[jarcher]

Got a HiFace2 which I'm still breaking in, and demoing a Stello U2 96/24 USB link.  HiFace2 is more detailed but sometimes a bit too shrill - maybe needs more breaking in.  The Stello seems warmer and a bit meatier, which is more to my taste.

Any suggestions for good alternatives in the sub $200 range?  I paid $185 for the HiFace2, and the Stello is being offered to me at demo price of $200.

I'm using a Mac Mini & Bel Canto 1.5 dac.  I tried USB direct from Mac Mini to Bel Canto & preferred the HiFace2 & Stello in between.  Interconnects are Wireworld Starlight Coax & USB digital. I don't really need more than 96Khz / 24 bit honestly as there are few recordings that I want or are willing to pay for at higher resolution.

Thanks!

[roscoeiii]

The Musical Fidelity V-Link II would be worth looking at. non-24/192 version is around $130 at Music Direct.

[jarcher]

I've often considered that one.  Do you or anyone else think it's going to sound better than the two I'm trying?  Guess I could buy & return if necessary.

[Quiet Earth]

Actually,  the more expensive Musical Fidelity V Link 192 is on sale (clearance?) for half price, or $199 at the usual places. Maybe they are phasing it out. 

Anyway, that one is asynchronous, and it would be a better comparison against the U2 which is not asynchronous. If you get the MF let me know what you think of it. I have the U2 over here and I sort of gave up on it after about 6 months of serious use.

Perhaps the USB to SPDIF devices that don't have their own power supply don't sound as good as the ones that do.    again.

[srb]

Although it is 50% over your budget, the $299 Wyred 4 Sound uLINK available next month would be of interest to me particularly if the DAC I was using had a BNC input, but only the top of the line Bel Canto DAC3.5VB has a BNC input.  When you're trying to get everything just right, it seems like it would be nice to have a true 75 Ohm S/PDIF connection.
 
The uLINK is 24/192 asynchronous and can be USB or external 9VDC powered.
 
Steve

[Ern Dog]

Jarcher- What music software are you using in your set up?  Just asking because every part of the chain is crucial for best results.

[jarcher]

I have the U2 over here and I sort of gave up on it after about 6 months of serious use.

Perhaps the USB to SPDIF devices that don't have their own power supply don't sound as good as the ones that do.    again.

Why did you give up on it & what are you using instead?  How / why do you think an external power supply helps?

[jarcher]

Jarcher- What music software are you using in your set up?  Just asking because every part of the chain is crucial for best results.

I'm trying out pure music and audiovarna plus w/ itunes w/ same settings (memory play, etc).  I want to stay w/ itunes for the moment as library because of idevice remote among other reasons (even though other software as idevice remote as well).

I think I'll end up going w/ pure music because of technical problems I had w/ audiovarna plus (skipping etc).  The technical problems I think are not wholly AV+ fault : i.e. too much stuff including music on USB drive / low memory / etc.  BUT pure music was much better able to handle these limitations w/ out as serious performance problems.  Also being able to use one license on unlimited computers (on at a time) is also nice as I would use it on multiple computer.

[jarcher]

Although it is 50% over your budget, the $299 Wyred 4 Sound uLINK available next month would be of interest to me particularly if the DAC I was using had a BNC input, but only the top of the line Bel Canto DAC3.5VB has a BNC input.  When you're trying to get everything just right, it seems like it would be nice to have a true 75 Ohm S/PDIF connection.
 
The uLINK is 24/192 asynchronous and can be USB or external 9VDC powered.
 
Steve

I think I really want to stay at or below $200 even if I have to buy used.  Guess it's just a matter of principle that I've decided randomly that such a device shouldn't cost more than that & won't spend more.

The 192 is not as important to me now, but I had forgotten that the U2 is not asynchronous & where that is desirable as a spec, I'm wondering how important it becomes in practice.  I guess w/ the U2 it means that the mac mini is calling the clock vs the Bel Canto (?)

[Quiet Earth]

Why did you give up on it & what are you using instead?

Sorry for the confusion. I didn't give up on the U2 specifically, I gave up on my computer as a digital source altogether. I bought a really nice CD transport and it made my computer sound so bad that I decided to just take the computer out of the system altogether and spin CDs for now. I'm gonna give "discless" another try down the road, but I think I need to start from scratch and try a different approach. Maybe the 3rd time will be the charm. 

How / why do you think an external power supply helps?

I also have a MHDT Constantine USB / SPDIF DAC that I bought a while ago. When I compared the USB input of the U2 to the Constantine's direct USB input, the U2 doesn't sound nearly as good. I thought the reason might be because the U2 is getting it's power from the computer and the Constantine has its own power supply. I don't really know . . . 

[roscoeiii]

Sorry for the confusion. I didn't give up on the U2 specifically, I gave up on my computer as a digital source altogether. I bought a really nice CD transport and it made my computer sound so bad that I decided to just take the computer out of the system altogether and spin CDs for now. I'm gonna give "discless" another try down the road, but I think I need to start from scratch and try a different approach. Maybe the 3rd time will be the charm. 

What computer set-up did you use?

[Quiet Earth]

Apple I-mac, I-tunes, CDs ripped with error correction to AIFF, disabled all unnecessary functions on computer, Stello U2, various spdif cables

Oh and Wireworld Starlight USB cable.

[jarcher]

If you decide to give it another go, try using pure music / audiovarna / etc with the "memory play" option.  I found this was quite a decent bump up in sound quality at very little investment.  PM is $129 for multiple machines, AV+ I think around $59.  They have trial versions, so you can experiment w/ no cash out.

[Quiet Earth]

Thanks man!

Yeah, I know that one of the things I need to do next time around is to choose a different software player besides iTunes. The one you mentioned is highly regarded so its on the list.

 

[jarcher]

Nice thing about Pure Music, Audiovarna - and Decibel - is that they work piggybacked on Itunes. So no migration of your library, no giving up i-device remote, etc.  Audiovarna is even more invisible - but PM worked better when machine is being taxed doing other stuff, in my limited experience.

Still don't know what to do about the usb-spif converter thing - there must be other good options other than the HiFace2, Stello U2, and MF Vlink at or under $200 new or used.  Maybe just buy the MF Vlink, and make a decision between these three, and call it quits.