Review Wolfson WM8. USB DAC from China. Disclosure of Material Connection Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, Music. Server. Tips. com will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 1. CFR, Part 2. 55 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Click here to learn more. Unfortunately, high quality digital to analog converters DACs can be really expensive for what they do that is converting digital pulses into analog waveforms. Luckily, e. Bay is flooded with cheap DACs with bold audiophile claims. Exogal Comet for sale. Underwood Hifi is glad to announce that we are the exclusive USA Exogal Distributors and now selling exclusively for the factory in the USA. The M51 DigitaltoAnalog Converter is a 35bit, 844 kHz DAC that supports the newest USB codecs, with SPDIF inputs, AESEBU, Coax, and Optical. Theres one final advantage of active digital speakersthey are entirely selfcontained, with no need for amplifiers and gardenhosethick speaker cables. Disclosure of Material Connection Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item. I will start this review of the Bricasti Design Model 1 USB DAC by taking out all of the suspense. The M1 is one of the best DACs available on the market at any price. Usb Spdif Converter Review' title='Usb Spdif Converter Review' />ADL alpha design labs. USB miniB socket for USB A output from PCs and charging battery USB A socket for iDevice output via APPLE MFIcertified USB cable. RT Audio Design, Pure DSD Converter, DAC, a listening test by Mike Cox on TNTAudio, Internet HiFi magazine, www. Asynchronous USB DACS. All of the products here use our Streamlength Asynchronous USB code that I developed. These are all USB DACS they do NOT have antiquated SPDIF. List of USB IDs Maintained by Stephen J. Gowdy If you have any. Syntax vendor vendorname device devicename single tab interface. Usb Spdif Converter Review' title='Usb Spdif Converter Review' />But how good are these actually Lets find out. I have recently purchased a Chinese made DAC on e. Bay for under 5. I highly recommend this guy with the Wolfson WM8. USB audio support. Not only did it work perfectly right out of the box but the quality is absolutely mind blowing not just for the price. Before purchasing this DAC, I drafted my personal requirements. All I was looking for was a cheap DIY solution to test new loudspeaker setups. In addition, I wanted to be able to use the DAC as an external soundcard for my laptop. I prefer watching movies or listen to some occasional background music without chirping high frequency noise generated by onboard sound chips. Heres what arrived in my mailbox after 2 weeks Figure 1 WM8. DAC board arrived My DAC is powered by the 2. Hz Wolfson WM8. 74. Audio manufacturers such as Arcam or Cambridge Audio just to name a few are also using the exact same chip in much higher priced products. The board dimensions are 1. It features a height of 2. You also need a power supply which is not included with the DAC board itself. The required voltage is 9. V AC. Ask the seller for a suitable supply as it tends to be a lot cheaper than purchasing locally outside of Asia. So what are the obvious downsidesUnfortunately, its potential is held back a bit by the onboard DIR9. Hz max sampling rates. But nevertheless this should be fine for most people and I personally cannot hear the difference between 9. Hz and 1. 92 k. Hz anyway can you. USB is also somewhat limited to 1. Hz only due to the ageing PCM2. Texas Instruments. But as I said, you are going to be fine if you down sample high resolution audio with no audible loss. Fortunately, you wont need any drivers for USB audio. Everything is plug and play right out of the box. Windows or Mac computers would recognize this DAC like an external soundcard. I even tested this little beast with the Apple Camera Connection Kit and a USB hub. I was instantly able to play lossless files from my i. Phone. How cool is that Figure 2 USB chipset by Texas Instruments. If you absolutely must have 2. USB and dont mind paying a few extra bucks, you can bypass the limitations of the DAC with an external USB to SPDIF converter. But from an economic standpoint it makes little sense as this would easily cost more than the DAC itself. Lets look at other features of this little DAC board. You also get one coaxial input which is great if you plan to hook up an older CD player or DVD player for improved sound quality. Its a shame that the Chinese designers did not implement any optical inputs. If this feature is important to you, check out how to get a coaxial to optical converter off e. Bay or from Amazon. Update 2. 9, September 2. Check out my article on how to cheaply retrofit an optical output to this DAC. Other than that, I must say that the board layout itself is absolutely well executed. The same goes for the parts quality. Even for this low price you get Sanyo OSCON and Nichicon capacitors as standard. After initial inspection, I cannot tell whether the parts are genuine or fake. The output buffer dual OP amp is installed on a DIP socket for easy removal. You could replace the cheap default choice with another audiophile operational amplifier such as the LME4. LM4. 56. 2. This costs you only a few dollars and I highly recommend it for slightly improved sound quality. Figure 3 Rear view of DAC board. So how does this little gem sound Absolutely stunning I and my friend Alex did a head to head comparison with his expensive Marantz SACD player a 1. Chinese DAC was audibly better than the Marantz built in DAC. To be fair though, the difference was not night and day and rather subtle. But who would have expected this level of performance from such a low budget module from e. Bay The sound is crystal clear with razor sharp resolution, yet full bodied with a mellow tone and great dynamics. I also extensively tested the USB input with my music library and I honestly couldnt find any faults. I havent done extensive testing against megabuck DACs but I am pretty sure this little guy can more than hold its own against stiff competition. So if you are looking for a great DAC and dont want to spend a fortune, look no further than this Wolfson DAC board. Its a real giant killer and a downright steal for the price. I should mention that you are not going to get an enclosure for this but you could install this board inside a CD player or simply drop it into a generic box. Both work equally well. Updates as of December 2. Beware of fake boards. Ive seen a number of them popping up across the internet. On some boards I found no ground plane, fake capacitors and bad soldering joints. Other than that, I still consider this DAC a great value. ADL X1 Headphone Amplifiers Products. Q1. DeviceComputer does not recognize the X1. A1 1. Not connected correctlyRefer to the X1 manual Connectivity P. X1 is connected correctly to portable playeridevice via 3. USB A inputs or whether the X1 is connected correctly to the computer via USB cable A1 2. There is a problem with the cable. There may be a problem with the connected idevice cable, 3. USB cable. Please try with another cable A1 3. Media Player is not recognized by the X1Refer to the X1 manual Connectivity P. X1. If previously you had been using the X1 as a USB DAC, please try removing the cables and switching the X1 off and back on again. A1 4. USB device is not recognized by the X1Remove the USB cable, wait 1. If the device system is unstable, please try restarting the device. Then refer to the X1 connectivity on P2. X1 A1 5. Computer does not recognize the X1In the case of Windows installation of a driver is necessary. If difficulties are experienced with the driver installed, please uninstall the driver and reinstall one more time A1 6. Battery needs rechargingCheck whether the light next to the volume knob is on Green battery is charged Red battery needs charging No light battery needs charging Q2. No sound. A2 1. No sound from computer source via USB cableSet the sound output on the computer sound application to maximum. Windows XP make sure the mute is unchecked in the sound application A2 2. Low volume level on digital playerCheck the volume level on your digital playeridevice set to maximum and adjust volume on the X1 A2 3. Another device is set as the default playback deviceOpen the computers Sound and Audio Device properties tab and select USB Audio Device ADL X1 as default playback deviceA2 4. Problem with the connectionsCheck all cables are correctly inserted into socketsQ3. There is no sound from computer speakers or computer headphone output. A3 1. USB audio device is set as defaultThere will be no sound from computer speakers or computer headphone output while a USB audio device is set as default Q4. No sound from headphones A4 1. X1 volume level is too lowAdjust the volume with the X1 volume knob on the top panel A4 2. Digital player idevice volume level is too lowSet volume to maximum on the digital player idevice and adjust the volume on the X1 A4 3. Headphones or earphones have a MIC or Volume control on their cableWith such headphones the 4 ringed 3. X1 must be used. Connect player to the analog in socket on the top panel of X1 with the supplied cable GND TRRS switch should be set to 1 for SONY products and set to 2 for APPLE products Q5. Unbalanced sound balance during playback. A5 1. Check balance setting on in computer audio applicationOpen the volume control tab on the computer and set the balance to neutral centeredQ6. Sound cuts out. A6 1. During playback there is a possibility of an overload of the computer idevice digital players CPU During playback of music make sure all other computer applications are closed and limit use of other applications on idevices i. Pod digital playersQ7. Experiencing noise. A7 1. Connections are not secure　　　　　    Check all terminals for correct secure connectionA7 2. Trying adjusting the volume control of digital players or idevicesLower the X1 volume and adjust the volume on digital players or idevices to the maximum and then gradually increase the volume on the X1Q8. Is it possible to connect the X1 directly to an external stereo system A8 1. A 3. 5mm mini TOSLINK Optical cable or 3. RCA cable is required Sold separately For digital output connect 3. TOSLINK Optical cable to the X1s optical output socketFor analog output connect 3. RCA cable to the X1s analog output socketQ9. Is a driver requiredA9 1. A driver is required to be installed on Windows computersDownload driver from the X1 product page on www. Please note decompression software for. Q1. 0. Difficulties experienced trying to recharge the X1s internal battery. A1. 0 1. Unable to recharge no charging light can be seenTry another USB cableQ1. Is it possible to use the X1 as a DDC between a computer and another DACA1. Connect the X1 to the computer via USB cable and by 3. TOSLINK Optical cable to the external DACQ1. Is it possible to use the X1 as a DDC between an idevice and another DACA1. This is not possible Q1. Is the signal from an idevice converted to 1. Hz A1. 3 1. The signal from the idevice is not converted to 1. Hz. It will be played at its original bit and sampling rate. Hz is the maximum for idevice playback. Q1. 4. Are 3rd generation i. Pods compatible with the X1 A1. Unfortunately not. Compatible devices are listed below i Phone. Phone. 4S, i Phone. Phone. 3GSi Pod touch 5th Gen lightning cable, i Pod touch 4th Gen, i Pod touch 3rd Gen,i Pod nano 7th Gen lightning cable, i Pod nano 6th Gen, i Pod nano 5th Geni Pod classic 1. G2. 00. 9i Pad mini, i Pad 2, i Pad 3rd Gen. Q1. 5. Is the X1 compatible with Smartphones Android OS A1. Compatibility cannot be guaranteed  Q1. Is it possible to use the X1 while charging the battery via USB cable Not possible with Sony PHA 1A1. Yes, possible. Q1. Is it possible to take a phone call when using a headphone cable with a MIC A1. Yes, possible if the phone is connected to the X1 via the analog input. With such headphones the 4 ringed 3. X1 must be used. Connect player to the analog in socket on the top panel of X1 with the supplied cable GND TRRS switch should be set to 1 for SONY products and set to 2 for APPLE products Q1. Is it possible to take a phone call on an iphone when connected to the X1 via digital cable A1. No, not possible. The iphone must be connected to the X1 via the analog input to take phone calls. With such headphones the 4 ringed 3. X1 must be used. Connect player to the analog in socket on the top panel of X1 with the supplied cable GND TRRS switch should be set to 1 for SONY products and set to 2 for APPLE products Q1. During playback with an idevice connected to the X1 via digital cable the indicator on the top panel is flashing. A1. 9 1. The flashing LED indicates that the X1 is receiving digital signal the indicator would be constantly on with analog signal Q2. During playback with an idevice connected to the X1 via digital cable the idevice volume can be adjusted. Does this mean it is analog signal A2. Pharaoh Pc Game Full there. No, for your convenience the idevice volume control will be enabled during digital playback. If the indicator is flashing on the top panel then it is digital signal. Q2. 1. During playback with an idevice connected to the X1 how should I adjust the volume A2. We suggest lowering the volume on the X1 and the setting the volume on digital players or idevices to the maximum and then gradually increasing the volume on the X1. Q2. 2. After playback with an idevice the X1 is connected to a computer, but the computer does not recognize the X1. A2. 2 1. Be sure to switch the selector switch on the back panel to USB DAC when connected to a computer. The X1 should also be switched on and off to reset before connecting to the computer. Q2. 3. How do you get the ASIO driver to be recognized by the computer A2. That will be a computer setting. First download the ASIO driver. Q2. 4. I am using a MAC, shouldnt it be ASIO compatibleA2. MAC OS X supports Core Audio sound engine, so ASIO is not necessary.