Which usb to toslink solution for a notebook?

[wnewport]

I see many 5.1 optical out usb devices for notebooks, but I only need 2.0 stereo sound. Which usb device would be best for me?

 

[LeChuck]

Personally I'd recommend the M-Audio Transit. It's a small device - about the side of a cell phone - that converts USB to TOSLINK (SPDIF), and supports up to 24/96Khz. It has solid ASIO drivers which allow for bit-perfect playback, and supports 32-bit versions of Windows, and OSX.

You can also check out the HagUSB, or the PC-Link.

Some people are coaxial purists, but when it comes to PC audio I usually recommend TOSLINK because it eliminates a lot of potential RF/ground noise headaches that are common with computer, especially laptop, based setups.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeChuck /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some people are coaxial purists, but when it comes to PC audio I usually recommend TOSLINK because it eliminates a lot of potential RF/ground noise headaches that are common with computer, especially laptop, based setups.

I've once to hear somebody say they have had RF impact a digital coax signal. It'd need to be a nuclear style RF interference to impact a digital signal over coax.

 

[LeChuck]

I only mention it because I've heard it mentioned. I don't know enough about the science to make a solid claim either way.

That being, from personal experience I can say that ground noise / computer noise is a very annoying problem, and one that can often be eliminated by using optical.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've once to hear somebody say they have had RF impact a digital coax signal. It'd need to be a nuclear style RF interference to impact a digital signal over coax.

It isn't the zeros and ones that's being discussed here, the advantage comes from isolating the laptop from the DAC itself electronically speaking in order to prevent any ground loop problems. Good optical cables also tend to be cheaper than coaxial cables, so that's another advantage of using optical over coaxial in the laptop environment.

I favor the Transit personally because I think it's a better implemented solution, although for pure convenience I recommend the Audigy2ZS card, I've owned both and the sonic difference between the two are minimal to my ears.

 

[jinp6301]

i asked about this a while ago. hope you can find some more info here!

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=247276