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Coxial, optical, Balanced, USB or firewire? Anybody did the comparison?
Follow Ups:
The inherent sound quality of the overall DAC itself will reveal more than which input your choose to use on it, Coxial, optical, Balanced, USB or Firewire. The Apogee Mini DAC sounds outstanding on any input. My personal preference is for Firewire attached to my Mac, coaxial to my CD transport, and optical to my Blu-Ray player. And I run the balanced analog outputs to my linestage.
As for using an external linear power supply on the Apogee, you'll have to try it for yourself. I don't think it will matter that much because the internal power supply circuitry is based on a switching regulator.
A worthwhile upgrade to the Mini-DAC is to replace the little 12W power supply that comes with the unit with an Elpac FWC5012-760F. This 50W power supply is plug-compatible with the Mini-DAC and removes a small layer of haze or fog in the upper midrange. Newark Electronics has them in stock for about $66.
(From an earlier post.)
Happy listening.
Regards,
JerryS
Hi Jerry - Did you try that Elpac power supply on your Mini DAC or were the comments based on another Inmate trying it? Thanks.
Hi Abe,
I bought and tried the larger power supply. I think it is a very worthwhile upgrade for the Mini-DAC. The Newark part number is 43M2979. They are currently out of stock. A larger capacity version would also work well (maybe better).
JerryS
Have a look at this PSU. Best ripple specs. I do not know a stock supply with better specs.
http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/00f0/0900766b800f07da.pdf
It is a big improvement compared to the original Apogee PSU.
1. Set jumpers to disable volume control. In resolving system, the difference is readily audible.
2. Use quality linear PS in place of included wall wart. DIY is the most effective way, but even off the shelf one for $20-30 (search Mouser or Digikey) is an improvement.
Does disabling the volume control set the output level to high just like setting the volume to max? If so that would be far too high a level for my line stage and I suspect for most line stages. I hope I'm wrong but would like to verify before opening the DAC.My system: PC with foobar and asio output into Apogee DAC via firewire and balanced out to line stage.
Edits: 05/11/10 05/11/10
Yes, it will disable the volume control and you're right, it will be much too loud for most linestages. It sounds fine with the volume control still in the circuit. I run mine that way.
If you -think- it sounds better with the volume control disabled, all you have to do is crank the volume control all the way up which essentially shorts out any resistive element within the volume control which gives you the same result as jumpering it out of the circuit.
I have mixed feelings about running a higher quality linear power supply with this DAC. I know JerryS has tried it and liked the results. I tried mine with a hefty 12v sealed lead-acid battery and didn't notice a worthwhile difference. The issue here is that no matter what you use for outboard power, the internal power supply circuitry inside the DAC remains the same switching power supply technology.
I with you on this Abe, I don't feel I'm missing anything with the volume control active and set at 12:00. In fact it allows me to adjust the amount of gain for each step of my line stage volume control.
When I was trying it out I liked coax over everything else...probably due to the quality of the cable more so than anything. But I tend to like the sound of coax over optical and USB anyway....even now that I have better quality cables all around.
Music Is The Bridge Between Heaven & Earth - 音楽は天国と地球のかけ橋
.
The difference you hear with a good interface is likely to be greater than any sample rate conversion.
Music Is The Bridge Between Heaven & Earth - 音楽は天国と地球のかけ橋
The USB audio 1 standard is limited to 24/96
The USB audio 2 standard also supports 176/192.
http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/USB.html
Elsewhere in this forum there is a post by Gordon Raking, stating that Apple is pretty close to implement USB audio 2 in OSX.
Win is unclear.
The number of 24/96 DAC’s is growing, a couple of new models supports this rate.
Asynchronous is gaining popularity too.
The Well Tempered Computer
It can, but currently you need a DAC that has its own custom driver, like the EMU 0404. There are different classes of USB audio support built-in to the major operating systems and 192khz is the top class that's not well supported. Up to 96k is well supported on the OS side but not particularly well on the DAC side (Wavelength, et al, being the exception).
USB audio for audiophiles is still in its infancy. When it's hard to find a serious DAC without 24/96k support then this segment will be mature.
hey cktc,there may be no other clear advice than trying it out !
as many different companys use a fairly limited number of standard D/A chips to do the convertion, the focus of the high-end community seem to concentrate on interfaces and their respective digital protocols to reason the clearly audible differencies of DACs.
this may not be new as such, but if I do pick up the signals of a number of respectable audiophiles correctly, it really seems that the transmission of clock and signal ought to be separate.the digital interface is undoubtedly a hot issue and unfortunately very difficult to compare or verify, as the whole digital transmission between components rely on fairly outdated norms, and rather seldom do invite any direct audio comparisons.
I would welcome any further discussion on this issue.
believe your ears !
& kind regards
Edits: 05/06/10
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