[JMT391]

Hi all, I was using stumbleupon and found this. I'm still researching specs and everything, but it seems to me that it may be possible to use a USB DAC with that thing and be able to play our music directly from a hard drive instead of using SPDIF passthrough or a USB DAC with a PC.

Does this thing look legit to you guys or is it worthless?

EDIT: Ooops! It seems that this cannot play FLAC files. Well, I guess nothing is perfect. I think this is still worth a discussion though. It might lead to something else similar in the future.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMT391 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi all, I was using stumbleupon and found this. I'm still researching specs and everything, but it seems to me that it may be possible to use a USB DAC with that thing and be able to play our music directly from a hard drive instead of using SPDIF passthrough or a USB DAC with a PC. Does this thing look legit to you guys or is it worthless? EDIT: Ooops! It seems that this cannot play FLAC files. Well, I guess nothing is perfect. I think this is still worth a discussion though. It might lead to something else similar in the future.

Yeah, but....why?

P

 

[catachresis]

It plays .wav, and that's a good thing. But I'm not entirely clear on which audio output formats are available. I noticed that HDMI was mentioned somewhere, and I studied the pictures some, but the two typical output formats that I would anticipate are RCA-analog and s/pdif digital, and I didn't see either of them. I think that a similar, simple device that could run a hard drive's worth of digital music files to a good dac would be well-received.

 

[JMT391]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif It plays .wav, and that's a good thing. But I'm not entirely clear on which audio output formats are available. I noticed that HDMI was mentioned somewhere, and I studied the pictures some, but the two typical output formats that I would anticipate are RCA-analog and s/pdif digital, and I didn't see either of them. I think that a similar, simple device that could run a hard drive's worth of digital music files to a good dac would be well-received.

I was quite confused as well when I didn't see the standard digital outs to a DAC, but I thought that USB would serve as a digital out. On second thought, it seems like more of a USB-in where you would plug a flash drive or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phelonious Ponk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, but....why? P

Well, because let's say I want a transport for my DAC. Using a CD player with a huge library is tedious - it's just easier to use FLAC/MP3/ALAC etc....

This allows me to do that, without sitting in front of the computer. I think with a simple interface that allows someone to choose songs and the standard outputs, this could be a great thing.

 

[krmathis]

The concept is quite nice, but I find it a bit too limited.
* No support for lossless audio codecs, like ALAC, FLAC, and like.
* No digital out, as I see, for feeding an external DAC directly (USB or coaxial/optical S/PDIF).

 

[jakebot]

cool concept. could possibly help audio by not having to go through as many things before it gets to you

HD > SATA cable > Mobo/Southbridge > Sound Card > Headphones
OR > CPU > Onboard Sound > Headphones

but again it's too limited. if you know somebody who has one i would LOVE to hear more about it