[Kawai_man]

I recently bought a trends ud-10 usb to spdif converter and the optical out from the trends sounded much nicer than the optical out from my macbook pro, that got me curious as to what other devices out there might do an even better job of giving me a better sound from their optical outputs.

Im looking int these three devices at the moment.

Teralink-x usb to spdif

USB to Spdif Toslink and I2S Converter for DAC - eBay (item 270554564000 end time Apr-27-10 05:53:11 PDT)



Audiotrak Prodigy HD2

AUDIOTRAK PRODIGY HD2 grades B Sound Card - eBay (item 120539268160 end time Apr-04-10 00:41:43 PDT)

Ha-Info usb to spdif optical

Mini USB to S/PDIF (Optical) Audio Converter - eBay (item 350303399306 end time Apr-10-10 07:46:58 PDT)

 

[Kawai_man]

bump

 

[leeperry]

you could add the Xitel DG2: Review: Xitel MD-Port AN1 and DG2 USB "PC to MiniDisc" adapters

it was made following Sony's minidisc specs, and Xitel told me that it's as low jitter as can be...if it didn't only support 44.1 I'd be all over it(it costs $10 shipped on ebay

)

there's also a switch to leave the connection enabled all the time.

 

[Kawai_man]

^^^

I found this thread, someone measured it and it apparantly has very high jitter.

DIYHiFi.org • View topic - UDA1321 and jitter

.

 

[leeperry]

huh, so it also does 48kHz after all?

I will send your link to Xitel now, here's their last email:
Quote:

Don't believe everything you read in those forums - there is a lot of misinformation. You can most definitely have a low jitter S/DPIF output via toslink if the product is designed correctly for that purpose from the outset. Most computer soundcards have poor jitter only because the feature is added to tick a check box rather than for serious audio. The DG2 and Pro HiFi-Link were designed for serious audio and use our own custom processing blocks with very low jitter. The DG2 controller is a Xitel proprietary one that was developed for Sony.

 

[lordsegan]

the M2tech hiface is widely regarded is the best or certainly one of the best digital output spdif transports today.

However, it offers RCA and BNC Coax not optical.

Coax is thought to be slightly better than optical for most applications anyways.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kawai_man /img/forum/go_quote.gif very high jitter.

..... Quote:

We cannot fairly comment on the test results of this poster as they have not offered any description of their test methodology, other comparative analysis or base line calibration validating their results. We also take these results with much skepticism as the DG2 was bit locked to 44.1kHz - it cannot physically send a 48kHz signal although they appear to have obtained a plot specifically for that.

 

[Kawai_man]

^^^

Lee thanks for taking the time to ask them that, it seems maybe just trying it would be the best option more out of curiosity and since its only 10 bucks, I would prefer something that could output higher sample rates as well, but then again my trends only outputs 44.1/16 bit as well and it sounds better than my macbook pros optical output even at higher bitrates than the trends.

Im tempted to buy the hd2 since it supposedly has a low jitter output but I havnt found any comments from someone commenting on the sound from its optical output. btw I know I cant connect this to macbook pro I would be installing it in a pc.

 

[Kawai_man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsegan /img/forum/go_quote.gif the M2tech hiface is widely regarded is the best or certainly one of the best digital output spdif transports today. However, it offers RCA and BNC Coax not optical. Coax is thought to be slightly better than optical for most applications anyways.

I do realize that coax will offer lower jitter and also can reduce ground loop hums when they are galvanically isolated, but for other reasons I dont really want to disuss right now Im interested in getting a great optical output sound. Im basically looking for something like the m2tech hiface or a soundcard but instead of coax will output a great optical out sound

 

[lordsegan]

well, I would also consider the Musiland 02. It is a full clock master USB device (like the m2tech hiface).

I use it as a USB DAC until my Little Dot Dac I arrives. Sounds good even as a DAC.

 

[leeperry]

ok I've just ordered the DG2, Xitel are not exactly newbies: Xitel Precision Audio Technology

I don't really believe all the bs you can read on forums about the evil J from outer space, and I'm a SONY fanboy anyway

 

[ROBSCIX]

I am actually considering modding a HiFace for a freind to allow optical output.
Many do consider Coax to be the better of the two but others consider optical to be better.

 

[leeperry]

oh, and BTW the DG2 is recognized as a generic USB device, so it's a good guess that both ASIO4ALL and the ploytec drivers(in KS on XP SP3) will work

the ploytec have a fixed sample rate, but the DG2 only does 44.1 anyway so it's a non-issue....I just wonder what the SQ will be like, Xitel says that it's uber-low jitter and that forum says that it's horrid

 

[Currawong]

I'd go for a coax interface over optical. The problem is that Toslink connectors are poor and most transmitters and receivers are cheap and not so great.

 

[Kawai_man]

Quote:

well, I would also consider the Musiland 02. It is a full clock master USB device (like the m2tech hiface). I use it as a USB DAC until my Little Dot Dac I arrives. Sounds good even as a DAC.

I was going to put that one on the list but the only thing I dont like about it is that the optical out and usb input are on the same side. I like to use one of these adapters shown below to connect these devices to the computer.

Is it possible to tell by just looking at the specs if one sounds better/has the lowest jitter that another?

Quote:

ok I've just ordered the DG2, Xitel are not exactly newbies: Xitel Precision Audio Technology I don't really believe all the bs you can read on forums about the evil J from outer space, and I'm a SONY fanboy anyway

I went ahead and ordered one too, for 10 bucks its worth a try


Quote:

I am actually considering modding a HiFace for a freind to allow optical output. Many do consider Coax to be the better of the two but others consider optical to be better.

That sounds very interesting if you do it please keep us posted. Do you know if some optical inputs are superior to others I dont mean the circuitry behind it just the input itself? For instance I have a valab and a xiang-sheng dac-01 (tube dac), with the valab I can hold the optical cable about half an inch away from the input and it will still receive the signal and sound will still come out, but with the dac-01 even if its a little out it wont receive the signal, it has to be almost all the way in. But maybe this has to do more with the circuitry than the actual input?

The dac-01 still sounds nicer btw but this has probably more to do with the tube.