[dviswa]

Hi Guys,

I just ordered a Zhaolu DAC and need a cheap USB->SPDIF or USB->Coaxial convertor. Please suggest what I should buy. I know I can spend a lot and get added benefits of jitter reduction, for now, I will be happy not spending too much.

I do not have a desktop anymore and will be using it on my laptop, so I cannot go with a Chaintech AV710.

Thanks
Dinesh

 

[microphage]

These are around 30 bucks. I've never used them so I can't comment on the quality but they do fit what you need.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/avcards/6e4f/
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829270004

 

[psyllium]

People seem to like the M-Audio Transit USB's optical output. It can do nearly whatever sample rate you want from 44.1khz up to 96khz and at 24-bit. You have to watch out for some of these USB -> SPDIF converters that will resample everything to 48khz.

 

[el_matt0]

ya the m audio transit works really well. i have a zhaolu as well, that i use with my transit from my desktop. im kinda going the opposite way than you however, actually right now considering buying the av710 as an optical out just because i only use w desktop now, i dont really need the portability of the transit any longer! transit all the way though, served me very well. if your looking to buy one relatively cheap i might be able to work something out w u if i follow through on buying an av710 instead. hope this helps

 

[diego]

I use a Trends Audio UD-10 and i'm very happy with it. It converts USB to SPDIF and has coax, optical and XLR outputs. It is bit perfect (does not resample) and can take data up to 16 bit 48khz. It doesn't use custom drivers, you just plug it in and it will be recognized by windows , linux or OSX. It also has an internal DAC and a headphone out which sounds cleaner than a PC's integrated audio, that you can use in an emergency. However, it is best used as a transport connected to a good DAC. It can be powered by the USB port or a battery pack, but I don't recommend the battery pack. Finally, it costs $115 without the batteries and 130 with them.

Regards,
Diego

 

[abs@nilenet.com]

Check out the Behringer UCA-202. It costs around 30 bucks and is bit perfect. In addition, it does not need any special drivers. The only drawback is that it takes over your sound card meaning that all your Windows sounds will be re-directed through it.

Happy Listening!

 

[dviswa]

Hi Microphage, psyllium, el_matt0, diego, Andy,

Thank you all for the information provided. I did not realize the possibility of the convertor resmapling the signals, something I should keep an eye out for.

As it happened, yesterday after I started thgis thread, something was buzzing back of my head. I went home and started digging through my pile of stuff and there they were, 2 PCBs of USB Bus powered, PCM2902 based, USB->S/PDIF converters, bought a long time back right here on head-fi. I had completely forgotten about it. I found almost half the components too

So, for now, I thing I will buy the rest of the components, and mount this thing right into the Zhaolu box. Then I can say I own the only USB Zhaolu

Thing I hate most is making square holes for the USB connector

Matt, had it not been for this, I really would have taken you up on that offer. If this does not work well, I might still do

.

Thanks again guys.

 

[joefosho315]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abs@nilenet.com /img/forum/go_quote.gif Check out the Behringer UCA-202. It costs around 30 bucks and is bit perfect. In addition, it does not need any special drivers. The only drawback is that it takes over your sound card meaning that all your Windows sounds will be re-directed through it. Happy Listening!

Hey, I've been looking for a cheap bit-perfect capable USB -> optical converter for a while now and your Behringer recommendation sounds good. The thing is, I am not so sure if it is bit perfect after all. This link: http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHUCA202 as well as the Behringer site itself mentions that the Behringer converts to "high quality 48Khz" sound. Does anybody know more about this? Any other recommendations for bit-perfect CHEAP converters?

 

[slwiser]

www.hagtech.com hagusb converter does bit-perfect using ASIO4ALL.

http://www.hagtech.com/hagusb.html for 119$.

BTY, he just added an option to to USB to XLR which is better than the 75 ohm interface of the SPDIF RCA connector.

 

[pkshiu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abs@nilenet.com /img/forum/go_quote.gif Check out the Behringer UCA-202. It costs around 30 bucks and is bit perfect. In addition, it does not need any special drivers. The only drawback is that it takes over your sound card meaning that all your Windows sounds will be re-directed through it. Happy Listening!

This Behringer unit sounds very interesting. Some questions for owners:

1) yes, their website mention "High-resolution 48 kHz converters for high-end audio quality", wonder if this is for their analog output/input only? The toslink output should be direct?

2) they mention no driver required, but on their website there is a "asio" driver for download. Strange?

P.K.

 

[abs@nilenet.com]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkshiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif This Behringer unit sounds very interesting. Some questions for owners: 1) yes, their website mention "High-resolution 48 kHz converters for high-end audio quality", wonder if this is for their analog output/input only? The toslink output should be direct?

It does appear that the 48khz converters are for the analog only. My Adcom GDA-700 lights up it's HDCD light when I plug it into the toslink output from the Behringer when I play a HDCD flac which makes me think it's bit perfect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkshiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif 2) they mention no driver required, but on their website there is a "asio" driver for download. Strange?

I believe that this driver is to use the analog outputs and inputs. I don't use the driver myself and don't have any trouble.

Happy Listening!

 

[Joni_78]

Would any of these be capable of bit-perfect audio when playing media in windows media center or would audio still go trough kmixer?

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joni_78 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would any of these be capable of bit-perfect audio when playing media in windows media center or would audio still go trough kmixer?

ASIO4ALL would bypass the windows media center. If any player you used used ASIO4ALL you would be bypassing the kmixer. The MediaCenter (from JRiver at http://www.jrmediacenter.com/) player that I used can be configured to use ASIO4ALL and Winamp can. M-Audio USB Audiophile uses it's own drivers to bypass kmixer. The M-Audio Transit uses it's own drivers and will bypass kmixer.

 

[Joni_78]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif M-Audio USB Audiophile uses it's own drivers to bypass kmixer. The M-Audio Transit uses it's own drivers and will bypass kmixer.

So these would bypass kmixer in Windows Media Center completely without using asio or asio4all? Also do they automatically send 44.1kHz and 48kHz signals depending on source material, or do i have to change settings everytime manually?

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joni_78 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So these would bypass kmixer in Windows Media Center completely without using asio or asio4all? Also do they automatically send 44.1kHz and 48kHz signals depending on source material, or do i have to change settings everytime manually?

Yes, as the music feed changes from my selection on my computer the Lavry DA10 lock light changes from 44.1 to 96 kHz as appropriate without intervention by me. To clarify the device drivers supplied with these devices are ASIO drivers. The show up as USB Audiophile in my selection list in my MediaCenter and Winamp.