[randytsuch]

I've been looking for a USB to I2S solution to mate with my Buffalo DAC (work in progress).  I wanted it to be at least 24/96 capable, with the best combination of price to performance (the holy grail).

Yesterday, at diyaudio, I found this
http://www.exadevices.com/Home.aspx

A little expensive, and only windows right now, but good features, and is supposed to sound good.  There is a long thread at diyaudio on it
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/183374-exau2i-multi-channel-asynchronous-usb-i2s-interface.html
and the users all said it sounded very good.

It seems to be really desiged to mate with a buffalo/ES9018 type dac, although I think at least one person used it with the wolfson.

Also really a diy thing, its a board you need to mate with a dac.

I did a search for it here, was a little surprised that there was no talk of it yet.

Thoughts?

Randy

[JohnR]

This doesn't really belong in hi-res. But, how much is it?

[mgalusha]

$430CAD in their eStore.

http://www.exadevices.com/eStore/Store.aspx

Looks really cool. Mebbe a great match with a miniDSP.

[mgalusha]

Thanks Randy, you just cost me $$ but it was too tempting to resist.

[randytsuch]

Thanks Randy, you just cost me $$ but it was too tempting to resist.

Always happy to help you spend money Mike

I actually haven't pulled the trigger yet, I was ready to spend $200 for a hiface, but have not been able to spend $430 for this yet, but I will probably break down soon.

I think I am going to start by connecting my Buffalo Dac to my Duet receiver first, and play with that a little.  After, I will probably buy this guy, and try hi rez.

Oh, was shipping included in the $430?

Randy

[jmanalo]

[quote author=randytsuch link=topic=98657.msg991930#msg991930 Oh, was shipping included in the $430?

Remember that it is canadian dollar. Mine cost more than $490U.S total including shipping to U.S and I think I opted for their cheaper shipping.

Joe

[randytsuch]

[quote author=randytsuch link=topic=98657.msg991930#msg991930 Oh, was shipping included in the $430?

Remember that it is canadian dollar. Mine cost more than $490U.S total including shipping to U.S and I think I opted for their cheaper shipping.

Joe

Thanks for the info.

Do you like it?


Randy

[richidoo]

Thanks for the heads up Randy!!

The new Buffalo 3 allows multichannel input, so will the (D.3.4 and D.5.6) outputs of ExaU21 connect directly to the discreet inputs on Buffalo3 to make it an 8ch DAC?  That would be great.

I'd like to use it to make an active 3 way speaker without resorting to pro audio type multichannel soundcards.

[JDUBS]

Awesome, thanks for the link...mostly because it led me to this, though:

http://www.exadevices.com/Blog/tabid/253/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/20/categoryId/3/Using-Allocator-with-exaU2I-and-Foobar-2000.aspx

Which is SWEET!!!  Foobar using vst adapter and Allocator is really cool stuff. 

-Jim

[JDUBS]

I'd like to use it to make an active 3 way speaker without resorting to pro audio type multichannel soundcards.

There are lots of options for multi-channel (6+) DACs, not just soundcards (like the LynxTwo-B, I guess you mean).  The best, I think, is probably the Metric Halo.

-Jim

[richidoo]

There are lots of options for multi-channel (6+) DACs, not just soundcards (like the LynxTwo-B, I guess you mean).  The best, I think, is probably the Metric Halo.

Right, by sound card I just meant PC based A/D. I have a Presonus Firepod now, which is good, and Rane RPM26z, which is good, and modded DCX2496, which is good. But the Buffalo is awesome, but I was wondering how to get multichannel into it. So I hope this works out.  Thanks for pointing out the Allocator too, that looks good. I didn't know there was a decent VST host for foobar available now. Last time I looked for one there was nothing decent.

[ccclapp]

I do x/o and DRC and thus want multi-ch.  I am also preparing to build a m-ch Buffalo-III DAC, possibly using the exaU2I.

Do you know if the exaU2I does DSD.  If so, do you know if I can my native player, eg JRiver MediaCenter (or Foosbar) with its new DSD and 64bit FIR capability and simply select the exaU2I asio driver for my channel-mapped output; or do I need to use the exa very limited DSD player software?

Thanks in advance!

[HT cOz]

These guys have incorporated it into a number of their products. https://sites.google.com/site/ackodac/home  This thing looks awesome https://sites.google.com/site/ackodac/home/akd12p-options

Anyone got $2k 

[dwk]

I do x/o and DRC and thus want multi-ch.  I am also preparing to build a m-ch Buffalo-III DAC, possibly using the exaU2I.

Do you know if the exaU2I does DSD.  If so, do you know if I can my native player, eg JRiver MediaCenter (or Foosbar) with its new DSD and 64bit FIR capability and simply select the exaU2I asio driver for my channel-mapped output; or do I need to use the exa very limited DSD player software?

Thanks in advance!

If you're doing a DSP xover, why do you care about DSD?  Regardless of whether you're doing a FIR or IIR xover, you'll have to convert DSD to PCM to be able to do the filtering. So, it doesn't seem that the lack of DSD support should be a barrier for that application.

Now if you're trying to play 5.1 multichannel DSD content, then it would be a limitation. From what I've read on forums, the exa products do not currently support DSD, although they are being considered for a future revision. The commercial DAC product by exa - the e18 - is claimed to do 8 channels of 384kHz DXD, although it too lacks direct DSD support.

[JDUBS]

The exaU2I does DSD:

http://www.exadevices.com/Blog/tabid/253/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/35/ExaDevices-exaU2l-USB-I2S-interface-stable-next-generation-I2S-USB-digital-playback-and-DSD-playback-Watch-out-Mytek.aspx

and George at exaSound has said that the e18 has done DSD in a testing environment:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/exadevices/183374-exau2i-multi-channel-asynchronous-usb-i2s-interface-94.html#post2831336

I'm trying to get him to confirm if there will be a firmware upgrade to the e18 to allow DSD playback:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Anyone-heard-new-dac-exadevices#comment-136811

-Jim