I2S Modes

So the U2PRO from Douk Audio arrived, installed it and it works as it should. Zidoo UHD 8000 to Z10 via USB and U2PRO to Z10 via i2S.

 

Looks (and... sounds...?) like the ideal solution.

 

Hi, yesterday the U2 PRO arrived, I plugged it in, installed it in Foobar2000 and everything works as I wanted. In the DAC Z-10 settings, the first position is I2S. I can recommend it if you listen from a PC.

 

I have the Z10 + T8 combo and I'm amazed at the performance. I've tried both USB and I2S over HDMI and my initial impression has been USB is significantly better however now I've lived with this setup for enough time for everything to be burned in and settled down I'm keen to circle back and make the comparison again. I'm using AQ Coffee USB cable and AQ HDMI cable. What are considered the best settings for I2S?

 

There is no best setting for I2S, only the exact matching wiring...

 

Mode 1 is working perfect for me (same combo as you).
Best regards

 

All these cable and port combinations are pointless. Digital has very high system requirements. The only rational solution is high-quality, complete processing devices – streamers.
They input a digital signal, and output a Hi-End analog signal.

 

Hello everyone who listens to DAC Z-10 with PC. During my journey to perfect sound I went through a painful path. Finding the right converter with USB to I2S.

I bought and tested:
Douag Audio U2 PRO, basic solution, works, but their ASIO driver is not good, but again for that price.

The second converter was from Aliexpress:
DLHiFi Amanero Italian USB Interface Card Cpld DSD512 384k Dop128 AS318B 0.1ppm
Quite good, but DSD support max 128, includes AS318B clock, but it was not good either.

The third converter was LAIV Harmony uDDC with femto clock, and it didn't work in DSD, no buzz, only PCM, in PCM it played great, so I returned it.
And after consulting in HIFI studios I found out this:
When connecting devices via the I2S bus (Inter-IC Sound), there is a strict rule: All connected devices must share exactly the same (synchronous) clock. You cannot combine different, independent clock sources for Master and Slave devices, because even a minimal deviation (jitter or drift) could cause sound distortion.
The problem is that the converter that sends the signal via I2S is always the master and the DAC Z-10 is the slave. Since the Z-10 has an OCXO, you have to look for a device that has the same clock.

And I found the Gustard U26, I connected it and it sounds wonderful, the synchronization with the OCXO clock on both the Gustard side and in the DAC Z-10 works great. I'm at the end of my journey. So, HIFI enthusiasts, good luck.

 

why would you need to go through such a USB DDC and totally lose the OCXO clicks in the Z10 is a total mystery to me; but... happy you, happy me.

 

I don't understand your answer.

 

You simply needed to go frm PC to the Z10 with USB... no need for a fancy converter to get i2s and lose the fantastic clocks in the Z10. Does it sound more clear now?

 

If someone is solving something, they have a reason for it, I'm not an idiot. The USB input is occupied by the Zidoo UHD 8000, so that's why I had to solve it. This connection cannot be compared to connecting from a PC to USB.

 

maybe a USB HUB...? 900 euro/usd for a USB to I2S (and considering the waste if the OCXO...) is a big waste of money... even just disconnecting the UHD8000 and connecting the Z10 could have been a solution, as you are not using them at the same time. But then again, as I said: you happy, me happy. It's your money.

 

Hi everyone, I’d like to share the results of a little test I did. For a long time, my main setup for listening to music has been PC (via foobar2000) -> USB -> Gustard U26 DDC -> I2S -> Z-10 DAC. I normally use my Zidoo UHD 8000 media center only for movies, connected directly to the DAC via USB.
Recently, I had some free time and decided to try connecting the Zidoo to the Gustard via USB. The results absolutely blew me away – the sound quality was indistinguishable from the PC. This clearly shows that if you connect any device with a USB Audio output to the Gustard U26 (or any other high-quality DDC), the sound quality jumps to a top-tier level. The source device basically stops mattering at that point.