't care about DDL or DTS-Connect.  I'd prefer to just not alter the signal or package it in anyway.  I'd love my workflow to look like the following:

Music:  44.1khz/16-bit MP3/AAC/FLAC -> USB Device -> Outputs 44.1khz/16-bit PCM 2 channel (no DSP) -> Optical/Coax -> Receiver/DAC
Movies:  5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS signal -> USB Device -> SPDIF passthrough (no DSP) -> Optical/Coax -> Receiver captures DD/DTS signal and decodes it
 
If the Xonar provides that and more, all the better.  If not, are there alternatives?  
 
Thanks,
Justin

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I guess I'm not being as clear as I intended.  I apologize for that.  
 
I don't care about DDL or DTS-Connect.  I'd prefer to just not alter the signal or package it in anyway.  I'd love my workflow to look like the following:

Music:  44.1khz/16-bit MP3/AAC/FLAC -> USB Device -> Outputs 44.1khz/16-bit PCM 2 channel (no DSP) -> Optical/Coax -> Receiver/DAC
Movies:  5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS signal -> USB Device -> SPDIF passthrough (no DSP) -> Optical/Coax -> Receiver captures DD/DTS signal and decodes it
 
If the Xonar provides that and more, all the better.  If not, are there alternatives?  
 
Thanks,
Justin

 
So I'm guessing your trying to send music and movie audio from a source (Windows PC?) to the optical input on a receiver (not a Kudi machine)?
 
Can't you just send optical straight from the source and just not use USB?

 

[KyPeN]

   
So I'm guessing your trying to send music and movie audio from a source (Windows PC?) to the optical input on a receiver (not a Kudi machine)?
 
Can't you just send optical straight from the source and just not use USB?

 
Yeah, it's a Windows Kodi machine (Win10 if it matters).  You're assuming the machine has an optical port at all.  It doesn't.  

 

[Roseval]

What you need is a USB to SPDIF converter.
The simple one are limited to 96 kHz and don't come with a driver for windows, they use the native driver instead.
All other properties (resampling, DTS pass-true) is a matter of configuring either in the Windows sound panel or in the media player.
If you are happy with the Transit, maybe this will appeal to you: Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202
Some examples can be found on my website: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/USB_SPDIF.htm

 

[PurpleAngel]

   
Yeah, it's a Windows Kodi machine (Win10 if it matters).  You're assuming the machine has an optical port at all.  It doesn't.  

 
So you running Kodi software on a Win10 PC.
 
Can you add an internal PCI/PCI-E card to it?
$25 (or more) for a sound card with an optical output port.
 
Here is a USB DAC ($24) that also outputs S/PDIF (optical/coaxial).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131451917291?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I guess I'm not being as clear as I intended.  I apologize for that.  
 
I don't care about DDL or DTS-Connect.  I'd prefer to just not alter the signal or package it in anyway.  I'd love my workflow to look like the following:

Music:  44.1khz/16-bit MP3/AAC/FLAC -> USB Device -> Outputs 44.1khz/16-bit PCM 2 channel (no DSP) -> Optical/Coax -> Receiver/DAC
Movies:  5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS signal -> USB Device -> SPDIF passthrough (no DSP) -> Optical/Coax -> Receiver captures DD/DTS signal and decodes it
 
If the Xonar provides that and more, all the better.  If not, are there alternatives?  
 
Thanks,
Justin

 
You can't send 5.1 (6-channel) audio thru any S/PDIF (optical/coaxial) connection unless your using DDL or DTS-Connect.
So without DDL/DTS-Connect you can only send 2-channels of movie audio thru S/PDIF (no 5.1 Dolby Digital or 5.1 DTS).

 

[KyPeN]

Thanks, PurpleAngel.
 
A couple comments:
 
1)  USB is a requirement, hence the title.  No PCI cards, otherwise, this would be much easier.  
2)  That DAC you listed on ebay never doesn't mention capabilities.  I already have 2 USB devices that have optical/coax outputs, but do not support SPDIF passthrough.  A lot of devices automatically resample to 48khz.  I want to avoid that phase and output 44.1khz/16-bit audio, which will be bit-perfect to my external processor.  
3)  To correct your most recent post, you can't send 6 channel PCM through SPDIF.  That's why DDL/DTS-C is required for 6 channel raw audio.  However, if you have already encoded DD/DTS audio streams, those bits can be sent via SPDIF passthrough to an external processor.  I've been doing this for years.  
 

  What you need is a USB to SPDIF converter.
The simple one are limited to 96 kHz and don't come with a driver for windows, they use the native driver instead.
All other properties (resampling, DTS pass-true) is a matter of configuring either in the Windows sound panel or in the media player.
If you are happy with the Transit, maybe this will appeal to you: Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202
Some examples can be found on my website: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/USB_SPDIF.htm

 
Roseval,
 
Thanks.  I've looked at your site before.  I have a Behringer, actually, but have been unsuccessful at making the device perform SPDIF passthrough.  That's why I'm still using my M-Audio Transit, which requires reconfiguring the driver and magic incantations every time the machine reboots or comes out of sleep.
 
Cheers,
Justin

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks, PurpleAngel.
 
A couple comments:
 
1)  USB is a requirement, hence the title.  No PCI cards, otherwise, this would be much easier.  
2)  That DAC you listed on ebay never doesn't mention capabilities.  I already have 2 USB devices that have optical/coax outputs, but do not support SPDIF passthrough.  A lot of devices automatically resample to 48khz.  I want to avoid that phase and output 44.1khz/16-bit audio, which will be bit-perfect to my external processor.  
3)  To correct your most recent post, you can't send 6 channel PCM through SPDIF.  That's why DDL/DTS-C is required for 6 channel raw audio.  However, if you have already encoded DD/DTS audio streams, those bits can be sent via SPDIF passthrough to an external processor.  I've been doing this for years.  
 

 
So by "S/PDIF pass through", assuming you mean bit-streaming.
Bitstreaming audio from a DVD or Blu-ray movie disk (or other?) source, thru optical.

 

[KyPeN]

That's correct, for DD/DTS sources.  If it's 2 channel 44.1khz/16-bit audio, I'd like the device to support outputting that format bit-perfect.  Like I said, the M-Audio transit does both of these, but the drivers are incredibly picky and causing maintenance problems in my home (wife can't use the machine when it comes back from sleep).

 

[PurpleAngel]

  That's correct, for DD/DTS sources.  If it's 2 channel 44.1khz/16-bit audio, I'd like the device to support outputting that format bit-perfect.  Like I said, the M-Audio transit does both of these, but the drivers are incredibly picky and causing maintenance problems in my home (wife can't use the machine when it comes back from sleep).

 
So far everything I read says DDL and DTS-Connect are PC/computer terms used to describe Dolby Digital encoding/decoding and DTS encoding/decoding.
So as far as I can tell what have been sending thru optical (encoded 5.1 DD/DTS) would look the same to your receiver, as if you had used DDL or DTS-Connect to send 5.1 audio, thru optical.
The only way to send 6-channel (5.1) of PCM (un-compressed) digital audio, is to use HDMI.
So if I'm not solving your issue now, guess I never will.

 

[DDF]

I have both the UA202 and the M-Audio Transit. The Transit has has some of the worst jitter performance I've ever seen published, so only use it with a jitterbug. It was undeeed picky about drivers and compatability, its an old old device now

Surprised the UA202 isn't working for you. I've used it to feed numerous dacs from numerous PCs without a single hitch. What issues are you seeing with it?