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192 from usb/spdif to NOS dac to amp

I have some flac files that I want to optimize the SQ on.
I have an Audio Note NOS DAC with USB and coax inputs.
I have a Mac MINI with USB out.

My thinking is that if I route the MAC USB to a USB/SPDIF converter that Audirvana will recognize as a 24/192 device that it will convert the flac to 24/192. Then the output of the flac from the converter will then output to the NOS DAC, through the coax (spdif) at a better resolution (sq). Then the dac will not over sample anything at all because it has all been accomplished by the usb/spdif converter.

On my dac, the USB is inferior to the coax input but I do not have any way of converting my flac to any higher resolution that 24/96.

I hope this is enough info.
128x128mattzack2
lewinskih01
793 posts
 
I have a Metrum Octave DAC, which is a NOS unit. While the Octaves are not guaranteed to work with 24/192 (I believe 1:100 do), I'm from the lucky few and it does work with 24/192.

I use an Audiophilleo that can work with 24/192 as well. So my 24/192 files are played natively at the server, sent to the Audiophilleo without up or down-converting, and fed into the Metrum. Works great.

so the key question is what Arh asked: can your Audio Note convert 24/192 digital input into an analog signal? If so, I believe you would be good to go.
mattzack2's avatar
mattzack2 OP
175 posts
 
Good question. I was under the impression that the USB input was the only thing that governed any limit to 24/96. If data was routed through the coax the 24/96 limit was not imposed.

And Steve, should I be more concerned about jitter than resolution?
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mesch
1,679 posts
 
I would think an USB/SPDIF converter would improve the sound coming from your DAC’s USB input regardless of sampling rate. Audirvana I believe is capable of doing the upsampling, and I understand that upsampling is best accomplished by the program rather than via a DAC chip (that may be debatable and may depend on chip). The limitation as to the level of upsampling to be deployed by Audirvana should be the limit of the DAC input.
mattzack2's avatar
mattzack2 OP
175 posts
 
That's what I think too, so if Audirvana sees the converter as being capable of 24/192, it will process at 24/192. At that point, the output of the converter sends data to the NOS Audio Note dac.
The dac cannot over sample anything and it has no way of telling that the data has already been up sampled before it arrived via the coax.
If this is correct, the finding the right converter would be next. I am thinking that this is where jitter would be something I need to understand a lot better,
Steve, is my thinking aimed in the right direction?
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
MattZ - absolutely, jitter is much more important to reduce than increasing the sample-rate, particularly when using a NOS DAC because there is typically no digital filtering.

Upsampling helps the most when the DAC is a Sigma-Delta and uses digital filtering. upsampling tries to mitigate the effects of poor digital filters.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
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