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USB to SPDIF converters - any good / bad experiences or recommendations?

beammeup

pfm Member
I tend to dabble with old DACs every now and then - and many of them demand a very good transport / feed to sound at their best.

I stream from Tidal and Internet Radio stations into these DACs, mostly.

My most functional streamer is an Auralic Mini - I notice the higher end Auralic Streamers have femto clocks etc. But what if I were to insert a hi-end re-clocker between the Mini and the DAC which takes away the need to invest in a more expensive streamer?

Yes the Audiophilleo is expensive - but nowhere near as expensive as a high-end Auralic.

As an example, I am thinking about investing in an Audiophilleo 1 mk II, for its async USB re-clocking (perfect for the Mini which has USB out) and is designed to convert the incoming feed to high quality SPDIF out just like an excellent transport would achieve.

As a bonus - the Audiophilleo also has a built in digital volume control allowing me to change the volume from my armchair using a high quality dithered algorithm. When using older DACs and a Croft pre-amp that would indeed be an advantage to me too.

Any thoughts or experiences?
 
I have a full hiface evo stack which i used when i had a non usb DAC very good indeed especially with the clock unit and never connected power supply. It was an improvement on straight forward toslink or SPDIF to the dac i had. Its in a drawer now but you never know when it will come in handy. It was far better than the standard Hiface or Hiface 2
 
Old or new, when S/PDIF is involved, the dominant jitter source is the receiver. Any modern transmitter will be plenty good enough.
 
Am using a simple and cheap hifime DAC for my second system in the home working office which converts USB to SPDIF TOSLINK optical which is dirt cheap and seems to work well for me sending out from my laptop and NAS. The DAC side isn't really used though in this config, effectively its just a USB-optical isolator

https://hifimediy.com/product/sabre-dac-uae23/
 
Old or new, when S/PDIF is involved, the dominant jitter source is the receiver. Any modern transmitter will be plenty good enough.

OK - example old DAC number 1 - Arcam Black Box 1 - is very susceptible to the quality of the transport - and only the Marantz NA7004 is good enough for it as a transport in among my kit (although it obviously has dated streaming functionality). So in the case of the BB1 its built in receiver "is" responsive to what is ahead of it.
 
OK, mad expensive moment, I've gone and ordered myself an Audiophilleo 1 mk II. I have a 30 day trial period so I guess I can find out for myself.

Nevertheless it would be interesting to hear accounts where SPDIF converters are improving sound quality of digital sources on this wonderful forum.

My main digital source setup now (or soon) will be sMS-200 Ultra, powered with sMS-500 psu - into Audiophilleo 1 mk II USB/SPDIF converter ...

Let's hope the performance matches the price tag. I've run out of money - I'm not going to spend for a while after this.
 
OK - example old DAC number 1 - Arcam Black Box 1 - is very susceptible to the quality of the transport - and only the Marantz NA7004 is good enough for it as a transport in among my kit (although it obviously has dated streaming functionality). So in the case of the BB1 its built in receiver "is" responsive to what is ahead of it.
I found the schematic for that DAC, and the clock sync does look a bit dodgy. Nevertheless, any modern S/PDIF source should have frequency and jitter well within the required tolerances. Since it's a pretty old device, perhaps it is simply in need of some service. There are some adjustments that may need tweaking if component values have drifted.
 
I found the schematic for that DAC, and the clock sync does look a bit dodgy. Nevertheless, any modern S/PDIF source should have frequency and jitter well within the required tolerances. Since it's a pretty old device, perhaps it is simply in need of some service. There are some adjustments that may need tweaking if component values have drifted.


Thanks for looking at the schematic - I just like the sound of this DAC - but need to feed it goodness so that it sings (I have two of these DACs now - I could hook up the 2nd one to see if it experiences the same sensitivity to upstream bits).
 
I just got a Denafrips Iris which is significantly better than my Allo Digione Sig (both fed from the Allo USBridge Sig). Weightier sound, more refined AND more detailed.
 
the Soncoz LA-QXD1 dac has a coax output making it a converter as well. It's very good.

So the Topping D10 - and now the LA-QXD1 - my concern would be that their primary role is a DAC and not a USB / SPDIF converter. Nevertheless I will put these ideas in the back pocket if the Audiophilleo doesn't work out for me.
 
Old or new, when S/PDIF is involved, the dominant jitter source is the receiver. Any modern transmitter will be plenty good enough.

Good point, if the SPDIF receiver in the DAC is suspect, it will be a bit like accelerating with the brakes on!
That said, IME, old and new DACs alike still benefit from a better SPDIF source.
 
I just got a Denafrips Iris which is significantly better than my Allo Digione Sig (both fed from the Allo USBridge Sig). Weightier sound, more refined AND more detailed.

Looking at the price of the IRIS - it's the same ballpark as the Audiophilleo, and the Audiophilleo has the added advantage of allowing me the convenience of rc volume control which is very very nice when working with vintage toys (amps - DACs and the like).
 
Looking at the price of the IRIS - it's the same ballpark as the Audiophilleo, and the Audiophilleo has the added advantage of allowing me the convenience of rc volume control which is very very nice when working with vintage toys (amps - DACs and the like).
I remember the Audiophilio from the Mac and DAC days circa 2012. At that time it was one of the very best.
I went for an Art Legato instead which I believe was not too far behind. The Digione comfortably ousted the Legato and now the Iris is another step up.
 
FWIW I'm actually using an old Halide Bridge with a Benchmark DAC of all things! Gives me an 'extra' USB input. Probably doesn't improve the Benchmark as I find that excellent. However I did some tests years ago which showed this with older DACs that had imperfections.
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/Sound3/TimeForChange.html
Does the DAC tested there have a (poor) synchronous USB interface? That would explain the frequency shifts.
 
Yes, by modern top-level standards it would be rated poor I suspect. Useful to show that you can do better, though. Note I've moved to Benchmark and only use my old CA DACs for more general purposes. Although TBH I can't hear a difference that bothers me in the slightest.
 
Yes, by modern top-level standards it would be rated poor I suspect. Useful to show that you can do better, though. Note I've moved to Benchmark and only use my old CA DACs for more general purposes. Although TBH I can't hear a difference that bothers me in the slightest.
It's probably using a simple digital divider from a higher-rate crystal clock to match the incoming packet rate, and thus ends up alternating between the closest available output rates.
 
FWIW I'm actually using an old Halide Bridge with a Benchmark DAC of all things! Gives me an 'extra' USB input. Probably doesn't improve the Benchmark as I find that excellent. However I did some tests years ago which showed this with older DACs that had imperfections.
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/Sound3/TimeForChange.html

I had a swift read thanks - I noticed in the end that most of the digital imperfections were as a result of using a computer as a source - in my case the sMS-200 Ultra 'should' suffer none of these issues to begin with.

Having the Audiophilleo in place is like upgrading to a top flight transport without spending the cash necessary to buy a top flight transport. Example - Auralic Mini + Audiophilleo = Auralic Aries G2.1. So in a positive thinking and perverse way - I just purchased a G2.1 for under £680 which is a bargain :)
 


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