How does the sound quality of Transient DAC compare to CIAUDIO VAC1 + VDA2 with good USB to SPDIF Converter?
Best sound quality through USB would be to use all three.
The Transient is a SOTA USB > S/PDIF converter with ultra-low jitter. Connect this to the computer and feed the coaxial output into the VDA-2/VAC-1 combo.
The Transient has the advantage of low jitter and I2S direct to the DAC circuit.
VDA-2 has a better DAC circuit and discrete analog stage.
In the end, they sound very close side by side.