USB to Digital converter

Sadly, user friendly software and DAC have not kept up to my expectations, of a flood of new offerings this year.

Some interesting HDD replay products at the CEDIA show, last week.

Check out these products, from the Stereophile website :

Cedia Show - Day 2

Cedia Show Day 3

Dont miss the 32 Bit Upsampling by the McIntosh Pre Amp !

The DAC to watch is the M2Tech Vaughan that does 32/384 from USB!! It is going to be launced soon for ~$6000.00
Many USB Dac's are now using M2Techs OEM USB-SPDIF/I2S board to get hi-rez.

I've heard from a reliable source that it sounds better than the Vekian.

http://www.m2tech-hiface.com.au/index.php/news
(at the bottom of the page)

And the Young DAC. That one's also supposed to do 32/384. Any clue on pricing / first reports?

Are ANY Hi Res files available at 32/384 ???

Fpr all Logitech Squeezebox fans.....

Now there is the Logitech Squeezebox Touch !

But apparently its available Only direct from the Logitech USA website.....

So I'm the proud daddy of a brand new iPad. So immediately, I downloaded the remote app for iPad and was extremely pleased by it's performance on iTunes.

Alas the foobar remote plugin doesn't work with the iPad version of remote so far.

So I'm back to square one.

Any idea how I can seamlessly control my foobar (or any front end software) seamlessly with my iPad?

I'd use iTunes, but sadly no flac support there

try this.. its a workaround.

BTW your avatar always creeps me out !

Shahrukh schrieb:

So I'm the proud daddy of a brand new iPad. So immediately, I downloaded the remote app for iPad and was extremely pleased by it's performance on iTunes. Alas the foobar remote plugin doesn't work with the iPad version of remote so far. So I'm back to square one. Any idea how I can seamlessly control my foobar (or any front end software) seamlessly with my iPad? I'd use iTunes, but sadly no flac support there :(

Hi,
What is the problem you're facing? I have used IPAD with Foobar. Have you downloaded the plugin from http://www.wintense.com and does it show in Foobar config?

The blackberry pad should be interesting as well

But 32/384 dacs....flavour of the month ? Ess and AK are being written about. But I am surprised that the 32bit story is not being told by the biggies like crystal,TI,wolfson,Analogue devices,
Can't believe neither of them have the tech for audio.

Manek

Arj, the problem with fluke is that it doesn't do cue files. Plus, I've been having trouble finding the windows version.

MSB, the remote app just doesn't recognise foobar. All's well till I punch in the four digit pass key. After that the foobar library refuses to get added.

Manek schrieb:

The blackberry pad should be interesting as well But 32/384 dacs....flavour of the month ? Ess and AK are being written about. But I am surprised that the 32bit story is not being told by the biggies like crystal,TI,wolfson,Analogue devices, Can't believe neither of them have the tech for audio. Manek

Manek,

The biggies are not into it for the same reason amp_nut mentioned. These files are rarely available.

Shahrukh,

In Windows go to system settings and enable Remote Assistance. See if that helps.

I remember a friend had the same problem with his Iphone and it was sorted playing around with these settings. Should work.

Also check your firewall and AV settings. Itunes automatically makes exceptions for itself. Foobar won't.

Just checked out wintense. Apparently the boys at Apple have messed around with the settings.

UPDATE: it works!

But it still comes as a playlist. Can't sort/search by album artist song etc. Anything typed in the search field doesn't yield results. What am I doing wrong?

You dont see the bar at the bottom that says ARTIST, ALBUM, etc.?

You cannot sort in Itouch/Ipad.. It shows the Library exactly as it is in Foobar. Changes you make to the library in Foobar only show after Foobar has been restarted.

Also, search is case sensitive. Searching for 'moby' will not show results for 'Moby'

I do. But the tracks don't appear in SONGS. Thats empty. They appear in the NEW PLAYLIST tab next to MUSIC, MOVIES etc.

You need to figure out that in Foobar.. Is everything sorted and shoing properly in Foobar?

This is another "audiophile" product which does USB to SPDIF conversion. Does it look good ?
http://www.analogresearch-technology.net/LEGATO.html

msb1 schrieb:

You need to figure out that in Foobar.. Is everything sorted and shoing properly in Foobar?

Figured it out. Dunno what I did but I'm getting it now.

Thanks for all the help.

abhi.pani schrieb:

This is another "audiophile" product which does USB to SPDIF conversion. Does it look good ? http://www.analogresearch-technology.net/LEGATO.html

There are a 100 off them out there. They all "look" good, but how they sound is the question!

This is another popular one:
http://www.audiophilleo.com/

The hiface devices are one of the few I know off that use properiatry drviers to allow USB to work at higher resolutions. Rest use Windows native drivers that are limited on USB.

msb1 schrieb:

abhi.pani schrieb: This is another "audiophile" product which does USB to SPDIF conversion. Does it look good ? http://www.analogresearch-technology.net/LEGATO.html There are a 100 off them out there. They all "look" good, but how they sound is the question! This is another popular one: http://www.audiophilleo.com/ The hiface devices are one of the few I know off that use properiatry drviers to allow USB to work at higher resolutions. Rest use Windows native drivers that are limited on USB.

just my 2 cents worth - many years ago I have had several technical exchanges with Analog Research Technology (audiogon username "ar_t") & found that the fellow did know what he was speaking about. I didn't always agree with him but he did things for a certain technical reason & not due to some marketing mumbo-jumbo.
I do not own any of AR-T products nor have I heard any of his products BUT he does seem to engineer his products based on some science which is more than I can say for most other manuf.
No idea if this will translate to better sound or not....

bombaywalla schrieb:

just my 2 cents worth - many years ago I have had several technical exchanges with Analog Research Technology (audiogon username "ar_t") & found that the fellow did know what he was speaking about. I didn't always agree with him but he did things for a certain technical reason & not due to some marketing mumbo-jumbo. I do not own any of AR-T products nor have I heard any of his products BUT he does seem to engineer his products based on some science which is more than I can say for most other manuf. No idea if this will translate to better sound or not....

Hi,
Don't get me wrong.. it's probably very good. My point was that there are so many avaialble. All look well made and have great specs. Just hard to tell how they sound unless they can be heard and compared, much like all other audio equipment.

IMO The most important aspects that determine how good a system sounds are the room, setup and synergy. Hence what sounds excellent in one setup may sound bad in another.

I just bought a new DAC - the Prism Orpheus. It's an 8 Channel Firewire converter with AD-DA does 24bit 192Khz.

Needed a multi-channel dac for my Emerald Physics active crossover setup, so I can go direct from PC -> DAC -> AMP with all the DSP stuff (crossover, eq, room correction) happening on the PC.

surrealistix schrieb:

I just bought a new DAC - the Prism Orpheus. It's an 8 Channel Firewire converter with AD-DA does 24bit 192Khz. Needed a multi-channel dac for my Emerald Physics active crossover setup, so I can go direct from PC -> DAC -> AMP with all the DSP stuff (crossover, eq, room correction) happening on the PC.

Hi,
This is considered to be a superb dac. Do you mind telling us where you got it from?

Picked it up on my trip to the US last month

Excellent purchase;;;
Way to go.
I would have loved to have heard this DAC.
It is a good product indeed.
Computer by 13944 straight.
It is a perfect interface.
Enjoy it...
All the Best !

Bhagwan69 - you are more than welcome to come home and listen to my setup.

I know Navi Mumbai is a bit far - but not that far!

Surrealistix,

How would you decribe the sound and what is your associated equipment. Also, were you able to connect it to your PC without any problems?

I had a major problem getting a Firewire DAC to work with my PC a few months ago.

surrealistix schrieb:

Bhagwan69 - you are more than welcome to come home and listen to my setup. I know Navi Mumbai is a bit far - but not that far!

I will come - 100 % I will come.

Some time - next week end.
Send me your contact details - by e-mail & I will call you & come.
I am keen to listen to the Prism.

Thanks,

'B'

Surrealistix - when you first posted that you had bought an 8 channel DAC - the Prism Orpheus, I thought it was just another DAC.

Glad I googled to learn more about it.

Its QUITE a product ! Also a Swiss Army Knife in the DAC world. Its FAR more than a DAC, infact its even more than what most digital Pre amps offer...

I found the following 2 reviews particularly informative :

Computer Audio Asylum

and

10 Audio

While I have not heard the DACs that it has been compared to favourably oby the Computer Audio Asylum reviewer, I ... like the reviewer, give a major thumbs Down to the Benchmark DAC. Hence would LOVE to hear the DAC in your setup. Sadly, wont be able to make it next week end, but will request you if I can drop in sometime early next month.

Incidentally, How Much does this 'DAC' cost ?

Is there a 2 channel version ?

msb1 had said : Surrealistix, How would you decribe the sound and what is your associated equipment. Also, were you able to connect it to your PC without any problems? I had a major problem getting a Firewire DAC to work with my PC a few months ago.

Please do share.

Thanks !

This DAC is part of the most premium offering by Spatial Audio, Clayton Shaw's ( the EP Designer) latest venture.

Surrealistix is up to some very interesting tricks along the same lines as Spatial Audio

This is the future and Surrealistix is an early bird on that frontier !

Best,

Krish schrieb:

This is the future and Surrealistix is an early bird on that frontier ! Best,

Yes;
Correct....
All the Best !
p.s. Hence I need to go and listen to it..

Amp Nut - It is a good dac and fits very nicely in my Active Crossover setup.

It sells for US$ 4,500 in the US. They don't have a 2 Channel version. While doing my research for DACs from the pro-audio stable, the Metric Halo and Mytek converters are both supposed to be very good. I haven't heard either of the two though.

Give me a call whenever you want to come down, I will be happy to have you over :-)

Krish - I have been playing around with PC based room correction for over an year now, and now working on PC based Active Crossover. It's been a steep learning curve and needs a lot of patience.

I am hoping to get everything sounding right soon :-) Not sure if it will be as good as the Spatial Computer solution, but it's DIY, so I can keep tweaking till I am happy and learn in the process.

Someone on this thread had asked if resolutions higher than 16/44.1 o USB were possible in Winodows using native drivers.

Antelope Audio's Zodiac+ DAC now does 24/192 using Windows Native drivers. Plug and Play.

msb1 - I had no problems connecting the Prism to my laptop over firewire, but it wouldn't work on my PC.

I found out that most firewire DACs work very well with firewire cards using Texas Instrument chipset. So I switched to a card with the TI chipset and it's all been fine since.

I bought 4 Firewire cards but had no luck with any.
I did get it working once for 15 months but after powering off and on... it didnt work again.

Did any of these card have a Texas Instrument chipset?

ADS PYRO PCI 64R2 Firewire card is recommended in a lot of places - this is what I am using.

Yes, I tried TI and VIA but it wouldnt work. So gave up.
Anyways, I dont have a firwire DAC anymore but I do have a few PCI firewire cards if anyone wants one!
My motherboard also has onboard FW which didnt work.

msb1 schrieb:

Someone on this thread had asked if resolutions higher than 16/44.1 o USB were possible in Winodows using native drivers. Antelope Audio's Zodiac+ DAC now does 24/192 using Windows Native drivers. Plug and Play.

Has anyone 'heard' the Zodiac ?
I am keen to know....
Thanks.

surrealistix schrieb:

I found out that most firewire DACs work very well with firewire cards using Texas Instrument chipset. So I switched to a card with the TI chipset and it's all been fine since.

thats exactly what i could find out a well..the other chip is the Via which sucks.

The card Apple uses is supposed to be very good and most audiophiles have found the Pyro card to be pretty good.

Got the EVO yesterday. HUGE change from the original Hiface.
Deeper image, Dark Dark backgrounds, improved top end resolution. All in all a fantastic improvement. Definitely taken my setup up a few notches.

Difference is much much more than when I tried another DAC recently and I highly recommend it.

Has USB in and the following outputs:

SPDIF RCA
SPDIF BNC
AES/EBU
ST Optical
Toslink
I2S

Also has Clock in on BNC.
Needs a 7V-11V power supply (not included) as it does not draw power from USB. I am using a 7.4V Lithium Ion battery to power it.

From what I have read, it supposedly sounds best through ST optical but that interface is now only found on some EMM's and Wadia's as far as I know.

Now can't wait to get their Vaughan DAC.

I thought this may interest Mac users ... Could this be their answer to Foobar ( for Windows users ) ?

Wavelength unveiled its AyreWave audio software, which is a stripped-down high-performance player developed by Steve Booth (who also wrote Play) for Macs that uses 64-bit floating-point precision, has HOG mode, plays files entirely from memory, and even support FLAC files. Best of all, it’s free. A download is available at http://sbooth.org/AyreWave/.

Amp_Nut schrieb:

I thought this may interest Mac users ... Could this be their answer to Foobar ( for Windows users ) ? Wavelength unveiled its AyreWave audio software, which is a stripped-down high-performance player developed by Steve Booth (who also wrote Play) for Macs that uses 64-bit floating-point precision, has HOG mode, plays files entirely from memory, and even support FLAC files. Best of all, it’s free. A download is available at http://sbooth.org/AyreWave/.

No remote functionality.

load Windows on to your mac and play Foobar :)(if it is an Intel processor)

Shahrukh, did you try the Ayrewave ?

Ran into another OS just for audiophiles
http://linux.voyage.hk/

this is a list of some of the USB converters available Here (not updated with the Evo yet)

i have downloaded Ayrewave..but cannot use the Computer speakers for testing it out