USB DACs, WIndows 11, and newer Intel chipsets

Just want to reiterate, b/c I'm still getting public and private messages  that seem to be making the wrong assumption.  The incompatibility here is not with WIndows 11.  It's with the new (and quite popular) Intel chipset -- and with the latest generation of motherboards that, apparently with Intel's blessing, have eliminated support for legacy USB devices.

USB 1.0 is pretty old, sure, but there are zillions of USB 2.0 products in the field today, including most audiophile USB DACs, and while some of them just happen to be fast enough to enumerate properly with the Z890 & its USB 3 host controllers, others, like my Meridian Explorer2, are not.  I'm also having similar problems with other legacy peripherals, but the Explorer2/Monsoon combo is the crux of my desktop audio.system.

@dhungana  My Asus motherboard already has halfway-decent 7.1 audio and, tbh, I doubt if any Soundblaster has digital output that would produce better results, if you're suggesting using a DAC.

So adding an internal sound board wouldn't solve any problems.  And it would add extra cost for redundant functionality.  Worst of all, it would likely consume the only remaining PCIe slot on the motherboard.  So I haven't been looking at that kind of solution.

A USB DAC seems like the simplest way to get "entry-level audiophile" sound out to my Monsoons.

But thanks for the suggestion.

Since this isn’t for critical listening per se, have you considered an internal sound card with a good DAC? Soundblaster has their top end for around $300 or less. 

Rajan

Actually, if anybody else runs into a similar problem -- and given the enormous scope of the forced Win11 upgrade, I’d be surprised if there aren’t -- one other solution to the problem would be to add a  USB 2.0 port to your PC.  It would have to be done by bypassing the motherboard’s USB 3.x host controller.

How do you do that?  You buy an inexpensive USB 2.0 PCIe card and simply plug it into your machine. That would provide a USB connection that is by default legacy protocol, and that has nothing at all with the motherboard's built-in USB 3 bus.

Not sure if that would work in the case of the notoriously finicky Meridian Explorer DAC, but if I wasn’t so exhasuted by all this already, it would be worth $20 or $30 to try it out.  And even the newest motherboards have an extra PCIe slot (in addition to the obligatory graphics-board slot).  So if it works, this would be a quick, cheap fix that takes only a couple of minutes to try out.

Just sayin’.

@cundare2 

No direct experience but I remember reading in a review that the unison USB is plug and play with Windows 11. If either product interests you, you can always shoot them a quick question. FYI they also have an AI chatbot on their website!

@srinisr  Great timing.  I was about to edit my last posting to add Schiit to my closing Audioquest remark.  I’m not familiar with most of Schiit’s current offerings these days, but you’ve used these devices with late-model PC hardware?

I’ll check out those two models right now.  Thanks.

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Update: Took a look at the two DACs you recommended.  Functionally, the Mimir seems to be the closest fit.  I have questions out to Schiit Support re: compatibility with newer motherboards that lack Legacy USB suppot.  Thanks again.

Boy, it’s amazing how much Schiit’s prices have gone up.  Probably a tariff issue.  To the company’s credit, though, it’s still a cost-effective option -- no tariff will affect my purchase decision!

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Re: your other comment, the compatibility issue isn't with Windows 11.  It's occurring at the hardware level.  The UEFI doesn't even see my Explorer because that USB 2.0 device can't respond fast enough to the chipset to identify itself at POST.  Despite its decent sonics, the Explorer has always been a bit flaky, but it's now time, I think, to move on.

@cundare2 

A Schiit Modi or Mimir will fit your needs - details of the schiit website

Boy, I don’t think anybody read my message.

@mikhailark , as I mentioned, this computer is a brand-new build, and the problem is that the Explorer2 is incompatible with the latest Intel chipset.  The DAC worked fine on my OLDER machine.  And I’ve never owned a PC, since the mid-1980s, and maybe not even then, that wasn’t fast enough to render digital audio.  Jeez, even the machine I replaced (which was about 1/3 the speed of my new one) had orders of magnitude more power than it needed for hirez multimedia under Win10 OR Win11.

@ghdprentice  Again, I’m looking for a DAC for my desktop Windows 11 PC.  No need for a streamer -- I mean, the entire computer is a streamer!  I’m not gonna do "critical" audiophile listening on my PC while I edit a Word or Excel file or (my primary Windows application) compose orchestral scores. Don’t need multi-room streaming (although now you’ve got me thinking about that!)  A $200 prosumer DAC would do the job & if I need to listen more critically, well, I’ve got a $19K DAC/streamer/amp in the next room.  But since you brought it up, which products in particular are you recommending for my application?  What kind of topology are you thinking about?  Regardless, the one component that is absolutely essential in any configuration is a local DAC, because, regardless of my source, I still need a signal path between the PC & the Sonigistix MM-1000s.

Look, I’m just looking for a recommendation for an entry-level audiophile DAC for Windows that someone can confirm, from first-hand experience, is likely to be compatible with the latest Intel-based motherboards.  The little Audioquest DACs seem to be an obvious choice, but I don’t want to throw away even as little as a few hundred bucks on a product that won’t work with the latest hardware.  At this point, I’m more concerned about wasting my time than a relatively small amount of $.

.

@milpai  I don’t think you actually read my posting.  Your response has almost nothing to do with my question.  And your comment about Audiogon being an "analog" site is, um, a bit incomprehensible.  Do a quick search for "DAC" or "streamer".  Maybe what you wrote is not what you meant?

Thanks for trying, though.  I appreciate the effort you took to reply, which is more than anybody else has done so far.  I stopped by AudiophileStyle per your suggestion but didnt' see anything on point.

C

I would say that running latest Windows on older machines may get into problems sound-wise. See, every new version of OS has more services and components that require higher end CPU to run. On older machines less important (from the OS perspective) services, like audio/USB etc may start suffering from CPU cycles starvation.

I would recommend moving to a BlueSound streamer / DAC or better. You will get better sound and move into the contemporary world of audio. You will be able to control your system from your phone, pad, or computer. 

@cundare2 ,

I am not sure if you posted here about upgrading from Windows 10 to 11 on non-compatible machines. But if you had did that I would have suggested you the RUFUS upgrade. I updated my vintage 2010 Desktop to the latest version on Windows 11 using this upgrade.

For your current situation - you might want to post on audiophilestyle site. They are more conversant with these sort of things. I my mind, Audiogon is a analog site while AudiophileStyle is a digital site - I cannot live without either and love them both.

For the rest of the folks who don't want to lose their existing Windows 10 softwares or have incompatible I suggest the Rufus upgrade.

Here are the links I used

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-upgrade-an-incompatible-windows-10-pc-to-windows-11-two-ways/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-install-windows-11-the-way-you-want-and-bypass-microsofts-restrictions/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/you-can-still-upgrade-old-pcs-to-windows-11-even-if-microsoft-says-no-readers-prove-it/