USB DAC Selection

[soundcheck]

Originally posted by goon-heaven
Thanks Klaus.

I'm running foobar into RME96 SPDIF into DDDAC Mk1 into Gilmore Headamp. I have (only) this one pair of Auricaps, at the output of the DDDAC, that I wish were not there (for all those reasons you give). Looks like they will survive just a little longer.

Different to your USB input: I would like to know how to build a clock output circuit from the Tent clock in the DDDAC that the RME would slave to. Who can spell it out to me?

I am also considering how to do a Mk2 PC audio, so I read all this with much interest.

You might try Linux (rt-patched) and XMMS first. (see the Linux thread). That'll get you a real big step forward compared to your foobar setup, without fiddling around with the hardware and clocks.
Try also Shibatch ssrc to convert --offline-- your 44.1 material.
(realtime src will bring in other problems again)
In my case offline src was one of the biggest improvements I managed to make on the software side. Free of charge btw.

However, I am also looking after improving the clock situtation,
as many others around here. .

Cheers

[imperfectcircle]

Originally posted by soundcheck


The DDDAC, especially the USB variant, needs proper source material, a highly optimised PC setup and some tweaking to sound best. I think a lot of people just miss this out.

If you manage to get this done, all the NONOS DAC incl. passive output stage advantages will apply!

The DDDAC is loosing, IMO, at least 30% of its potential on the way from PC to PCM2707. If you manage to improve the front-end of the DAC, Lynx will have a hard time.

E.g. Just feeding the DAC with 48kHz material (offline upsampled with Shibatch ssrc under Linux) lifts it up in a different league!


Cheers

I definitly agree getting everything setup and tweaked correctly wil go a long way in any system
I think soundcards have gotten a bad rep in the Audiophile world because of crappy cards meant for gaming like the Creative Audigy and Xfi. I felt this way for a long time, until I heard a Lynx Two soundcard in my freinds system. It was the clear winner over the Benchmark dac1. I donno why this is, but im not the only one whose made these claims. I have a feeling it has to do with less jitter because there is no usb, spdif, toslink... cable to connect PC to DAC??? The nie thing about going with a soundcard like the Lynx is that you not only get a outstanding analogue output, but you calso get a very good diital output should you ever want to try an external dac. Its also got word clock capability if you wanted to sync your dac, soundcard and any other digital devices. If the $700 Lynx is out of your budget and your interested in hearing a good soundcard, try the Emu 1212m for under $200. Its supposed to be quite good.

[hagtech]

until I heard a Lynx Two soundcard

So it can be done. The two big issues I think then are that many of us use a laptop as a music server, and that most desktop units have a fan.

jh

[riotubes]

Soundcheck, you said:

The DDDAC is loosing, IMO, at least 30% of its potential on the way from PC to PCM2707. If you manage to improve the front-end of the DAC, Lynx will have a hard time. e.g. Just feeding the DAC with 48kHz material (offline upsampled with Shibatch ssrc under Linux) lifts it up in a different league!

Sorry, I'm new to digital. The NOS TDA1543 is 16 bit/44.1kHz. It can play a 48kHz signal? If so, is this possible to do in PC or MAC instead of Linux?

[audioengr]

Originally posted by soundcheck


Why not taking an I2S output of an Envy-chip based soundcard and reclocking this I2S signal with a precision clock!

Is anybody aware of a reclocking module for I2S?

I sell one, the Pace-Car. It is a new product, so it is not quite ready for sale yet....soon though.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

[soundcheck]

Originally posted by imperfectcircle


I felt this way for a long time, until I heard a Lynx Two soundcard in my freinds system. It was the clear winner over the Benchmark dac1. I donno why this is, but im not the only one whose made these claims. I have a feeling it has to do with less jitter because there is no usb, spdif, toslink... cable to connect PC to DAC??? The nie thing about going with a soundcard like the Lynx is that you not only get a outstanding analogue output, but you calso get a very good diital output should you ever want to try an external dac. Its also got word clock capability if you wanted to sync your dac, soundcard and any other digital devices. If the $700 Lynx is out of your budget and your interested in hearing a good soundcard, try the Emu 1212m for under $200. Its supposed to be quite good.

I am well aware that the Lynx is performing extremely well.
Though, going for off-the-shelve products isn't really in line with my (and a lot of others around here) DIY spirit!

I want to be able to configure the whole chain by myself. Usually you're much less flexible if you use commercial products.

PCI based soundard DIY-kits are not available and tweaking commercial designs just exceed the capabilities of the average DIY person do the complexity of the subject. IMO that's the reason why the DIY community focusses very much on external devices - they are much easier to build and provide more then acceptable sound quality.

When it comes to budget - budget is not an issue - I think many DIY folks, including me, are spending more than 700$ on their journey to develop the best solution matching their purposes.
If the Lynx Two would be the perfect device many of us could have it by tommorrow, but that's not the issue! -- Not yet.

Originally posted by riotubes
Soundcheck, you said:




Sorry, I'm new to digital. The NOS TDA1543 is 16 bit/44.1kHz. It can play a 48kHz signal? If so, is this possible to do in PC or MAC instead of Linux?

It'll handle up to 192kHz. The limiting factor in my case is the PCM2707, running as USB 2 I2S interface, which is able to handle up to 48kHz.
On the other hand I am not interested to go higher than 48kHz.

The probable reason, why 48kHz sound better:

The 48kHz material in general just matches better most of the
used clocks than 44,1 material.
Then you can transfer 48kHz better (more linear block count) over USB than 44,1kHz.

My conclusion, the offline conversion losses from 44.1 to 48 are just less impacting the sound than the losses I get when running the whole path with 44.1 or doing realtime upsampling.

Of course you can run 48kHz from MS or MAC. I just don't know
if the ssrc programme is available for MS.

Since I get best results with my DAC under Linux (buffer size as
low as 1 sample!) MS or MAC is no option for me. That might change if I go for a DAC in the future, which is less sensitive to incoming jitter.

Originally posted by audioengr


I sell one, the Pace-Car. It is a new product, so it is not quite ready for sale yet....soon though.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

Steve. Are there more infos available on your pace-car? What's that supposed to be?

Cheers

[lucpes]

SSRC is available as a plugin for foobar2000 under Windows, I use 88.2kHz to EMU1212m - SPDIF (double 44.1) to feed a dac-ah (8414 receiver into 8xTDA1543). Due to non-os issues 88.2 sound more opened than the original 44.1. The external DAC sounds better than the 1212m by far, also changing the digital decoupling caps on the soundcard to OSCONs helps a lot.

Now i'm looking into hacking an M-audio Transit USB (uses the TAS1020 from TI/BB) to get I2S and later will look into reclocking.

[soundcheck]

Originally posted by lucpes
SSRC is available as a plugin for foobar2000.

I know.
Question is, if there is a standalone application to do this offline.

As mentionned before - Realtime sampling as done in foobar -
doesn't really help!
I suspect that due to buffer (very big buffers are needed) and IRQ issues, while doing realtime sampling, you'll loose all benefits, which 48kHz would bring on the other end.

Cheers

[lucpes]

For SSRC app, try a search in here http://www.rarewares.org/ or head to www.hydrogenaudio.org.

Regarding SSRC in real-time, my CPU is an Athlon64 3000+ running at real 2400 Mhz and the CPU time for the Foobar2000 player is around 6-7-8% with the higher quality (Top) algorithms selected in the plugin (44.1 to 88.2 resampling).

edit: The link for the ssrc standalone app for win is on this page: http://www.rarewares.org/others.html

[soundcheck]

Originally posted by lucpes
For SSRC app, try a search in here http://www.rarewares.org/ or head to www.hydrogenaudio.org.

Regarding SSRC in real-time, my CPU is an Athlon64 3000+ running at real 2400 Mhz and the CPU time for the Foobar2000 player is around 6-7-8% with the higher quality (Top) algorithms selected in the plugin (44.1 to 88.2 resampling).

edit: The link for the ssrc standalone app for win is on this page: http://www.rarewares.org/others.html

The actual PC performance doesn't really matters.
The realtime SRC introduces at least 100ms latency to the stream!