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[indieke]

I have a quiet good external audio dac. Now I have a small problem with it. When I use my old Oppo 93, use cinch out, connect it to my Gustard Dac, the sound is great.  But when I use a computer, output it with the Usb and drivers for my Dac, I got not exactly the same sound. It is similar, but the Bass fundement is better with the coac input. It has more punch, more stomach feeling. The Usb input is a bit lighter, let you miss that live feeling, and is a bit like playing good MP3 instead of Flac.

I found that weird. Selecting the right driver in JRiver, let you bypass the window mixer, as it is the same information coming in the Dac, how is this possible. The settings are ok to output Asio. Could it be that JRiver decodes it first and then transfer it to the Dac.

Now I read in some tests of USB dac, it was noticed that the how good some USb dac sounded, there was always a bit of thrill missing in the Bass.
I find this annoying, as if the bass is less present, it sounds a bit more digital, then the Coax input.

Your opinion on this. I want to use the computer so I can pilot my library with my smartphone thru Gizmo. The Oppo 93 is a disaster for that, as is Zappitti, I use for movies. I would like as well the same original sound as the convenience.

[AndyU]

Isn’t this a question you should be asking the people who make your DAC?

Have you checked the Audio Path in MC that there is no transcoding, DSP or down sampling happening? The “tools” icon should light up blue if no processing is happening.

It might also be you have some kind of ground loop which is upsetting your DAC. Trying disconnecting your laptop from power by removing the power cable and running it from batteries.

[indieke]

Isn’t this a question you should be asking the people who make your DAC?

Have you checked the Audio Path in MC that there is no transcoding, DSP or down sampling happening? The “tools” icon should light up blue if no processing is happening.

It might also be you have some kind of ground loop which is upsetting your DAC. Trying disconnecting your laptop from power by removing the power cable and running it from batteries.

No there is no down sampling.  Yes, it could be the USB input of the dac, but lets say the manufacterer would claim that is impossible. Just wondering, if somebody else had noticed that, and what could be the reason

[dtc]

There are devices available that clean up the usb signal. In some cases they can improve the sound. There effectiveness  depend  on both the usb output device on the PC and the usb input circuit on the DAC.  You might look at  UpTone Audio USB REGEN or the ifi Purifier or other such devices.

You may also want to look into a sound card with a coax output. That would allow a better comparison with the Oppo.

[RD James]

I have a quiet good external audio dac. Now I have a small problem with it. When I use my old Oppo 93, use cinch out, connect it to my Gustard Dac, the sound is great.  But when I use a computer, output it with the Usb and drivers for my Dac, I got not exactly the same sound. It is similar, but the Bass fundement is better with the coac input. It has more punch, more stomach feeling. The Usb input is a bit lighter, let you miss that live feeling, and is a bit like playing good MP3 instead of Flac.

The output from the PC is probably quieter. What you describe is what I would expect from a comparison test where one device was louder than the other rather than level-matched.

There are devices available that clean up the usb signal. In some cases they can improve the sound. There effectiveness  depend  on both the usb output device on the PC and the usb input circuit on the DAC.  You might look at  UpTone Audio USB REGEN or the ifi Purifier or other such devices.

The only thing I would expect these devices to fix - if anything at all - is a ground loop which can result in unwanted noise.
It's not going to "improve the sound" in other ways, and is more likely to make things worse.
 
Stereophile on the Regen:

I found that the Regen made absolutely no difference in the D/A processors' analog output signals. With one exception: the levels of the power-supply–related spuriae in the Prime's output when powered by its wall wart were slightly higher in level with the Regen than without it.

[Manfred]

I have a Devialet D220 Pro. The sound quality is better if I connect the D220 Pro to  my Sotm-txUSB card powered by an external ifi iPower PSU, instead of using one of the motherboard outputs. The difference is quite huge. I have also tested Asus SFX II which has an 24/192 kbit SPDIF output. My Ranking currently in my environment is:
1. USB with Sotm-txUSB card with ifi iPower external PSU
2. Devialet AIR
3. Asus SFX II
4. USB using USB 2.0 output on the mainboard

The difference between 1. -3. is not so huge, the difference between 1.-3. to 4. is huge , 4. sounds much more technical.

[dtc]

...

The only thing I would expect these devices to fix - if anything at all - is a ground loop which can result in unwanted noise.
It's not going to "improve the sound" in other ways, and is more likely to make things worse.
 
...

In some cases people report no improvement using these usb regenerators, in some cases people find significant improvements, and others report everything in between. It really depends on the PC, DAC and other equipment involved. 

As to the Stereophile quote, I refer you to the first part of the review you reference. The listening tests of Michael Lavorgna and  Kalman Rubinson report improvement using an Uptone Audio USB Regen.  Referencing and quoting just the measurement section does not do justice to the full analysis.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/uptone-audio-usb-regen

As I said originally," in some cases they can  improve the sound".  They are worth considering.

[RD James]

In some cases people report no improvement using these usb regenerators, in some cases people find significant improvements, and others report everything in between. It really depends on the PC, DAC and other equipment involved. 

As to the Stereophile quote, I refer you to the first part of the review you reference. The listening tests of Michael Lavorgna and  Kalman Rubinson report improvement using an Uptone Audio USB Regen.  Referencing and quoting just the measurement section does not do justice to the full analysis.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/uptone-audio-usb-regen

As I said originally," in some cases they can  improve the sound".  They are worth considering.

Stereophile is a weird publication where the measurements that John Atkinson (and others?) provide look at the hardware in an objective manner, while the listening tests are full of audiophile nonsense that is of little if any value in my opinion, no matter what kind of hardware you're looking at.
That's why I only quoted the measurement section.
 
It's true that poorly designed DACs where the USB input is not handled correctly may show a difference with the Regen:

 
But a properly designed / functioning DAC should show no difference whatsoever.
An even cheaper - but properly designed - DAC does not benefit from it at all:

 
You're better off replacing the DAC if it needs something like the Regen for adequate performance.

[dtc]

Thank you for proving my point. Some systems benefit from a regenerator, some do not. i leave it to the individual to decide if they want to use such a device or replace their DAC.

Time to end this discussion of regenerators. If the OP is interested he can do his own research.

[RD James]

Thank you for proving my point. Some systems benefit from a regenerator, some do not. i leave it to the individual to decide if they want to use such a device or replace their DAC.

If your device is worse than an $80 Behringer DAC, replace it rather than spending $175 to fix its USB input.

[michael123]

Isn’t this a question you should be asking the people who make your DAC?

+1

[indieke]

+1

Communication is a bit difficult, it is a Chinese firm that got highly praised for their dacs. It is not a question of output, the dac's output  can be changed.

I have heard a few dacs. This one has a very good placement and separation. It is very detailed, there are really things in the mix, I not heard on any device. I would call it almost perfect, except some people would like a slightly warmer sound.

https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/gustard-dac-x20-pro-super-ultimate-2-x-es9028-xmos-hifi-dac-384khz-dsd-dop-decoder.html
Again, with Oppo putting out, it is very, very well balanced. It is not an over warm sound though, but bass is deeper, giving also more floor noise.

It is possible, even if the Dac is impressive, that their USb input is the weak spot. But I have used other Dac's, even cheap one's like the little M 2 tech, and always, the bass is less present, so not so sure, the Dac is the problem.  I also installed JRiver on two computers. Here, I don't hear any difference in sound.