SOtM + Wavelink HS or Off-Ramp 5 ?

[victor]

Hi there,

 

I was about to get the pieces to build a CAPS v2 music player (Thanks to Chris Connaker) including a SOtM tX-USBexp PCIe card that would be connected to a Wavelink HS. The idea was to power the motherboard, SOtM card, and Wavelink HS with Haynes PSUs.

 

Then, the Off-Ramp 5 came to my mind and I wondered if it would be a better option as the price of a system with it would be almost the same as I would have one less device to buy and power (the SOtM is not compatible with the Off-Ramp)

 

So, which system do you think would be superior:

 

a) 3 Hynes PSUs + Motherboard + SOtM PCIe card + Wavelink HS

b) 2 Hynes PSUs + Motherboard + Off-Ramp 5 (I could even throw in the Short Block USB filter from Empirical audio or the S/PDIF Hynes regulator to the Off-Ramp to equal the price of both options)

 

Thanks,

 

Victor.

[bhobba]

The Off-Ramp is expensive but I have found nothing to best it.

 

Thanks

Bill

[victor]

Thanks for the answer Bill. After reading and reading posts I got to a similar conclusion: that the off-ramp seems to be a bit better than the Wavelink but I always thought that this was valid when both converters were working in the same conditions.

In the case that I propose the Off-Ramp is connected to a USB port from the motherboard while the Wavelink would be connected to the more sophisticated USB output from the SOtM PCIe card.

[Quest]

I am using a legato 2 (battery operated) now which is also superior to the wavelink by quite abit. Of course, only 16/44.1.

 

Personally, I'd go for option (b) if these were the only two options.

[victor]

The legato 2 looks really interesting and was my first option a while ago (I even got in contact with ar-t to get a unit) but the 16/44.1 limitation ended up being too restrictive for me.

[Quest]

I had similar thoughts but bit the bullet anyway, as I still have async usb input to my dac for hi-res.

 

I wasn't sure I wanted to spend so much on a usb/spdif converter (like a dcs or a soulution) and this was quite a no-brainer. Imagine if you heard low-res (and downsampled files) sounding better than hi-res on another converter.

[victor]

I see that you had no option

 

 

In my case the DAC (Metrum Acoustics Octave NOS DAC) does not have USB input and it has been measured to respond better to high-res files so I should aim to converters that support them.

[edorr]

I have a CAPS 2.0 with Offramp 5 + Monolith PS. Considering the jitter / clocking performance is probably the most important factor determining sound quality, I would think your option (B) would be superior.

[barrows]

I used to use a Wavelink. It is quite good, but it improves quite a bit if one provides an external supply. I used Salas shunt regulator to power it (via a small USB B-B adapter I made which breaks out the +5VDC and G lines) and was quite impressed with the improvement. Steve appears to good work with his clocking, but I sure hate the idea of not being able to take advantage of an SOtM card, and hate having to have drivers even more... I would love to see what Steve could do with XMOS someday...

[victor]

Thanks for the answers, I will go for the Off-ramp.