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PC audio with USB DAC

Hello all:

With my digital library of music expanding to almost 10,000 songs now and the fact that I work at home much of the time, I have the desire to improve my computer audio system.

I tend to use 320Kbps AAC files or mp3 files with a few FLAC files for auditioning.

I have a laptop, so starting from nil. I am a neophyte to computer audio and as such have been reading about USB DACs.

I am ready to upgrade the speakers to a set of decent powered desktop units (Audioengine 5+)and a subwoofer (Audioengine S8)and wanted to start with a USB DAC. I have a small Classe preamp and amp, but don't want to have too many things to turn on at the computer to get good music sound. Please don't consider this slumming, it's a brave new audio world :-)

I decided to acquire the Nuforce Udac2 SE.

The sound is definitely more dynamic. The lows are stronger, the mid range is clearer and the highs are higher to my untrained ears. My problem is around the convenience factor.

A USB DAC doesn't become active until the USB port and the DAC driver are initialized. This simply means that you can't hear boot alerts and such. Not that big a deal I guess for premium sound, but I wondered if anyone had any comments about that.

Also the need for drivers which in my short experience appear to have problems. While I had the Udac2 SE in my system, I found that in the middle of a song, the music would stop and I would get a loud white-noise hiss or popping sound or staticky sound...all disconcerting.

After a couple of days of screwing around and getting aberrant behavior, I returned the Udac2 SE.

I'm sorry this was a long message, but I am very interested in other's experiences and any hints.

Thanks,

BannonB
bannonb

Showing 3 responses by audioengr

audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Every USB interface and USB DAC is different. Different performance, different drivers etc..

It is important to understand the type of USB interface and the optimum playback software and computer hardware to use with it.

Here are some tips:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Some other thoughts:

1) USB cable is important, but never buy a digital cable of ANY type less than 1.5m in length.

2) Sonos is a great product functionally, but the audio quality is poor. Needs reclocking, which can be added at more expense. Good 1.5m S/PDIF cable is critical.

3) Never use iTunes on PC, only on Mac, and even then make it sound better using several tools such as Amarra, Audirvana, Pure Music etc.. Jriver or Foobar2000 are good choices and can be improved by adding Jplay.

4) If you are using an inexpensive preamp or receiver, this will likely mask the differences between audio formats, data compression and sample-rates. Best to eliminate it or replace with a passive transformer linestage.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Sbleam - the longer cable is required for good performance of ANY digital cable, USB, S/PDIF, Firewire or I2S.

The length requirement has to do with signal reflections, a digital-specific phenomena and issue. Read this white-paper for an analysis:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm

This has been independently verified through AB/X tests by UHF magazine in Canada.

Now if the cable is less than 8 inches, this is also good, but not very practical.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
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