ralphpnj;639634 Wrote: > Thanks for putting this almost back on topic. I understand why there is > a rush to make good sounding USB DACs but what I don't understand is > why would one use USB instead of SPDIF when both are available? Because USB done right is asynchronous and the clock is at the DAC, whereas SPDIF is synchronous with the clock at the transport.
Of course, there are always exceptions. USB done wrong is also synchronous, sometimes with a very poor clock indeed. SPDIF can have the clock at the DAC if the DAC has word clock out and the transport has word clock in, but that's fairly rare. Mind you, having the clock at the DAC, while being theortically better, doesn't necessarily guarantee good audible performance. Linn demonstrated that with their first Karik/Numerik combo. -- cliveb Transporter -> ATC SCM100A ------------------------------------------------------------------------ cliveb's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=348 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=88540 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
