Best Sonos ZP-80 Mod?

Mrjstark, do you actually have the Cullen mod? If so, can you please elaborate? BTW, do any of these mods affect the Sonos' sw upgradability? Sonos typically comes out with a sw release once a quarter.

When will someone mod a Sonos (or other device) with an asynchronous capable USB out? Wouldn't that eliminate entirely the need for expensive clock mods on the transport box if you just turned it into a digital file 'pass through' and let the DAC clock do the heavy lifting? It just seems ridiculous to me that there isn't an easier way to transfer the file into the DAC cleanly without worries of transport jitter.

What am I missing here? Would love for one of the techies to enlighten me on this.

Shazam - A USB out does not help things unless you are forced to go to a USB input DAC. Even these are not jitter intolerant. Most use ASRC to reduce but not eliminate jitter.

I2S output to the DAC is superior because it puts the low-jitter clock closer to the D/A chip itself. Usually I2S input DAC's do not have upsamplers in the path either, just the D/A chip. The Pace-Car that Wappinghigh talks about does this. It uses a buffer memory that isolates the input stream from the output stream. There is no other more straightforward way than this technique to get low jitter digital to the D/A chip.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

The real problem with the ZP-80 is jitter on the digital outs. It is the worst of the WiFi servers I have modded. Replacing the power supply will not fix it. It needs a new clock and redesign of the S/PDIF output path. A reclocker after it will reduce jitter also, even better.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve - going from a Sonos box to a USB DAC is *exactly* what I want to do. If you were to use an asynchronous USB DAC (like a Wavelenght) that puts all the clock and stream management responsibilities on the DAC, then the Sonos box merely becomes a "digital file pass-through." In this scenario, I've eliminated all transport noise (because I'm not transforming the file in anyway) and laid the actual digital source file at the doorstep of the DAC. At this point, the limitations of the Sonos would no longer matter, correct?

Does this not seem optimal from a sonic and cost perspective or am I mis-understanding the fundamental nature of USB Audio?