Ok, the proverbial dumb question, I'm reading this post and others, my
question. is it always advised to convert USB to Spdif? I'm running from
Windows 10 laptop to Schiit Wyrd( decrapifier) then in Project box S2.
Will converting usb to spiff always sound better? Better in all
respects. Thank you, Otto
It depends on how good the USB receiver board is in your DAC. If your DAC has an Amanero USB receiver board with really good power supply, it's likely that you may not get much (if any at all) if you put in a USB-to-SPDIF converter box. Also, Amanero boards usually have two separate clocks that generate the proper timing on the two main audio format sampling rates.
If you have a cheap DAC without a good USB interface, then a USB-to-SPDIF converter box is likely to improve things significantly. In this situation, the relatively lower cost solutions such as the Matrix solution mentioned above or the Wyred 4 Sound Remedy Reclocker for $299 could be good options. It's a little more expensive, but I would choose the
Matrix X-SPDIF 2 USB Interface
for $379 because it uses Accusilicon clocks which I know are excellent and I think better than the Crystek clocks typically used in these devices. The Wyred4Sound and Matrix both use wall-wart switching power supplies (which can be upgraded to linear power supply if you want).
Or you could go for something totally high end such as
Singxer SU-6
or Audio-GD
DI-20HE
interfaces. (full internal linear power supplies and high end digital clocks).
Your Project Box S2 really doesn't have any sort of good USB receiver / clocker, so I would definitely recommend a USB-to-SPDIF box for this DAC for sure. If you did do this, I would just remove that Schiit Wyrd decrapifier because it's really not doing anything that these USB-to-SPDIF converters are already doing and it would be just another device and usb cable in the chain.
