USB-Optical Converter....

[asdf1000]

Earlier in this thread I commented that I thought there was an external power supply/wall wart with this unit. There is not......

 

.....but if you view the pics on Amazon, one of the pics is of a different unit. An IFI dac maybe? That is what threw me off. So if looking to purchase from Amazon keep that in mind. [emoji4]

 

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

Hi mate, I may have missed it, but what Dac are you using? And are you using Toslink or Digital Coax?

I've pivoted away from USB audio, to Toslink after reading forum posts by a couple of the world's best FPGA Dac designers (PS Audio and Chord). Both of them design Dacs that virtually eliminates jitter, which solves the biggest issue with Toslink.

I can't speak for them of course but I recall seeing posts where they hint that Toslink has been given a hard time, despite being immune to RFI and EMI and being galvanically isolated from the source and since jitter is a non-issue with their Dacs, Toslink performs really really well, as long as you can live with the 24/96 or 24/192 limitations (depending on source and cable's ability to handle this).

 

Analysis Plus make quite affordable and well made medical grade Toslink cables and that's what I'm using.

 

As long as your Dac can handle jitter well, I think your iFi microlink solves a lot of the issues that USB audio products are trying to solve or improve (I've gone in circles and spent too much money with USB audio). If your Dac doesn't do much in terms of jitter, the iFi SPDIF iPurifier works really well. I bought that for my old man who uses digital coax and found it really helped things a lot because his Denon receiver doesn't really handle jitter the way a lot of these new gadgets do.

 

Of course there's lots of IFs and everything is system dependent, so I can't generalise. But going from very high end USB audio sources with all sorts of conditioners and isolators and cable combinations, to a very simple and very affordable Toslink based system has been a major eye (and ear) opener for me.

 

Currently for my 2nd system I have a Chord Mojo with Analysis Plus Toslink cable, and I can do 24/192 without issues. I'm missing out on native DSD playback and DSD up-sampling capabilities (the Mojo does it's own up-sampling) of course but the virtual elimination of computer source noise and RFI and EMI really revealed to me how good a simple Toslink system can perform.

 

Sounds like your're really enjoying these benefits too, which is great to hear ! :-)

[asdf1000]

Thanks Em2016,

 

Laptop...USB Regen/LPS-1....USB...Micro-link USB-Spdif....Optical...DEQ2496....Optical....IFI Spdif Ipurifier....Maverick Audio Tubemagic D2 DAC

 

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

 

NICE. A Regen and LPS-1 going into the iFi USB to SPDIF converter (which already eliminates jitter) IN ADDITION TO the iFi SPDIF iPurifier at the last stop before the Dac tells me you're not messing around ;-)

 

I'm guessing you've tried taking the Regen and LPS-1 out of the chain and didn't like the result?

 

And instead using the LPS-1 to power the SPDIF iPurifier at the last stop?

 

Only asking out if interest of course, having owned all those products (except your Dac and the Regen, although the microRendu has a built in Regen).

[asdf1000]

Yeah, I got away from using the Regen for a while because it turns out the USB-OPTICAL converter I was using at the time (Dacmagic Plus) was adding some unwanted noise to the system. So I played with HDMI for a while, but the real magic happened when I recently....

 

.....went back to the Regen, bought the LPS-1, bought the Micro-link, and bought the Spdif Ipurifier. I've always been a subwoofer guy. Since these additions, namely the Regen and the LPS-1, I've not been using my subs. The weight, punch, PRAT etc. is so dynamic I no longer hear the need for supplemental bass.

 

As far as switching components around, that's next on the list. There are a couple different combinations I want to try. I'm just not in that big a hurry because it sounds so perfect right now.

 

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

Yeh forget I even asked about combinations and enjoy the music! That's what it's all about

 

Sent from my Blackberry DTEK50 using Tapatalk