HagUSB vs Other USB Interfaces/Devices

Musiland MD10

Hi there,

I will be testing it this week (only got it a few days ago from overseas). I am not sure how USB will be, as it does not supoprt true ASIO. I am not sure how much difference it will make using ASIO4ALL; as opposed to running a direct digital signal to it.

X

Herman....that is incorrect. There are DACs that support ASIO - but they must have USB input. It gets the signal via USB from the player (which as you state, must support ASIO output) and it must be able to utilize that data before sending it to the D/A process.

Many USB interfaces are like this: they have USB input and a built-in DAC, although many people simply use those to get USB out using ASIO, have a digital signal generated, and have that digital signal sent to an external DAC (such as one which does not have USB input). A good example of this is the EMU 0404 USB or Edirol UA-1EX. I used the latter prior to getting the external DAC - fed it USB, it supports ASIO, and I used its DAC capabilities too thus outputing an analog signal to my amp.

X

Audioengr - true indeed. It must have an ASIO-supporting driver. Many (read most) use generic drivers meaning that, even with programs like ASIO4ALL or ASIO2KS - the windows kernel / audio stack are involved. True ASIO drivers are specific to the DAC/underlying hardware and thus allow the program to chat directly, bypassing any OS involvement.

I wreckon I'll try get another interface for the other PC and keep the Edirol on this one. It has great ASIO drivers - easy to use and very stable. At a later stage I may look into upgrading it but will try make sure it has ASIO drivers.

Hi there,

Sorry for not replying earlier....have lost touch with this thread :)

Yes indeed I have, and still do. I now use the Edirol as a pure USB interface, so that I can pass a bit-perfect signal using ASIO out to an external DAC. It is now exceedingly better than before (using a Musiland MD10 DAC, fed by digital optical output from the Edirol).