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Re: XLR cables in Japan, and DAC

Subject: Re: XLR cables in Japan, and DAC
From: "Greg Simmons" simmosonics
Date: Fri Mar 6, 2009 8:20 pm ((PST))
--- In  "justinasia" <> wrot=
e:

> So it sounds like using the optical output would be a big advantage then,=
 over USB.

I'm not sure whether you'd call it a 'big' advantage, that depends on your =
application. If that application is purely to monitor sounds recorded elsew=
here, for editing/mastering purposes, I think the built-in optical output i=
s a wonderful idea. It's built in to the Mac, it does not require any addit=
ional driver software, and being optical means it has no electrical connect=
ion to the rest of your system FWIW. (Might be a comforting thought if you =
live in areas of high electrical storm activity!)

It is certainly a big advantage if you're recording 24/96...

Mine appears able to do 24/96 playback, which is difficult to find with USB=
 DACs. The Benchmark DAC1 USB can do it - how much do you want to spend?!?!=
 Most of my recordings are 24/96 and I've had no problems playing them back=
 through a couple of different DACs recently, but I've been unable to check=
 what sample rate they're actually playing back at - the DACs I've been usi=
ng don't show the incoming sampling rate.

My old IBM ThinkPad, and many others, would do an internal SRC before playi=
ng back any 96k stuff; converting it down to 48k for playback through the a=
nalogue output because the onboard audio chips didn't/couldn't support 96k.=
 The optical output of the Mac has no reason to downsample - but if anyone =
knows any further, holler now...

- Greg Simmons







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