|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
136.2.1.153
In Reply to: Hold on a minute there... posted by Presto on January 5, 2007 at 02:53:32:
Case 3: The new Laptop (Alternate Method)Laptop -> USB Digital output -> Audio Alchemy DAC -> Powered Speakers
For USB Digital output this product can get you there and is very cost effective at $29.
Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface
http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/buy_behringer_ucontrol_uca202_usbaudio_interface?full_sku=702540
Follow Ups:
Thanks Dynaudio Rules. See my other post. I bought the M Audio Transit to do this. It is not working. Can you help? Thanks.
> See my other post. I bought the M Audio Transit to do this.
> It is not working. Can you help?Can you beg or borrow another PC (desktop or laptop) to
try your M-Audio Transit and Audio Alchemy DAC with?Also, can you try a CD transport with Toslink out with your
AA DAC and see if that works?There are a number of possibilities, of which it would be
helpful to eliminate a few:1. Your AA DAC works with coax S/PDIF input, but has problems with
Toslink. Success with a Toslink CD transport would eliminate
that possibility.2. The M-Audio Transit doesn't get along with the AA DAC, or
is simply defective. Success with a different PC would
eliminate that possibility.3. Your new Dell Inspiron 9400 has a hardware, driver, or
other software or configuration problem. Failure (continued
distortion/crackling) with a different PC would eliminate
that possibility.If you can isolate the problem to one component in the chain,
then you'll know what to attempt to fix and/or replace.
> . . .then to my KRK powered monitors.Don't neglect to check the "d'oh" possibilities, such
as that you disturbed the connection to your speakers,
inadvertently misadjusted a control somewhere, or have (a) loose or
intermittent cable(s).> [I wrote] The M-Audio Transit [might not] get along with
> the AA DAC. . .It's **conceivable** (unlikely, but possible I suppose) that
the clock in the M-Audio Transit is outside the range of the
AA DAC's capability to get a stable lock.Is the "lock" light coming on (and staying on) on your AA
DAC? If the DAC has a dual PLL input circuit, are **both**
lights (the "primary lock" and "secondary lock") coming
on and staying on?
> [I wrote] It's **conceivable** (unlikely, but possible I
> suppose) that the clock in the M-Audio Transit is outside the
> range of the AA DAC's capability to get a stable lock.Maybe not so unlikely after all. You know, I'm not so sure
the old Audio Alchemy stuff can even operate at 48 kHz.
In fact, I seem to recall trying to feed a DTI 48 kHz and
having it not work. The CS8412 input receiver they used
can certainly do 48 kHz, but they also used external PLLs
to reduce jitter.It's conceivable you were getting away with it with coaxial
input (albeit without the DAC fully locked), but can't with
optical, or something like that.Are you **sure** of the sample rate that's coming out of the
Transit? Can the Transit be **forced** to do 44.1 kHz?Another thought -- are you doing any signal processing in the PC
that could be causing the DAC and/or powered speakers to be
clipping? I don't think you mentioned what player you're
using.
OK. I took the equipment home this weekend to do some testing. FYI-I am only using windows XP pro and itunes (apple lossless).The same issues were present when I hooked the audio usb transit, toslink to dac and speakers up to my home computer instead of work laptop.
The Transit's light is always locked on. The Dac's primary lock comes on, but secondary lock only comes on if a sound is being sent from the computer. I think you are right with this being the issue.
Unfortunately the transit will not allow me to adjust the signal to 44.1khz. Perhaps this is what is creating the dac to click and sound crackles at beginning of audio signals.
The dac works fine in my home system replacing Benchmark DAC1 (just does not sound as good). The primary and secondary lights were always locked on. The powered speakers tested fine.
If this is the issue is there a good quality usb converter (tos or coax) that has option for 44.1 locked signal? Maybe the coax is best for this dac in computer setup. Too bad Transit does not have coax option.
I really appreciate your help. Thanks again.
Brad
Not sure why its not working.....it does have a USB in and optical out
did you try using both the TOSlink out as well as the Coax digital out....neither of these work?You may have a diffective unit.
Thanks. After further tests I have narrowed it to Dac locking on to signal. Maybe an issue with being send 48 khz instead of 44.1 khz.The AA Dac does not have coax output so I am limited with this dac. I am going to try out a couple other usb converters and see if I can get something that allow me to choose 44.1 khz output.
Thanks again for all your help.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: