[Inju]

Hi everyone! I recently purchased an Shanling EC Mini which has a USB Audio output. I of course know how to use the RCA out of the device to go into the line level of my audio interface to record music, which is what I do with my vinly records. However, I was wondering is there a way to record to your PC directly from a USB Audio ouput device, i.e. plugging the USB Audio out of the Shangling EC Mini to USB on your PC to record with Audacity. Is this possible? Also would this make any difference from just using a regular CD Drive to rip the CD? Thanks in advance.

 

[bogi]

USB ports on PC host act as master ports and USB port of DAC device act as slave port. USB communication uses master-slave protocol with one end acting as master and the other one as slave. One master port and one slave port are required to establish USB communication. Master and slave roles cannot be switched to the other role because master and slave ports are using different hardware and are controlled by different kind of software (USB driver on master side and USB device firmware on slave side).

Shanling EC Mini USB port is acting as master (like a computer port) and thus it enables to connect an USB audio device (DAC or DDC) acting as slave. Your PC with USB master ports cannot act as device (instead of DAC), if you would connect it to Shanling EC Mini. Two masters cannot communicate.

For ripping CDs you can use a computer CD drive - it contains device side USB port.

 

[Inju]

USB ports on PC host act as master ports and USB port of DAC device act as slave port. USB communication uses master-slave protocol with one end acting as master and the other one as slave. One master port and one slave port are required to establish USB communication. Master and slave roles cannot be switched to the other role because master and slave ports are using different hardware and are controlled by different kind of software (USB driver on master side and USB device firmware on slave side).

Shanling EC Mini USB port is acting as master (like a computer port) and thus it enables to connect an USB audio device (DAC or DDC) acting as slave. Your PC with USB master ports cannot act as device (instead of DAC), if you would

USB ports on PC host act as master ports and USB port of DAC device act as slave port. USB communication uses master-slave protocol with one end acting as master and the other one as slave. One master port and one slave port are required to establish USB communication. Master and slave roles cannot be switched to the other role because master and slave ports are using different hardware and are controlled by different kind of software (USB driver on master side and USB device firmware on slave side).

Shanling EC Mini USB port is acting as master (like a computer port) and thus it enables to connect an USB audio device (DAC or DDC) acting as slave. Your PC with USB master ports cannot act as device (instead of DAC), if you would connect it to Shanling EC Mini. Two masters cannot communicate.

For ripping CDs you can use a computer CD drive - it contains device side USB port.

Interesting didn't know this believing since USB C was bidirectional there was no need for a slave/master configuration. Which leads to another question, is there an audio interface that has a USB Audio 2.0 input?

 

[bogi]

is there an audio interface that has a USB Audio 2.0 input?

USB is bidirectional, allows both input and output through the same master/slave pair. For example USB sound cards like Asus Xonar etc. allow audio input (for recording) and output (playback). Data input/output and master(host)/slave(device) are different things.

Every USB audio device acts as USB slave. Regardless on direction of audio data transfer.

Computer USB ports are master ports. Very exceptionally you can find a computer configuration with slave port. That's rather intended for industrial mini computers. Some Raspberry Pi4 configurations provide such possibility.
raspberry pi - How to set up a RPi to act as a USB slave device? - Super User
But I'm not sure that it can be easily used by an app as standard audio device input/output. Device side is usually handled by device firmware. I don't have experience in this area.

 

[Roseval]

Also would this make any difference from just using a regular CD Drive to rip the CD

Yes.
Ripping software needs to know the number of track and their length to identify the CD for a internet database lookup.
Good ripping software detect reading errors and try to re-read the bad sector.
You can't do this with USB audio.

 

[Inju]

Yes.
Ripping software needs to know the number of track and their length to identify the CD for a internet database lookup.
Good ripping software detect reading errors and try to re-read the bad sector.
You can't do this with USB audio.

Thank you for your response. I meant in terms of sound quality.

I use DBpoweramp for CDs and I use Golden Records for my vinyls. DBpoweramp is amazing as it let's you use multiple CD drives and checks for errors. I use two cd drives at once to speed up my time to increase my Roon collection when going on CD binge buying sessions. For Vinyls Golden Records, the software has an album search feature that plugs in all the meta tags, auto separates the tracks (small adjustments need to be made most times) and downloads cover art.