I2S Interface

[vortecjr]

1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

 

If I have understood i2s interface correctly, you would need to have a very good clock on that device, and in addition is should be a better clock than your DAC, as the i2s interface bypass the DAC clock. 

 

This may also make a propper build device a bit expensive as well. 

 

Maybe most usefull on cheap DAC's,? though people seems to like i2s interface on the Spring DAC. 

Also wiring for the i2s signal may matter. 

 

I think John Swenson wrote about i2s not long time ago. 

 

Careful. It might be true in some cases, but in most cases the DACs master clock is used and the master clock send via i2s is ignored. For example, my custom DAC ignores the source master clock, as well as the K&K Audio DAC, W4S DAC, and PS Audio DAC. Not sure about other DACs in this class. That is not to say that one would not use an good clock on the source though.  

[bunno77]

1 hour ago, vortecjr said:

That has changed...it is still the case today:) 

Ahh ok, sorry I am not the most familiar with models from that time and yep only really know about W4S, Holo and PS Audio

[vortecjr]

No worries...I asked in case there was something I missed.

[DavidL]

On 04/06/2017 at 10:43 PM, chip said:

btw:

I did not give up on it.

I am still using my Signature Series Rendu I2S interface to my PS Audio Direct Stream DAC.

Can I chip in here? (please excuse the pun).

 

A slightly involved story but I'll get to the point in the end...

I did a comparison of renderers in 2013 and opted for the Sonore Rendu (others included were Krell, Naim, and Mission). In 2016 I did a comparison of DACs and opted for the PS Audio DS with Bridge II. I found little difference in sound quality between the Rendu and Bridge II as renderers - I now use the Rendu in my second system. For playing CDs I use A PS Audio PerfectWave transport (PWT): the SQ from the PWT I2S output is not quite as good as that from the (optically isolated) ethernet input to the Bridge II. When the PS Audio DirectStream Memory player (DMP) was introduced recently Paul McGowan stated that "the SQ from the DMP was not only better than that from the PWT but also better than that from his server playing thro' Bridge II". My personal conclusion from this observation was that the SQ improvements were due to an improved implementation of the PS Audio "lens technology" in the DMP, compared with the PWT and Bridge II. I have asked Paul whether there are any plans to produce a "Bridge III" with the improved lens but have had no response so far, however some discussion in PS Audio fora suggests that this (including an improved power supply?) could not be accommodated on a plug-in board the size of the current bridge. Because PS Audio are responding to user demand for an MQA capability in the Bridge it seems unlikely that a stand-alone Bridge III will be produced with the improved lens technology as I'm sure MQA providers will not countenance a device that could input MQA-compressed audio and output full-resolution digital via I2S or SPDIF.

Because of all this I've started looking at the possibility of buying a Sonore Rendu Signature.

 

Hence I have a question. Chip, have you had the opportunity to compare the SQ from Sonore Signature Rendu with that from Bridge II?

 

On the general issue of USB versus ethernet-direct interfaces, I would expect that in the longer term streaming (either from local or internet sources) is going to totally dominate music playing. As a result I would have thought that replacing the general purpose computer and its related USB or other interfaces with a renderer (ethernet-to-I2S/SPDIF) should be simpler, less expensive and have the potential for better SQ. Unfortunately the current market does not seem to be following that logic, particularly in the USA where USB is strongly supported for audio interfaces, so I can quite understand Jesus's position.