USB DACs with 24/192 via USB

Hi Blindjim, you're right, there are only a few sources of 24/192 recordings now, such as www.2L.no. But there will be more.

Also, I'm in the camp that you get lower jitter from a PC server by using USB/Firewire/Ethernet out of the PC compared to a digital signal that comes out of an internal sound card.

So, I'm trying to avoid spending big $ on a high-end DAC that only supports 48 or 96KHz via USB, because I see it as a white elephant in a year or two.

I suppose if someone like Empirical Audio had a Turbo-3 that did 24/192, then my problem would be solved; and I could let it convert the 24/192 USB to AES for any DAC that takes a 24/192 AES input. But it would be cleaner and cheaper to just plug the USB 24/192 cable directly into the DAC.

Are you sure the Apogee Mini supports high sample rates over its USB port?

Bigamp

My point is as Onhwy61 said... does the "???" DAc support more than 16/44-48 over USB?

Can DACs in fact accept higher word lengths and bit rates using USB as the conduit, or why not?

My own meager trials indicate to me using USB as the only interface for music is not as positive as is using a sound card which outputs via coax, or AES instead.

I've not tried the Wavelength designs on USB, but sure wouldn't mind doing it just to see the degree of diff. But I am satisfied a sound card, either on board or USB which allows a pass thru of higher bit information bests USB alone.

...and yes, I've even bought the De ASIO driver online and implemented it too.

Now I'm not saying the sound isn't any good going USB alone... I'm saying placing a card in between the PC and stand alone DAC sounds better noticeably.... even with an inexpensive USB sound card!

What gets me in this topic is the notion USB only transmutes limited bit rates.

NOTE > Onhwy61 is right agbout many DAC makers indicating high word lengths and bit rate decoding, but they're not as clear on which or if all the interfaces of their DACs do indeed handle them... ya have to look closely to see who's doing what where.

Then too is the idea regardless the numbers... some will outperform others, as it's seldom as simple as a numbers game entirely.

I kinda think USB does transmute 24/96 presently.. or my sony sure thinks it does... but it's old, and may be developing a case of 'bitzhymers'.

Blindjim, I see where your external soundcard would be better than an internal one. This sounds like a good solution. And I agree that a 24/192 DAC may only be able to receive 24/96 signals or less via particular inputs. The buyer has to look at the product specs to make sure the DAC can receive the higher sample rates via USB, or that its even a true 24/192 DAC.

For example, the new Emmlabs DAC2 is a 24/96 DAC, but it can only receive 24/48 via USB -- I would love to buy this DAC for its sound but it's a non-starter for me because it can't even receive 24/96 via USB.

The other background fact here is that my PC server is 60 feet away from my audio rig. I run a 30 meter fiber optic USB cable between PC and rig. This only goes up to 24/96. I suppose I could also run a 60 foot AES cable for 24/192 files, as you suggested; or put an external sound card at the end of that 30 meter USB cable and then feed 24/192 AES from the sound card into the DAC. But best case would be only a 30 meter USB cable that does 24/192 (no sound card or USB-to-digital converter).

There are DACs out there that take a 24/196 USB input, such as the Emu 404 DAC. I'm looking for a higher-quality DAC, such as an Emmlabs or whatever, that can do this. That way, one cable that does it all and great sound.

I

The other background fact here is that my PC server is 60 feet away from my audio rig.

My server is two floor below my rig in my basement. I use a Modwright Transporter, which is an outstanding wireless server using an AKM DAC. You can also wire it to the network via cat-5 (Ethernet) cable. Unfortunately the specs are up to your standards (I believe it's limited to 24/92), but a network solution would eliminate your USB limitation.

The EMU 404 uses a USB 2.0 interface which is capable of higher bandwidth than the standard (original) USB interface that most of the others mentioned here are limited by. This is why it is capable of the higher resolution. As I pointed out, you can also use a Firewire DAC to get higher resolution also via the greater throughput capacity of that bus.