[SACD-MAN]

YEP getting there...

[cryoparts]

*Scotty*--I talked with the engineer and he is willing to divulge this about the design:

"BTW, for the guy in this thread that asked about transformer coupling: yes,
the gen III is transformer-coupled, with the best shielded tranny I could
find. It is driven directly by an extremely high-spec, current feedback
opamp with its own dedicated ultra low-noise supply that powers nothing
else."

Peace,

Lee

It's not clear whether or not the Diverter is an asynchronous or isosynchronous USB connection. It is also not clear if the SPDIF output is transformer coupled or not. Both of these questions need to be answered  in order to make an informed buying decision.
Scotty

Circuit design, PCB layout and skill of the designer/engineer are the most important things to consider in a design like this.  Some will get it, some won't, and that's cool.

Lee

[whubbard]

I think your insinuation that the designer/engineer is dishonest in your post is mean spirited and out of place in an "industry ads" thread.  Especially coming from a moderator of a different forum.

FWIW, the designer has been a friend of mine for a very long time and is a the expert in the field of high speed digital design, I had to convince him to even take on a small project like this.  His priorities are design for the medical and military industries, not designing relatively inexpensive products like this.  FWIW, there is a six layer PCB inside the unit with multiple ground planes, you probably have never seen a PCB like this, unless of course you work in a company that does high end/high speed digital design.

I'm sorry Lee I didn't mean to offend. I just felt that he could have said he made the case look nice for monetary reasons (it must have been one reason!). I find it hard to believe that the PCB wound up looking like a four leaf clover. But if it did, I'm quite sorry. You have actually made me quite intrigued by this PCB, do you have a photo? Maybe you should blur it a bit for IP reasons?

Also Lee, would you mind commenting on why you would use this instead of just using the S/PDIF from a computer?

Again, sorry to offend.

-West

[cryoparts]

No, sorry, there will be no photos of the PCB forthcoming.

I find that the use of the Diverter to convert USB to S/PDIF out, instead of going S/PDIF directly out of the computer sounds better on my preferred music playback computers that are outfitted with Amarra (Mac's) and Media Monkey, or Foobar (on PC's).   I hear it, so do many others (we are currently back ordered), so it is what it is.  Buy it, or not.  I'm OK with either option.

I have no desire to get into a flame war about what sounds better than what and why, I don't have the emotional energy to debate online, especially here at AC, which I consider my "home" forum.

Lee

I think your insinuation that the designer/engineer is dishonest in your post is mean spirited and out of place in an "industry ads" thread.  Especially coming from a moderator of a different forum.

FWIW, the designer has been a friend of mine for a very long time and is a the expert in the field of high speed digital design, I had to convince him to even take on a small project like this.  His priorities are design for the medical and military industries, not designing relatively inexpensive products like this.  FWIW, there is a six layer PCB inside the unit with multiple ground planes, you probably have never seen a PCB like this, unless of course you work in a company that does high end/high speed digital design.

I'm sorry Lee I didn't mean to offend. I just felt that he could have said he made the case look nice for monetary reasons (it must have been one reason!). I find it hard to believe that the PCB wound up looking like a four leaf clover. But if it did, I'm quite sorry. You have actually made me quite intrigued by this PCB, do you have a photo? Maybe you should blur it a bit for IP reasons?

Also Lee, would you mind commenting on why you would use this instead of just using the S/PDIF from a computer?

Again, sorry to offend.

-West

[jhm731]

Lee-

Good luck with this new product in a very crowded, confusing and emotional field.

Aloha,

Dan

[JackD201]

Lee,

Sorry for the dumb question but I have to ask. Does this nifty package output 16/44.1 and 24/96 or does it also pass through everything in between? I've been looking for a USB/SPDIF converter for use with Protools LE running native off of a MacBook Pro.

By the way it looks great.

Thanks in advance.

Jack

[santacore]

Jack,

The Diverter will pass audio at any rate up to 24/96, so you should be covered.

Here is a link to the info page:
http://www.cryo-parts.com/sonicweld_diverter.html


You might have an issue using it with Pro Tools though. All the LE systems use some form of hardware interface that not only acts as an interface, but also a dongle. Therefore you have to have the Digi hardware hooked up whenever running PT. You might be able to bypass the Digi output and use the Diverter instead, as long as the Digi hardware is still connected. It's an interesting idea that I've never explored.

[cryoparts]

It will output anything from 16/44.1 to 24/96, depending on what you feed it.  I use it all the time with my ripped CD's at 44.1.

Not sure about the potential conflict with Pro Tools as John mentioned.

Peace,

Lee

Lee,

Sorry for the dumb question but I have to ask. Does this nifty package output 16/44.1 and 24/96 or does it also pass through everything in between? I've been looking for a USB/SPDIF converter for use with Protools LE running native off of a MacBook Pro.

By the way it looks great.

Thanks in advance.

Jack

[JackD201]

Santacore,

Darn! I didn't think of that! If you can bypass, I'd appreciate it very much if you could shoot me a PM. I'll also check if the M-Box outputs 24/96. If it doesn't I guess I'll have to use balanced out. Thanks for the reply though.

Lee,

Thanks for the heads up. I'm still feeling my way around how to home-brew a music server. When I get things figured out, I may still need the usb to BNC. I have ML 360s DAC that I thought was obsolete given that DVD-A died a long time ago. With 24/48 and 24/96 downloads now available. I just might be able to put it back to use.

Thanks for the patience!

Jack

[santacore]

Your M-Box will not pass 24/96, I believe it's limited to 24/48 due to it's usb architecture, sorry.

[cryoparts]

[ You have actually made me quite intrigued by this PCB, do you have a photo? Maybe you should blur it a bit for IP reasons?

West, although we are not willing to supply a pic of the Diverter board for IP reasons, the engineer has cleared me to release the below photo of one of his six layer boards that are in the Sonicweld Pulserod loudspeakers.

Here are his comments:

..."it might be cool to show them an example of a PCB I designed for the Pulserod
in which the routing and mechanical design was constrained almost
entirely by functional optimization concerns, rather than what it had to
"fit" into. You can see the board has a very odd shape, but it was the best
possible shape for the functions the board had to perform. Again, this is
the opposite of what generally happens.

...which the designer had either the latitude or
resourcesto design a really weird PCB like this. FYI, this is a
six-layer design. From your own personal experience listening to the
Pulserods, you can attest to how well it works.

My PCB house has commented many times on my oddly-shaped boards - you should
hear what names we've evolved for them for convenience. This one is called
the "turkey gobbler" board. "



Peace,

Lee

[cryoparts]

Hello Everyone,

I thought I would revive this old thread and give an update on the Diverter, which, while still back-ordered, is now more readily available.  We are also offering some cool color combination's, in addition to the sexy bare aluminum:

http://cryo-parts.com/sonicweld_diverter.html







The designer of the Diverter has also made some posts over at Head-Fi, if anyone is desirous of learning more about his design philosophy and a few other tidbits, please let me know and I will copy the posts over here (or have him post them here).

Peace,

Lee