Audiophile USB to PCM

I've used the M-Audio Sonica and switched to the Edirol b/c it sounded better to me... I've now switched to the Waveterminal U24 because it sounds better than the Edirol, and found out the reason may be b/c the Edirol outputs at 48 kHz, not native 44.1 kHz? Dunno if that is the reason or not. I have not compared the Waveterminal to Audioengr's modded Transits (the Sonica and Transit are pretty similar internally)--I gather the Transits do pass 44.1 kHz and respond well to mods. I and not really competent with a soldering iron, however, so I'll leave that to others...

With an Apogee Mini-dac, you just take a USB feed from your computer. No need for any gear in between.

Rsbeck, the apogee is a fine DAC, from all I've heard. But, I don't think it is in the same league as the Hbrandt's $14K dCS stack. While apogee is forward thinking in incorporating USB into the box, there are very high end DACs that don't--the U24 and M-Audio pieces work well in those applications. You may want to try a Waveterminal for your application. I didn't think the stock Transit/Sonica family sounded that great compared to some other pieces, but they still sounded pretty darn good with decent source material, so I still don't understand why you had bad results. Maybe a bad unit?

As an oddball sidenote, I had my g/f close her eyes and played some short clips from the same song through iTunes. One an uncompressed .wav file ripped with EAC. The other was a derivative mp3 created with LAME using the "alt preset extreme" VBR setting--a *very* high quality mp3 that I've heard many say is overkill. Yet, she was able to clearly ID the .wav as "sounding fuller" and "better"--notwithstanding the fact that she has significant hearing loss.

Edesilva, I've had the exact same experience too in comparing VBR mp3 and a .wav out of an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile. Interestingly enough, if I convert the VBR mp3 and burn it to disc (I use the program burrrn. It's free, uses LAME to decode and does gapless burning of tracks), and burn the .wav (or just play the original cd) the difference between the two decreases dramatically (though I still notice it on most tracks). I've noticed this on other setups as well. Something's going on which I haven't figured out yet. I've tried Winamp and Foobar and have had the same results.

When you say you "convert the VBR mp3," do you mean turn it back into a .wav? Hmm. If that is what you meant, one possible explanation may be that the CPU has to do more processing on an mp3 and that somehow causes audible changes--i.e., its "easier" for the computer to play back a .wav? Strange. But, it does take some serious time to create mp3s, so maybe...