Buffalo 2 dac and xmos usb converter

This is picture of Twisted pear B2 and xmos usb to i2s converter

I bought the xmos chip usb to i2s converter from this thread

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/188902-xmos-based-asynchronous-usb-i2s-interface.html

I diyed 2 dc regulated 5 V power supplies for the xmos board.

Well the sound is a big step forward from the china made usb i2s converter that cost about 1/2 the price of the xmos board.

There is abundant detail with refined sound and very good image placement . No digital harshness and seems to work well silver cables !

The xmos board is very flexible with spdif outputs also.

Window Os require a driver provided by the seller of the board.

This board is highly recommended for people with Buffalo boards and who want to venture into pc audio.


cheers

kp93300

Hi,
Thanks for sharing. Is this the WaveIO? How is it compare to your US01?

-kww

Hi wong
Sorry i miss your post.
Yes, this is the wave io.
It works well with Buffalo 2 and the discrete monica from diyparadise also.
It is way ahead of the qls 550 sd card player. What is US01?
I use Linux and no drivers needed.
I do not have much success with W7 even though there is a driver for it. Frequent dropouts with hi res fles.
Sound excellent.

regards

kp93300

Hi kp,
My typo error, I am referring to Musiland 01US. I remember you post somewhere you got 1.
I am still using hiface, maybe one of these day need to pay you a visit to audit the Wave IO. Saw a lot of good comment on it, I may consider it.
By the way you are using I2S or coax? Using u.fl cable?
Thanks.

-kww

Hi kww,
i am using i2s out and some thin magnet wires.
Bought the uFL cable and have not tried it yet.
I use a usb converter MIC with tenor chip for a short while. Sound very good for the price !

regards

kp93300

Hi kp,
Is using Linux is a must for good sound?

I donot know whether Linux is the better Os but i certainly get better sound with linux.
I have tries quite a few versions of Linux such as Puppy linux, pclinux os , Lubuntu , puredyne , Zenwalk and so far i have the best results with Linux mint 10 .
The sound is really the best in my set up.
I will be trying the latest linux mint 13 soon.
Steep learning experience and some of the distro i am unable to get it to work at all.

Dr Wong,



Just curious, why you don't use Twist Pear S/PDIF Transceiver to the Xmos? thanks for sharing.

S/PDIF is an inferior digital interface compared to I2S

Just my 2 cents worth.

I want the i2s output from xmos chip and do 192/24 bit files .
If not mistaken, , spdif is limited to 96/24 bit only.

BTW, this is the latest version. Xmos is linked to discrete monica .

I listen to both set up and easy to change . i have no preference.

https://2img.net/r/ihimg/photo/my-images/842/20120720221643.jpg/

thanks for watching
kp93300

Ops sorry, I was refering to Twisted Pear USB DAC/Receiver then the Xmos. Yah, Dr Wong, what do you think of the Twisted Pear? Does it support hi-res as well?

Hi roger15 ohm,
The B2 also support hi res and is also very very good.
Contrary to common belief, the xmos and a well set up pc has a very analogue type of sound even with hi res files.
This applies to both B2 or discrete monica. There is more similarity than differences between the 2 dac.

Get one and play with it !

cheers
kp93300

Does that mean as long as the xmos support hi res, even the discrete monica can works well along too? How about the COD from twist pear?

xmos is just a chip that converts the data in the usb cable into a format that the dac can recognised. In the wave io board that is based on the xmos chip, It output spdif or i2s signal from usb input.
The xmos chip is capable of 24bit/ 192khz resolution.
The discrete monica in my set is only configure for 20 bit resolution. I think yeo from diy paradise, can configure it for 24 bit resolution.
I have no experience with the COd .
thanks

kp93300

kp93300 wrote:I want the i2s output from xmos chip and do 192/24 bit files .
If not mistaken, , spdif is limited to 96/24 bit only.

kp93300

Spdif. Is limited 24/192. The best receiver spdif chip will still introduce a minimum of 50ps of jitter. But some die hard thinks Spdif is the best. I2s can even go dsd streaming upto 32/384k. Means can play sacd format and other highres. However wave io is yet to prove its support for dsd but for asynchronous mode, galvanic isolation and competitive pricing, it's good. This wave io or exau2i is no ordinary digital audio playback for it has proven its quality among those experience with hiface among its community. Exau2i offers the DSD format and it's proven 32/384 but its 2 times the price of wave io. 2L offers the dsd download for trial.

I believe there is opportunity for computer playback at down to earth price soon.