What are the new asynch USB converter contenders for 2014?

After buying a SoTM SMS100 I'm taking asynch USB seriously again. I have a John Kenny JKMKIII that I put back in service, its detailed and musical. However

compared to the Ifi Nano DSD as an asynch USB converter it looses on transient sharpness and "polish", wins on detail and bass tonal color. So I suspect technology has moved on, that I need/want a newer generation asynch USB converter.

Opinions? Any new contender since 2013 in the below $1K range that bests the JK MKIII or Audiophilleo? More expensive ones interesting to

hear about but that begins tipping price towards consideration of a completely new DAC like Mytek or Benchmark DSD DAC's.

I know just the thing:

Comparison Of DAC's and USB Converters At Rawl99's - Digital, DACs & Computer Audio - StereoNET

That's right - it bested my uber off-Ramp with upgraded supply.

Watch the Benchmark DAC though - make sure you check it out in your system - some like me find that DAC a bit dry and uninvolving - sort of dead.

Naturally I would recommend the Killer from the link above - but you are unlikely to be able to hear one unless you are in Australia. It's hand made in minuscule quantities here in Aus.

Thanks

Bill

I've had very good success with the Gustard U12 driving either coax or AES3. Nice little device!

The JK Cuinas converter has been around for a while now ... gives me the best SQ for pcm of my other choices.

Hi..

I currently use a W4S uLink with an iFi iUSB power source, sounds good but for the past few months considering upgrade options.

besides the Cuinas mentioned above I was checking the Teddy Pardo U2S model

TeddyU2S - 192kHz USB to S/PDIF converter. | USB to S/PDIF converters | DACs | TeddyPardo

and the Audio GD DI 2014 (some early mention at the head-fi org forums, I have a DI-V3 but I use JPlay and XMOS works better)

ºÍ§Ó­µ响

also considering the iFi iLink and Gemini cable...(since I already have the iUSB and could use 2 SPDIF outputs)

but I have not found a lot of comparative reviews either, except the Darko list which seems somewhat dated...

The Darko DAC (and digital transport) Index | Digital Audio Review by John Darko

or maybe just wait it out until early next year and see if I can find a good deal on a Berkeley Audio Design Alpha USB..

The Audiobyte Hydra X+ might be worth a look. Well under $1k. Battery power enclosed. Over on 6moons, it was rated equal to his reference USB converter, but for less coin.

Thanks for all the tips. After looking at posts, the Gustard U12 sounds like its worth a shot, generating some excitement and praise on HeadFi as better that the JK or AP and at a price that is hard to pass up. Will order and post impressions when it arrives in December

Paid $20 for express shipping which got it here from Hong Kong in 10 days instead of 30, total price $189. Arrived last nite. First impression was "this things heavy", box about the size of your hand that weighs as much as a normal laptop computer. Case is solid metal, not flimsy. Plugged it in, no power switch, front panel only lights up once you connect it to powered up USB source. Did some quick track samples, does display PCM and DSD rates although one track displayed for DSD something that I didn't recognize. Left powered up for an hour, then did some listening to some familiar favorites. Initial impressions

1. there is an over all sense of power in the way the device affects the music... its like all of my prior asynch USB converters suffered anemia

2. voices are clearer, less stressed

3. bass foundation is deeper, more articulated

Definitely better than the JKMKIII by comparison... the JKMKIII is pleasing but tame. Differences seem to grow as recording resolution increases.

Where I need to go next is mid range subtleties, vocal intonation. Unfortunately my CJ preamp has developed a hum so the above is what I can hear

using the pre section of the Prima Luna... its fast, musically detailed but no way as sophisticated as the CJ in reproducing mid range tonal color, voices.

Will post more once I have the CJ back in service.

Keep em coming !

Also looking at this Gustard and the Musiland 03 USD

Keep em coming !

 

+1

Just ordered one to the UK from HK based on a few posts here and head-fi.

Cant wait too get it into the mix between mini and hugo. As others have said, at the price it doesn't seem like much of a gamble

when it's being compared to or bettering converters quite a few times the price.

Any recommendations for a reasonable spdif cable?

Hi hifi-swlon,

Please be informed that the primary input voltage of the Gustard U12 is set at 230V to 115V, however, the AC voltage of UK is 240V/50Hz.

Regards,

semaj

Ah, er, so this won't work in the UK? I was sure I read some feedback from UK users - maybe I was mistaken.

Batter cancel that order if so!

…..

Actually, having just done a bit of reading around this, whilst the UKs voltage is still referred to as 240V, it is now (since about 15 years ago) nominally set at 230V +/- about 6%.

So 230V appliances are perfectly fine in the UK. phew.

Why not order an U12 with 240V/50Hz?

Why spend good money destroying your DAC's clock with a digital-digital converter? You're even considering spending more to *defeat* the master clocking than you spend on the DAC!

No offense, but I just don't understand this practice now that excellent USB DACs are everywhere.

Why spend good money destroying your DAC's clock with a digital-digital converter? You're even considering spending more to *defeat* the master clocking than you spend on the DAC!

 

No offense, but I just don't understand this practice now that excellent USB DACs are everywhere.

I know this question wasn't directed at me, but from my point of view, I have an existing setup with an A/V receiver as my main DAC with no USB input. I'm looking for a component to get material at the original sample rate from a component (laptop, netbook, etc) to the receiver. If I use a USB DAC, then my receiver would be performing an A-to-D conversion anyway to perform any room EQ/speaker level set operations, which I think would neutralize the benefit of the USB DAC. For me, a USB-to-SPDIF converter would seem like a cost-effective idea to utilize my current gear, while a USB DAC may have features I wouldn't be utilizing. I'm certainly open to other suggestions and education though

Why spend good money destroying your DAC's clock with a digital-digital converter? You're even considering spending more to *defeat* the master clocking than you spend on the DAC!

 

No offense, but I just don't understand this practice now that excellent USB DACs are everywhere.

Pure curiosity.

A large number of people who's opinions I trust say they prefer the SQ of the Hugo (and other more expensive DACs) with a decent spdif connection rather than the built in USB. Most don't know why, and it may well be subjective or random or simply that they have sources with better spdif than their computers USB.

I agree it doesn't make sense particularly, but stranger things have been known to be true, and at £120, plus a small amount of time experimenting, I can find out for myself.

Either way, I'll report back!

Why spend good money destroying your DAC's clock with a digital-digital converter? You're even considering spending more to *defeat* the master clocking than you spend on the DAC!

 

No offense, but I just don't understand this practice now that excellent USB DACs are everywhere.

None taken by the way...

The DAC was £1,400 + RCA cable.

The Gustard U12 is £120.

By my maths I'm spending less than 10% of the cost of the DAC?

I am quite happy with my DAC, but the USB input of my DAC is only 16/44.1. This is the reason I ordered the U12. And, expect to collect it sometimes tomorrow.

Why spend good money destroying your DAC's clock with a digital-digital converter? You're even considering spending more to *defeat* the master clocking than you spend on the DAC!

 

No offense, but I just don't understand this practice now that excellent USB DACs are everywhere.

I also do not take offense as your statement is very logical. For me, I cycled more than 10 DACs through my system a year or two ago and finally chose the one that was better than the rest to my ears. If I can somehow enhance it for a minimal cost without going thru the process of trying a bunch of new dacs then I'm all about it. The problem is that in today's world most dacs sound wonderful so choosing one comes down to personal preference and synergy. This is not an easy task and it requires head to head comparison in your own system.

I basically borrowed a few and bought 10 dacs used and resold all but one. The entire process costed alot more time than money. Buying and selling them resulted in minimal money loss and surprisingly I kept one of the cheaper dacs (Dac-it) over the more expensive ones. BTW just in case anyone's interested, here is my list in order of preference. Some of this may shock a few people but again my ears/my system/my opinion. I will also say that I could've been happy with any of the top 5. The bottom 3 (yes that includes the dacmagic) were nearly unlistenable imho.

Peachtree Dac-it

Cullen Stage IV PSA DLIII

CI Audio VDA2 w/VAC1

PSA DLIII

Musical Fidelity A3.24

Audioquest Dragon Fly

Fiio E7

Shek D2

Entech Number Cruncher

Onix 25

CA DacMagic

Maverick

Udac

This thread is getting interesting.

@sam lord

I'm somewhat with you on that. But everyone and their gfriends swear that devices like the audiophilleo do improve sound...even in TOTL $5-10K DACs.

@thrand1

That Avr + usb-spdif setup is somethin I wanna try too. Never heard any reports from a similar setup but it surely sounds like a possible winner.

Anyway...the Gustard & Musiland are both under $200, I'd say it's worth a try. Especially since there are already some reports here & on headfi that they are better than the $500-1000 APs.

I plan to order one of those in Jan/Feb. Meantime gotta figure out which and any reports are highly appreciated.

None taken by the way...

The DAC was £1,400 + RCA cable.

The Gustard U12 is £120.

By my maths I'm spending less than 10% of the cost of the DAC?

...stranger things have been known to be true, and at £120, plus a small amount of time experimenting, I can find out for myself...

Oh, sorry! I saw other mentions of Offramps etc costing up to $3k, and I failed to notice the U12 price. Your reasons are perfectly logical, so much so that I would never try it.

I am quite happy with my DAC, but the USB input of my DAC is only 16/44.1. This is the reason I ordered the U12. And, expect to collect it sometimes tomorrow.

Very good, I hope it does well for you. 180USD is certainly inexpensive for this category of components.

...everyone and their gfriends swear that devices like the audiophilleo do improve sound...even in TOTL $5-10K DACs.

...the Gustard & Musiland are both under $200, I'd say it's worth a try. Especially since there are already some reports here & on headfi that they are better than the $500-1000 APs.

Re: the first reports, I've heard those as well. At first the over-representation of Aussies made me look askance, but then legitimate listeners began to...

Oh dear, I've insulted another fine nation-state! Time for my pill.

&sam lord

Not sure what's your beef here. I only see a bunch of ppl trying to figure out the value of a new line of devices based on the (admitedly thin & scaterred) available info.

@davide256

Pls keep the thread rolling with fresh impressions.

I bought the U12 via 'taobao', and the total cost (i.e. U12 + transportation cost.) is around US$130. And also, I received the U12 today, my first impression for this U12 is as follows:

1. Gustard forward my order via a local freight agency, when I open the parcel I found the packaging materials manage to secure the U12 in good order and condition;

2. The outlook and finishing of the U12 that I got in hand is well at acceptable standard.

I would connect this U12 to my 'Cullen Stage 4 PSA DLIII' tomorrow. And, I shall inform you about the progress of this U12.

Good night.

I'd say the U12 is a keeper if you have a DAC without USB input or don't have a top of the line USB input with the DAC. I did give it a shot also using PC as source, had an initial driver install failure because I had the iFi Nano driver installed and it looks like they both use a variant of the same XMOS driver. After I deinstalled the iFi driver I was able to successfully install the U12 driver and gave it a listen using Foobar as media server and renderer in an ordinary Win 7 64 bit environment. This was listenable, none of the midrange "thinness" I found with converters like the JKmKIII or Musical Fidelity Vlink but lacked the dynamics and clarity of using the SoTM SMS100. I suspect going back to Server 2012 with AO would have made it even better but wasn't interested in going down that path of fiddling again.

Swapping back and forth with cables, converters, sources my general impression was that none of the alterations, omissions or irritants were coming from the U12. If anything it looks like this $189 investment in a converter is going to compel me to spend 4x's as much on digital cable upgrades, and battery power supply for the SOTM SMS100 so that I'm hearing all the pairing of the 2 are capable of delivering.

&sam lord

Not sure what's your beef here. I only see a bunch of ppl trying to figure out the value of a new line of devices based on the (admitedly thin & scaterred) available info.

I should not have criticized people's choices in playback gear; I didn't mean to offend those listeners. I just like a direct approach to solving a problem: how to allow a DAC to perform its best. The USB-to-SPDIF solution demands a distortion of the DAC's clock. So DAC makers must incorporate a very good PLL or similar circuit to reduce the transmission jitter and introduce an LF error to deal with data drift. It's a big waste of resources.

But I don't believe that individuals who make the choice of using a USB-to-SPDIF converter are wrong. Rather I think that makers should do better using the async USB inputs. This is not a simple problem to deal with; both clocks and PLLs are very difficult devices to use well. I can't help wondering how these great-sounding setups using OffRamps, etc., would do if they had async-USB-input circuits with 80fs-precision clocks well-implemented in the DACs?