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[Samson]

Hi
I have read a number of times about the implied benefit of playing back high rez files by adding a usb to spdif converter. I may have misunderstood this but for example it seems to imply a work-around if you have say an old dac incapable of high rez conversion. I would guess that in some cases this might be true if say the DAC only receives low rez via its usb input but a higher capability via its spdif input.

Either way wouldn't it be true that the DAC needs to have high rez capability in order to lock to a high rez spdif clock input ?

Secondly, if the high rez spdif converter merely down-samples the high rez single to match the low rez DAC, would this be equally well served if done in MC (without the need for the spdif converter) ?

Thanks
David

[Trumpetguy]

You can.  You would use the usb-spdif converter if you have an external dac with no usb interface. Also, like the Stello U3, the usb converter reclocks the signal.

[Trumpetguy]

The converter does nothing to the signal, e.g. it does not down- or upsample anything. It is merely a digital interface.

[pcstockton]

yes of course!!!!!  Get a Musical Fidelity V-Link 192 if you can.

[Trumpetguy]

Or the Stello U3, see www.aprilmusic.com. Superb! On Windows, you will need to install a USB 2.0 driver to be able to transport anything higher than 96/24. Straight forward and included in the package.

[Samson]

? sorry guys, not sure what the yes answer is addressing (my fault for asking two part question)

So, I have an external 24@96 dac with no usb input. MC will play 24@192 source material and I could send that digital signal to a usb>spdif converter that handles 24@192. The question is will my DAC recognize the incoming spif signal and do the DA conversion?

[6233638]

If it's a 24/96 DAC, that's the maximum it will support.
A 24/192 capable USB>S/PDIF converter will output a 24/192 signal, but your DAC won't recognize it.
 
If, however, you had a 24/192 DAC, but your PC would only output 24/96 via S/PDIF, then adding a 24/192 USB>S/PDIF converter would work.

[Trumpetguy]

If it's a 24/96 DAC, that's the maximum it will support.
A 24/192 capable USB>S/PDIF converter will output a 24/192 signal, but your DAC won't recognize it.
 

A bit OT, but many 24/96 dacs will play 24/192 audio. But at half speed and pitch. Funny to listen to for one and a half minute, not more.

[Samson]

If it's a 24/96 DAC, that's the maximum it will support.
A 24/192 capable USB>S/PDIF converter will output a 24/192 signal, but your DAC won't recognize it.

Yes, thanks this is what I expected. Some articles I read were badly worded and seem to imply ( or I inferred) that an spdif converter that reclocked the signal somehow replaced the DAC's own need for clocking by PLL or other means. That would have been a neat trick!
Thanks

Re which SPDIF converter to choose, an interesting thread here
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/15-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-spdif-converters-shootout-15327/index4.html

unfortunately it didnt include the SOtM  dX-USB HD with sCLK2224 super clock cost $950 with the mBPS-d2s power costs $400.

Thanks to all

[Trumpetguy]

Yes, thanks this is what I expected. Some articles I read were badly worded and seem to imply ( or I inferred) that an spdif converter that reclocked the signal somehow replaced the DAC's own need for clocking by PLL or other means. That would have been a neat trick!
Thanks

That is sometimes correct. But note that reclocking is something entirely different than resampling. Some USB links (another word for USB>S/PDIF converter) reclocks the signal to lower jitter. This is a good thing for DACs that are sensitive to jitter, but has no significance for jitter "immune" DACs (like the Benchmark DAC1).