USB DAC with Asio support

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Sup /img/forum/go_quote.gif guise is slang, shocked you haven't heard about it yet, been living under a rock have we? How does Cambridge Audio DacMagic sound? It does have Asio support right? Found a dealer very close to me offering it for 350€.

350 euro seems high, but I have no idea what the exchange rate is today (and yes, apparently I am under a rock, what is this "slang" of which you speak?)

DACMagic is highly regarded as an U/S DAC, with balanced outputs and multiple digital inputs, but I can't say I've heard it myself (just know it looks very nice on paper and a lot of members are quite happy with theirs), would be worth looking into

again, ASIO compatability isn't granted by a DAC, its granted by the audio processor, ASIO bypasses the windows audio subsystem to provide lower latency "direct" access to the audio hardware by a software application (like studio software, for mixing music or editing movies), so it isn't really something a DAC itself can use (if that makes sense?)

with ASIO4All and USB on the DACMagic, that should work (the thing I'd note though is, you're going ASIO "low latency hardware access" into a software emulated front-end for USB streaming audio, doesn't make much sense to do so imho), aside from ASIO4All, you won't get ASIO into a DACMagic, unless you're using it as a D/A output from something that does support ASIO (like if you plugged it into an 0404's digital outs)

lostone

didn't catch that was a question, and only the first paragraph was a direct response to you, my overall point is (and I'm hoping the OP is still reading), ASIO4All does work, but why debate using it, if he hasn't purchased a thing yet, and could purchase something that will use a formal ASIO driver? (which is usually a bit more stable/"elegant" (as one professor would say) solution)

 

[sachu]

Right now listening to Scott Nixon USB DAC via ASIO4ALL with foobar..works like a charm..there is hardly any load on the CPU

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sachu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Right now listening to Scott Nixon USB DAC via ASIO4ALL with foobar..works like a charm..there is hardly any load on the CPU

thats a very nice piece of kit right there, which nixon in particular?

guess my point is coming across too anti-USB audio though?

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif thats a very nice piece of kit right there, which nixon in particular? guess my point is coming across too anti-USB audio though?

Its the USB Chibi DAC kit that I bought and assembled....Such a good DAC..planning on adding a dedicated power supply with a toroidal transformer and super regulated DC input soon. I ABed this aginast the Bel Canto DAC2..the SN turned out to be the more musical one..albeit with a little bit of the top end rolled off as is natural in most NOS DACs..

 

[linuxworks]

another thought - perhaps it helps - is to NOT run windows.

in linux, there is no notion of 'forced 48k resampling' and as long as you don't have the volume controls in software set to non-zero attenuation (ie, just leave gains all at full in digital sliders) then you DO get bit perfect output. there is no notion of asio on linux or even kernel streaming, those are all windows brain-dead work arounds for having a bad audio design from the start.

another alternative is to have a hardware box (like a slimserver) do the spdif sending for you. there is no way in hell the slimserver box would 'resample' or send anything other than bit perfect output. slimservers are not too expensive and you can simply connect its ethernet to your pc's and not much more needed than a simple software install.

finally, if I had to run a pci card, I'd run this one: cmedia 8738 (they are in the $10 range) and there is a known clean bit-perfect NON RESAMPLING driver that blows away everything else (including asio):

cmediadrivers - Google Code

I believe a user here, dogbert, has even written it:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/op...-cards-210592/

I knew this was a good driver when I ran MPC and no matter what I did so ANY of the volume control sliders, the output was always at full. and I was able to view the sample rate on my stereo and SEE that 44.1 stays at 44.1. I am quite confident this hardware and software provides perfect output.

search around for 8738 and cmi or cmedia. don't overpay, the card should be well under $30 and even be close to $10 at some places.

 

[MikeW]

lol if the op can't handle asio4all drivers being to much "hassle" what makes you think Linux is an option? I don't know of any sub 500$ dac's that have ASIO support, your going to have a couple options, buy a soundcard with ASIO and use COAX out to a DAC, which means 2 pieces of hardware. Or just buy a soundcard and deal with it's built in DAC's, which likely won't match a 200$ dac. I guess you could buy the cheapest Native ASIO soundcard on the market, and pair it with a decent dac, although doing this, you may still find your dac's USB audio superior (asuming the dac you bought has usb input). This is the case with me, I have a native asio soundcard, and a usb dac. the USB dac with ASIO4all is better then my soundcard doing native asio + Coax out.

edit: also, yes the PC in my sig is accurate, single core, and quite long in the tooth, my processor usage via task manager is about 4-5% playing music though foobar asio, 16/44.1 with no dsp.

 

[obobskivich]

linux, amazing advice, but mikew has a very good point about linux being too complex, also, for reference, I view that 4-5% load as "excessive" (if you were wondering what my point was with ASIO4All being a resource hog)

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif lol if the op can't handle asio4all drivers being to much "hassle" what makes you think Linux is an option?

because TODAY, linux is EASIER to install and configure than windows for some things!

it blew me away. but ubuntu live cd 'just plain works' and sees your sound card and lets you play bit perfect pretty easily. no 'hidden volume controls' like windows has (don't know HOW many times I've had to reboot windows, even with my vol slider all the way up, just to get the 'internal slider' (so to speak) to be at 100%).

burn an ubuntu disc and give it a spin (lol). it takes little time and you'll do no damage to your main disk or win install. its not even such a bad idea to just boot a live cd to LISTEN to music on your windows box and then boot back to windows if you need 'windows things' later on

I never thought I'd see the day when I can honestly tell someone new to computers to boot linux. but this is not what things were 10 yrs ago, and linux is very turnkey these days on live cd's.

 

[obobskivich]

ubuntu isn't linux though

gentoo or get out

 

[linuxworks]

I have gentoo on my big headless server box, but ubuntu is quite surprising in how desktop friendly it is.

good example: I have a via epia very low power (100% fanless) mini itx box. it now has a SSD (ide) in it so it truly is 100.0% fanless and noiseless. anyway, I installed win-xp on it and even with the latest video driver, it never takes advantage of the 16x9 screen that I have it connected to (vga). compare that to an ubuntu install that, from the start, used the full 16x9 display! sound 'just plain worked' and so did ethernet and full dvd-quality video.

it has gotton to the point where a smart linux install can discover and drive *more* hardware than win-xp. I'm amazed and still can't believe how far linux has come (I started with it back in 1995, myself).

 

[obobskivich]

I'm just joshin you linuxworks

 

[MikeW]

my point was 4-5% on my dinosaur processor, ****, a Core 2 Duo, or I7, or AMD Phenom II would not even notice it, probably not even 1%.

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif my point was 4-5% on my dinosaur processor, ****, a Core 2 Duo, or I7, or AMD Phenom II would not even notice it, probably not even 1%.

oh it would "notice" it

my point was to show that to most users, its not a resource load, though imho, its excessive

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif lol if the op can't handle asio4all drivers being to much "hassle" what makes you think Linux is an option? I don't know of any sub 500$ dac's that have ASIO support, your going to have a couple options, buy a soundcard with ASIO and use COAX out to a DAC, which means 2 pieces of hardware. Or just buy a soundcard and deal with it's built in DAC's, which likely won't match a 200$ dac. I guess you could buy the cheapest Native ASIO soundcard on the market, and pair it with a decent dac, although doing this, you may still find your dac's USB audio superior (asuming the dac you bought has usb input). This is the case with me, I have a native asio soundcard, and a usb dac. the USB dac with ASIO4all is better then my soundcard doing native asio + Coax out. edit: also, yes the PC in my sig is accurate, single core, and quite long in the tooth, my processor usage via task manager is about 4-5% playing music though foobar asio, 16/44.1 with no dsp.

Hassle? No, not at all. Asio4all simply does not work properly on my PCs. I hear his and hum. I do have a 200€ dac with asio but wanted to get something slightly better.

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm just joshin you linuxworks

I never tried THAT distro. do they have a live-cd as well?

(lol!)