Best USB to SPDIF converter

[Purite Audio]

If you'd like to save a few bucks, try the V-Link 192. It's surprised a few people I loaned mine to...

Oh yeah, 399, shipped.

The ******** is excellent , Euros 199,

Keith.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I

The ********** is excellent , Euros 199,

Keith.

 

No advertising Keith.

[Melvin]

Quest .. I found this thread interesting and was curious if you decided on a converter. I've been auditioning the SOtM dX-USB-HD for several weeks and am finding I like what I hear very much. That being said, I have no other experience with converters and your Chord is in a whole different league than my Schiit! Just curious.

[Quest]

Quest .. I found this thread interesting and was curious if you decided on a converter. I've been auditioning the SOtM dX-USB-HD for several weeks and am finding I like what I hear very much. That being said, I have no other experience with converters and your Chord is in a whole different league than my Schiit! Just curious.

 

Hi Melvin, sorry I missed this old thread. I selected the art legato 2 as a stop-gap solution but now can't quite live without it in my system. The specs looked really good with features I wanted (direct and isolated output, battery operated), and I figured I can live with 16/44.1 for a while before deciding to make a move. I've also changed to a emmlabs dac2x.

 

On both the chord and emmlabs, I felt the legato was better than the direct async usb input of the dacs, and will be exploring further if I can. Other than my PC, I've also compared it to the output of the Aurender, and the legato 2 paired with the Aurender sounds better than the default spdif and aes options.

 

Like some of the discussions at the beginning of this thread, I must highlight that my findings may not apply to all dacs - but I am relatively convinced at the importance of a converter given my personal experiences.

 

I still have the same problems of auditioning, but I'm more confident of spending more on a usb/spdif converter now.

 

Long term I'd like to look at something that can do hi-res if possible.. if Pat makes one, I'd have it in my short list.

[Elberoth]

 

- Berkeley Alpha USB

- Empirical Audio Off-ramp

- dCS Puccini U-clock

- Soulution USB 590

- Art Legato for redbook?

- Audiophilleo2

 

I have tried all the convertes from your list (minus ART anad BADA) and in my opinion Audiophilleo 2 with the Pure Power battery PSU option betters them all. It is a big step forward compared to the regular AP1/2 (which is USB powered).

 

dCS is OK, but only make sense in an all dCS setup where you can use the clock link feature and by soing so, squeeze some extra performance out of it. Soulution, apart from beeing hugely dependent on the quality of USB power, is way overpriced for what it is. Has a cool case though.

 

The other converter which can be a contender to the current king-of-the-hill title is M2Tech EVO, but ONLY after connecting the optional EVO Clock and EVO battery power supply. Without those, is is only avg.

[Musicophile]

I have tried all the convertes from your list (minus ART anad BADA) and in my opinion Audiophilleo 2 with the Pure Power battery PSU option betters them all. It is a big step forward compared to the regular AP1/2 (which is USB powered).

 

dCS is OK, but only make sense in an all dCS setup where you can use the clock link feature and by soing so, squeeze some extra performance out of it. Soulution, apart from beeing hugely dependent on the quality of USB power, is way overpriced for what it is. Has a cool case though.

 

The other converter which can be a contender to the current king-of-the-hill title is M2Tech EVO, but ONLY after connecting the optional EVO Clock and EVO battery power supply. Without those, is is only avg.

 

I really recommend to anybody to also consider the new Belcanto range. I only have the entry level m-link, but this already was a great improvement, so the much more precise u-link, or better even the REF-link with included power supply are most likely strong contenders.

[4est]

The other converter which can be a contender to the current king-of-the-hill title is M2Tech EVO, but ONLY after connecting the optional EVO Clock and EVO battery power supply. Without those, is is only avg.

 

IMO, the Evo has been panned because of this, often getting a bad rap. It was intended from the start to be upgradeable, and as such they left "room" for that. IMEs, the Evo has bested my Weiss once I started using outboard clocking and a better power supply. It also betters the XMOS solution I have on hand using the same power supply. My clock especially upped its performance. Many people will have parroted Gordon Rankin's assertion that the clock "just has" to be next to the DAC chip for optimum performance. If one is to step back, and look at companies such as dCS or Esoteric that use outboard clocks in the upper echelon, maybe they'd rethink what has been pushed on them by some manufacturer's. The QUALITY of the clocking right at the DAC chip is what counts, and there is more than one way to get there.

[Elberoth]

Gordon Rankin was right - it is the best place to place the clock. However, it will all depend of the quality of the clock used (type of crystal oscilator used, its power supply, isolation), so in some cases, external clock CAN be superior, even though the clock signal has to travel some distance (which certainly doesn't help its performance).

[wisnon]

Elberoth,

 

Which OffRamp did you try? They are not the same!

 

Also, I think a quality SMPS will be at battery and as such the addition of a iFi Audio iUSB will like raise the performance level of most of the contenders you mention.

 

I only have experience with the Lindemann 24/192 converter and the fully modded OffRamp 4. The OR 5 is supposedly better than the maxxed out OR4. I just got the iUSB and will test it on on both units!

[4est]

Gordon Rankin was right - it is the best place to place the clock. However, it will all depend of the quality of the clock used (type of crystal oscilator used, its power supply, isolation), so in some cases, external clock CAN be superior, even though the clock signal has to travel some distance (which certainly doesn't help its performance).

 

That is what I said, but I cannot stress enough that the quality of the clocking is greatly associated with power supply and ground plane currents, not to mention internal em/rfi. The inner workings of a DAC reek havoc in those items, and it should be noted that the Weiss DAC202 uses a single clock with a PLL, and yet had the lowest jitter they had measured to date at the time of that review. Point being is that Gordon Rankin's argument is theoretical. Actual applications vary greatly, and getting a good signal down a properly tuned and terminated connection offers a lot in relation to the harsh environment within the DAC itself. I am certain companies such as dCS would just put it internally if they thought they could provide better clocking by doing so. Even Antelope offers an outboard oscillator for their high end devices, further improving the performance of their word clocks. General Radio would put them in a shielded sub enclosure on the other side of the chassis in theirs to reduce interactions.

[a2x024]

I have a Audiophilleo2 with PurePower in excellent condition for sale on Audiogon:

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/transports-audiophilleo-audiophilleo2-with-purepower-vln-24-192-usb-to-spdif-transport-2012-11-28-digital-60607

If you're interested, please check it out. My contact info is in the listing and you are welcome to send any questions.

[Quest]

Thank you a2x024, from reading your post, it appears the Bel Canto Ref-link might bear a look if it is a clear step up from AP2 with PP.

 

Find it interesting that others might have found dcs and soulution converters to be sub-par.. but in any case, this helps me a little. Maybe the best converter might be a combination of units - like a m2tech evo sort of unit, but attached to a high-end oven clock, and even better power supply.

[Lizard_King]

Quest,

 

My system is down as i had to move and can't user it at my current location. i had tremendous sound quality with an M2tech Evo and a custom shunt Regulated power supply, Top notch USB Audiophile and BNC, SPDIF cables and a BNC terminated RF attenuator.

 

The results were staggering when compared to the antiquated Hag tech usb board inside my dac. One day, I will have a high end asynchronous USB his res board and power supply so I can run just a USB cable as a friend is designing that

[Elberoth]

Lizard_King - if you haven't tried the dedicated M2tech Evo Clock, you haven't heard what Evo is capable off. The external clock makes by far the biggest difference.

[Chris Nova]

Could not find a thread on this.

 

I'm now in the market for a USB to SPDIF converter and am curious about any opinions of anyone who has done tests among these few suspects:

 

- Berkeley Alpha USB

- Empirical Audio Off-ramp

- dCS Puccini U-clock

- Soulution USB 590

- Art Legato for redbook?

- Audiophilleo2?

 

What about, The E-MU 0404 USB! provides 2xAnalog IO as well as SPDIF io.. 192khz sample rate!

[alcarp]

One important factor to consider, now, when choosing a converter is whether it is integer mode capable. Audirvana + beta which is very close to a production release lifts the sound quality of the source several notches. A friend of mine who had a Berkeley bought an Off-Ramp because prior to integer mode capability the Off-Ramp was superior to the Berkeley. Once integer mode became usable on his mac the Berkeley surpassed the Off-Ramp (which is not integer capable).

[juliocat]

One important factor to consider, now, when choosing a converter is whether it is integer mode capable. Audirvana + beta which is very close to a production release lifts the sound quality of the source several notches. A friend of mine who had a Berkeley bought an Off-Ramp because prior to integer mode capability the Off-Ramp was superior to the Berkeley. Once integer mode became usable on his mac the Berkeley surpassed the Off-Ramp (which is not integer capable).

 

That's the reason i trash my M2Tech Evo for a SoTM USB HD, integer mode in Audirvana+ make it the best player around.

[tubesound]

In 6moons' Metrum Hex review, I found this information:

 

"Adam Mokrzycki organizes the Warsaw Audio Show and also is senior contributor to the Polish Audio magazine. His test of 14 USB bridges netted the following ranking:

 

Matrix 24/96 - 60

TeleVox 24/96 - 65

Hegel HD2 - 65

Musical Fidelity V-Link II - 75

Halide Design The Bridge - 80

M2Tech HiFace Evo - 80

Stello U3 - 85

M2Tech HiFace Evo + Evo Supply - 90

JK SPDIF Mk3 - 90

Audiophilleo 1 - 95

Empirical Audio OffRamp Turbo 5 - 95

dCS U-Clock - 95

M2Tech HiFace Evo + Evo Supply + Evo Clock - 100

Scarlatti CD/SACD transport - 100

 

Subsequently he reported that with the new Pure Power battery supply, the Audiophilleo became "one of the best if not the best S/PDIF converter I know. Apart from those I reviewed above I also tried the über-expensive Soulution 590 which was average at best."

 

6moons audio reviews: Metrum Acoustics Hex

[DiminishingReturnsOfficer]

I enjoy these threads where we try to come up with a "best" product. If there were such a thing, there would be only 2 posts; the fellow asking the question, and any CA member would be able to give the answer which would be universally recognized as correct. There would be no competition in the marketplace, and very little product development. Things never quite work that way, though, do they? My guess is that's because there is no "Best USB>SPDIF Converter". Certainly, there are good ones and not so good ones. It might even be possible to say conclusively that one is better than another, but which one is better than all the rest is much more difficult. Personally, I'm thankful that our hobby has grown to the point where we have 10 or 15 different models to discuss. There used to be just a handful.

As usual, I think barrows raised a good point; its important that your converter integrates well with your DAC. I don't think he was suggesting that they have to be from the same manufacturer, just that one works well with the other. Of course, if you do go with units from the same manufacturer, they are likely to play well together. That's what I did.

From the first ramblings of a new line of eOne converters from Bel Canto, I started pestering Matthew at BC and Dan at Dedicated Audio; "when can I get a REFLink?" I ended up with unit #10 off the assembly line and I've got nothing but good things to say about it. Actually, calling it a USB>SPDIF converter is a little misleading because it does AES and ST Fibre too. I prefer either of these to the SPDIF output on my Bel Canto DAC3.

I'm sure that the Berkley Alpha DAC / USB combo would be another great sounding marriage of components. My former converter was the 24/96 Sonicweld Diverter which I really liked paired with my Locus Designs Axis USB cable. Josh Heiner was most helpful in helping me through some issues that I had. He really knows digital, that's for sure. I was considering one of the new 24/192 Diverters until they saw something like a 50% cost increase a few weeks after their debut.

There's a lot of other good converters out there too, but I'm going to stick with my REFLink. I have some components that I would consider upgrading if the right opportunity presented, but this isn't one of them.

[DigitalDirect]

The company has posted several "how to" videos that demonstrate some of the basic functions and features of the Audiophilleo1, Audiophilleo2 and the PurePower battery option. https://www.youtube.com/user/Audiophilleo

[Quest]

Just as reference, a friend tried the Audiophilleo 2 + PurePower versus my Legato 2 and mentioned the Legato 2 was substantially better.

 

Obviously all audio preferences are subjective as there are so many factors.. I have two PCs which I use for audio (one for pure stereo, the other more for movies/games), both built with careful choice of components, and they sound totally different when fed into the same system and components.

 

Per above looks like other than AP2, seems like Empirical Offramp, M2Tech EVO and Bel Canto Ref Link could still remain in the line up.

[Elberoth]

I bet it is. Pat is one of the most clever guys in the industry. The problem with the legato is that it only does 44.1. The ART Veloce, which will do 24/96, is still not out (at least that is what he says on his website).

[Music Matters]

Lizard_King - if you haven't tried the dedicated M2tech Evo Clock, you haven't heard what Evo is capable off. The external clock makes by far the biggest difference.

 

Elberoth,

 

I'm thinking about getting EVO Clock, can you please tell what is the situation with the switch. Do you have to change the switch position from 44.1 to 96 every time you switch the file?

[Elberoth]

Elberoth,

 

I'm thinking about getting EVO Clock, can you please tell what is the situation with the switch. Do you have to change the switch position from 44.1 to 96 every time you switch the file?

 

You need to change the switch position every time you want to play a file with different 'family' freq.

 

Example: changing from 44.1 to 88.2 or 176.4 file requires no action (this is all 44.1 family - 1x44.1, 2x44.1 and 4x44.1).

 

Changing from 44.1 to 48, 96 or 192 file requires you to change the switch position (changing from x44.1 to x48 family or vice versa).

[4est]

You need to change the switch position every time you want to play a file with different 'family' freq.

 

Example: changing from 44.1 to 88.2 or 176.4 file requires no action (this is all 44.1 family - 1x44.1, 2x44.1 and 4x44.1).

 

Changing from 44.1 to 48, 96 or 192 file requires you to change the switch position (changing from x44.1 to x48 family or vice versa).

 

Please note that this is not because the unit is "cheap", but in an attempt to create less jitter as the auto sense/switch circuitry often does just that.