Coax, optical, ethernet, USB, HDMI....

[amirm]

But, one wonders, by hindsight, why the elegantly simple asynchronous USB or some similar technology took so long to come to fruition. I think the problem was that the audio industry was long dominated by analog-oriented engineers, and that they had to feel their way for quite some time by trial and error in the new world of digital audio. That is far less true today.

It is not just analog designers but digital. In their world everything is synchronous. Async logic is feared due to race conditions (timing errors) and heavily discouraged. Also, memory to buffer data in async operation used to cost money. And complexity.

It is only recently that we are liberated from traditional consumer electronics engineers mandating design/specs. A computer guy naturally thinks of asynchronous operations. With cheap memory and microprocessors, everything becomes software.

 

[RayDunzl]

Except for PCs and Laptops and maybe phones and such, what sources have USB outputs?

I can't think of any.

As a stick-in-the-mud bump-on-a-log deaf-as-a-doornail kind-of-a-guy, I'm built around S/PDIF.

 

[NorthSky]

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

"USB was designed to standardize the connection of computer peripherals (including keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives and network adapters) to personal computers, both to communicate and to supply electric power. It has become commonplace on other devices, such as smartphones, PDAs and video game consoles.[5] USB has effectively replaced a variety of earlier interfaces, such as parallel ports, as well as separate power chargers for portable devices."

 

[Sal1950]

As a stick-in-the-mud bump-on-a-log deaf-as-a-doornail kind-of-a-guy, I'm built around S/PDIF.

Me too, Oh The Shame Of It All

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Seems to me that USB wasn't used in audio at all until it became the computer standard and people started doing computer audio. Then high-end manufacturers started offering it and soon, audiophiles started claiming it was the audiophile digital connection. That doesn't mean it's not, but it is suspect, just like so much in the "high end."

Tim

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

Seems to me that USB wasn't used in audio at all until it became the computer standard and people started doing computer audio. Then high-end manufacturers started offering it and soon, audiophiles started claiming it was the audiophile digital connection. That doesn't mean it's not, but it is suspect, just like so much in the "high end."

Tim

I think it is largely confined to computer audio, and, with that in mind, a few Universal players, like Oppo, have USB inputs. But, there is not a lot outside computer audio, so far, AFAIK. It would seem to be a natural for "networked multimedia" AVRs and prepros, but I have not seen it there.

Actually, if you skim computer audio threads, USB is more vocally cursed as "not intended for audio" than it is praised. Huge problems are falsely, I think, attributed to it, as a result. I am very happy with it. But, it has not achieved "high end approved" status at all, even in computer audio.

 

[Cosmik]

Seems to me that USB wasn't used in audio at all until it became the computer standard and people started doing computer audio. Then high-end manufacturers started offering it and soon, audiophiles started claiming it was the audiophile digital connection. That doesn't mean it's not, but it is suspect, just like so much in the "high end."

I just see it as bits, so physically I don't mind whether it's USB, WiFi, ethernet.

At a system level, I can see that a bi-directional link is the pure, perfect solution for domestic audio systems. In other, professional applications it might not be possible to be so purist about it, in which case it has to be S/PDIF or whatever. This is maybe not quite so perfect, and in another thread, someone made an extremely interesting observation regarding 'jitter' (or is it just 'adaptation') causing fluctuating 'spuria' in the measured spectrum. However, I am pretty sure I wouldn't hear them.

 

[watchnerd]

In the audiophile world, USB is king, but you see a lot of ethernet and SPDF in studios. Toslink, at least in audiophile circles, has a bad rep for high jitter.

For pros, one of the biggest problems with Toslink is the stupid jiggly connectors. AES/EBU or BNC are solid and lockable.

For audiophools, Toslink doesn't come in horse cock sizes.

 

[watchnerd]

FWIW:

https://www.cnet.com/news/the-audio...do-digital-audio-connections-sound-different/

"I also heard from Meridian Audio's founder, digital pioneer Bob Stuart. Again, Stuart has been working with digital since the early days, and he started with this, "You will have readers who disagree, and that's fine. Everything makes a difference. Which is best? Well, that sort of depends on the DAC and the source (is it a server, PC or optical disc?) as well as the interface and even the digital interconnect cable. The better the rendering device (DAC), the smaller the difference."

Some silly listening test at the end, too.

 

[Sal1950]

For pros, one of the biggest problems with Toslink is the stupid jiggly connectors

Agreed, who ever designed that stupid female box with the little door should be horsewhipped.
Doors many times fall off after a few uses, highly unreliable.
The later design that runs the fiberoptic line down the center of a 1/8 headphone jack is much superior overall.

 

[Sal1950]

Some silly listening test at the end, too.

Gluttenberg is card carrying audiophool of the first order.
Nothing worth reading there, move along now.

 

[amirm]

Agreed, who ever designed that stupid female box with the little door should be horsewhipped.

TOS Link = Toshiba Link

 

[RayDunzl]

TosLink Optical connectors seem OK to me - fat plastic multimode fiber doesn't need critical alignment like glass does. It only goes a few feet anyway.

I used to shoot light cross country and got a brief taste of undersea in HongKong.

 

[Sal1950]

TosLink Optical connectors seem OK to me - fat plastic multimode fiber doesn't need critical alignment like glass does. It only goes a few feet anyway.

I just like a more robust interface, USB/HDMI is no work of art either. Prefer things that can't just fall apart. Old school computer connectors with the thumb screws on each side are my cup of tea. XLR marginally OK

 

[RayDunzl]

I just like a more robust interface

These are studly:

V.35

Just try getting a 1983 IBM line printer to interface with a similar vintage Japanese Telephone Switch I/O module when you can't read the pinouts becuase it hasn't been translated yet and have to make a cable to get them to talk and you'll appreciate something so simple as a fiber or a 4 pin serial USB more than you do now.

 

[watchnerd]

I just like a more robust interface, USB/HDMI is no work of art either. Prefer things that can't just fall apart. Old school computer connectors with the thumb screws on each side are my cup of tea. XLR marginally OK

If you want robust, BNC for the win.

 

[watchnerd]

Gluttenberg is card carrying audiophool of the first order.
Nothing worth reading there, move along now.

I like his coverage of cheap speakers.

Except that he kinda sorta likes everything to at least a small degree...

 

[Sal1950]

you'll appreciate something so simple as a fiber or a 4 pin serial USB more than you do now.

Kidding aside, I do appreciate the tech but would prefer that I wouldn't have to worry if one of my cables is falling out every time I move/dust a component. Shit even Ethernet and SATA cables have the little locking tabs that keep a reliable connection.

 

[watchnerd]

Kidding aside, I do appreciate the tech but would prefer that I wouldn't have to worry if one of my cables is falling out every time I move/dust a component. Shit even Ethernet and SATA cables have the little locking tabs that keep a reliable connection.

Every time my housekeeper comes....lose a Toslink connection.

Although still better than the number of phono cartridges she trashed.