[audioengr]

Steve,

I have an M-Audio Sonica, it's the predecessor to the Transit USB.  I am interested in getting a Monarchy DIP upsampler and having you do a similiar mod as you did for dave_c.  

Would it possible to do this but put a switch in so you could turn the upsampling on and off?  How much more complicated would this be?  The other alternative would be to just use a Monarchy DIP, with no upsampling, that would be easy right?  Thanks

Sean

The Monarchy DIP turned-out real good, however be aware that I also modded the Monarchy to improve its power supply, power delivery to the upsampler, output digital drive changes and installed a Superclock for Dave C.

I believe I can easily install a switch to select the sample rate.  I dont have a DIP, so I need to look at one again.

Steve N.

[audioengr]

Hantra,

That is what I think is a better way to get audio from your pc.  I have not done that yet tho.  I base my theory based on observations that my audio and video are better from my usb notebook drive than either my internal notebook drive and my usb ata drive.  The output device thus far is only my laptop.  The real test is after I get the laptop hooked up to an external dac via usb.

I guess I dont get this.  What is the difference in:
1) USB notebook drive
2) internal notebook drive
3) USB ATA drive

If the data is coming out of memory, who cares what drive it originated on?  Isn't this either stored in memory or cache buffered prior to outputting?

[dave_c]

I don't believe the upsampler is switchable unless you install something on the chip itself.  The jumper on the board only switches between 96khz or 48khz.  It always outputs 24bit.  I don't know if this is a limitation of the Crystal chip or the design of the DIP Upsampler.

[sunshinedawg]

The Monarchy DIP turned-out real good, however be aware that I also modded the Monarchy to improve its power supply, power delivery to the upsampler, output digital drive changes and installed a Superclock for Dave C.

Yes, I am aware that there were extensive mods.  I would want pretty much the same deal.

I believe I can easily install a switch to select the sample rate.  I dont have a DIP, so I need to look at one again.

Do you mean select the rate between 48 and 96 on the DIP upsampler chip?  I meant a switch that would bypass the upsampler section altogether and just output 44.1. That way I could switch between 44.1 and 96. As it is now, the Monarchy DIP upsampler will only output 48 and 96.  That's why if the bypass is not possible, I would just have you mod the basic Monarchy DIP model that doesn't have an upsampler in it, ie it would be the exact same thing as dave_c got (usb, power upgrade, super clock etc.), except it would output 44.1 only.

[witchdoctor]

Hantra,
Yes, I will be coming out USB to an external 300 gb USB hard drive and then back in USB to the dac. I will use wireless access points for both my HTPC and my dac via a network storagelink. If two wireless access points cause interuption then I will run a USB cable from the HTPC to the DAC. Here is more info on it:

Product Description
Now you can quickly and easily add gigabytes of storage space onto your network with the Network Storage Link from Linksys. This tiny network appliance connects USB 2.0 hard drives directly to your Ethernet network. You can connect up to two stand-alone USB disk drives of any size, and access them from anywhere on your network. You can even plug a USB flash disk into the Network Storage Link, for a convenient way of accessing your portable data files. The Network Storage Link can also be set up so that your storage devices are accessible from the Internet -- files can be easily downloaded via your web browser. Your files can be available publicly, or create password-protected accounts for authorized users.
Installation of the Network Storage Link is simple -- just plug it directly into your 10/100 Ethernet network, and attach your USB 2.0 hard drives or flash disk. It can self-configure to your network via DHCP or you can use the built-in utility to manually configure it. With the speedy USB 2.0 interface, you'll get quick response times with even your largest files.

The Network Storage Link features built-in disk utilities, accessible through your web browser. You can format new disk drives, and scan drives for errors. The built-in backup program lets you schedule full, incremental, or synchronization backups of your network drives to the Network Storage Link, or vice versa. It will even send you an email message when a hard drive gets nearly full, completely full, or has an error.

The Network Storage Link is a fast, simple, flexible and economical way to add storage to your network.

[audioengr]

Do you mean select the rate between 48 and 96 on the DIP upsampler chip?  I meant a switch that would bypass the upsampler section altogether and just output 44.1. That way I could switch between 44.1 and 96. As it is now, the Monarchy DIP upsampler will only output 48 and 96.  That's why if the bypass is not possible, I would just have you mod the basic Monarchy DIP model that doesn't have an upsampler in it, ie it would be the exact same thing as dave_c got (usb, power upgrade, super clock etc.), except it would output 44.1 only.

I can put a switch on it that will bypass the upsampler.  If the switch is activated, only the USB non-upsampled signal will come out the S/PDIF output.

[sunshinedawg]

I can put a switch on it that will bypass the upsampler.  If the switch is activated, only the USB non-upsampled signal will come out the S/PDIF output.

Would this non-sampled signal still go though the super clock/jitter reduction section befoe coming out the S/Pdif output?  Thanks for all your answers!

Sean

[Jay S]

Heads up: Monarchy now has a new version of the DIP, called the DIP Classic.  From what I can tell from the description, it only outputs a 16/44.1 signal (e.g. straight redbook cd) but it takes inputs up to 24/96.  Monarchy claims that this new Classic is their most effective at jitter reduction.  

I was thinking about the wireless route as well but my network does have occasional droputs... no big deal when you are downloading a webpage but digital audio where timing (jitter) is so important...

[audioengr]

I can put a switch on it that will bypass the upsampler.  If the switch is activated, only the USB non-upsampled signal will come out the S/PDIF output.

Would this non-sampled signal still go though the super clock/jitter reduction section befoe coming out the S/Pdif output?  Thanks for all your answers!

Sean

No, It would just be a pass-through.  The upsampler asynchronously reclocks the data at a higher rate, but the jitter may not be lower than the original bit-stream from the USB CODEC, even with a Superclock2.  I would have to try it to see.  It will also probably depend on your PC and how jitter-free its clock is.

[audioengr]

Heads up: Monarchy now has a new version of the DIP, called the DIP Classic.  From what I can tell from the description, it only outputs a 16/44.1 signal (e.g. straight redbook cd) but it takes inputs up to 24/96.  Monarchy claims that this new Classic is their most effective at jitter reduction.  

I was thinking about the wireless route as well but my network does have occasional droputs... no big deal when you are downloading a webpage but digital audio where timing (jitter) is so important...

The dropouts will not affect the jitter.  The music will just stop and restart.

[sunshinedawg]

Ok, so is the upsampler the component that put Dave's Monarchy over the top in your best guess?  If you did a similiar mod to a Monarchy Classic with no upsampler, do you think it would be even close or is this too much guess work? Could you even put a superclock in the classic?

[audioengr]

The upsampler is a good thing.  Same Crystal chip that is used in my reference P-3A DAC.  I know how to make this chip sound good.

From the sound of it, the classic also reclocks, but I could be wrong - depends on implementation.  I can do all of the same mods to the classic if it reclocks.

[viggen]

I guess I dont get this.  What is the difference in:
1) USB notebook drive
2) internal notebook drive
3) USB ATA drive

If the data is coming out of memory, who cares what drive it originated on?  Isn't this either stored in memory or cache buffered prior to outputting?

Steve, I wish I can answer.  Hope there is a mass storage expert out there that can.  What I stated were purely my observations.  I can give a ad hoc explanation by guessing usb buffered digital signal is probably superior than a non usb buffered one.  And, 2.5" drives are superior to 3.5" drives.  There can be many explaination for this.  Lower spindle speed reads data better?  Their drive is better designed?  There are other paramaters that I am surely not aware of.  My ata drive is a Western Digital inside the company's own plastic enclosure with external psu.  My Hitachi notebook drive is inside a no name magnesium enclosure using the usb port for power.