Cambridge 840C using it as a DAC with Ipod and laptop

[riceboy]

Hmm, but would that mean you still use the DAC inside the Ipod? And when you can control the Ipod itself with a remote wouldn't that mean it actually still uses the amp inside the Ipod?

If only they made an optical out on the Ipod....

I knew I was missing something. Yeah I would be using the DAC in the Ipod . If only they made digital out like the older Iriver models. That would be great.

That's okay, as I'm getting the HagUSB soon

[darkless]

Why dont you get the Esoteric masterclock as a playmate to the Cambridge. I'm still trying to decide what my next CD/SACD player will be, but I could always get the clock first...and pair it with an Oppo Digital

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/71883

OT, but I feel an urge to post a link to this thread on gearslutz which has a lot of info (read: bashing) regarding the use of external clocks with DACs (tech savvy people like Dan Lavry basically beat the shit out of the external clock followers):

Is it better spending on a Master Clock rather than on Convertors?

[Salt Peanuts]

Also, from what I can gather, the more more expensive of the two Cambridge Audio docks (iD100) is supposed to cost ~$200 if/when it's released. At that price, I'd just look for a used Squeezebox.

[Contrastique]

...If only they made an optical out on the Ipod....

Hmm, on second thought...no...I would feel the urge to sell my Larocco...not good...lol

[riceboy]

Hmm, on second thought...no...I would feel the urge to sell my Larocco...not good...lol

lol, that wouldn't be good .

This hobby always makes me want more. Can't wait to try the HagUSB. It should be here by today.

[Contrastique]

WOWWWW I just checked that Hagusb thingy....if this things works as I think / hope it does...wow..this could be an option for now as I'm struggling with my CDP. We cleaned it and it worked fine but the last few times it hangs in the first 3 songs, skips parts of songs etc..really anoying.

So, just to clearify; I can connect this to the USB of my Powerbook and stream the music to the Optical input of my amp???

If that's really the case I WANT ONE NOW!!!

[purk]

I read some where that toslink/optical for USB has less noise in comparison to coaxial output. I'm using the Turtlebeach AudioAdvantage Micro with my DHA3000 and HEV-90 amplifier with great results.

[Contrastique]

Shoit...too late for an edit.

Well, i think it works as hoped for. Just one thing...they also talk about the Waveterminal as a better qual option so that means it doesn't just stream the music but does upsampling as well (realtime..) which has its own effect on the sound it reproduces or have I totally lost it now...?

[riceboy]

I read some where that toslink/optical for USB has less noise in comparison to coaxial output. I'm using the Turtlebeach AudioAdvantage Micro with my DHA3000 and HEV-90 amplifier with great results.

I'm curious about how it sounds too as right now I use either my DAC1 or DA100 for listening to tracks on my computer.

[Dusty Chalk]

I read some where that toslink/optical for USB has less noise in comparison to coaxial output.

That would be entirely implementation dependent; there shouldn't be anything inherent in the technology for that to be the case, in and of itself. It's basically a lossless digital-to-digital conversion in both cases. Unless I'm overlooking something.

Well, there's the impossibility of ground loops in an optical connection, but other than that, there shouldn't be anything...

[Contrastique]

I read some where that toslink/optical for USB has less noise in comparison to coaxial output. I'm using the Turtlebeach AudioAdvantage Micro with my DHA3000 and HEV-90 amplifier with great results.

Wow, that's even cheaper and does like the same (except for the 5.1 blabla)?

[jinp6301]

The turtlebeach resamples everything you stream out of it so I wouldnt recommend it.

The M-Audio Transit is another cheap option.

[riceboy]

This hobby always makes me want more. Can't wait to try the HagUSB. It should be here by today.

Darn

Okay, maybe it will be here tomorrow or next week

One thing I did today was plug in my Rega Planet and used the Toslink and Coax inputs on the 840C. It sounded great. I did try the coax from the Denon 2900 to the 840C input and that sounded great as well. Overall I'm very happy with this player

[Contrastique]

The Hagusb uses usb 1.1; would that matter when streaming lossless files?

I tried searching for some comparisms between the devices but not much came up,, nothing conclusive anyway.

How about the M-Audio Audiophile USB? Or would that not be much of a differ compared to the Transit?

It doesn't have to be very expensive as it will be a temporarily solution anyways...

[Shiki]

The Hagusb uses usb 1.1; would that matter when streaming lossless files?

I tried searching for some comparisms between the devices but not much came up,, nothing conclusive anyway.

I think USB 1.1 devices usually only support up to 48KHz playback whereas USB 2.0 devices usually support up to 96KHz (and perhaps more).

However, the Transit (which I use) lets you switch to 96KHz if you set it to playback-only mode. In fact, I'm using it out of my laptop to a 840C too. Haven't tried it with any 96KHz files yet though.

[Contrastique]

Well, I'm not sure how this thing stacks up to rest being mentioned here but I bought a similar device today. I called my local electronic shop today to see if they had something according to these specs and they did. It's the Behringer U-Control UCA202 for € 38,- which is cheap. So I bought it. Anyone any experiences with this thing??

http://www.behringer.com/UCA202/?lang=ENG

I hooked it up just now and one thing that stroke me is that the highs have a shrill sound to them (don't know how to call that exactly). Have to listen to it some more though.

BUT I can listen to all my music again which is absolutely great and it's a hell of a lot better than when using the Ipod with its crappy DAC. Thank you for mentioning that HAGusb!!

[JimP]

I'm being slow...why would you want to dock your ipod to your 840c (I own one)? Is it something like the Wadia iTransport, then I guess there's some rationale. Othewise, why?

[Upstateguy]

Well, I'm not sure how this thing stacks up to rest being mentioned here but I bought a similar device today. I called my local electronic shop today to see if they had something according to these specs and they did. It's the Behringer U-Control UCA202 for

[jp11801]

I highly recommend the computer as source option. I tried the trends and Hagusb connections for computer usb output. I purchased the Hagusb in the aes config and both were good. I could not get the trends to lock with my jitterbug or sonic frontiers transdac in the coax format but in aes it locked right away. Indra if you have a macbook the apogee duet is the way to go, bests most dacs in the sub $1500 range and is made specifically for core audio in your mac. They run $500 in the US and since they are powered by the firewire connection there is not the usual voltage issue. Sweetwater.com is a great outfit to get these from.

[Dusty Chalk]

I think USB 1.1 devices usually only support up to 48KHz playback whereas USB 2.0 devices usually support up to 96KHz (and perhaps more).

That's incorrect. I have the M-Audio Sonica, the Transit's predecessor, and it (a) is a USB 1.1 device, and ( goes up to 24/96 stereo.

The only difference between USB 1.1 and 2.0 is what else will be on the line, if it's dedicated, then there should theoretically be no difference. But if your computer only has 1.1, then there might be other performance issues related to the computer.

[krrm]

USB 2.0 isn't always USB 2.0 as there is Full speed and Hi Speed modes.

I quote:

"USB 1.1 allowed a maximum transfer rate of 12Mbits/second. It is now obsolete, but both of its speeds (1.5Mbps & 12Mbps) are being adopted into USB 2.0, and they are now called Original USB officially. Though some manufacturers label their products Full-Speed USB. Note that this seems a bit deceptive as it's easy to mistake Full-Speed for Hi-Speed. You won't be fooled from now on as you now aware that Full Speed USB is only 12Mbits/second where Hi-Speed USB mode is capable of a much faster 480Mbits/second."

from http://www.everythingusb.com/usb2/faq.htm

But 12 Mb/s is plenty for 2 ch. audio.

[Shiki]

That's incorrect. I have the M-Audio Sonica, the Transit's predecessor, and it (a) is a USB 1.1 device, and ( goes up to 24/96 stereo.

The only difference between USB 1.1 and 2.0 is what else will be on the line, if it's dedicated, then there should theoretically be no difference. But if your computer only has 1.1, then there might be other performance issues related to the computer.

Which is why I said "usually", not "always". I'm faily sure that the Transit that I mentioned as an exception is also USB 1.1.

USB 2.0 isn't always USB 2.0 as there is Full speed and Hi Speed modes.

I quote:

"USB 1.1 allowed a maximum transfer rate of 12Mbits/second. It is now obsolete, but both of its speeds (1.5Mbps & 12Mbps) are being adopted into USB 2.0, and they are now called Original USB officially. Though some manufacturers label their products Full-Speed USB. Note that this seems a bit deceptive as it's easy to mistake Full-Speed for Hi-Speed. You won't be fooled from now on as you now aware that Full Speed USB is only 12Mbits/second where Hi-Speed USB mode is capable of a much faster 480Mbits/second."

I guess full speed (12Mbps) is there for devices that don't actually need to use 480Mbps.

Those are the theoretical speeds but USB actually has a very high overhead, which is why Firewire (IEEE 1394) that is rated at 400Mbps is usually faster than USB 2.0. Maybe that's why devices like the Sonica or Transit only support 24-bit/96KHz when turning off duplex mode, even though a 24-bit/96KHz file takes up roughly 2.5Mbps.

Anyway, I'm not an expert on these things so if someone with more knowledge on these can enlighten us, please do.

[Shiki]

Oops, looks like I'm wrong on some of what I said earlier.

1. The Sonata doesn't have any recording feature, so there isn't any need to turn off duplex mode like the Transit.

2. I just played some of my 24/96 files and they are 4608Kbps (4.6Mbps).

[Contrastique]

Indra if you have a macbook the apogee duet is the way to go, bests most dacs in the sub $1500 range and is made specifically for core audio in your mac. They run $500 in the US and since they are powered by the firewire connection there is not the usual voltage issue. Sweetwater.com is a great outfit to get these from.

Thanx. I didn't know it was a DAC but when having a headphone out it logically must have a DAC. If it's that good it might be worth checking it out especially looking at its price.

Have been fiddling around with this Behringer-thingy some more listening to David Gilmours On An Island and jeezzz, the CDP sounds LOADS better.

So I decided to do some eq-ing in iTunes and see if I could fix this. I have sort of but still the CDP does a better job. With the Behringer you keep this digital coldness to the sound (don't know if that makes sense..) and the vocals sound more far away compared to the CDP. I prefer them more upfront but okay. It's a whole lot better than the Behringer with the eq off because I seriously thought something was very wrong with the music.

[jp11801]

while I have no background in computer audio science, my sound cleaned up with the use of a reclocking device like the assemblage ultajitterbug. This was needed when taking data off the usb port but when using the firewire port with the duet the sound is magic. There are two pretty big threads both here and on headfi on the Duet. Grawk, Tyrion and I are pretty big proponents of it. I am still fiddling around with other dacs mainly for fun not out of necessity. I felt it was on par with or better than many of the $2k cdps I have owned. The headphone jack is just ok but the output to 1/4 jacks sound top notch. Good luck with your search.