Computer Audio Asylum

Does USB 1 sound worse than USB 2 going to a USB to SPDIF converter?

154.5.132.180

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Thread: Display Email Next ] [ Computer Audio Asylum ]

Hello,
I was wondering if I would reap any more sound benefits adding a USB2 PCI Interface to my meeger PIII music server,then to a Trends UD-10 USB Audio Converter.From there I go to Musical Fidelity DM25 tube dac with SPDIF.The rest of my system is McIntosh.
I am amazed going to PC audio how good it sounds.I started with Winamp,which sounds great,easy to setup,but Foobar is more transparent.(and thanks to my 15 year old for helping setup Foobar,which was brutal)

Thanks

http://www.trendsaudio.com/EN/Product/USB_Audio_feature.htm (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

Yes with caveat's - Gordon Rankin 07:16:35 01/11/07 (0)
XSparky,
Most of the host 2.0 controllers have imbedded Audio built in. This means there is less overhead associated with the host processor and better and more stable data to the audio device.
The 2.0 specification also allows more full speed time slots so if you computer is sharing the host controller like allot of the PC's are then you are better set if loading occurs.
Now for the Caveat... It seems that some of the host PC drivers don't use the internal 2.0 builtin functionality. Also many of the PC's I have seen also have cheap 1.1 hub chips internally. So you should use something like USBView to see what ports are truely 2.0 and which ones are 1.1. USBView will tell you that.
I was shooked when I upgraded the drivers on my MacBook for Bootcamp running XP Pro. The original drivers did not use the builtin audio USB routines. The upgraded drivers did and the sound difference was very noticable.
On the mac this is not an issue because the drivers are setup for the best results.
Thanks
Gordon
J. Gordon Rankin
Re: Does USB 1 sound worse than USB 2 going to a USB to SPDIF converter? - John Swenson 17:01:22 01/10/07 (0)
Most USB audio interfaces run using "full speed" which is the USB 1.1 12MHz speed. USB 2.0 adds "high speed" which is 480 MHz. When a device which runs at full speed is connected to a 2.0 port it works exactly the same as it would into a 1.1 port. During the reset phase the 2.0 port tries to talk to it in high speed, a full speed device completely ignores this. If the device does not respond in high speed mode, the port works exactly the same as a 1.1 port, there is no difference.
So if your USB audio device is a "1.1" compatible device you will get no advantage at all with going to a 2.0 port.
The only advantage a 2.0 port might have is if you have many USB devices connected to the same host interface, since the 2.0 chips are designed for higher speed they can usually handle more connections at the same time. Thus if you are running external USB hard drives you might be better off with 2.0.
John S.
Re: Does USB 1 sound worse than USB 2 going to a USB to SPDIF converter? - fmak 05:06:24 01/10/07 (0)
PCM 2704 high end as described???????
Re: Does USB 1 sound worse than USB 2 going to a USB to SPDIF converter? - xmasparty@mac.com 23:54:33 01/09/07 (0)
There should be no difference in the way the music sounds. USB 1 was the initial version of the standard. USB 2 is the current version, with over 1B users worldwide. There are various technical differences in how much data each will carry, how fast the data is transmitted and how much power is carried. None of this afffects the audio since the capacity of USB1 already exceeds the requirments of music.
Put another way, nothing at all happens until the data reaches the SPDIF converter

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

VH Audio

You can not post to an archived thread.