 
|
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 |
201.253.223.221
Hi, I'm new to this forum, found it today and I've been reading a lot. I've been using my PC with Linux and Amarok audio player to play my music for some time but I'm not satisfied by the audio performance I get from it. My soundcard is an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 and my stereo setup is a NAD 317 integrated amplifier with a pair of B&W's 802 S2.
I'm very happy with my stereo but I have much better sound from a consumer level CD player than from my computer. So I decided I should get a USB DAC, I didn't even know these existed until I got to this forum and in fact I really don't understand whats the difference between an USB DAC and a USB sound card if this one is used for audio playback only. Some clarification is appreciated.So, I think an USB DAC would be the best because I'm planning to get a laptop for audio reproduction and I found two choices in this forum:
* Firestone Fubar II (http://www.firestone-audio.com/cgi-bin/product.asp?pdtseqnm=2#)
* Stereo-link 1300 (http://www.stereo-link.com/Static/1200Desc.html)
* Anything else you can sugest in the $100 - $200 range.The first one is almost half price and most suited to my budget really, but I can make an effort to buy the most expensive one if it's really worth it.
The problem is that I didn't found reviews on them and I need someone that knows about them if you can sugest if they are worth the price and if they will be ok for the equipment I have. I'm not an audiophile (and I don't have much money), so I'm not looking for the perfect DAC, just something that works really well and that fits my current equipment sonic quality.
Thank you very much.Francisco
Follow Ups:
Thank's everyone for your help. Now I have a much better undestanding, although I have more choices of DAC's and it's harder to make a choice, ouch!
What format are your files, and what player are you using?Before you make a hardware change, you should take a bit of time to make sure these are hardware issues, as a few software settings can kill the sound.
Musiland MD-10 is a terrific DAC for the money. It has a ton of features. The DAC chip is the highly regarded Cirrus CS4398.
I try to only buy american made products.Call me crazy if you will, it just seems like the right thing to do.
Well, I'm using ALSA output on linux with Amarok music player as I already told, the output engine is Xine. Both alsamixer and Amarok (Xine) are set to full (software) volume. Do you have any special tips for linux?
My files are FLAC, riped by myself with CDparanoia.
I posted a nice detailed message on the subject yesterday, but it seems to have vaporized, so here is the quick and dirty version, trying to remember what I said!Since you are running linux drivers are going to be a very big issue. Very few manufacturers write an ALSA driver, so you have to use what some volunteer threw together. This doesn't mean they are low quality, but it DOES mean that its usually very difficult to configure complex cards. You won't get the fancy GUI for setting DSP functions, 3d spatializers, mixer paths etc. Many of these items can still be controled but you you have to give a list of obscure options to set them. In many cases the only way to figure out what options to use is by reading the source code for the driver AND the datasheet for the chips involved.
Because of the above I highly recommend using the simplest devices you can find with the fewest possible options, you have a much higher probability of getting unmodified bits through to the output that way.
A simple USB DAC is very good in this regard because they can use the generic USB ALSA driver which works very well. The caveat with this is to stay away from devices that use the 1020 or 3200 USB audio chips, these require firmware and MOST implementations require that the firmware be loaded at power on. The generic USB driver does not know anything about this. There are programs which will load the firmware, but its an extra step you have to run at each power up. (On MAC and Windows there are device specific drivers that do the firmware load)
On your question on "USB soundcard" and "USB DAC" the result is the same, USB in analog audio out. The diference is that the "soundcard" is designed for computer users, gamers etc and has lots of "functions" othere than just outputting audio. A USB DAC is designed for audiophiles, its primary concern is high quality audio not the number of fancy features it can claim on the box.
There ARE some "soundcards" that have very good sound (they are usually not cheap though) but I would still not recommend them for linux use unless you really want to put in the effort to figure out how to correctly configure them from linux.
BTW irrespective of the device and driver, its important to use the right "interface" from ALSA. There are two primary an application can talk to alsa, the "hw" interface and the "plug" interface. Hw talks directly to the hardware and guarantees that the bits you put in are send to the hardware, the plug interface can modify the bits if it thinks it needs to (bit depth, sample rate conversions etc). So be sure to carefully check how your application is talking to ALSA, if its hw you can gurantee that at least ALSA itself is not mucking with the bits. (the application or the hardware might still be modifying things)
I hope that helps with the decision.
John S.
John, your post helps a lot, thank you for taking your time to write it two times!Unfortunately I know the issues with ALSA drivers and various sound cards. That's why I was thinking geting an USB DAC, with the least amount of configuration settings needed. (among the other advantages)
I guess that when you say to use the "hw" plug is to avoid dmix for example. Although that's a problem I have right now, I will look into that in my new dedicated machine.
A last question, do you use Linux for music reproduction?, if so, whats your setup? (hard & soft)
Thanks,
Francisco
I have a server (homebuilt PC) running linux and slimserver in a different room from the listening room.In the listening room I have a SB3 hooked up to a DAC of my own design in which I feed a clock to the SB3, which sends I2S to the DAC where its reclocked before going to the DAC chips. This results in very low jitter.
I also have a mini-ITX fanless PC sitting right next to the listening chair. Before I had the hardware SB3 connection working I was running USB out of the mini-ITX box to the DAC. I was running softsqueeze on the box. Right now the box is used for controlling slimserver only.
I've also used the mini-ITX box to run XMMS to access the files on the server over the network, but I wanted to setup a multi SB setup in various rooms of the house so I went with the slimserver approach.
John S.
Sorry I missed the linux part of your post.Linux is not part of my life, but you may want to e-mail John Swenson, since he does use linux, and may be able to help. A post of his is below your original post.
Thank you, I will.
What do you think about the firestone DAC?, it is adecuate for the equipment I have suposing that the software side is ok?
I mean, because today I feel that my "bottleneck" in sound quality is the sound card (Revolution 7.1). I have no problem spending money in the DAC, but that's only if it really is an improvement to that sound card. From what I've read it seems to be, but I would like to be sure.
The Firestone Fubar 2 with the Supplier power supply was a big improvement over my M-audio Revolution 7.1The MHTD Labs Constantine is better than the Fubar/Supplier.
I have no experience with the stereo-link USB DAC.
Good luck,
Francisco - I have not seen or heard it but noticed that Bluecircle has a new <$200 usb converter. If someone has experience with it please share your opinions.
mmmm, it is an option, but it really doesn't describe much about it, just it's function.
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
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 © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
