Audiophile USB to PCM

Eric -- thanks for the info. Maybe it is even worse -- maybe the M-Audio converted the signal from digital to analogue and back to digital. Whatever it was, the Apogee sounds way better, but I know the Proceed has good DAC's, so I am pretty certain something went wrong inside the M-Audio piece. At some point, I am going to take an SPDiF out of the Apogee into the Proceed to compare them in that capacity.

As I understand, the major advantage of USB connection is ability to take your SPDIF interface as far as possible from the computer that generates plenty of RFI and other noises. USB, being buffered solution isn't likely to introduce jitter, but you'll need a box (where jitter will inevitably appear) that accepts USB data flow, and converts it to SPDIF, i.e. performs quality reclocking, etc. Here, if this box is treated just as part of the audio system, and connected with short good SPDIF cable to the DAC, there should be less jitter then from a normal CD player. However, for low jitter this box must have audiophile-grade power supply, oscillator, and other parts, so its price level must be expected somewhere near any other audiophile DAC. Cheap solutions must introduce lots of jitter, making the whole idea nonsense.

This thread has been very useful. My thanks to Eric, Dmitrydr, Rsbeck, and Ultraviolet, and onhwy61!! I actually understand quite a bit (no pun intended!!) more now than I did before. The signal coming through the USB port is 1's and 0's just like PCM. As I understand it, however, the signal needs to be modified, NOT converted to the same format as the signal coming out of a source like a CD player. The USB protocol is different and the conversion devices we are discussing remove some sort of header on the signal. Most are felt to be bit accurate.

My problem with the Xitel is that its cheap chipset converts 44.1 to 48k and based in what I've heard and read I have some concern that this adding artifact above the noise floor.

While the Waveterminal can do sample rate conversion between 32k, 44.1k, and 48k, this feature is unnessary and will not be utilized. Sample rate conversion is not what I want here.

My Waveterminal U24 is arriving today. I'll be able to report on the sonics of it later. Hopefully, I will have found the holy grail of connecting my Powerbook G4 to my audiophile system!!!

harry

Looking forward to your report.

Wow....the Waveterminal U24 is spectacular. Just plugged it in and my Genesis Lens immediately read 44.1 khz. The sonics are outstanding. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to do some a/b comparisons with the Xitel. initial impression is that there is more detail, but there may a placebo effect since I just set it up!!!
harry