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[dfroula]

Argh!

I have a UCA202 USB DAC that officially supports 16-bit 2-channel audio at 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz. I wanted to see if I could get it accept AC3/DTS encoded audio and pass it through the optical output to my receiver.

I tried checking bitstreaming/spdif with various bit-perfect output options. Selecting ASIO and WASAPI give MC errors when playing back AC3 or DTS test files. Kernel Streaming results in noise from the receiver 75% of the time. 25% of the time the DAC optical passes through the encoded 5.1 audio at 48 kHz and my receiver decodes it perfectly. There seems to be no pattern to when it works and when it doesn't.

Any thoughts on how to make it work 100%? I suspect a driver issue. I have tried both the default Windows 7 driver and the Behringer ASIO driver.

[Zhillsguy]

That is a 2 channel DAC, designed by a pro audio company. Multi-channel surround sound is not in its making.

It is a great value item, I have two. I was sort of looking for a 5.1 USB DAC, but can't get a handle on which models are a good value. It seems the lower end stuff (<$100) is all about the same, with reviews being all over the place. Creative Labs doesn't publicize what chips they are using in which model.... and that can be somewhat irrelevant depending on design and implementation anyway.

[dfroula]

Yes, the unit is not designed for multi-channel, though I thought I may have been able to fool it into co-operating with my hack consistently. I've given up and just enjoying it for its intended purpose.

The unit works brilliantly for 2-channel operation. I use the optical output for WASAPI bit-perfect output to my amp/receiver. This bypasses the UCA-202 internal DAC and uses the DAC in the amp for 2-channel stereo PCM. It sounds wonderful.

I use the analog line-out into a CMOY-variant headphone amp I built. It sounds amazing piped to a set of Beyer DT880s. The JRiver WASAPI drivers are perfect with the UCA-202 and its driver, unlike Winamp and some other players. Event Mode (default) is a must to avoid stuttering when paused, though. ASIO and kernel streaming modes also work well.

Don