TOPIC:

I see most people are using the UDIO-8 for multi-channel audio where latancies could be a little more lax than used in a stacked stereo fashion.

Would the UDIO-8 be suitable for tri/quad-amping a pair of stereo speakers using 4 Khadas Tone Board DACS via S/PDIF ?

PC (Win7-64, JRiver Media Center, software XO's, delays and DRC) -> USB -> UDIO-8 -> S/PDIF -> 4 Khadas Tone Board DACS -> Amps - Drivers.

Are there any issues that anyone is aware of ?

Thank you for the information.

UPDATE: I see the UDIO-8 is AES3id, not S/PDIF which means it has twice the voltage and current as S/PDIF and possible protocol format differences.

THE UDIO-8 DOCUMENTATION SHOULD BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS INSTEAD OF ADVERTISING ITSELF AS S/PDIF.


Rane: AES3id versus S/PDIF Table 1 and Figure 5

• AES3 - 7 Vp-p / 110 Ohms
• AES3id - 1.2 Vp-p / 75 Ohms
• SPDIF - 0.6 Vp-p / 75 Ohms

Another question.

If the PC sends a matching bit depth/sample rate (e.g. 24/192) to the UDIO-8 as configured in its software, will the UDIO-8 bypass the internal ASRC or will it try to re-convert it ?

TIA

@G27

As per the datasheet, the unit is indeed SPDIF level out. 0.5Vpp. Can you please clarify where you read that we're 1.2Vpp? We can update this in our documentation... UDIO-8 is being used here in our office and all our customers with standard SPDIF DACS or Standard AES-EBU units. We haven't had any issues so far of compliance so I'm sure that you'd be fine with your DACs. Remember, that it's digital world... 0.5V is the clocking level. if you have higher, that's fine.. You just don't want to have lower else you won't have correct triggering of the logic i.e. don't feed an SPDIF level to AES-EBU input . it won't trigger the logic. That's how digital audio works.

As for the ASRC, it's only used for the input stage. Does this even apply in your case? You're using it for a DAC. Correct? If so, you don't have to worry. 192k USB out = 192k SPDIF out.

DevTeam

Thank you for the 0,5V pp clarification. Please see the following contradictions as the reasons for the confusion.

I have read the users manual, data sheet and the specs page of the U-DIO8, but saw nothing regarding the voltage output of the BNC connectors. Here is a screen grab of your product data sheet from the "Product Downloads" section of your U-DIO8 product webpage.

Can you show me where it states 0.5Vpp ? Maybe I am missing where it states 0.5Vpp output ???



As for reading the forum and other information, I found the following AESid3 and 1V (AES3id) discussions.

Can you please clarify where you read that we're 1.2Vpp?

Please note the following response from the DevTeam stating 1.0V (not 0.5v as stated in your last response)???

Can you please clarify where you read that we're 1.2Vpp?

Please note the following response from the DevTeam stating 1.1V (not 0.5v as stated in your last response)???



Rane documentation of AES3id and SPDIF, columns 4 and 5 respectively. BNC, 1V and 1.2V, AESid3 are all column 4 specs, not column 5 SPDIF specs.



In summary, the DevTeam stated 1.0V and 1.1V a year ago and 0.5Vpp yesterday.

Can you see where the confusion originated from (and may still be unclear because it is NOT documented on the spec sheet) ???

Also, here are the specifications from the website. No mention of 0.5Vpp.

So which is correct, the DevTeam's answer from a year ago or the DevTeams answer from yesterday ? Please update/clarify the documentation with the correct values to avoid further confusion.

@G27

We can see that it's indeed confusing.. we'll try to clarify documentation in the future. Just to try to give a lay of the land (we're "just" trying to help here, no need to get upset.. here is the situation:
- Go grab a range of SPDIF sources, you'll notice that level is widely different.. There isn't a ONE specific level. That's the reason why most of us in electronic state, SPDIF = Consumer level = 0.5V level which is the "most common level".

WHY?

As explained before (and may have been missed), it's the "clocking" level of your "sink" (aka dac that matters).
aka try to feed an AES-EBU compliant DAC (expecting 3.3V levels) with an SPDIF source (outputing 0.5 or 0.6 or 1.2v) it will not work because the level is not sufficient. That's how logic works on digital inputs.

Our levels are a bit higher than normal (1.1 to 1V) but the concept is that it's still SPDIF compliant. i.e. In this scenario where we're being put on the spot for being incorrect, we're simply using one of the 3 choices you had stated above in the post from that rane App as a starting of this discussion:
AES3 - 7 Vp-p / 110 Ohms
AES3id - 1.2 Vp-p / 75 Ohms
SPDIF - 0.6 Vp-p / 75 Ohms

Bottom line, don't need to worry so much providing a)you have a standard dac (which you do) b)you're using SPDIF to SPDIF.. aka consumer to consumer..

DevTeam