Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

The LKS can perform its singular function without drawing power away from the DAC’s other responsibilities. I think there would be less noise kicked back to the DAC’s power supply as well.

 

@debjit_g I think there may be some confusion. The L.K.S Audio USB-100 USB Audio Interface can be purchssed with a separate linear power supply, the LPS-25-USB. I don’t think the description meant that the power was from usb.

@dbb There is no bus powered ddc that I am aware of which draws power from the DAC. Typically all of them are powered from the source. When ddc have their own power supply, which many does, the vbus is typically used for a handshake on the receiving end. Most DDCs doesn’t output USB but when it does, like the Innous PhoenixUSB, the transmitting end and depending on the DAC, the power is either drawn from the vbus or with its own external power supply when available. Moreover when the DDC is not outputting USB, like the L.K.S, there is no way to draw power from other transmit interface, like i2s, or AES/EBU or SPDIF.

In any case, they don’t draw anything from the DAC. Its the receiving end that draws the power, for example, in earlier USB based DACs, the USB board would be bus powered from its source, typically  a music server or a streamer or a ddc but designers have gotten smart and use their own power supplies to power them nowadays.

@car123 though I don't have direct experience with ultradigital but I have had Sonore products, Singxer and other DDCs before. I would venture a guess and say that a Singxer or a Denafrips would be at a much higher level than the ultradigital. Since you prefer the I2S route, I think you will get better results with better DDCs. Its worth a shot.

All above just goes to show how weak usb ports directly attached and powered by motherboards are. Even the Aurrender with it's partially optimized usb not good enough. Noise is the critical thing with streaming, until we see optimized usb vs. I2s with 005 we're relying on conjecture for which is best.

And then we have my setup which ignores any usb or I2S within server, which adds another conversion within relatively noisy server  Ethernet out of server means everything external and discreet lps powered. This setup has far exceeded my best prior optimized server usb solutions. And this prior to optical optimization with OpticalRendu, OR brought futher substantial gains. With so many options nearly impossible to have direct comparisons.

A couple other things I've learned from John Swenson and others, is one wants signal in server the least amount of time with the least amount of processes running. This means fast processor, efficient motherboard, best power and optimized OS. Noise is the enemy of streaming resolution and more natural presentation. Minimize signal contamination is name of game, the above experiences prove the validity of running processes outside server where noise can be better controlled. For those running Roon, separating core from endpoint is commonly heard as superior, again we are minimizing server processes and running them outside in quieter environment.

@car123  Hi, I'm glad you had a positive experience with the Sonore. If you are looking to take it to the next level (I2s) may I suggest you try out the L.K.S. USB to I2s DDC. Reason being it has a RJ45 I2s output which I have found to be superior to HDMI. This could be for various reasons, cable model used etc.

However there is no doubt in my mind at the moment that RJ45 is best in my system.

Hot Rodding the L.K.S. with a top flight DC LPS such as Plixir, Farad, Ediscreation to name a few and a quality AC cable will really surprise you with the results.

Please do not be dismissive of the L.k.S. because it's low priced. It's quality.

Your next option could be the Matrix X which has a big following over on the PS Audio Forum for converting USB to I2s to feed into PS Audio's Direct Stream DAC. Custom cable required.

Negative is no RJ45 I2s.

https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/matrix-x-spdif-2-32bit-768khz-dsd512-hifi-audio-usb-interface

Last is the Audio GD, again no RJ45 I2s and very heavily engineered and will require a custom cable to the 005.

http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/DI20HE/DI20HEEN.htm

Since most I2s is HDMI it's good to have more than one input and/or RJ45.

Happy Listening

@sirnui Hi, I see that you have used the Innous USB DDC. What is your evaluation of it?

It has a very good LPS and a custom clock for the USB DDC.