What Digital to Digital Converter Do You Use? Why?

I would never use usb. I won’t use any tweaks to try to get better performance from usb. I use Ethernet and i2s to my dac, and my dac is fpga based.

+1 for Matrix X-SPDIF 2

I don’t necessarily think that I2S will always bring an improvement over USB for any given device. However, in this case it provided noticeable improvement in SQ.

The unit has three dip switches:

1. MCLK
2. IIS Reverse
3. DoP to Native

My setup:

Sonic Orbiter Roon Core i5 (Upsampling) > Ethernet (switch) > ifi Zen stream + MCRU LPS > USB > Matrix Audio X-SPDIF 2 > I2S > Wyred4Sound DAC-2v2SE

I’m using a AudioQuest Forest 48 0.75m HDMI Cable. I’d rather have a shorter cable but it seems to work well.

I’m also powering the Matrix X-SPIDF 2 off the Zen Streams USB instead of the wall wart. So far, so good.

I use a Behringer Ultramatch SRC2496 because I have it, it still works, and it provides me with the ability to convert the toslink output on my source to AES/EBU input on my digital crossover. I like the level meters and pretty indicator lights. It has a headphone jack with a touchy volume control - gets very loud quick on typical headphones! My biggest gripe is that the power supply can vibrate and make the chassis hum so I have to damp it down to keep it quiet. 

audioman58

2,733 posts

08-22-2022 at 10:42pm 

Denafrips IHave been using along time great build quality, great value 

and their whole line up sounds very good ,I own the Aries2,

pontus2 , Terminator 2 , the Terminator 2  makes everything sound great..................................................I have the Ares2 with CEC Transport........sounds great but how much of an upgrade in the Denafrips line do I need to make ,to hear a fairly substantial difference......

I use a Berkeley Audio Design Alpha USB interface because my DAC does not have a USB input. It provides better sonic performance than the Fiio K3 from which I upgraded.