[uzziah]

well, i'm considering using an external dac with my laptop that does not accept usb input. what are the best solutions to use a usb port (or whatever) to get a bitperfect optical out from my laptop? i was thinking of the TBAAM as that could double as a on-the-go source for my laptop, but i don't know if it is bitperfect. it's ok if the best solutions are not portable.

what i'm looking for is to feed a zhaolu dac as jitter-free bitperfect audio stream as possible from a laptop; it would be nice to keep the budget low, but i'm not sure what my options are. it doesn't have to be portable by any means because i won't use the zhaolu anywhere but at home, but the tbaam idea struck me cuz it could pull double duty on the go; but i don't know if it's bitperfect and low-jitter.

thoughts? i have a dell 600m, which has pcmcia and usb among other ports

 

[uzziah]

i just noticed that the 600m docking station has a spdif coaxial output. is there any way of knowing if it is bit perfect or not? i just picked one up since i want one regardless. i hope it works out.

 

[nightfire]

As far as I can tell, and contrary to what I've said in the past, the TBAAM appears NOT to be bitperfect. From their vaguely worded faq:

ALL AUDIO ADVANTAGE DIGITAL OUTPUTS:
- The digital output can "handshake" with external devices at 44.1 kHz
or 48 kHz.
- The digital output's maximum bit depth is 16 bits.
- The internal sample rate is 48 kHz. This is to ensure trouble-free
operation with Dolby Digital/DTS decoders with digital input.

Certainly it sounds like utter crap on my DA10 compared to the coax output of my M-Audio. Though I don't know if this is due to jitter or the fact that it may be upsampling internally.

My DA10 *does* lock at 44.1...

 

[thomaspf]

Internal upsampling. Your DA10 takes care of the jitter if you are in crystal mode.

 

[nightfire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomaspf Internal upsampling. Your DA10 takes care of the jitter if you are in crystal mode.

*nod*

 

[ComfyCan]

I've been quite pleased with the performance of the M-Audio Transit using ASIO and Foobar 2k, connected to my MicroDac via optical.