I've recently gotten the upgrade bug and am looking to replace the stock USB input of my EE DAC with an asynchronous converter. I've tried a few USB to SPDIF converters, namely the Halide Design
Bridge, and the Stello U2 (which isn't asynch) fed into the RCA SPDIF input of the DAC. I've been having
some issues with the sound dropping out suddenly every 30 seconds or so
with both units. This doesn't happen at all when I use the stock USB
input, but does happen in both the RCA and BNC inputs when fed by the
USB->SPDIF converter. At first I thought it might be because I was using
a long USB wire, and the USB-> SPDIF converters (both being passive
devices) weren't getting enough current from the USB port. However, I put a 1 amp powered USB hub into the equation and also tried shorter USB
cables, but am still having the same problem. Have anyone ever heard of this problem or know of any remedies? Also I am using a macbook pro with OSX 10.6.4 and itunes if that helps. I'm thinking of trying either the musical fidelity V-link or ART legato, but am wary that these will have the same problem. Has anyone had any luck with any usb to spdif on this dac. Thanks, greatly appreciated.
Ron
PROBLEM SOLVED!! I just purchased a musical fidelity V-link and it works perfectly. Definite improvement over the stock USB input and perhaps even more importantly it works with my EE dac and doesn't have drop outs. As others have mentioned above, as did the guy from morningstar audio, the Sabre DAC is very sensitive to jitter from its inputs. The Stello U2 and the halide bridge have too much jitter for the EE DAC to work properly, if at all. Don't waste your time purchasing either or any other high jitter devices if you have the EE DAC. The V-link has virtually zero jitter and hence works like a charm. I've also heard from others that the hiface works as well with the EE DAC. I'm assuming that other very low jitter devices like the wavelength, off ramp, and audiophileo will also work, but haven't tried them. Let me know if anyone has tried any of these with the EE DAC