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[jimmy neutron]

I am soooo enjoying MC17 as my front end for my music only system. The tagging capabilities has allowed me to fine tune all my art work and multiple CD sets and wierd names. Now EVERY ONE OF MY CD's are properly tagged.....that's 100%! I'm also loving the COVER VIEW over the THEATER VIEW for the touchscreen. So many options and settings that I wake up in the morning and head over to my system just to play and learn....love it. I feel like a kid all over again! I do have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to on the internet.
First, here is a pic of my music only system. It is a stereo only system that consists of a McIntosh C-39 preamp, McIntosh MC-7270 power amplifier, 1 pair of Carver AL-III ribbon speakers, a Panasonic CF-29 laptop running MC17 (all my music is on a NAS upstairs), and controlled by the ELO 20" touch monitor. I also have a small wireless mouse.


Now I have the questions. Currently I have a Soundblaster external LIVE USB soundcard that connects to the laptop's USB port for the DAC and then straight to the C-39 analog CD1 input ( the laptop and Soundblaster sit behind the cabinet and is out of view ). Obviously this is the weak link and is being upgraded. I just ordered an Emotiva XDA-1 DAC from the Emotiva website. It will arrive in a few days and will be a big improvement in sound quality. Now I know the XDA-1 is not assynchronous USB and if I connect it to the laptops USB port only 16/44 will be the only rates I can pass to it, and all my 24/96, and higher music will not be able to pass thru it. This is not good. The only way for the XDA-1 to play back the high res material is thru the COAX or SPDIF inputs, not the USB. Now my temporary Soundblaster will play back all my music up to 24/96 just fine, but obviously the DAC's are inferior to the XDA-1. What I need to get is a USB to COAX/SPDIF re-clocker. These, as you may already know, will re-clock the signal and allow the passing of up to 24/192 into the XDA-1. That purchase will have to be made next month for obvious reasons. But my question is about the Soundblaster....... can it act as a re-clocker? It has USB input connection and COAX and SPDIF outputs, as well as the analog outputs. If I leave the Soundblaster connected to my laptop and use the COAX output to connect to the XDA-1 digital input, would this arrangement allow me to listen to the hi-res material? Actually, I know it will pass the hi-res material because that's how it was connected to a reciever before, but I guess what I'm asking is what is the drawback of using the Soundblaster as a re-clocker? Does it even re-clock or just pass the info? Does anyone know how, if any, the music can suffer by using this instead of a re-clocker?

Jimmy

[patricklang]

I use the Emotiva XDA-1 myself.  The XDA-1 is great on its own, but the lack of hi bitrate over USB is a serious annoyance.  I bought the X-Fi XtremeAudio PCI-e, which uses the inbox Windows drivers (hdaudio.sys) instead of Creative's CTAUD32.sys that causes bluescreens for so many people.  The X-FI is plugged into an XDA-1 using TOSLink.  This setup works ok, but the X-Fi can't handle 24/88.2k, 176k, or 192k that are used in some HDTracks and Linn releases.  I probably need to buy a $100-200 card that supports those rates over coax SPDIF.

Given the XDA-1's limitations, I would look at the Schiit Audio BiFrost DAC instead.  For $449, it includes a good async USB input capable of up to 24/192k, and the reviews are rating it favorably against DACs in the $900 range!

http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=7

[MerlinWerks]

But my question is about the Soundblaster....... can it act as a re-clocker? It has USB input connection and COAX and SPDIF outputs, as well as the analog outputs. If I leave the Soundblaster connected to my laptop and use the COAX output to connect to the XDA-1 digital input, would this arrangement allow me to listen to the hi-res material? Actually, I know it will pass the hi-res material because that's how it was connected to a reciever before, but I guess what I'm asking is what is the drawback of using the Soundblaster as a re-clocker? Does it even re-clock or just pass the info? Does anyone know how, if any, the music can suffer by using this instead of a re-clocker?

I'd be reasonably certain that it just allows the higher bit rate output, no re-clocking involved. You can always start with the Creative SPDIF output and upgrade as you see fit. I would at least check out either the Musiland or M2Tech HIFACE USB > SPDIF interfaces, both are highly regarded. That being said I would definitley check out the BiFrost Dac mentioned, it does look impressive and not much more than the XDA + decent usb interface.

[jimmy neutron]

My Emotiva XDA-1 will arrive this Wednesday. I'm very eager to get it hooked up. I also ordered a V-Link II from Musical Fidelity. This is a USB to SPDIF re-clocker and will pass a full 24/192!   This will solve the hi-rez issue. I did a lot of reading on DAC's and re-clockers, and I settled on the Emotiva XDA-1 for a few reasons. First, after reading all the reviews it seems the concensus is that this DAC, although not the best by any means, is comparible to DAC's costing twice or more. This is good for obvious reasons. Second, the DAC just plain looks nice. It's built like a tank. And it also can serve as a digital preamp if the need ever arises. Third, Emotiva has a 30 day return policy. If it doesn't sound good I can return it - no questions asked. And fourth: the XDA-1 is on sale now for $249.00! That is just waaaaay too cheap to pass up. For that price and the price of the V-Link II I have full async USB up to 24/192, and a killer combination. Not the best, but certainly within my budget. I have high hopes that it will sound just fine. As for the Soundblaster, I was playing with it today a little more with my Pink Floyd Immersion SACD rip of Wish You Were Here. It's a full 24/192 FLAC rip and I was very surprised that the Soundblaster was able to pass it! I did not know it went that high, but apparently it can. I won't say that this external box is comparible to a "real DAC, but in all honesty it really isin't a bad sounding box. It can handle all the resolutions you can throw at it, it works with native or external ASIO drivers, it offers 5.1 analog outputs, as well as headphone, and digital coax and fiber outputs and inputs. And best of all it can be found relatively cheap. All this for a unit that is quite a few years old. I'm really excited about the difference the Emotive XDA-1 and V-Link II will make. I'll post an update wednesday night after it arrives and I play with it for a few hours. Lastly, I added an M&K MX-90 400 watt push-pull subwoofer to this 2 channel setup. The Carver's weren't lacking any bass before, but I do like really low bass to be felt, and the M&K sure does deliver on that order.

Jimmy

[Pjotr]

I would at least check out either the Musiland or M2Tech HIFACE USB > SPDIF interfaces, both are highly regarded.

Second that. I'm using the Musiland together with a cheap DAC kit from EBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/24bit-192KHz-DAC-DIY-KIT-FULL-ASSEMBLED-KIT-Lampucera-/160664689090?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25685c99c2

It's funny how good this sounds regarding total cost. I have compared this to several entry level semi studio gear (E-MU USB and Lexicon fire wire DAC's), Cambridge Dacmagic and Musical Fidelity M1 DAC. Wins hands down regarding accuracy and detail, sounds simply relaxed also on the long run.

[jimmy neutron]

Well, my Emotiva XDA-1 arrived today.  It's a very nice unit. It looks like a tank. I removed the Soundblaster that I've been using and replaced it with the XDA. The chain now runs like this: Panasonic laptop USB to Audioqest Cinnemon USB cable to XDA USB input, then Audioqeust XLR to McIntosh C-39 preamp inputs. I fired up my system and started up MC17. I selected some Diana Krall 16/44 FLAC rips and was pleasantly soothed by her voice. The sound was a big improvement. Detail, was there, voices were forward and warm, and the high end was nice. I then decided to play some Pink Floyd Wish you were here in 24/96 FLAC. ERROR! HARDWARE DOES NOT SUPPORT THIS BIT DEPTH. WTH?!? Tried another 24/96 file. Same thing. I even tried RUSH's Moving Pictures which is only 24/48 - NADA! I was sure this DAC could do 24/96 on USB, and I knew I'd need a USB to SPDIF reclocker for the higher bit rates. The unit came with no instruction manual to refer to! ANother WTH!?! So I went to the web site and looked again at the product specs. No mention that the unit does not do 24/96 on USB. In fact the only thing it says is that it supports all bit rates up to 24/192. Even the manual which I downloaded gives no indication of the exact rates each input supports. It seems that the USB will only support 16/44, while the coax and optical will handle up to 24/192. Now this really pissed me off. Every DAC on the market that's worth it's weight will at least do 24/96 on USB. I feel totally misleaded and tempted to return the unit. If it wasen't for me ordering an assync USB to SPDIF anyway I would return it. So, I had to put my Soundblaster external back in to be able to get my higher rez capability back. So now my system looks like this: Laptop USB to Soundblaster USB input then Soundblaster COAX output to XDA-1 COAX input. This way the Soundblaster is just passnig the signal with no "flavor" of it's own and is passing everything up to 24/192. Awesome! I can't be 100% positive that their is no loss or alteration with the Soundblaster in this manner. Can someone confirm this? But this XDA sure sounds good... . I will probably just keep it and get a V-Link MKII. I know that brings my total investment to the $500.00 mark where there are a lot of good DAC's that can handle up to 24/192, but oh well. Lesson learned. Still, it's a looker and a great sounding DAC. Here are a few pics of it:

Jimmy

[Audioseduction]

Very nice setup you have there Jimmy.   Are those ribbons in your speakers?