From what I've read about, they being good (possibly the best as compared to only PCM2704 and TE7022L from DIY stuff sellers) at their price point is most likely the case.
Perhaps you may look at 15 USB/SPDIF converters shootout
No this forum would not disapoint. There are many good reviews on this forum.
Are you are saying there is a CM6631 review on computeraudiophile? Please provide the link.
IME, I find most SPDIF sources sound pretty much the same. I also couldn't hear any difference between compressed and uncompressed lossless format. A lot of poeple would here agree with me, but I bet a lot of the people over there wouldn't. That may or may not have to do that my DAC reclocks all incoming data. Take of it as what you will.
IME, while a $200 equipment isn't necessarily better than a $100 functional equivalent. When a non snake oil product cost many more times than the other, IME most of the time it is at least a bit better.
This may sound like I am contradicting with myself in the above. The key is whether the product type in question is actually snake oil. Personally, I really don't know, but I am leaning towards it is, so I went with the cheaper one.
But if there is indeed good and bad SPDIF source, may be you get what you paid for. Only you can answer that question for you. I am a man of humble means, the best of things is most often out of my reach. Of course, I do not consider anything second best or class rubbish. So yes, I would definitely like to fill my house with it.
In fact, if I already have a second rate USB to SPDIF converter, I would not bother to buy one. Possibly. If the PCB feels cheap, it probably is.
Don't worry about that. The best sounding HiFi in the world is DIY or hacked/ tweaked cheap products. The megabucks gear looks nice, but mostly sounds really average.
IME, I find most SPDIF sources sound pretty much the same. I also couldn't hear any difference between compressed and uncompressed lossless format. A lot of poeple would here agree with me, but I bet a lot of the people over there wouldn't. That may or may not have to do that my DAC reclocks all incoming data. Take of it as what you will.
I wont deny you of your experience, because it is true for you.
But this is the problem with average gear. It does not allow a person to hear deeply into the recording or the file format. All too often people say that because they can't hear it, it cannot be so. But actually.....
Personally, I think a well engineered DAC should have a robust input. If the slightest imperfection in the data feed would show up in its output, that is not what I'd call "high end".
That said, I said "most" SPDIF sources sounds about the same with my setup. However I have encountered one that sound quite different (much warmer) from the others. I don't really have any explanation for this.
That said, I said "most" SPDIF sources sounds about the same with my setup. However I have encountered one that sound quite different (much warmer) from the others. I don't really have any explanation for this.
I received a "Breeze Audio" CM6631 USB-SPDFI/Optical out box today but I'm having problems with it.
My rig is running Windows 8 and I used the Emotiva XDA-2 drivers from this thread, they were the only ones that worked on Windows 8 for me. Driver installation went fine, I can see the device and get audio out of it.
My FW revision is 2206 and I noticed that indeed I did not get audio out when running in ASIO mode. I was able to get WASAPI + Foobar working though.
Here comes the problem: I can't get some sample rates to work, it's really weird. Multiples of 44.1kHz work, for example 88.2kHz and 176.4kHz work. Multiples of 48kHz don't work so for example 96kHz and 192kHz don't work. Or they work, kind of. I get audio but there is crackle and noise on top. Sounds almost like some kind of clocking problem?
My setup is:
USB - Breeze Audio box - Aune X1 MK2 coax SPDIF in
I've ruled out the Aune as the cause as it works perfectly with my mobo SPDIF out - I can get every sample rate working from 44.1kHz up to 192kHz / 24-bit.
My rig is running Windows 8 and I used the Emotiva XDA-2 drivers from this thread, they were the only ones that worked on Windows 8 for me. Driver installation went fine, I can see the device and get audio out of it.
My FW revision is 2206 and I noticed that indeed I did not get audio out when running in ASIO mode. I was able to get WASAPI + Foobar working though.
Here comes the problem: I can't get some sample rates to work, it's really weird. Multiples of 44.1kHz work, for example 88.2kHz and 176.4kHz work. Multiples of 48kHz don't work so for example 96kHz and 192kHz don't work. Or they work, kind of. I get audio but there is crackle and noise on top. Sounds almost like some kind of clocking problem?
My setup is:
USB - Breeze Audio box - Aune X1 MK2 coax SPDIF in
I've ruled out the Aune as the cause as it works perfectly with my mobo SPDIF out - I can get every sample rate working from 44.1kHz up to 192kHz / 24-bit.
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Personally, I think a well engineered DAC should have a robust input. If the slightest imperfection in the data feed would show up in its output, that is not what I'd call "high end".
Actually, any error on the input should show up on the output. This would indicate bit perfect pass through. And should be what you want.
You say they sound "about" the same. This says to me that they all sound different in some way or another.
My gut feeling is that your CM6631 has a hardware fault. However, I think you may do the following tests:
- Try DirectSound (DS) output instead of WASAPI, and try ASIO4ALL
- Since you were using coax, try optical
- Try it with a different DAC
- Try it with a different PC not running Windows 8
All higher end DAC reclocks incoming data stream, and the whole point of the exercise is so that error do not show up in the output. This has nothing to do about bit perfect or transparency, but good engineering.
Cheaper DAC that has minimal parts count do not have such feature and thus more prone to input imperfection. Much like a power supply that allows more ripple to pass through is anything but more transparent nor what we want.
All of them sounded about the same, but one.
All of them sounded about the same, but one.
Which is it?
exactly the same or about the same?
"exactly" has a different meaning than "about"
"about" implies a difference!
exactly means zero difference!
Unlike some people, I am uncomfortable making a qualitative or quantitative assessment merely based on subjective listening. However, it is safe to say that amongst most competent designs, even if there is a difference, it is not enough for me to reliably tell them apart, and certainly not enough for me to lose sleep over which one I actually use.
That said, that may subject to change. A few months ago I'd call audiophile music player utter BS, until recently I found that I prefer foobar with ks on PC to itunes on Mac. I do not have any technical explanation for this, nor I can pin point what is wrong sonically with the later (except that there is a bit more mid bass). But the former just feels more engaging to me. But I digress.
However, it is safe to say that amongst most competent designs, even if there is a difference, it is not enough for me to reliably tell them apart, and certainly not enough for me to lose sleep over which one I actually use. That said, that may subject to change. A few months ago I'd call audiophile music player utter BS, until recently I found that I prefer foobar with ks on PC to itunes on Mac. I do not have any technical explanation for this, nor I can pin point what is wrong sonically with the later (except that there is a bit more mid bass). But the former just feels more engaging to me. But I digress.
Interesting. Using the same CM6631 device for the PC and Mac comparison? Is an external power source plugged into the CM6631 or just use the PC/Mac USB power?
I'm not surprised there are differences among players. In some forums people say HQPlayer has much higher audio quality than foobar, but it is too expensive for me, considering foobar is free...
I haven't got the CM6631A that I ordered. The assessment was based on direct USB connection to DAC.
I haven't warmed up to the fact that I need to pay for music playback software either.
There is something called cPlay which is free, but you need ASIO for that (I don't, so I haven't tried) and the UI is atrocious.Hi,
Calling all CM6631/A experts...
I just bought a CM6631 from Pbuy and he supplies me the driver that works at sampling rate of 44kHz, haven't tested with other frequencies.
The driver version supplied with my CM6631 is CM6631A_20121102.(C-media, 13/07/12,driver version-7.0.11.80 for win 7) It seems to work with Wasapi timer NOT Event. The CM6631 supplied is I believe a 6631 not 6631A which is more expensive. My 6631 is using 6631A driver?
My questions are:
1. Is there a driver for Wasapi Event?
2. Is this driver the latest version?
3. How do you check the firmware of CM6631?
Thanks.
Calling all CM6631/A experts...
I just bought a CM6631 from Pbuy and he supplies me the driver that works at sampling rate of 44kHz, haven't tested with other frequencies.
The driver version supplied with my CM6631 is CM6631A_20121102.(C-media, 13/07/12,driver version-7.0.11.80 for win 7) It seems to work with Wasapi timer NOT Event. The CM6631 supplied is I believe a 6631 not 6631A which is more expensive. My 6631 is using 6631A driver?
My questions are:
1. Is there a driver for Wasapi Event?
2. Is this driver the latest version?
3. How do you check the firmware of CM6631?
Thanks.
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Both CM6631 and CM6631A now share the same driver.
1. No. (Asus driver for CM6631 may have it, I'm not sure, but I don't recommend using Asus firmware/driver anyway.)
2. This driver has a newer package date but I don't think it is meaningfully different from yours:
http://emotiva.com/resources/media/xda2/Emotiva_XDA-2_Unified_Windows_USB_Driver_2012_12_12.zip
3. In Windows device properties for the driver, one of the values show the PID/VID, the remaining value is the firmware version. (I can't check it right now, perhaps later I'll edit this post to state the correct value to check.)
Windows - Device Manager -> Sound ... controllers -> USB2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio -> Properties -> Details -> Property: Hardware Ids
You'll get the VID, PID, and REV which is the firmware version.