HELP 24/96 Playback

[thegoodarcher]

Dear Friends,

I am very new to the digital era, and have recently jumped on the entire USB DAC phenomena, i wont deny that i fell prey to (or either the negligence is my very own) due to a certain mixup, i came to believe from the Nuforce's web description of their product, the world where i come from, if a manufacture uses the word "Audiophile" i take this to include quality which is inclusive of bit-rates produced by vinyls which is 24/96, which my imac is capable of producing via its built in speakers,sadly Nuforce's "Audiophile" term is only limited to 16/48 , and the months i spent gathering quality speaker cables/interconnect now seem near to be wasted! not to include buying 24/96 studio master downloads! any idea on how to tweak this baby?, it already has a Nuforce Subwoofer W1, connected to via a line out (they say by now, the woofer doubles as a pre-amp), and alas! now they have released a Icon HDP, a real-time 24/96 converter to be used with a thing called "Nuforce Amp", which i take to be some sort of power amp, i know i am blabbering in despair, but someone please come to my rescue!...and tell me that if i use another source,

say from a turntable (phono box) as there is one more set of RCA plugs on the Icon, which seems available and not in use, i get 24/96 since it surpases the DAC circuit - shit but it all looks like its all happening via a single I/C...HELP!

 

[ted_b]

First, tell us what you have! It's quite confusing from your run-on sentence(s) here. There is no reference to what you actually own, other than "this baby". I take it to be a NuForce Icon, but not sure what's feeding it, etc. You say things like "not to include" but it seems like you are meaning to say "not to mention"? Slow down and tell us in more detail or we can't help.

 

 

 

[thegoodarcher]

Dear Ted_b,

Thank you for your writing, haha! it was just a state of "panic", i'll make my self clear with the following sentence

 

I have a

 

1.Nuforce Icon USB DAC > which receives its connection from an IMAC which uses ITUNES

Playing back Apple Lossless Files, using Audioquest Cinnamon USB Cable.

 

2.Speakers > Bose Acoustimass 5 using Van den Hul Speaker Cables

 

3.Subwoofer > Nuforce W1 Subwoofer, Connected via a LINE out (Recommended by Nuforce)

 

The Icon's Main Power Supply, has been upgraded.

 

I realized today after my, "Mcintosh Intergrated Amp" which i have at home, kicked the bucket, i was wanting to connect my

turntable to the Nuforce Icon, using a Cambridge Audio Phono Stage, and realized that the Icon, is only 16/48 - it also blew the hopes of wanting to playback 24/96 Digital Files from My IMAC, to only find out that the Icon was downsampling it almost all the times.

 

1.I am curious to know if i connect my turntable to the Icon, will it down sample it in a similar fashion?

2.Are there any tweaks, to let the Icon accept any incoming 24/96 files, and output them in the same manner?

 

My first time in any kind of "Forum" so please do forgive, the mashed up texts..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sturgl]

...that all the CDs you've ripped will still probably sound noticeably better through your NuForce USB DAC. CDs are limited to a bit depth of 16, and a sampling frequency of 44.1KHz (16/44.1), and generally, there's no amount of upsampling that's going to make a CD sound better. (I know, I know - there are most definitely exceptions). The 16/44.1 format, when applied to PCM, was compromised from the get-go. Modern theory seems to be that to approach the sense of pace, ambiance, and musicality the audiophile could have achieved with vinyl 30 years ago, digital must obtain a minimum sampling frequency of about 60KHz and a bit depth of 20. Why all this mumbo jumbo? Well, first, I can't help myself. Second, to make a couple of points: 1) all is not lost with your NuForce. CD sucks to begin with. Just because a DAC can run at 24/96 doesn't mean that CD sound quality is going to improve - even on many of the upsampling DACs. 2) when we refer to bit-rate or bit-depth or -bit resolution, we're exclusively talking digital. Vinyl does not produce a "bit rate": waveform is the realm of analog. That said, The more bits, the more accurately that analog waveform is captured in digital format. B&W's Society of Sound has the best article I've ever read on the history of digital, explaining quite nicely concepts such as sampling frequency and bit depth: http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/lab/sound-quality-lab/the-definitive-guide-to-24-bit-flac/

 

Now for the bad news:

I think you're SOL on the hi-rez digital front. It looks like NuForce may provide you with an upgrade option though: http://www.nuforce.com/hi/upgrade.html

No idea if they'll do what you require. Most USB DACs are 16/48. Getting 24/96 out of USB requires some heroic engineering - and then you've got the whole synchronous / asynchronous debate, the jitter over USB debate, the firewire debate, and the debate debate. Chris has a fantastic article on USB audio here: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Asynchronicity-USB-Audio-Primer

 

And now, more good news:

There are a couple of inexpensive and well-liked options out there for getting music out of USB: The M-Audio Transit comes immediately to mind for $100. Plug it in, connect it to a great DAC, and you're off and running.

 

I've probably blathered along quite enough here. I really should consider getting back to work. So with that... good luck and have fun! And DON'T STRESS.

 

[thegoodarcher]

Whoaa! Thanks a lot! i must check with Nuforce regarding their update policy, but i am not too sure if it applies to digital gear!

Thank you for sharing all the wonderful links, you've been a great help!

 

That said, now i do feel that somehow, my turntable would work with my Icon, since it deals with analog waves? the Icon has 2 modes USB and Analog RCA in, well none is wasted then, cambridge phono stage here i come!

 

Cheers Sturgl!

 

[sturgl]

...but it does sound like your turntable -> phono stage -> Icon (via unbalanced RCA inputs) *should* work. I'd really check with NuForce support or your local retailer to be sure though. best & good luck!

 

[Audio_ELF]

As I think you have already realised, the NuForce Icon you have has a analogue input - this can easily be attached (via a phono pre-amp such as the Cambridge Audio you mentioned) to a turntable. When using the analogue input in this fashion the signal is not 24/96 or 16/44.1 or anything of the sort. It is purely an analogue signal so you need to worry at all that the Icon is only capable of 16/44.1 and 16/48.

 

Your issue of 24/96 from your computer is a separate one. As you say the USB input / DAC section of your Icon is only capable of CD quality reproduction. Your only solution is to either accept this, purchase a separate DAC to use external and use the analogue inputs of the Icon, or replace the Icon with the Icon HDP or another (non-NuForce) device. Given the speakers you are using with the Icon, I personally wouldn't worry about High Resolution material as I am unsure you would hear any difference.

 

Eloise

 

[thegoodarcher]

Thanks guys, sincerely appreciate your help, i got it now - i am looking to replace the icon and the speakers in months to come,

nuforce i think doesnt do "upgrade" for their computer products, so if i am looking at 24/96, i need to ditch the icon first, in which case i would need a power amp to go with the HDP, given the rude response from Nuforce staff, their help-desk seem to be giving me conflicting information about their own product i.e.one says that the subwoofer acts as a pre-amp whilst connected to the icon, but another staff says, "who told you so", so i think its almost entirely amateurish - the BOSE are okay for now, i guess, but i have a diapason Emera on the way:)

 

Thank you so much once again, sincerely appreciate your help.