I’m trying to connect the PS DSDAC’s I2S input to my Ayre Evolution CD Player. Of course the Ayre has no I2S output but it does have the AESB XLR output That bypasses its own D to A section. Question is 1 will I2S input convert to play and if so where do I get a cable that does the needed physical plug conversion?
? I Assume you meant AES3. I2S is a different protocol than AES3 so you need more than a simple cable to go from AES3 to I2S. On the other hand the DS has an AES3 XLR input (and the related S/PDIF RCA input) so unless those are both already used they are the best connections from an AES3 output.
If you are trying to get the better sound quality that some talk about with I2S you won’t get it from a simple AES3 to I2S device. The theoretical advantage of I2S is that it’s clock is on a separate signal line from the data signals: if you are coming from AES3 where the clock and data are already encoded on a single connection the “damage” (jitter) is already in the signal in the AES3 so a simple conversion to I2S can’t clean that up. A separate powered reclocking unit may do it, but that’s another power connection, etc. that may add noise to your system.
4 Likes
I am a little confused (I may have done it to myself!)…
I thought the DS Dac extracted the data from AES3 and then reclocked it, so the “damage” (jitter) is removed. Do I have this wrong?
Since many people assume that I2S is intrinsically better than AES3, S/PDIF or TOSLink because its separate clock implies lower jitter I wanted to point out that converting from them to I2S doesn’t clean up their jitter.
Yes, in the DS incoming jitter isn’t a problem, but system ground loops are always a problem. I2S can lessen ground loop issues both with its differential connections and with the often much better ground connections. But adding a box to convert to I2S probably will introduce more grounding issues than it helps solve.
1 Like