USB to Optical out converter for ZERO DAC

[Nocturnal310]

Hey guys..

i was checkin out ZERO DAC & asked the guy if i can use it for laptop... he asked me what soundcard i have and i told him USB XMOD.

he said ZERO needs atleast an Optical out or SPDIF interface.


he told me there are some USB to optical out converters that i can buy.


Can u recommend any decently priced converter?

 

[mow_the_hawk]

This seems to be what you need.

 

[sgrossklass]

Do make sure it can do 44.1 kHz bit-perfect though. It seems like the UCA202 is 48 kHz only. A USB audio interface with native 44.1 kHz support is a little dearer, think Edirol UA-1EX or M-Audio Transit.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Okay thanks..i ll check it out.

btw some also told me that Creative makes an optical out... any idea?

 

[hibachi]

You should also check if your laptop's 3.5mm audio jack doubles as a mini optical jack..that way you may be able to save some money!

 

[PhaedrusX]

Hagerman Technology LLC: HagUsb USB to SPDIF Audiophile Converter

the good thing about this is that it also comes in a cheaper DIY kit, which gives you the option of putting it inside a DAC/ CD player, space permitting.

 

[krmathis]

x2 on the HagUsb.
We used on at our Norwegian meeting and it worked like a dream. Just plug and play...

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hibachi /img/forum/go_quote.gif You should also check if your laptop's 3.5mm audio jack doubles as a mini optical jack..that way you may be able to save some money!

How do i do that?


my Soundcard claims it has SPDIF ..but i dont see it.. what does it look like?

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do i do that? my Soundcard claims it has SPDIF ..but i dont see it.. what does it look like?

It looks like any 3.5mm jack. You either have to read the manual, or plug in an optical cable and watch out for the red optical light in the other end of it.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

M-Audio Transit is very attractive, small package, budget solution, plus it has custom drivers and supports up to 24/96 over USB.
This guy seems to be very popular recently, no custom drivers i.e. 16/48 only but very nice USB/SPDIF receiver (same as used in Stello) USB Audio Converter Description

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif It looks like any 3.5mm jack. You either have to read the manual, or plug in an optical cable and watch out for the red optical light in the other end of it.

is it possible that my Headphone jack itself has an SPDIF interface into it?

u said it looks like 3.5mm jack

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif is it possible that my Headphone jack itself has an SPDIF interface into it? u said it looks like 3.5mm jack

Yeah, highly possible.
Just like the headphone out on my MacBook Pro, which is a combined headphone out and optical out.

 

[dd051]

Krmathis,.. when using a HagUSB, do you know if there is a loss of quality or quality minimization in going from a high quality source file -> a 2704 transport -> a high quality DAC instead of hq source -> hq dac?

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dd051 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Krmathis,.. when using a HagUSB, do you know if there is a loss of quality or quality minimization in going from a high quality source file -> a 2704 transport -> a high quality DAC instead of hq source -> hq dac?

Transport -> usb -> HagUsb -> optical -> DAC is probably not the ideal combination, since it involves several conversions. How much of an impact it has, and if its audible I really don't know.

 

[randomasdf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT /img/forum/go_quote.gif M-Audio Transit is very attractive, small package, budget solution, plus it has custom drivers and supports up to 24/96 over USB. This guy seems to be very popular recently, no custom drivers i.e. 16/48 only but very nice USB/SPDIF receiver (same as used in Stello) USB Audio Converter Description

Would the M-Audio sonica work as well?