 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
73.229.163.4
In Reply to: RE: No multi USB ports on DACs? posted by Fluter on January 05, 2024 at 04:48:09
I don't see two USB inputs on a DAC as being useful to MOST users and it could prove to be problematic. Some dingle berries will plug just anything into a open 2nd USB port. Maybe a disk drive, a printer, their phone for charging, etc. Manufacturers have to worry about those things ;-)A few possible solutions for you:
#1 - If your DAC has a COAX input (in addition to USB) you could use the COAX input by adding a USB-to-COAX adapter on the Mac or PC. Then switch between COAX and USB on your DAC depending on which source you're using (PC or Mac). Something like THIS ONE or similar on Amazon.
With the solution above I would be more inclined to use the USB-to-SPDIF converter on the Mac because there won't be any Windows USB drivers to find, download, and dick with on the Mac to support higher resolutions. You can find much more expensive audiophile USB-to-SPDIF converters on the market but they seem to have fallen out of favor. I still have my $299 Wyred 4 Sound uLink USB to SPDIF converter [discontinued]. It uses the same XMOS USB chip based solution found in many of the cheapie converters.#2 - You could try a USB hub but I'm not sure how the DAC will respond to possibly 'seeing' two sources - Windows & macOS at the same time. You might have to disable USB audio output on one computer in the OS or music player when the other computer is in use.
#3 - Another possibility might be a old school USB A/B Switch but you might run into issues (a glitch of some sort) with the DAC and/or computer when you switch from A to B. Something to experiment with.
Visit Amazon and search "USB Switch" and "USB Hub" and "USB to SPDIF converter".
Edits: 01/05/24 01/05/24 01/06/24Follow Ups:
Ah yes... the 'ole USB hub. I can appreciate the likely "dingle berry" effect coming in to play if the situation here permitted it, but data collisions would be my biggest concern if the host can't keep things straight. While I do have a hub sitting in storage here, I think the wiser approach is as you list, the USB - S/PDIF converter.The clean implementation (no drivers) on the Mac appears to be a near ideal approach when staring at a DAC with a single USB-B port. My Benchmark DAC3 will accommodate the S/PDIF coax interconnect without issue so I think what you suggest is the proper approach.
I'll proceed to check out the device you show; do you know if I should have any "worry" about the XMOS chip(set?) version being employed? I'm thinking maybe timing accuracy of the output? I'd be sure to provide scrubbed +5vDC to the unit however.
Thanks Abe, for the solution!
Edits: 01/08/24
The XMOS based USB solution has been pretty solid for several years and many DAC makers use XMOS internally. The older XMOS versions are fine but I -think- the main difference in the latest ones is the much higher sample rates they can handle. As far as I know they've all been "driver-less" on Mac and Linux systems for many years.
Edits: 01/08/24
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
