Understanding USB

[clipper]

18 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

that is true once it is converted to analog....it is only a digital file when stored or transmitted.  The file stored on a cd or hard drive is a binary file.  This binary file is transmitted in a digital stream.  It is not until it is converted to analog that it is the music we hear.

Here is some (hopefully) helpful reading for you: https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/why-usb-cables-can-make-a-difference.

 

The same principles apply to the transport.  Great sound is unfortunately not as simple as sending a "bit perfect" data stream to the DAC. 

 

The transport you use does matter.  A dCS Network Bridge sounds better than an Intel NUC.

[clipper]

18 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

I looked at the article briefly...will look at closer tomorrow.  I think noise is addressed by usb isolation, and that may have been an issue in the past (god knows why it took so long for dac engineers to address it, but it seems they have and that should no longer be an issue).    I no longer believe that the source or cable should be an issue anymore....e.g. Schiit eitr, and that noise should no longer be an issue.

I understand why you want to live in a world where the transport and USB cable don't matter.

 

Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in.

 

I have a Schiit Eitr.  The transport I use with it matters.  The USB cable I use with it matters.  

 

Schiit USB Gen 5/Schiit Eitr are very good, but there's nothing magical about the technology that makes it immune to transport or cable.    

 

Also, I believe you are greatly oversimplifying things by basing your transport and cable shouldn't matter belief only on "noise."  What about clocking, for instance?  Look at some of the threads on CA where people have discovered and are discovering how better clocking leads to better sound.

 

Think about it for a minute.  Probably the only constants with respect to the USB DACs you've tried and disliked in the past are the Asus mini computer you used as a transport and your USB cable.  What USB cable did you use, by the way?  Was it an "audiophile" USB cable, or just a standard USB cable that you might use to connect a printer?

 

PM me your address, and I'll send you a transport and USB cable to try for a few weeks when you get your new DAC.

[clipper]

1 hour ago, beerandmusic said:

 

That is the purpose of the thread, and i find it very debatable.

Can you explain to me how a digital file can be transmitted to a thumb drive with 100% accuracy 100% of the time, and a DAC cannot recieve the same file with 100% accuracy?

 

If it can't, then i suggest it is just a poorly designed dac.  Of course clocking and buffering has to be accounted for, but if a $5 thumbdrive can receive the data with 100% accuracy (even with inherent usb noise), then a dac should be able to as well. 

 

 

Transmitting a data file to a thumb drive is not the same as transmitting audio data to a DAC.

 

No one is suggesting that 100% of the audio data doesn't arrive at the DAC.  But the accurate timing of the arrival of that data matters when you're playing back music in real time.  Accurate timing doesn't matter when you're copying a Microsoft Word file.

 

See:

 

 

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