Computer Audio Asylum

Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

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Original Message

XMOS v Amanero

Posted by fmak on December 24, 2016 at 07:58:18:
They are quite different devices. XMOS relies on Thyescon TUSB drivers which are customised and updated frequently. Most devices omit the essential elements in the driver ie TUSB Control Panel and TUSB Spy. The former allows for things like Latency to be varied, allowing for minimal buffers. I guess that many customisations use the safe or nearer safe setting, which doesn't to me sound as good. TUSB Spy allows for the monitoring of usb errors which can be seen in some systems. Many Chinese XMOS cards come with up to date drivers but do not contain the CPL and monitoring features. Many other XMOS implementations use 1.6x drivers whereas the latest is 3.34 . The newest drivers do sound better.

Amanero is a different beast. It has a stable driver set from 2013, aimed at accessing the KS mode. Manufacturers who use it have add ASIO drivers to some devices. Curiously they cost more from China than XMOS devices.

The two cards sound different but I would'nt say which is better. It all depends on the setup and peripherals. DSD via KS at 352.8k 24/32 bit actually sounds very good using a good filter using either hardware.

A majot reason why usb cards sound different lies in the quality of USB to I2S conversion where 44.1 x and 48 x related frequencies have to be generated by XOs. It is the qulity and implementation of these which matter.