For those using legacy DACs with SPDIF inputs, can you list some good converter boards?
Plenty of Chinese ones, plus JLSounds and no doubt many others....
Plenty of Chinese ones, plus JLSounds and no doubt many others....
Here's an Amanero variant that works
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/inte...NEw6owj4d9mqwvs_yl9gzEhlodHdHu_JvPgRAz5I_p_s2
And a shootout of ready built boards
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/15026-15-usbspdif-converters-shootout/
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/inte...NEw6owj4d9mqwvs_yl9gzEhlodHdHu_JvPgRAz5I_p_s2
And a shootout of ready built boards
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/15026-15-usbspdif-converters-shootout/
I have the same request. I recently bought a pair of plate amps and would like to go from a PC USB port on a laptop to the SPDIF input on the amps. I have no need for I2S.
I found this device on eBay, but it looks sketchy. It requires installation of drivers on the PC, which I would not want to install from a random company on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256073194523
I found this device on eBay, but it looks sketchy. It requires installation of drivers on the PC, which I would not want to install from a random company on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256073194523
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Please have a look at York, it can output I2S and S/PDIF at the same time, and there are many other modes to interface PCM DACs directly too:
Thanks kazuviking. That is in the right direction. While looking at the SMSL device I came across another one from Douk Audio. I found their products to be excellent in the past. The Douk box has the large form factor USB A connector that I find is much more robust than the USB C, which I tend to break with a single accidental bump of the cord on small devices. I would also like to avoid supporting the MQA con.
Douk Audio U2 PRO XMOS XU208 Digital Interface, USB to TOSLINK Coaxial/Optical/HDMI IIS Audio Adapter, for DAC/Preamp/Amplifier, Support PCM & DSD256
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Interface-Coaxial-Optical-Audio/dp/B08HN3VSF8
Douk Audio U2 PRO XMOS XU208 Digital Interface, USB to TOSLINK Coaxial/Optical/HDMI IIS Audio Adapter, for DAC/Preamp/Amplifier, Support PCM & DSD256
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Interface-Coaxial-Optical-Audio/dp/B08HN3VSF8
Ah this one, i wouldnt recommend it, its really a mixed bag with quality control. Lots of ones arrives DOA and stops working shortly after. SMSL puts scamqa into everything but you can simply ignore it.
I clicked buy before I saw your post. I will give it a try. Returns are very easy with Amazon. These converters are such simple devices, a CPU chip, a few caps and connectors, that there's very little to go wrong. Worst case it dies in a year and I have a nice case with all the required connectors that I could put a DIY solution into.
When I first looked I did not see the SPDIF adaptor board. That looks promising. So for 75 plus 15 for the adaptor board that would work.
http://www.jlsounds.com/toslink.html
Does the JLSounds actually need this adapter board? I thought it could be wired directly to a RCA socket?
JL Sounds needs two mutually isolated 5v power supplies to sound its best. It could then be bettered further using external clocking and reclocking the SPDIF output. That setup, with good clocks, could probably beat any SPDIF source out there.
However, SPDIF by its nature is flawed. The SPDIF signal carries both digital and analog information. The analog information is clock timing, and SPDIF is known for adding clock jitter. Clock jitter is every bit as bad as amplitude noise on the Vref (AVCC) terminal of a dac chip.
However, SPDIF by its nature is flawed. The SPDIF signal carries both digital and analog information. The analog information is clock timing, and SPDIF is known for adding clock jitter. Clock jitter is every bit as bad as amplitude noise on the Vref (AVCC) terminal of a dac chip.
At that point just swap a simple xmos based i2s board into the dac, way cheaper for the exact same performance.
If using I2S and external clocking with reclocking, then is possible to achieve performance that is not practically obtainable any other way. However, its not all that low-cost to do well.