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Yeah, I wondered if perhaps the different connections from iMac to D100 might output at higher/lower levels.
I know I've had surround receivers that have vastly different volumes using optical vs multiple mono vs HDMI.
Any specs on the D100 around to test this theory? I looked on their website and in the manual that came with the unit, but didn't see anything specific to the different connections...
My honest opinion is that both SPDF and USB perform identically on iMac. You can't go past 96KHz over SPDF. One advantage over USB is that you don't hear much noise from electrical interference.
When I connect the D100 through RCA to 3.5mm audio in on the iMac, I can hear a light buzzing sound when volume is fairly high. That's how noisy it is.
I tried the USB vs SPDF and I can confirm that with SPDF the white noise is not there when nothing is playing, it's absolutely silent.
Connect it through USB and you can hear it on max volume ( high impedance output )
Another advantage is that you are limited to 4 USB ports on the iMac... Why wasting one of them when you can use optical out ?
An interesting fact is that under Bootcamp ( Windows 7 ) , you can still control the sound via F11 - F12 keys whereas under OS X the volume control is disabled.
With Win7 you can also define the sampling rate in shared mode ( which is the always the case unless you are using ASIO driver )
OS X has been a disappointment when facing Windows7. Even for video and audio editing, Windows is now leading....
It's pretty amazing how iMac bootcamp drivers offer much more options than OS X one. You can even change the sound output under Windows from SPDF to speaker without the need of disconnecting the OPT cable. That's simply not possible under Mac... Well, If I were to list all the pros of Win over OS X, I'd need hours of writing... let us not drift the discussion