postjack Posted September 23, 2007 Report Posted September 23, 2007 Before its over with, I'll own a CDP with a digital input. My computer is on the opposite side of the room from my rig. Currently I have a long USB cable running from the computer to the back of the Aqvox. Whenver the Aqvox gets replaced, I'll need something to do the USB -> Toslink/Coaxial thing. The name I remember the most from researching this kind of thing a while back was the M-Audio Transit. Is there any other piece I should consider?
kitaoji Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 granodemostasa likes the M-Audio Audiophile USB (that only does coax). humanflyz had the Trends Audio UD-10. Does the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro (only toslink-mini) count as well? There are more cheap options that I can think up, but I can't say whether their quality is up to Head-Case standards...
postjack Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Posted September 24, 2007 E-MU 0404 USB would work as well true, and it seems like it would be a handy piece of gear to have around anyway. also its way fotm so...
postjack Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Posted September 24, 2007 does the 0404 have asio drivers?
Nanoha Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 http://www.hagtech.com/hagusb.html is a possible choice.
jinp6301 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 m-audio transit does toslink btw, dont get the TBAAM, it resamples the data twice or something, not bit perfect
postjack Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Posted September 24, 2007 m-audio transit does toslink btw, dont get the TBAAM, it resamples the data twice or something, not bit perfect yeah, I don't want it to do anything to the signal besides pass it on.
postjack Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Posted September 24, 2007 http://www.hagtech.com/hagusb.html is a possible choice. very cool, I like this. looks like a good, clean option.
postjack Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Posted September 24, 2007 Interesting words from Hagerman about the HagUSB: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=31581.msg281365
Nanoha Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 I highly respect Hagerman. He seems to have proven himself to be a rather competent engineer.
deepak Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 I have both the E-MU0404 USB and M-Audio Transit. The Transit has flawless, rock solid, simple drivers with bit perfect without having to use ASIO. The E-MU has more complex drivers, and requires some monkying to get bit perfect working, but it has a lot more features compared to the Transit. I haven't compared the two side by side to see which sounds better.
philodox Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 I thought since it is USB it didn't have drivers.
jinp6301 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 both of them have custom drivers if im not mistaken
philodox Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 I like the ones where you don't have to worry about the drivers... but the extra features on the external EMU are probably worth it.
postjack Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Posted September 24, 2007 well it came down to a compromise. In the world of USB -> Toslink/Coaxial devices, you can either have audiophile grade parts OR manufacturer supported drivers. I've decided this go round to opt on the side of audiophile grade parts. All these devices are so inexpensive that I'm sure one day I'll be able to try out the other side, but for the time being my positive experience with ASIO4All/Winamp and USB Dacs tells me to just stick with what I know works for me in my system. I'll either be getting the HagUSB or the Trends UD-10.
deepak Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 both of them have custom drivers if im not mistaken Yup that's correct. The M-Audio drivers are extremely simple, and IIRC what Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio based his drivers off on the old Off-Ramps. But the driverless soundcards are very nice. The only reason I have the E-MU0404 USB is because I use it as a DAC/headphone amp at work.
jinp6301 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 Yup that's correct. The M-Audio drivers are extremely simple, and IIRC what Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio based his drivers off on the old Off-Ramps. But the driverless soundcards are very nice. The only reason I have the E-MU0404 USB is because I use it as a DAC/headphone amp at work. the m-audio transit headphone out sucks?
deepak Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 the m-audio transit headphone out sucks? It's a line out, not an actual headphone amp.
jinp6301 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 It's a line out, not an actual headphone amp. oook, but cant you use the line out as a headphone out, or is it too weak?
Icarium Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 I have both the EMU 0404 usb and the HagUSB (w/ asio4all drivers)... my take? I vastly prefer the EMU 0404 usb though I haven't used it as just an usb -> coax but as a dac as well. Why? Well, my Hagusb has HUGE problems with snaps/crackles/pops aligning with tiny bursts of cpu usage... mainly opening applications etc. While my EMU 0404 usb with all the buffers turned on thread priority going good has 0 issues. I do the same settings and more for Hagusb.. less problems but I still expect to hear at least 3-4 crackles/pops every 4 songs. It's very annoying. I'm probably going to buy another EMU 0404 usb and have it shipped to a modder and just use that with my Wavelength or if its mod viable at work and use my stock one at home.
deepak Posted September 24, 2007 Report Posted September 24, 2007 oook, but cant you use the line out as a headphone out, or is it too weak? I've only tried it with my Sennheiser HD580, it gets loud but it sounds like crap.
jinp6301 Posted October 25, 2007 Report Posted October 25, 2007 ok, so I got the M-Audio Audiophile USB for $75 used on the other site, and damn, it owns my iriver as a transport. And also, I get to hook up both my iriver (optical) and the M-Audio (coax) as transports at the same time This makes me happy
Absorbine_Sr Posted October 25, 2007 Report Posted October 25, 2007 you should really buy a Lite DAC Ah, jinp. i got to hear the Lite DAC Ah and an Entech 205 out of a Zana Deux (using it's switchable inputs), and the Lite DAC was hugely better. jinp, PM me. The Lite DAC AH that Reks is talking about just might be available.
jinp6301 Posted October 25, 2007 Report Posted October 25, 2007 I would if I had more then $15 in my paypal account
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