Last night I extensively compared the SB Touch EDO via coax, toslink and usb into an Emotiva XDA-1 DAC. I listened to 16/44, 24/88, 24/96, and 24/192 files and to my ear, USB sounds better than coax and toslink with everything I played. This is the best audio I've heard from the SB Touch.
The USB connection played every sample rate I threw at it up to 192khz even though the XDA-1’s USB input is spec’d to 24/48. 96khz and 192khz files sound better through the 24/48 USB input than the 24/192 coax input. Now the few 24/192 files I have are ripped from Steely Dan and REM DVD-A's, so I doubt the source material takes advantage of the higher sampling rate. It's the 24 bit resolution I'm concerned about preserving.
Here’s my question. Is the SB Touch sensing the 48khz limitation of the USB input and downsampling files via SOX? Maybe something else going on between the SB Touch USB output and the DAC’s USB input? I ask for curiosity’s sake because even if the USB connection is reducing or truncating higher sampling rate files, I’m sticking with USB.
Russ