Hiface to a Naim Dac help

good quality usb then standard dig cable to dac

What about a Belkin USB? What sort of Digital cable would you suggest?

Having tried a few variations I got the best results with a 5m long USB cable - Belkin ones usually work well - and a Naim DC1 digital cable.

One thing to note is that you need an USB extension cable not a conventional USB cable

Hope that helps

quote:

Originally posted by rich46:
good quality usb then standard dig cable to dac

My (uneducated) opinion is that since the HiFace is Asynchronous from the Computer to DAC, the USB cable should hardly matter at all. On the other hand, the S/PDIF signal is regenerated by the HiFace and therefore the S/PDIF cable should be quite important.

Booglex

Where did you find that USB extension cable? It looks quite nifty.

Jyow,
The USB cable is a Belkin Signature and is from Amazon. Thanks for your advice.

What are you using as source?

I am in the throws of setting up a computer based source and can't decide on the interface between my MiniMac and DAC (which I also haven't purchased yet).
It seems that the only way to get high res music files into the Naim DAC unfettered is to use a Firewire interface....

Booglex,

What's about 'Transparent' USB cable? They have up to 30 feet long. Please check more info at their website.

quote:

Originally posted by JYOW:

quote:

Originally posted by rich46:
good quality usb then standard dig cable to dac

My (uneducated) opinion is that since the HiFace is Asynchronous from the Computer to DAC, the USB cable should hardly matter at all. On the other hand, the S/PDIF signal is regenerated by the HiFace and therefore the S/PDIF cable should be quite important.

If you power your USB DAC using USB cable from the computer, the cable can have an influence on the sound.

quote:

It seems that the only way to get high res music files into the Naim DAC unfettered is to use a Firewire interface....

If you are looking at Mac / Firewire then it may be worth comparing the nDaC to the Weiss DAC2.

James

sorry for getting off topic...why does the Naim DAC need a hiface? i thought Naim's white paper explained (or implied) that since it reclocks, etc...these devices are superfluous.

The naim Dac will except very Hi-res audio via the BNC connection. The resolution is resticted via optical so the Hiface allows Hi-res audio to go from BNC to BNC or RCA to BNC.

Im also using a MAC. I could run optical out to the Naim DAC but I hace chosen to go via a USB Hiface BNC to BNC. The Naim dac does not have a Firewire input

quote:

Originally posted by Mattdcb:
What are you using as source?

I am in the throws of setting up a computer based source and can't decide on the interface between my MiniMac and DAC (which I also haven't purchased yet).
It seems that the only way to get high res music files into the Naim DAC unfettered is to use a Firewire interface....

quote:

Originally posted by ferenc:

quote:

Originally posted by JYOW:

quote:

Originally posted by rich46:
good quality usb then standard dig cable to dac

My (uneducated) opinion is that since the HiFace is Asynchronous from the Computer to DAC, the USB cable should hardly matter at all. On the other hand, the S/PDIF signal is regenerated by the HiFace and therefore the S/PDIF cable should be quite important.

If you power your USB DAC using USB cable from the computer, the cable can have an influence on the sound.

Hi Ferenc -

Very interesting comment. Have been trying to understand why I heard a difference between Monoprice and Furutech USB cables. Felt a little silly spending $100 for the latter, and was willing to accept that it was all in my head. But now am starting to think there may be something to this after all!

Hook

Hook, what equipment were you connecting your USB cable to? The HiFAce is supposed to be ASynchronous so the impact of uSB cable may be less

quote:

Originally posted by JYOW:
Hook, what equipment were you connecting your USB cable to? The HiFAce is supposed to be ASynchronous so the impact of uSB cable may be less

HP Laptop -> 1M USB -> M-Audio Transit -> 4M OptiChord -> Naim DAC/XPS2 -> Nait XS/Flatcap XS -> Harbeth C7s.

Not saying it was night and day, but I thought the Furutech USB seemed to make higher frequencies sound more natural. Rim shots, for example, sounded more real, more woody, more acoustic (and less like electronic zaps) if that makes any sense.

Really hate trying to describe what I'm hearing. It always reads like an audiophile snob, or an escapee from a mental institution. Or both.

Hook

quote:

Originally posted by JYOW:
Hook, what equipment were you connecting your USB cable to? The HiFAce is supposed to be ASynchronous so the impact of uSB cable may be less

Power supply matters, unfortunately. Soon I need to try an active USB2 hub powered from a modified NAPSC

quote:

Originally posted by Mattdcb:
What are you using as source?

I am in the throws of setting up a computer based source and can't decide on the interface between my MiniMac and DAC (which I also haven't purchased yet).
It seems that the only way to get high res music files into the Naim DAC unfettered is to use a Firewire interface....

You can get hires audio to the Naim DAC through every input (although iPod/Phone is limited to 48hz).

You limitation will come from the interface at the source. Whether is it a USB (or firewire) to spdif converter, or a sound card, if it can pass along hires (up to 32/192 spdif and 32/768 usb) the Naim DAC can handle it unfettered.

There are thousands of possible devices to use to send hires to the DAC, Firewire is only one of them.

-patrick

quote:

Originally posted by Plinko:
sorry for getting off topic...why does the Naim DAC need a hiface? i thought Naim's white paper explained (or implied) that since it reclocks, etc...these devices are superfluous.

the hiface is used as an "external sound card", that's all. You need some way of converting the computer signal to SPDIF.

You cannot connect the Naim DAC to a computer directly as you do with a USB DAC.

Your options for connecting the Naim DAC to a Computer source include, (but certainly not limited to):
- Firewire to digi Converter (Weiss)
- USB to digi Converter (Transit)
- Stock soundcard with digi output (Mac)
- Directly off motherboard (spdif)
- PCI soundcard (Juli@)
- Ethernet to Streamer with digi output (Squeezebox)
- Wireless to Streamer (Transporter)
- Wireless to iPod/Phone to USB input on DAC.

And I am sure I am missing some other possible options. The products in parentheses are only one example of hundreds or thousands.

Then of course without a computer there are many other ways. CD transport, PS3, DVD Player, USB stick, anything with digital output, etc...

I hope this helps a bit.
Patrick