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goldenpiggy about TC Konnekt 24D vs. V-DAC: I ended up using the Konnekt 24D to drive a Musical Fidelity VDAC over Coax S/PDIF to get better sound, but then there goes multichannel. I finally went to a local HiFi dealer and did my comparison between RME FF UC, V-DAC (connected via S/PDIF to the FF) and a Naim CD5 XS on some Marantz amp which I think was a PM-KI Pearl Lite. Built a box around the two DACs for blind test - double blind test failed unfortunately since I had to adjust volume levels - and tried different music genres as well as data rates from redbook CD up to 88.2/24 The difference between V-DAC and FF was negligible, barely audible when compared to the Naim player. Both the dealer and me agreed on the FF being slightly better, more revealing on some classical records during soli. The Naim.. far behind both of them. btw: the dealer had sold me the V-DAC, I got the FF from another store Though I cannot hear a big difference between the V-DAC and the FF or none at all most of the time, the FF offers mch and that's a big plus for me (8 or 6 DACs for 900 vs. 2 DACs for 250). While a loopback test like the one on gearslutz might be a good indication of noise and distortion, I feel it does not necessarily indicate how good a DAC sounds. Only your ears can tell. I agree, it might even be possible to design a DA/AD box such as the FF with virtually zero distortion by software correction. Though I have no experience with music production, I'd guess it's not even important as long as you don't do a loopback via cable (FF supports internal or "software" loopback which should be lossless). Additionally, it cannot reveal whether the problem is the DA or AD part. dwkdnvr on Steinberg MR816x: It's limited to 96kHz, and so doesn't satisfy the 192 requirement, but otherwise based on the overall chatter from the studio-oriented forums it seems to deliver a significant fraction of the higher end converters for substantially less money (although I don't know how the relative pricing plays out in Europe). The MR816x costs 650 here, so even cheaper than the RME FF. I was told that with Steinberg devices, like Sony, you'll pay a great deal just for the label. Of course, only a direct comparison could show. So far, I think the FF offers great value for money. IMHO it's at least comparable, mostly equal and sometimes maybe better than the V-DAC, offers a (natively) great USB interface and, being studio equipment, great mch flexibility with the mixer tool included. For my purposes, I don't need the AD part or the pre-amps built in. I find it a bit strange and nasty it needs to change it's internal speed for different sample rates (referred to as single, double and quad speed) and therefore deactivates some channels on higher sample rates down to 6 instead of 8 analog outputs at 192 kHz. As I'm currently using only four of them, I don't care, but unfortunately, the foobar2k ASIO output does, complaining about to few channels after a sample rate change.. Another "drawback" is the output jacks are 6.35 mm (0.25") TRS connectors MONO unbalanced (or balanced with stereo connectors) so you might need some rather special TRS to cinch cables depending on you amp. Thanks for your suggestions, I'm keeping my FF as so far I'm quite happy with it: sound quality is good and mch is no problem any more.

@ crisnee I already own an Marantz SR6005 (A/V reveiver) and tested an Audiolab 8000AP (pre-pro) both claim to be "quality" (in their price range) but the results being quite disappointing for D/A conversion. The A/V people from avforums told the 8000AP was quite a good pre-pro, but when I compared it to some built-in DACs in the Marantz, a cheap Denon player or even a Creative sound card I found it wasn't an overwhelming difference. Only when listening to the V-DAC, I found another level that was worth following. Maybe another or even a more expensive pre-pro could have done that, but as the Audiolab was seen as one of the best in it's range (please correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think it's worth the effort. Since I use my PC as media "server" (that's y I'm here ) I don't use any other digital out, but the number of inputs on the AVR is great for connecting all kinds of analog sources to it like different DACs, turntable, SACD player, .. @ goldenpiggy I just bought an Fireface UC from a local (studio equipment) dealer and was quite astonished that you could hear the difference to the V-DAC right from the beginning, the V-DAC being connected to the S/PDIF-out of the FF. The FF DAC IS better IMHO, though I've to admit I still use the stock power supply for the V-DAC. Orpheus seems to cost 3000€+ here -.- 4000 new. Than you could compare the a Lynx Aurora / AES16e combo (2600 new), both obviously not within my budget. The UFX is around 2000 new, but as I heard it's quite the same DAC plus some extra features (even more channels, effects, ..). Anyway, thanks for your alternatives. As I had only two days so far to listen to the FF, I can only say I like it better than anything I heard so far. But I'll go to some other local HiFi dealer and try some more comparisons, even to high-end NAD/NAIM devices if possible ^^ just curious..

Did you try the windows test sound (in the sound settings, context menu of the DAC device) or watch the "VU" provided by windows when NOT playing via WASAPI exclusive mode / ASIO / ...., e.g. waveOut or the test sound? I'm just curious if the sound is actually routed to the device's input pins (in kernel streaming terms). I guess it might be a problem with either USB power states (try to connect the netbook to a power supply and set the power plan to something like balanced or max perf) or some restrictions of the Starter edition (or even with USB 1.1 devices connected to a USB 2.0 hub).

Hi there, (nice site and a pleasure to post my first question here!) I'm looking for a solution for multi channel D/A conversion from my Windows-powered PC, with at least 4 channels (better 8) and high-res support for 24/192. I don't mind the interface (whether it's Firewire, USB, AES, S/PDIF, ....), my only problem is the budget, which is less than 1500€ ($2100, but equipment is much more expensive here). Since most of the multi channel DACs seemed to me a bit expensive being either studio or top HiFi equipment, I first thought of something like an AES16e plus two separate M1 (1400€ special offer). I know this could have some drawbacks using two DACs a) as they might sound slightly different (?) and b) paying twice for components which could be shared in a single multi channel DAC. But then I found the RME FF UC (900€) in this forum, which would be a lot cheaper. I already tested an Audiolab 8000AP which was quite awful (yet I liked its HDMI support for SACD playback via LPCM), and am currently using a V-DAC for stereo-"only". Of course I wasn't quite surprised not finding any (or many) comparisons between stereo and multichannel DACs so I'd appreciate any comment or further suggestions. Thanks! (btw: playing on two stereo outputs of an AES16e should be possible with either some existing player software or some add-on)