AV-OCD Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I've been running the optical output of my Mac Mini to my audio processor / DAC, but I'm wondering if there would be any audible improvement by using a device like the Bel Canto USB Link to take the audio stream from USB, convert it to SPDIF and send that signal to the DAC? http://www.belcantodesign.com/news_usb_link.html Cheers,[br] - Tim Link to comment
shenzi Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I'm not sure why it would be any benefit, although I've never tried the comparison. I'd have thought you'd be adding expense, complication and additional processing. The phrase in the link "We all know what audiophiles want" sets my alarm bells ringing ... Link to comment
Roseval Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Toslink output is in general high on jitter. But a lot of SPDIF output is high on jitter to. So it depends pretty much on the quality of the components used if a converter will yield any improvement. To complicated matters a bit more, suppose by using a converter to SPDIF, the DAC is feed by a signal low on jitter compared with Toslink, will this yield audible improvements? If the DAC is excellent in input jitter rejection, you won’t hear any difference. If it is not, you probably will (assuming a audio chain able to resolve subtle details.) As usual, all depends on the quality of the components used in the entire chain. A listening test is the only answer. Link to comment
AV-OCD Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Any other thoughts from others on this subject? I know that ultimately I'll probably just have to give it a try, but I'd like to know if anyone has compared these two approaches. Or just more theoretical debate on the two. Cheers,[br] - Tim Link to comment
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