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USB digtial amp?

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Posted on October 29, 2004 at 14:25:45
VinylNewbie
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Joined: September 27, 2004
 Has anyone heard of a digital amp (something like a Panasonic SA-XR50) that has USB input?

And about digital amps (maybe I should be posting this in the Amp/Pre section), how do they work? Does the amp take a digital signal directly, or is there a digital-to-analog conversion?

 

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Re: USB digital amp?, posted on October 29, 2004 at 17:17:19
audioengr
Manufacturer

Posts: 6017
Location: Oregon
Joined: April 12, 2001
 The XR45 is digital all the way through. If you give it a S/PDIF input, there is no analog conversion. Really works well. Dead quiet. You could use a USB to S/PDIF adapter to get a long cable to it and/or reduce jitter. There are no USB input digital amps that I'm aware of.

 

Re: USB digital amp?, posted on October 29, 2004 at 17:47:21
dwk
Audiophile

Posts: 235
Joined: September 4, 2000
The new Kenwood 8100 will accept streaming media over ethernet, and uses the same Equibit technology as the Panny. Unfortunately, near as I can tell it won't accept any uncompressed multichannel material, and I think you have to use their server software on the PC.

Since anything streamed over ethernet would obviously run from the local clock, this is somewhat better theoretically, but being a consumer receiver you can be the clock won't be great to start with. Maybe an interesting mod target, though.

 

Griffin Powerwave?, posted on October 29, 2004 at 19:42:55
triodesteve
Audiophile

Posts: 803
Location: Walla Walla Washington
Joined: September 4, 2001
 USB input for the da conversion and a tripath amp...all in one box.

 

USB to S/PDIF adapter ? ...can you name some?, posted on October 30, 2004 at 13:18:59
N.B.C.
Audiophile

Posts: 462
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 10, 2004
 Also, "You could use a USB to S/PDIF adapter to get a long cable to it and/or reduce jitter."

How would this reduce jitter?

Thanks,
Neil

 

USB to S/PDIF adapters, posted on October 30, 2004 at 14:40:09
rkw
Audiophile

Posts: 321
Joined: July 12, 2000
 See the products at M-Audio, notably the Transit, Sonica Theater, and Audiophile USB. Also Creative Audigy 2 and Edirol.

As for jitter, there was discussion in a recent thread.

 

Re: USB to S/PDIF adapter ? ...can you name some?, posted on October 30, 2004 at 15:36:05
audioengr
Manufacturer

Posts: 6017
Location: Oregon
Joined: April 12, 2001
 If the S/PDIF cable is very short or non-existant, then it's jitter contribution is very small. The USB cable does not contribute to jitter, so it can be quite long - 25 meters max.

 

Re: USB to S/PDIF adapter ? ...can you name some?, posted on October 30, 2004 at 15:38:42
audioengr
Manufacturer

Posts: 6017
Location: Oregon
Joined: April 12, 2001
 Can I name some? Yes, there are two:

M-Audio Transit - best for PC's

Edirol UA-1D - best for iMAC

The transit is only Toslink out, but I modify it to have coax out. I also have a version that uses a wall-wart power supply and Superclock2 for a really jitter-free clock.

 

Thanks for all the replies., posted on November 1, 2004 at 07:21:44
VinylNewbie
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Joined: September 27, 2004
 audioengr - your contributions to this forum are greatly appreciated.

I'll probably try an Edirol UA-1D w/iMac using long USB, short S/PDIF.

 

One more question about non-existent S/PDIF cables, posted on November 3, 2004 at 11:26:44
VinylNewbie
Audiophile

Posts: 160
Joined: September 27, 2004
 When you say that the coaxial cable could be non-existent, does that mean that Radio Shack RCA phono couplers, for example, could be used without any cable?

RS doesn't give the specs for their coupler, but I assume I'm trying to find a 75 ohm device - but maybe because the "cable" is non-existent it really doesn't matter that much.

I've heard that a Belden 1505F/Canare RCAP cable is pretty close to 75 ohms. Maybe a short run of that would also work.

 

Re: One more question about non-existent S/PDIF cables, posted on November 7, 2004 at 10:34:39
audioengr
Manufacturer

Posts: 6017
Location: Oregon
Joined: April 12, 2001
 No, when I say a non-existent cable, I mean that the interface is wired internally and does not need to meet the S/PDIF specification because there is no external cable.

 

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