Up to the Minute: Streaming Bits to Audiophile DAC

Belkin announced today the Cable-Free USB Hub (F5U301) will be shipping in Mid-December for $199.99.

It is capable of speeds up to 480Mbps with a range of 30ft.

Check out the press release here.

For those still curious... about how a music lover goes all the way from taking out his favorite CD, to having a digital file come from his computer and out through his audiophile system... read on.

The simplist way I have found has been to insert the disc into my CD drive on my computer with iTune's preferences for automatic import on insert: Apple Lossless with error correction "on."

On insert iTunes automatically looks up the track information and performs all the tagging. iTunes also downloads the cover art. if it is available.

So far, so good... now the digital files are in my searchable and well-organized (not to mention slick-looking) itunes library, taking up about half the space they would if not compressed. (Some people prefer the open-source "flac" compression, but for me, itune's ease of importing and its integration with podcasts and my ipod make itunes my favorite.

Now the files are on my good old computer, a Macintosh G4 400, nothing fancy necessary here, speed is not necessary, only lots of hard drive space. I installed two new 160gb seagate baracudas chosen for their low noise characteristics (now I wish they were at least twice that size). In the hard drive preferences I set them up to be a mirrored pair, so if one goes out, everything is exactly the same on the other. No backing up!

As for listening... after considering my options:
Computer soundcard (noisy)
Airport (not guite audiophile)
Inexpensive external USB converter (remote control?)
Expensive external USB converter (expensive!)

I chose Slimdevices Squeezebox 3 for the following features benefits:
WIRELESS SECURE CONNECTION (802.11 b and g) with my computer (now in the other room! I like that. And now, should I decide that I would like another Squeezebox in the house, the SB3 acts as a wireless bridge, extending the range of my wireless capability. The Squeezebox also connects equally as well with your everyday household ethernet cable.
REMOTE VOLUME CONTROL which also lets browse and search and play my entire music library, play randomly, or from iTunes playlists... oh, the power!
INTERNET RADIO ACCESS with the computer on (or off!)
DIGITAL OUTS s/dif and optical for my external DAC
AUDIO OUTPUTS which are quite decent sounding, though somewhat compressed
MARVELOUS READOUT adjustable in size, brightness, scrolling speed etc.

If this set-up doesn't sound quite tweaky enough, buy Slimdevices Transporter, and get all the connectivity in the world, plus professional standards like AES/EBU, and word clock, so all your digital devices can march to the same drummer.

With word-clock, (and the addition of a master-clock and compatible DAC, digital amp, or digital speakers) the home audiophile can put the kabosh on the sonic artifacts of interconnect generated jitter once and for all (the way the studios have been doing it for years). I feel calmer already

"With word-clock, (and the addition of a master-clock and compatible DAC, digital amp, or digital speakers) the home audiophile can put the kabosh on the sonic artifacts of interconnect generated jitter once and for all (the way the studios have been doing it for years)."

Sounds good, but the reality is that noone that I am aware of has made the word-clock work yet. The fact is, most modern consumer DAC's, such as the Benchmark DAC-1 use D/A chips that perform the D/A using the bit-clock, not the word clock. No improvement in the word-clock will make any difference at all. It's the bit-clock or master clock that need to be low jitter, not the word-clock.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/quality,85/brand,zzounds/UCA202_big-c5c66c5ee06b3a89a1fe3b25a7ba0cb3.jpg

Can anyone guess what this interface does?

I still dont understand how I can plug a cheap device into my USB port and it somehow knows if I want to extract an analogue signal or stream bits.

Would the optical output stream bits?

In the case of an analogue signal (for example, the headphone output) would this thing look through to the DAC in my Sony VAIO laptop, or would it also have its own cheap DAC thrown in for the low low price of 30 bucks?

I started to write a new thread - "Streaming Bits for Dummies" but thought I should continue here.....

For the most part, I am still clueless.

Thank you.

I believe this device is very similar to the M-Audio Transit, but it probably uses the PCM270X chips instead and no software driver. Unlike the Transit, it would be limited to 48kHz.

You could get digital S/PDIF output from it just like the Transit from the optical output. Like the Transit, it uses a cheap clock inside, so very jittery I suspect.

There is also a D/A and an A/D inside, so you get analog outputs. Like the Transit, the power supply on this comes from the 5VDC off the USB cable which orginates at the computer. You can guess how clean this power is.....