A lot of talk in the threads about how optical digital sources are inferior to coax digital sources. I buy into that concept. Yet on a MacBook Pro, the options you have to feed a digital source are either USB or optical only. Is anyone converting to a coax out? If so, how are you doing the conversion?
I've tried a lot of combinations and the best source I've heard (in practice) is feeding an external DAC the USB out then converting to analog from there for amplification to the headphone.
I've pushed the USB signal into an Apogee Duet 2-- a relatively new audio i/o box with a snazzy interface from Apogee, whom are renowned for doing excellent DACs and timing boxes. This result was positively awful in its first attempt. The Apogee destroyed the upper frequencies of the signal. So much so that I returned the box for another Duet 2 which, while better, couldn't compete with my current setup-- the Burson 160D.
The Burson's DAC sounds pretty good, but a little bright, especially for an HD 800, my headphone of choice. A little EQ brings it in line. I'm still investigating higher-end options.
But the Burson doesn't offer an optical input-- only coax or USB. If I could figure out a way to push coax digital into the Burson, there might be a small gain there. Any ideas?
