MacBook Pro or PC soundcard

Actually most high end CDPs don't use SPDIF exclusively. A number use I2S or use their proprietary connections with separate word clock.

SPDIF can sometimes result in bad jitter control. FWIW, USB is really about sending SPDIF data over a USB cable instead of a regular toslink or coax digital but with async USB, there's some control over the clock.

Doggie, they use those interfaces because they are better than spdif. Notice how they absolutely keep away form usb as that would be just silly.

I thank the highend transport world in helping make my point. USB is just sily,

*sigh*

USB is a PC based protocol. A transport is NOT a PC. On the PC, you merely use the USB connection to provide an isolated SPDIF/I2S interface (depending on the implementation) as well. Just that it is further away from the noise of the PC.

FWIW, Empirical Audio also provides a USB-I2S interface on their off ramp. If your DAC supports it, it is a better interface than SPDIF.

Doggie - my point is USB is just bad. If it were good, transports may use them. You have to agree the idea of a transport implementing a jitter collector like USB is crazy. USB is like a bellybutton. Eveybody has one. Lets not confuse the industries attempt at functionality and trying to make something easy with saying it is the better protocol. It is actually the worst. Have you heard a good sound card implementation compared to whatever usb dac concoction you are using? I have compared most every one and people actually scratch their heads then they hear the soundcard over usb. Lets leave it as this - agree to disagree. I am qiote confident that in a year or two, USB "high end PC" audio will be non-existent and there will be quite a few used usb interfaces on the market - really cheap.

Yes USB is not perfect. It was not designed for audio.

But how could one get audio from PC? With an internal soundcard? That's an even worse solution due to the EMI inside the PC. With a PC's SPDIF output? That meant you used optical (higher jitter) or coax (higher EMI interference from the computer system)?

First generation examples of USB-SPDIF devices and USB-DACs were not great. But they did outperform many "onboard" soundcards that were susceptible to computer noise.

The second generation of USB-SPDIF/I2S devices like Wavelength's Wavelink HS and from Empirical Audio made an even bigger leap sound quality wise.

It would be silly to go back 3 generations to an internal computer soundcard.