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Need USB sound - S/PDIF optical - sounds great - inexpensive

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Audioaficionado

Audioaficionado

Sparkomatic Moderator
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Joined
Apr 29, 2002
I know you can get pro USB sound that does it all, but I need something simple to hook up my Yamaha receiver to my workstation board without on board sound. I don't want to spend much money. My headphones are Stax SR-3 electrostatic and they don't need a jack. I hook them up to the receiver's B speaker terminals. My speakers to the A speaker terminal.
 
So you're looking for a USB based audio solution with S/PDIF out, correct?
 
Pretty much. I want to keep it simple. I can listen to my music and have sound capability when needed on line. YouTube, Netflix, etc. I do want excellent audio quality. Stereo mainly.

Almost forgot: I'd like it to work in Linux also.
 
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Look at Peachtree, they have a few products that should fit your needs :thup:
 
Peachtree seems extremely Applecentric. It mentions a PC will work, but didn't see much beyond how to make it work with iOS devices. :shrug:

Hmmm... Peachtree Audio T1 USB to SPDIF Converter looks interesting. Not optical, but coaxial might work. Need to check receiver.
 
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If not, could you come back with any other inputs on your receiver? There are a lot of good DACs you could use if you can take RCA input.
 
Don't use the analog inputs on a digital receiver if you can help it. It's like using VGA on a LCD monitor.

Any cheap sound card with S/PDIF out will do the trick. Here's an Asus that's on sale, and in fact is the cheapest I have seen for a PCIe sound card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132052

Something else to consider is using the digital out on the back of your monitor if there is one. Modern GPUs have audio controllers built in.

Edit: here's a USB sound card that claims to support 24 bit and 192kHz:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...186171&cm_re=usb_spdif-_-12-186-171-_-Product
Those used to be quite expensive.
 
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I'm not wasting a PCIe slot on a sound card. I'm after a USB solution with digital S/Pdif output.
 
Then that Syba adapter would probably be one to consider. You'll need a mini (3.5mm) optical to regular optical cable or adapter to hook it up.

If your display is HDMI or DVI but doesn't have S/PDIF out, you can also consider a HDMI audio extractor. (If it does have S/PDIF out, try it!)
 
Well I've decided on the Peachtree Audio T1 USB to SPDIF Converter. It's coaxial, not optical, but it's high quality beyond my ability to hear any equipment that's speced better.

However my budget can't handle getting the T1 at the moment. So I'm getting the Behringer UPHONO UFO202 USB Audio Interface now. I can listen to my computer music files and also record my analog vinyl records, cassette tapes and taped voice recordings before they turn to mold & dust. I'll get the T1 a little later ;)

Thanx guys for all your help. :thup:
 
The only reason to get that expensive adapter is for HD audio. You'll get exactly the same result with a much cheaper HDMI audio extractor or the S/PDIF output on many HDMI monitors.
 
The main problem is that this is a server board that doesn't have any onboard sound and I don't want to use any of the PCIe slots for a sound card. There are USB2 connections. The only possible HDMI ports are through any graphics cards. So if I want to play some lossless music files, I'd go through the graphics digital sound stream? I know that works in my HTPC as I connect all sound through the sound out of the TV from 3 different HDMI sources. Not HD sound as it's only output is RCA plugs. It doesn't have an S/PDIF output :(

My monitor also doesn't have any HDMI ports. I'm also running the graphics cards headless to process FAH work units more efficiently. I'm running with the onbord vga chipset for the desktop.
 
Peachtree Audio T1 is the only reasonably priced HD sound solution in my case. 24bit/96kHz ain't a bad thing for a USB2 port and 5.1 digital stream.
 
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