Computer audio, I am not convinced yet ......

Cerrot,
You make a good observation. Ultimately people will migrate back to what
sounds best to them. At some point in time reality will overtake hype.
Charles,

What are they supposed to use instead of USB? Cerrot, you've been banging the USB sucks drum for a long time here, but you're pretty much the only one. Saying USB wasn't designed for audio strikes me as like saying it wasn't designed to transfer documents with a lot of graphics in them. It's ample bandwidth for audio. What's the problem?

The guys that have been running usb servers for a while now are going back to CD players.

I know of nobody who has done that. It can be tempting to proclaim a trend based on a few anecdotal observations. I've certainly been guilty of that, as I think you may be in this case.

>>The guys that have been running USB servers for a while now are going back to CD players. To me, that is abandoning USB.

Cerrot, who are "the guys"? And are you certain that ALL of "the guys" abandoning USB servers for CD players, or is your allegorical statement in reference to something you heard regarding a friend of your cousin's dog groomer?

Topmostaudio, it is a safe bet that PC audio is here to stay, at least until something newer or better comes along. Industry and media surveys show that CD player use is diminishing across the board, but less so with the over 55 crowd. Most folks under 30 probably don't even have a CD player anymore, except for a laptop and even that hardware is diminishing rapidly.

PC audio (I include mac in that description as well) can sound very good, as good or better than almost any standalone CD player or transport. I used a Meridian 508.24 for years, and still have it. My mac audio setup sounds better, is more convenient (once setup) and is much more versatile.

What's the downside to PC audio? First, in short, it's a semi-compatible collection of third party parts and software. It's not as elegant or simple as a CD player, hence all the attempts to make a good, easy-to-use media player. I remember an A'gon member writing, years ago "I won't use computer audio until it is a simple as my [whatever] CD player. All I need is play, pause, FF and FB"

Secondly, PC audio can be expensive, especially if you listen to many of the so-called "experts" who insist that you need a USB/SPDIF bridge, or an external USB reclocker, or an uber-expensive Elbonian DAC w/ seventeen balanced inputs or other such audio frippery. You don't. Start small and simple, get used to managing your music files, and make upgrades as the sound dictates and your budget allows.

IMO, USB works well between PC/mac and DAC, but I have heard many great systems that used SPDIF or TOSLINK. If you have a PC or mac, order a Meridian Explorer DAC from audioadvisor.com. If you have a mac, download a copy of Bitperfect and play your files through iTunes. This is not an expensive suggestion, and many guys here may urge you to spend more. But try this first. If you don't like it, return the Meridian DAC to Audioadvisor and all you are out is shipping and $10 for Bitperfect. But I will bet that you will find it easy to setup, use and that it sounds pretty damned good.

Steve N: you are correct. the number of "samples" i've heard are limited to say the least. i'll also agree that a few PSA users are completely happy using USB. i'm not disputing USB can sound great. my problem is with all the flaming hoops one must jump through to achieve good USB sound. you've done a great job of explaining how important proper implementation is when using USB.....your many posts on the subject explain it thoroughly. my problem lies with the "proper implementation" itself.....and the cost (money and complexity)/reward proposition. i obviously don't get it.

that being said....i'll go back to my original statement... that USB is not needed to achieve great sound. it could be for some??.....it might be for other....but it's not always the case

The alternative to usb is a good sound card. If you study the USB porotcal, you will find that it transmits data in packets - not streams. That is the inherent problem. No one on earth can dispute that the usb bus teransmits data in packets. A soundcard, via spdif (or PC via fire wire even) transmits data is a stream. USB IS JITTER! (why would you build a house on sand when you can build it on something firm?)

As for examples of listeners abandaning usb, I follow many forums online and if you pick thrugh to the engineers (take a peak at linkedin - places where guys arent trying to sell stuff) you will see what I mean.

It serves no advantage to me to preach against usb other than to save someone out there time and money and not give up on pc audio after a short time cause it sounds poor). Its just gotten silly. Just try the spdif out of a computer and w/o fumbling arond with drivers, clocks, asychronwastemytinestuff, it will just sound awesome.