jgore

I was wondering how folks think about the different options we now have to connect to a DAC and where the $ are best spent. Looking across a few different options the price for quality connectivity seems to be pushing about $500: 1) USB input into the DAC - A $500 premium on DACs, based on the the W4S 2 vs 1 and Lavry 11 vs 10 2) USB to SPDIF converter - Halide at $450, MF Vlink at $169 3) PCI card outputting SPDIF - Lynx ~$650, RME ~$500, Asus at $199 I was wondering how these compare. Is the goal just to to reduce jitter, or is there something else? Is there a real benefit to having the USB converter built into the DAC, or is it OK to separate this and run SPDIF into the DAC. Is a USB to SPDIF converter better than a SPDIF PCI card? Do we also need to add fancy USB cables to the cost of (1)? I could add other options for FW, but this would make this post more complicated with topics that have already been debated. Perhaps some with a multi-input DAC like the W4S or the Lavry 11 has compared these approaches. -John

Thanks, That DAC looks interesting - 192kHz with async USB, AES, I2S and 2x coax and optical. Its just been released, so hopefully some reviews should be forthcoming (6moons has a preview). I see no mention of it on gearslutz - I would think that with all of the different inputs and outputs that it would be of interest in the pro community. Perhaps because its not rack mountable or more likely because its from an audiophile company? Thanks, John

I am trying to choose a DAC and was wondering if I could get some advice. Ive been considering an entry level pro DAC, and a couple of popular ones are the Lavry DA10 and Benchmark, both ~$1000... ...However, reading these forums and gearslutz leads me to think I should also upgrade my m-audio soundcard to a Lynx to reduce jitter, bringing the total to ~$1700... ...For this price, I could move into a USB DAC like the DA11 or USB Benchmark... ...But many here suggest firewire over adaptive USB. Two leading popular entry level firewire DACs seem to be the ULN-2 or Apogee 200, which require a Mac and with a used Mac mini and DAC, Im up to ~$2,000... ...For a bit more, I can get an adaptive USB, but this is getting above my budget relative to the rest of my components. Can you see my confusion (and growing budget)? Im currently using an i5 PC with Windows 7, an m-audio 2448 card (with ASIO drivers) using the DA on it, and mediamonkey controlled with an iTouch. All my files are 16/44.1 for now. The rest of my system is a Krell 300i and Thiel 1.5 speakers. Its in a small room, all the gear is in a single stack in a closet near the speakers and tv, so the cable runs are short. I like the idea of having multiple inputs on the DAC, so that I can use it for stuff connected to the TV, so I dont want a USB only device. Also, Im hesitant to get a Mac since I still need the PC in the mix and dont really want to manage yet another computer Thanks -John