Optical vs USB

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbd2884 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah my Compass uses direct I2S from the PCM2707 to the AD1852

That is a good thing.

 

[cs00brp]

usb in theory shoud be better if implemented properly. This is because of the speed. You could transfer 1Mbit of date and store it in ram on the dac that could then clock it into the D/A at it's own place. thus eliminating jitter and also the poping sound from you computer. As for the ground loop you could easily reduce this with a good selection of components. As someone else mentioned I think usb is just an after thought, not what a good audiophile would use!

I like using usb much easier.

Bren

 

[HeadLover]

I have the DAC1 PRE
Been trying to use it both with USB (like right now) and with optical and COAX from my ASUS D2X (a very good sound card) and I have a good PSU (1000W stable and good)

So
I prefer the USB to the coax way over, seem like a much better when it come to some details and so on, don't know why, but the sound is more "natural"

 

[Quaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the DAC1 PRE Been trying to use it both with USB (like right now) and with optical and COAX from my ASUS D2X (a very good sound card) and I have a good PSU (1000W stable and good) So I prefer the USB to the coax way over, seem like a much better when it come to some details and so on, don't know why, but the sound is more "natural"

i too have a dac1 pre

i am greedy and get the sound signatures of both formats! i am bi-connectual

cause i come out of my mac with USB to off EA off-ramp turbo 2 which deals with the jitter and usb implementaion better than the Pre IMHO, but i come out of the turbo 2 via spdif coax into the Pre.

this to my ears sounds more analogue and natural than me connecting the mac straight to pre via USB or for that matter via spdif. - less digital and edgy.

but we all have our own preference, theres no right or wrong per say, just what works best in varying setups. go with what sounds best to you, as you have clearly done

interesting to read peoples takes on it all, good to read it all.

 

[HeadLover]

Amm, and did you compare using SPDIF vs USB with it? what do you think?

 

[Quaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Amm, and did you compare using SPDIF vs USB with it? what do you think?

certainy did, preferred USB, spdif was far to scratchy and shrill for me.

and the pre is quite a clinical dac and amp, so i think the USB levels the playing field a bit there.

 

[HeadLover]

amm and how is it with the off ramp turbo?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bones13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif In the Mac world, you have both USB and Optical out of the desktops and laptops with built in bit perfect.

Why Mac world only, PCs do that too?

 

[Quaddy]

amm good, its not an amazing parting of the waves or anything like that, but its certainly more accomplished with that in the chain, small but important details are more represented in the forward field, makes the sound faster not so sluggish, listening back and forth between with and without, i went with with.

it may be worth the upgrade if you are very much into squeezing everything out of the unit, but not worth it if you are slightly casual with it.

 

[HeadLover]

I am thinking of getting the new off ramp turbo 3 with the clock 4 (modded upgrade)
What do you say? will it put some improvements to my unit?

Also, I am thinking of it, so I can have a good usb for any thing I may want in the future, like DAC's that don't have USB (so I put the off ramp and from there use COAX)

 

[Quaddy]

good thinking, it is a bridge to a non usb dac for sure, i like that, never thought of that, futureproofing.

the 3 looks good, i like the new connection (I2S etc) implementations and led statuses. fair bit of cash isnt it, but its nice knowing you are upgrading the link between your computational unit and your sound box.

 

[HeadLover]

What really is a "show stopper" for me, is the fact that soon there will be a new 4 (later this year) with 192/24 from the USB!
And that this unit still doesn't have the battery unit for it.

 

[kbug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaddy /img/forum/go_quote.gif nice solution, you can also use PCI latency tool, which as the name suggests, not just for PCI devices, but you can tweak how long devices/ports contend for resources also, a lot of gamers use this.

I just installed PCI latency tool. My graphics card didn't show up. Guess it doesn't work with laptop?

 

[dmashta]

what i'm curious to know is what kind of 'improvement' the offramp has over a direct coax input into the dac1 (i.e. coax from computer vs coax from offramp). in your case, since you've only compared usb/optical (from mac) vs coax out of the offramp, the difference you're hearing could very well be the coax input itself. not saying the offramp doesn't improve things but i'm suspecting it to be negligible. after all, the offramp is a usb -> spdif converter with its own clock but since the dac1 reclocks the signal on its end anyway, i'm not sure how much of a benefit there is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaddy /img/forum/go_quote.gif i too have a dac1 pre i am greedy and get the sound signatures of both formats! i am bi-connectual cause i come out of my mac with USB to off EA off-ramp turbo 2 which deals with the jitter and usb implementaion better than the Pre IMHO, but i come out of the turbo 2 via spdif coax into the Pre. this to my ears sounds more analogue and natural than me connecting the mac straight to pre via USB or for that matter via spdif. - less digital and edgy. but we all have our own preference, theres no right or wrong per say, just what works best in varying setups. go with what sounds best to you, as you have clearly done interesting to read peoples takes on it all, good to read it all.

 

[Quaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbug /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just installed PCI latency tool. My graphics card didn't show up. Guess it doesn't work with laptop?

as far as i can remember on my laptop it didnt show the graphics card in so many words, it was listed rather cryptically

if thats not the issue, then perhaps your system isnt applicable

BTW, it does cater for AGP devices, despite the name and wouldnt think it covered pci-x