Can I use AIFF and ALAC with DEQX?

[obiwan]

Recently got my first mac, a macbook air, and have been playing around with itunes, downloaded several movies and tv series. Watching all this via apple tv. All well and good. To stream music, happy for the moment use apple tv but if I want to use a usb digital interface directly between the macbook air and my DEQX (www.deqx.com) will the DEQX be able to make sense of AIFF and ALAC or should I make all the files WAV?

 

Thanks for advice.

 

[One and a half]

on the DEQX, so it can accept a PCM stream from a computer, so give it a go.

You will need to check the spec on the USB input to see if it will cope with higher than 16/44.1 files for the future. If not, you can use a USB/SPDIF converter and plug directly into the coaxial (digital in)to handle the higher spec and better sounding files.

 

The format of the file doesn't matter, so long as the DAC within the DEQX can handle the same spec. That is, a 24/192 file, ALAC/AIFF or WAV will not play on an input that's only capable of 16/44.1.

 

As to to which file type is better for audio, just read the bitchin' in these pages, there's no clear winner, so personal choice prevails, the computer will stream a PCM coded file to a DAC cause that's the standard "output". My preference is for FLAC cause it's non-apple, note for note it's identical to ALAC. Others will have different opinions, of course.

 

Can you imagine if a DAC were to have all the audio formats that are no available, man, there are hundreds it would have to convert each one, yeeeuuuwww, programmer's nightmare, keep it standard PCM.

 

[twist222]

The usb connector on my DEQX HDP3 is only for allowing the DEQX to talk to the DEQX software that creates the correction filters etc. It is not a streaming music input.

 

The DEQX has a SPIDF input via an RCA and a AES/EBU input via an XLR. The DEQX will accept up to 24/96.

 

If you wish to use a computer as your music source for the DEQX you will need a digital interface - USB or Firewire to SPDIF or AES/EBU or a computer that will accommodate a sound card like the Lynx AES 16 that has digital outputs (ie AES/EBU for the lynx card)

 

Because of the DEQX only sees the output from your digital interface it does not care how the original files were encoded.

 

Regards

 

Mark

 

[obiwan]

Thanks guys. Very helpful.