I am trying to decide whther or not to run I2S from both my CD player and my computer or just from the CD player and have some questions. How does music played throught the computer fare compared to that from a CD player. More specifically, are there noise, playback accuracy, ripping accuracy issues, that need to be dealt with or that pose a problem for hifi enjoyment. I have really enjoyed the few downloads i have tried from HD tracks, and would argue that some of their high smapling rate stuff best's the CD counterpart. I have noticed that ripping a CD to the my HD seems to hurt the quality some and don't know if this is software related or something that cannot be dealt with. A little background, I built my computer using top quality components throughout and lack only a good soundcard which i would get if this seems like it will work out. I have a CS4398 oversampling DAC running into 1:1 transformer balanced outputs. I have had my eye on the Juli@ cards, as i have heard good things about them. not being a typer, my fingers hurt. Hope you can make sense of my scattered brain post.
I don't think you will receive a definitive answer to such a general question. What computer compared to what cd player? The computer thingie is capable of embarassing most cd players but due to its inherent tweakiness results are far from guaranteed.
What would make a computer be able to embarrass a CD player. They both use the same technology on the audio side. If I am taking an I2s signal from a soundcard vs a CD player, the only difference between is the pre I2s chip processing. IN what regards does a computer have an advantage over a CD player in this are. I would think, that the CD player being inherently less complicated would not be as open to system generated problems. Do computers have better clocks? I know they have the danger of increased psu noise. I don't know, i am just tryingto learn. If it is superior, why do people mess with CD players anymore?
Yes...
This is a qualified Yes answer. If the I2S output is well implemented, and the cables are kept very short, then I2S from the computer will be desireable. Problem is that for I2S to be an advantage, whatever generates it (soundcard?) will have to be very well implemented, as I2S provides the clock for the DAC directly. The clocks on the souncard will have to be low jitter/low phase noise, and the local power supply for both the clocks and the I2S signal transmitter will have to be very clean.
Soundcard: I think the Juli@ provides an I2S header, right? If so it still may need a clock upgrade, and power supply upgrades to get really great I2S performance, clocks will not perform well without clean, low impedance high bandwidth power supplies.
Computer audio can outperform traditional transports, when everything is done right (this is not easy to achieve).
This is a qualified Yes answer. If the I2S output is well implemented, and the cables are kept very short, then I2S from the computer will be desireable. Problem is that for I2S to be an advantage, whatever generates it (soundcard?) will have to be very well implemented, as I2S provides the clock for the DAC directly. The clocks on the souncard will have to be low jitter/low phase noise, and the local power supply for both the clocks and the I2S signal transmitter will have to be very clean.
Soundcard: I think the Juli@ provides an I2S header, right? If so it still may need a clock upgrade, and power supply upgrades to get really great I2S performance, clocks will not perform well without clean, low impedance high bandwidth power supplies.
Computer audio can outperform traditional transports, when everything is done right (this is not easy to achieve).
There was at least one available from the vendor (Wai Wai Valve Company) who exports Zhaolu dacs and other products to the West. This card was meant to be used with the Zhaolu 3.0 dac and output I2S and I believe I2C format control signals over RJ-45 style connector. Not sure any of this is now available as this is a couple of years ago.
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