SOTM USB vs Lynx aes 16 best Audio Quality

[dkos]

Hi folks, I'm hoping to get some advice in regards to an excellent quality sound card for my media center. I'm currently using a M-Audio 192 coax into a Schiit Bifrost dac. I'd like to upgrade my sound card and seem to see a couple of popular options. Option 1- purchase the USB Uber upgrade and pickup a SOTM USB PCI card. Option 2- Pickup a Lynx AES 16 and run coax out to the Schiit Bifrost dac. Here's my question- Will a SOTM USB card connected to the Schitt Bifrost via usb provide less jitter and sound better than a Lynx AES 16 connected coax to the Bifrost? Both options will be using good quality USB and Coax cables to connect between the cards and the dac. I will also be using JRiver Media Center 18, soon to upgrade to 19 when stable version is released, I usually stay away from Beta releases. Thanks for everyone's time and opinions, I'm tired of trying to research this to death and want to start listening to my music files and know I have a quality solution in place.

[barrows]

This is a very complicated question, as it is really two, three, or more questions rolled into one. If I was confident that the USB interface on the Bifrost was actually state of the art, then my answer would be simple: go for the SOtM and use the USB interface. The reason is, that if you use the SPDIF (AES is just balanced SPDIF) of a Lynx card, the critical clock is generated inside the computer, using the power supplies there, this is not an ideal way to generate a good, clean, low jitter clock.

But, since Schiit Audio themselves seem to recommend using SPDIF over USB not heir DACs, I cannot be sure which approach will result in better performance.

I would still lean toward the SOtM and using USB, but it is hard to be sure. The advantage of using an async USB, in general, is that the audio clock is generated inside the DAC, rather than using the clock recovered from the SPDIF stream.

[dkos]

This is a very complicated question, as it is really two, three, or more questions rolled into one. If I was confident that the USB interface on the Bifrost was actually state of the art, then my answer would be simple: go for the SOtM and use the USB interface. The reason is, that if you use the SPDIF (AES is just balanced SPDIF) of a Lynx card, the critical clock is generated inside the computer, using the power supplies there, this is not an ideal way to generate a good, clean, low jitter clock.

But, since Schiit Audio themselves seem to recommend using SPDIF over USB not heir DACs, I cannot be sure which approach will result in better performance.

I would still lean toward the SOtM and using USB, but it is hard to be sure. The advantage of using an async USB, in general, is that the audio clock is generated inside the DAC, rather than using the clock recovered from the SPDIF stream.

 

Thanks for your answer Barrows, The interesting part is that the folks at Schitt are quoted about liking their SPDIF over usb when they were comparing it to their original usb implementation. They have come out with the uber usb card and I wonder if it compares more favorably or may be even better then their SPDIF option as they both stand today. One question about the SOTM card, they have a PCI and PCIE version any major differences between the 2 cards? Thanks for your time and detailed answer.

[barrows]

Word on the street is that the PCIe card may have a slight advantage. It is different… The PCIe is a newer design, I find that most digital designs improve with more iterations, as designers hone their skills and learn. I think it a safe bet to assume that the PCIe is at least as good as the former design, and most likely better; but I have not made a direct comparison.

[dkos]

Word on the street is that the PCIe card may have a slight advantage. It is different… The PCIe is a newer design, I find that most digital designs improve with more iterations, as designers hone their skills and learn. I think it a safe bet to assume that the PCIe is at least as good as the former design, and most likely better; but I have not made a direct comparison.

 

 

Thanks again for your time and response, I'll take a closer look at the PCIe SOTM card, appreciate the help. DK