Which Driver Takes Precedence

[InAus]

Hi all,

 

I'm new to the world of computer audiophilia. Due to a relocation I've had to reconsider how i play my music and have recently decided that this is the way to go. I'm in the process of archiving my CD and SACD collection to disc and have recently managed to score a W4S DAC 2 to feed my Aaron amp.

 

Im considering also the purchase of an SPDIF converter and am pretty much ready to pull the trigger on the YellowTec PUC 2 lite.

 

I am however a little confused as i note that it has a proprietary driver that auto installs which defaults the PUC 2 as the output on the computer. What then happens to the W4S output on my output settings ? do I simply set the W4S as the output or the PUC ?

 

Given that the DAC is the ultimate feed into the amp then i'm assuming that this is what i should be using but if I do am i losing anything via the PUC ?

 

Apologies for what could be a silly noob question but I am just trying to understand the flow logically.

 

Thanks in advance for any collective wisdom which may come this way

[AlainGr]

Hi InAus,

 

And welcome to CA

 

I previously was using a Bryston dac with a HiFace USB > SPDIF (then the dac) and the HiFace was identified as the target in the Device Manager (Windows by the way). Then I replaced the HiFace with an Audiophilleo (still USB > SPDIF) and the same happened.

 

So my conclusion at the time was that all that is connected at the other end of the USB cable is the component identified (but I could be wrong).

 

Regards,

[InAus]

Hi InAus,

 

And welcome to CA

 

I previously was using a Bryston dac with a HiFace USB > SPDIF (then the dac) and the HiFace was identified as the target in the Device Manager (Windows by the way). Then I replaced the HiFace with an Audiophilleo (still USB > SPDIF) and the same happened.

 

So my conclusion at the time was that all that is connected at the other end of the USB cable is the component identified (but I could be wrong).

 

Regards,

 

Hi Alain,

 

Thanks for your response, I was guessing that something like this may be the case as it was all that I could have thought of.

 

My computer is also Windows 7 (64 bit) so I can expect the same result in all likliehood.

 

I guess my concern is that if the first component in the series is what is recognised and utilised then is there a chance that some functionality from the next component in the chain may be compromised or not utilised ?

 

Only one way to find out I guess, once the PUC 2 arrives I'll try each as the target in device manager and see if anything changes significantly.

 

Thanks again for your feedback

 

Bryce

[AlainGr]

Hi Alain,

 

Thanks for your response, I was guessing that something like this may be the case as it was all that I could have thought of.

 

My computer is also Windows 7 (64 bit) so I can expect the same result in all likliehood.

 

I guess my concern is that if the first component in the series is what is recognised and utilised then is there a chance that some functionality from the next component in the chain may be compromised or not utilised ?

 

Only one way to find out I guess, once the PUC 2 arrives I'll try each as the target in device manager and see if anything changes significantly.

 

Thanks again for your feedback

 

Bryce

Hi Bryce,

 

My understanding from experience is that the converter will only send to the dac what it is fed with. So if you send to the converter 24/192, 16/44.1 or anything (provided it can take it of course), this is what it will send to the dac.

 

Assuming that the dac is also able to play the bit depth and sampling rate, all should work fine

 

When I bought a converter, it was because the USB input of my dac was only accepting USB 1, so I was limited to 16/48 at best... With the HiFace (and the Audiophilleo), it became possible to listen to material up to 24/192 (plus the fact that it was reclocking the signal)... It really improved on the musicality (from my perspective)

 

Edit: In fact, the converter just does that: it converts from one protocol (USB) to another (SPDIF), with reclocking.

[CatManDo]

You can connect multiple USB audio devices to your Windows PC, and select the default playback device in Sound settings.

 

You can also select a playback device in the audio player (for example set desktop speakers for all sounds but have Foobar2000 use the USB DAC exclusively).

 

I don't understand Alain's reply. A DAC connected via S/PDIF is not being seen by the PC as a device and does not need a driver. If an USB/SPDIF interface is being used, only a driver for that device is required.

[AlainGr]

Hi Claude,

 

I probably confused the playback device in Sound Settings with what we see in the Device Manager...

But of course, one can connect more than one USB audio device

[InAus]

Thanks Claude and Alain for both of your responses. I understand your explanations and the differences outlined.

 

Pretty much as I suspected but thought some more enlightened minds than mine could provide some clarification for me which you both have.

 

Thank you both.

 

I'll let you know how it all pans out.

 

Cheers

 

Bryce

[AlainGr]

Thanks Bryce

[InAus]

Alain / Claude, just thought I'd let you know how it all panned out in the end.

 

What i thought would be plug and play got a bit messy in the end.

 

The W4S had arrived first so i had installed that and used the USB input, set it as the default sound device on the computer and JRMC and away it went.

 

Enter the PUC 2 a few days later. Connections were as follows, USB to PUC 2 USB in, AES from PUC 2 to W4S and from the DAC into my Aaron Anniversary amp.

 

Powered it all up and watched the PUC auto install its drivers as expected. I then went to change the default sound device to the PUC and nothing !! Only sound devices showing were the headphone jack. My sounds devices window was now also frozen and kept crashing.

 

After multiple reinstalls of jrmc and both devices, (all latest drivers) I resorted to ASIO drivers. Still no joy. Long story short after 2 nights of fiddling and many glasses of red to assist the cognitive process i unhooked the lot once more.

 

I knew I was looking at some sort of driver conflict so went back in once more, uninstalled all the drivers, reinstalled only the PUC 2 drivers after realising that the drivers for the W4S werent required, turned it all back on and cautiously checked the sound devices.

 

Bingo, there was the PUC 2, set it as default, opened up JRMC and checked the device there. PUC 2 Wasabi !! sitting where it should have been for the first time .

 

I hit play and waited. All good, Rebecca Pidgeon's voice filled my room, W4S sample rate showing 192/24 as it should have. Tried a few more of my collection at varying sample rates. All working as they should.

 

Probably wont be an issue for someone more up to speed with this sort of stuff than I but thought the post may help someone in the future who could encounter a similar issue at some stage.

 

My suspiscions look to be correct, looked to have been some sort of conflict with the drivers which the clean up and reinstall of the PUC drivers only has sorted out.

 

Just thought I'd bring you guys up to speed with where all this landed given your initial help with my query.

 

Thanks again for your help and hope to catch you on here soon.

 

Cheers

 

Bryce

[AlainGr]

Hi Bryce,

 

It will certainly be of help for those that will eventually face a similar situation. It would probably have taken me the same amount of time to realize that the W4S did not require a driver since it was fed through the PUC SPDIF...

 

Glad that you could have it all solved and that you are happy with the sound

 

Thanks again for the update !

[InAus]

Hi Alain,

 

yes, it was a bit of a light bulb moment realising that the W4S drivers were superfluous. Once i did though it only took a few minutes to get it all sorted. As usual, something reasonably obvious when you work it out but not so apparent up until then