2. digital
  3. 172745-96

If you feed a DAC with USB does XLR matter as much?

Does running XLR matter as much if you use a USB input from a streamer instead of an AES/EBU from a good transport?  Or, what about converting USB to I2S (my new DAC — Musician Pegasus — has an I2S input through HDMI)?  My preferred would be to just go USB into the Pegasus and XLR out from that to a fully-balanced amp, but wondering what I’ll be losing with USB input or what benefits I2S conversion might bring.  Thought I read both USB and I2S were the preferred inputs on the Pegasus, but I could be wrong and welcome other thoughts/input.  My guess is converting to I2S would be best, but that’s gonna require more $$$ and not sure how much added benefit I might get from it.  Thanks!

soix

Showing 3 responses by soix

soix OP
8,836 posts
 

These things are independent and the choice for DAC input has no impact on the choice for DAC output

True, but would converting to I2S be beneficial?  Is the added conversion worth the effort/cost?  Does the input of the Pegasus benefit from converting to I2S?  Guess I’ll just ask Musician to see what they say, but just thought I could get some good feedback here before doing so. 

soix OP
8,836 posts
 

Does the method I use to deliver digital data to my dac affect my choice of analog cables after the DAC does it's thing.  Not related if I understand your question

Well, yeah it does if the DAC processes one input better than another.  And that’s really at the heart of my question. 

soix OP
8,836 posts
 

Got it.  Digital input independent of output.  Sometimes it takes me a while, and thanks for your help!  Still not sure if I should bother converting USB to I2S, but I guess that’s a subject for another day. 

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