I got the USB DAC per everyone's sugguestion BUT..


Oh well, I got the V-Dac..., but am returning it. There's a limitation on most of these DACs out there that they will only take a max of 16bit 48khz sample rate through USB. It is definitely the case for this V-DAC. I also called Emotiva and they said the USB will limit the bit depth no matter what brand I use because most high-end DACs don't have a 3rd party driver. I tried to stream a Vinyl rip at 24bit 192hkz with the V-DAC and it wouldn't play no matter what. I also tried without the USB Cable, using "pass through" from on board sound to the DAC through a coaxial cable. but was unable to get any sound. Any of you ever gotten a DAC to operate at 24/192 under Windows 7?

Thanks.
angelgz2
"So the question is whether the USB cable will transmit the 24/192 signal to the DAC?"

Yes it will, however it will be resampled by your DAC.

I highly recommend using JRiver Media Center and Kernel Streaming or WASAPI. Otherwise, you are hearing Core Audio nasties. Rip with dbpoweramp with Accurate-Rip enabled. foobar is pretty good with KS, but not as good as JMC.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Thanks Audioengr, for the confirmation and recommendation. I had started out using EAC to rip .WAV files into my network server. Later on, I used MS Media Player w/ error correction option turned on. I had a Cowon i5 portable player, and I could tell the difference between .WAV and FLAC files. I may try the comparison again with the new DACs.

FrankC
Dtc....is that true about the MF M1 DAC USB input accepting 24/192? It's a great unit but last I checked it's USB was limited to 16/44, coaxial and S/PDIF up to 24/192. Someone jump in if I'm wrong since I just passed up a good deal on one!
USB is not limited. There are a lot of DACs available with async USB supporting up to 24/192. These have been around for years actually.

My advice is: be careful about buying based on specs or chip complement. There are a lot of 24/192 Async USB interfaces that are poor performers IMO. Look to the manufacturer with a long track record with USB and many generations. Read the reviews, particularly customer reviews.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio