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USB reclocker pecking order?

Opinions on what the pecking order, best market options are for USB reclockers to a DAC via fiber optic or coax SPDIF? I've seen comments on the Hi Face (~$180), the Hiface EVO (~$500) and the OffRamp (~$800) Had the MusicStreamer II for a while but as I improved the music server my modded Adcom DAC won out for musical ease.
I've stripped my PC music server into a lean, sweet kernel streaming machine (6.7 on windows user experience rating), but I can still hear edge/grit in the highs on various sound card SPDIF sources from my PC that I don't get direct from CD source.

Is there any clear winner for $500 or less that would make a difference at 48Khz? Or am I possibly picking the wrong priority to resolve?
128x128davide256
cbw723
89 posts
 
Larry, while I agree with you in principle, the current reality is that a lot of people have DACs that don't have async USB, or don't have USB input at all. For those people, a converter allows them to get sound out of their computer, and a good converter allows them to get better sound. The growing number of USB to SPDIF converters on the market attests to the demand for these products, though I do think that over time the need for them will diminish.

What I'd really like to see would be some ethernet to USB or SPDIF converters (but that might require a layer of software that would make the products less convenient).
larry_s
128 posts
 
Cbw - I agree. The adapters make it easy to connect any PC to a S/PDIF DAC. I was going to also mention in my previous post that people worry about jitter instead of "do they like what they hear?". Anything past that I stay away. Too many people think their recollection of music they heard seconds, minutes or even days previously is accurate, but it's been proven many times that it's not.
blasted771
4 posts
 
For this redbook manic, 16bit 44.1 / 48 I recommend finding nos ( 3 months nos) musical fidelity's v-link version 1 189. new - very hard to find, no longer in production. Ver II 299.00 any change ??? I cant tell except the version # ??? ver III 399.00 I notice a pattern here 24bit @ 192Htz it is upgraded internally if you want to overclock and sample... I notice a pattern ... but still wont say a single bad thing about this product except the rapidly increasing price. BTW try Blue Jeans cables for your usb and optical link. in fact, I swapped out some very pricy cables, all of them to try out all solid conductor BJC. My system has never sounded better - Seriously.
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,223 posts
 
V-Link I and V-link II are basicly identical - the only difference beeing a different case. I had confirmed this info @ MF. V-Link II is $189 from Amazon and other online sources.

There is no V-Link III. The one that sells for $399 is called V-Link 192, and it is a completely different (more upmarket) model.
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