DACs that have digital output and pre amp-DSD or not

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JGlacken

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I have a Zodiac Gold and one of the features I like and need from it is a digital output that I run via aes/ebu to other dacs around my home.  Other than the Zodiac Platinum and perhaps the Benchmark Dac2 HGC, what other dacs may have this capability?  Before the Gold, I used an Empirical Offramp to convert usb to spdif and used the aes output of the offramp the same way.

Jeff

bdiament

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Re: DACs that have digital output and pre amp-DSD or not
« Reply #1 on: 17 Nov 2013, 08:20 pm »
Hi Jeff,


Have you looked at Metric Halo's LIO-8?


It offers 8 channels of AES in and out.  I have said elsewhere that this (along with its sister ULN-8, which is essentially the same thing with mic preamps) is the most transparent converter in my experience.  (A good thing if that is what one seeks.)


There *is* a bit of a learning curve and the interconnects must be custom made if you want to use the highest quality cables but this is no ordinary set of converters.  The list of what this box and its associated software can do is too long for this post.  I'll just say I've had mine for several years and I'm still awe-struck at what it can do and I still haven't heard anything I'd consider a challenger, regardless of price.


All this to say, please don't take my word for any of this.  If it sounds interesting though, do check it out for yourself.  If what you seek is anything like what I seek, be prepared to do a lot of smiling.


Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com


JGlacken

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Re: DACs that have digital output and pre amp-DSD or not
« Reply #2 on: 18 Nov 2013, 04:09 pm »
Thanks Barry,

Yikes, I have been looking at it for the last several hours.  I am not against learning something new, but...  Some questions:

How do you get usb into it?  USB/ SPDIF converter?
I now go direct to my amps and they only take rca spdif not aes.  ???
Does the Lio have pre amp built in?  Remote volume control?
Custom cables?  I guess I need them due to connector config on rear of Lio???

Thank, but help!

Jeff

JGlacken

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Re: DACs that have digital output and pre amp-DSD or not
« Reply #3 on: 18 Nov 2013, 04:23 pm »
oops, looks like it has firewire input, may be better than usb?

Jeff

bdiament

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Re: DACs that have digital output and pre amp-DSD or not
« Reply #4 on: 18 Nov 2013, 05:11 pm »
Hi Jeff,

Thanks Barry,

Yikes, I have been looking at it for the last several hours.  I am not against learning something new, but...  Some questions:

How do you get usb into it?  USB/ SPDIF converter?

In all sincerity, why would you want to?
I am not aware of anyone who set out to design the highest quality converters they possibly could, who deliberately chose USB over other means of moving digital audio signals.  In my opinion, USB DACs are an opportunity for commerce (most computers have USB ports), not for the best sound possible. 

Recall that USB was designed to connect a keyboard or mouse, where Firewire was designed from the start to handle multiple channels of audio and video. 

***
EDIT:  In reading this again, I realize I made the assumption your computer has a working Firewire (or Thunderbolt) port.  It occurs to me you might be on a PC instead of a Mac, in which case there may be no option for anything other than USB.  (Doesn't change how I feel about USB for audio - just realizing the options you have at the time may be different.  Here as always, it depends on what you seek.)

Then again, I should mention that Metric Halo's products are designed for use with Macs.  There are no Windows drivers.  The hardware *can* be used standalone but I'm not aware of any MH user that isn't on a Mac, taking full advantage of what the hardware and software can do.
Should have mentioned this in my initial post.  Sorry for the oversight.
***

Quote from: JGlacken
I now go direct to my amps and they only take rca spdif not aes.  ???

See http://www.markertek.com/Audio-Equipment/Audio-Interface/Impedance-Matching-Transformer/Neutrik-USA-Inc/NADITBNC-F.xhtml

You would need to add one of their BNC to RCA adapters.  (I have a similar setup to go from the S/PDIF output of my DVD player into one of the AES inputs on the ULN-8.

Quote from: JGlacken
Does the Lio have pre amp built in?  Remote volume control?

You can use it with Apple's remote and yes, it has a digitally controlled *analog* volume control.  It can even do quite superb RIAA decoding if you want to feed it the output of a phono cartridge.

Quote from: JGlacken
Custom cables?  I guess I need them due to connector config on rear of Lio???...

Some folks go to a company like Redco to make their cables.  I wanted to use my own cables (from Nordost) so I custom made my own adapters, a couple of which can be seen at these links:
http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com/zadapter1.jpg
http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com/zadapter2.jpg

Metric Halo support is top notch too and they have their own forum where you can ask questions -- often getting answers directly from the designer himself.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com
« Last Edit: 18 Nov 2013, 07:14 pm by bdiament »

bdiament

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Re: DACs that have digital output and pre amp-DSD or not
« Reply #5 on: 18 Nov 2013, 05:16 pm »
Hi Jeff,

oops, looks like it has firewire input, may be better than usb?

Jeff

As with everything, especially audio, what is "good" depends very much upon exactly what one seeks.
In my personal opinion, saying Firewire may be better than USB is like saying an F-15 may fly a little better than a Geo with a missing spark plug.
;-}

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com