MaxD said:
unsleepable said:
MaxD said:
In my experience there is no difference between Toslink and Usb in modern de jittered Dacs like the one in Ra-12.
Where did you find that the RA-12 de-jitters the audio?
I found this info on the net on a concurrent forum site. Look with Google you will probably found it too. A poster said this is common to all new generation integrated pre, integrated and just DAC, he referred to Rotel RA-12, Marantz PM-6005 and NAD D 3020. As an owner of the NAD, I can say there is no difference in quality playing my audio files from USB or from optical or even coaxial (NAD has all and so my desktop motherboard Asus P8Z77-deluxe), I can't perceive any subtle differences in sound and - on the integrated DAC - just the optical input can handle 24 bit/192 Kb files. USB can't.
Just goes to prove that much of what you read on the internet is bullsh!t.
As pointed out above, most dacs do not reclock the incoming data, they use various techniques to minimise jitter but reclocking is not normally one of them. There are exceptions but they tend to be expensive.
There also appears to be some confusion over usb transmission and usb inputs. Most amplifiers have a usb input that 'hosts' devices such as a hard drive, usb stick or iPod, this is common and fundamentally different from the usb input required to handle the audio out from a computer via USB.
The usb input on the Ra12 is a 'host', connects to drives, iPods etc, plug in such a device with music recorded in a supported format, mp3, wav etc and it will play.
The usb input on the D3020 is a fully asyncronous 'Type B' connector designed to take the output from a computer. It is a modern design and will handle up to 24/96 format.
Using a computer as a source there may well be differences in the performance using the different methods of connection, asyncronous usb is technically superior but may or may not be audibly better, very system dependent.