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Sound quality from the USB Dac?

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RGA

So as some of you know my favorite CD replay comes from Audio Note. Having moved to Hong Kong where space is at a premium I am planning to go to computer audio and use CD for my most coveted albums. And a turntable later.

I have explored Ayre, Benchmark, Grace, Halide, MDHT, Eastern Electric many of which are using 32bit Sabre chips and some claim 32bit/384khz processing.

It's never really bothered me that AN is a little stone age on DAC chips since the results are the results and the results sound better.

But computer playback is a different animal. Is the AN DAC converting the signal in the same way it converts a CD player or is the AN DAC turned into a tube buffer stage from computer input.

Or would it be best to simply buy a USB to S/PDIF connector and run that from the computer to AN DAC. It seems my readings all indicate that S/PDIF is generally much better than USB connection.

I don't want to do justice to CD at the expense of Computer DSD audio or vice-versa. With the SS computer DACs I generally say - not too bad (for SS). the tube offerings seem like tube buffers which are basically there to distort things rather than be integral to the circuit design.

Follow Ups:

RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - IkeH 08:16:47 10/06/12 (1)
If you already have a DAC, then the easiest (most likely to be the cheapest) way for you to enter computer audio and to see if you really like it or not is to get a D to D converter that converts USB/Firewire to SPDIF such as HiFace from M2 Tech or Audiophilleo. They use the latest and proprietary technology and it sounds much better than the HagTech board which unfortunately is outdated. Many USB DAC from small mfg. actually use HiFace inside their box under license.

The limitation of using AN UK/AN Kits DAC for PC audio is that the play back will be limited to 16bit/44.1 Khz music files and not be able to play so called "high definition" music files. Many of the High Definition music files are clearly a step up from CDs. Definitely obvious in a good stereo system. However they are still quite expensive and availability of music is limited. So, one can argue that 16/44.1 playback is sufficient.

I am a great fan of AN and AN Kits but for the DAC, I now mostly use Weiss DAC2 which I bought second hand almost two years ago. I chose Weiss because it met my sound preference and it sounded better with computers than using a conventional DAC with the D to D converter. Before that I used (still have) ANKits� DAC 3.1 Signature with Hi-Bs. Weiss� Asian distributor is based in HK so you can check them out to see if you like them. Link attached. To me, computer audio sounds much better than conventional CDP or Transport/DAC combination except for a few that are of a truly high end (i.e. US$20K or more) which I can not afford.

As you may already know that in PC audio, playback software, OS, computer, PSU for computers, USB cables etc. do alter sound quite a bit so, when you audition, it would be good to take these into considerations.

Ike
- http://www.asiaweiss.com (Open in New Window)
- RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - AudioNoteKits 08:36:54 10/06/12 (0)
  I will make a small correction to some of your comments - all the AudioNote DAC's support REDBOOK 16/44 and 24/96. The hagtech USB was designed for 16/44 - We originally chose this model because it was available as a kit and sounded great with REDBOOK. Since then 24/96 downloads have become more popular and many customers who want to use high res downloads simply use the Musical Fidelity 24/96 USB to SPDIF converter which is about the size of a credit card and costs 100$. Other customers will use SPDIF output directly from an RCA off a good computer Sound card right into the DAC bypassing the USB althogether - as mentioned in another post its very important to use the right drivers and application software which will bypass all operating system activity associated with normal computer audio. Feel free to contact us for help in this area - thanks Brian
RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - Frank E 15:48:35 09/30/12 (9)
Your question: "Or would it be best to simply buy a USB to S/PDIF connector and run that from the computer to AN DAC"

The AN DAC Kits use an internal USB to S/PDIF converter of questionable quality. The converter AN Kits uses costs about $100. You can likely improve the quality of the conversion by using a better quality USB to S/PDIF converter or buy a DAC that is designed to convert USB directly to analog.
- RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - RGA 22:41:25 09/30/12 (8)
  Okay that makes sense combined with the designer of Abbingdon Music Research (also zero times oversampling DAC maker) on the digital forum.
  
  So basically I need a pure USB DAC from someone else to listen to computer audio and an AN DAC for CDs
  
  I'd rather a DAC that is equally attuned to doing both things well. Hopefully AN has something up their sleeves here - unlike SACD - DSD is not going to die.
  - RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - Frank E 11:00:09 10/01/12 (0)
    RGA,
    
    Have a look at this posting over on computer audio and see what Cpwill is using to feed his Audio Note Kits DAC 4.1.
    - See what this person is using (Open in New Window)
  - RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - AudioNoteKits 08:31:41 10/01/12 (6)
    the USB that we built into the DAC is from a hagtech and is basically a 16/44 USB - several customers have bought the musical fidelity USB to SPDIF converter for 100$ which supports 24/96 files and is about the size of a credit card and they use it externally - an even more important consideratio when using computer server is to use a ASIO style driver that eliminates the use of the operating system to communicate the bits to the sound card - contact us on email for further details but we have many customers using the AudioNote Kit DAC's with musicservers etc... including myself!
    - RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - RGA 01:22:36 10/08/12 (0)
      May I ask is the linked device the thing you mention? Just to be sure I understand what you're talking about.
      
      This basically bypasses the grunge of the PC or laptop and then would go the AN DAC for the actual D to A conversion.
      
      The question then becomes how does the AN DAC handle Reference Recordings albums recorded in or close to 24/192?
      
      Interestingly, I've been discussing the topic with the very Knowledgeable owner of AMR (Abbingdon Music Research) and looking at the recently reviewed 777 processor it is no oversampling no feedback tubes using the older famous TDA 1541 16 bit chip.
      
      AN DACs often use the 1543(Which I assume is in the 1541 family) and 1865 bit chips. So I'm not sure how 16 and 18 bit chips are truly handling 24/192 resolution recordings. Or is this something that really matters?
      
      Thanks Brian.
      http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MFVL192 (Open in New Window)
    - RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - Frank E 10:50:51 10/01/12 (4)
      I was under the impression that the Hagtech converter wasn't as good as other ones available. Brian, I'm sorry if that's misinformation. I tried using USB from a laptop computer and didn't care for it, but I didn't use the ASIO style driver and it wasn't a dedicated computer so maybe that was the problem.
      
      I have the Kit Dac 2.1b being fed from Squeezebox Duet S/PDIF and it sounds really good.
      - RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - Bones13 11:58:45 10/01/12 (3)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? posted by Frank E on October 01, 2012 at 10:50:51
        
        I use a Stello U3 for converting the USB from my computer to an AES/BSU SPDIF input to my ANK DAC 4.1, I use the coax SPDIF for my CD input.
        Most of the current USB-> SPDIF converters will go way above the 18/96 that my AN digital board will take, but the asynchronous USB is worth going for.
        Most of my computer audio is CD quality (16/44.1) but I have some downloaded 24/96, which play well on my system.
        To my ears, getting the modern asynchronous USB connection is worth it.
        
        Edits: 10/01/12
        
        RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - Happy Camper 17:16:14 11/10/12 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? posted by Bones13 on October 01, 2012 at 12:58:45
        
        Brian,
        
        Time to come out of the dark ages and give us a better alternative to computer sources. A logictech converter for a $2k+ kit that's fed power from the USB is not pretty. An Asynch USB to I2S feed sure would be nice.
        
        RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - astrostar 13:09:29 12/19/12 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? posted by Happy Camper on November 10, 2012 at 17:16:14
        
        Hi Guys
        I am not sure I agree with the consensus of this thread. I can see it may be winding folk up that a great USB solution is not in the kits. BUT this technology is moving so quickly it is almost impossible to offer that I would think on a cost / product dev to be possible for such a small company as AN Kits.
        
        I am cool with the kits without the USB, leaving me / others to find the USB to SPDIF converter to suit my budget and system. It also allows buying in stages (converter later) and building a computer streamer bit by bit.
        
        The other thing it seems to me, is there are very few great DACs out there offering similarly great USB input for 3K US or less. Ok, we can all list dscPucini and others, but they are crazy money. Bsisdes, if you spent all that, maybe you would start thinking what else the money had gone into on other input types you were not to use.
        
        In a way, I see the AN DACs being kits, as a buy to suit your pocket and system requirements. You get a great DAC for low cost (have to build it granted) and can then add more system functiuonality later to suit your needs, i.e. like a PC with extra memory, cards, HDs, and software.
        
        The other thing I have read from many DAC manufactures, is it can be beneficial to have the USB and clocks OUTSIDE the box, so reduce RF and noise. And lets face it, tubed gear or SS gear can cause RF if it's all squashed into a tight case.
        
        Now, my problem is which USB -SPDIF do I get (or can afford?)....
        
        RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? - astrostar 12:54:43 12/19/12 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Sound quality from the USB Dac? posted by Happy Camper on November 10, 2012 at 17:16:14
        
        vv

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