I appreciate the Innuos and Rockna are excellent devices, but the Innuos offers ethernet direct output and Rockna has I2S input, but you don’t use either.
That said, we have the same Zen Mk3 and even with my modest but brilliant Chord C usb cable the low noise usb output produces wonderful sound.
I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean … You think I should use an Ethernet to I2S converter ?
No, I was just wondering whether those features were relevant to you choice of equipment. I was also wondering why you chose the SCM25 Pro over the consumer SCM40A, pretty much the same thing.
Oh, I see. The devices with an I2S input were too expensive for me on the one hand and on the other hand I couldn’t know whether it would actually be better than USB.
I also already had the Audioquest Diamond.
The SCM 25 sounds more mature to me and plays in a different league than the SCM 40. I never really liked the Active SCM 40.
For what it’s worth, probably not much, the only comparison I’ve of usb/I2S was by Darko and he preferred usb (into the DSD DAC), but it depends on the units.
I demo’ed ATC 10 years ago and thought the consumer units were more like studio monitors. They take some time to appreciate. The SCM50 actives were hugely impressive, but a bit expensive at the time.
The table you linked to has an example of BNC. It simply requires 3 BNC terminated coax cables.
From wikipedia, so take it for what it’s worth -
The I²S protocol outlines one specific type of PCM digital audio communication with defined parameters outlined in the Philips specification.
The bus consists of at least three lines:
It may also include the following lines:
There is no standard interconnecting cable for this application. Some manufacturers provide simply three BNC connectors, an 8P8C (“RJ45”) socket or a DE-9 connector. Others like Audio Alchemy (now defunct) used DIN connectors. PS Audio, Musica Pristina and Wyred4Sound use an HDMI connector. Dutch manufacturer Van Medevoort has implemented Q-link in some of its equipment, which transfers i2s over 4 RCA connectors (Data, MCK, LRCK, BCK).
But you can’t use a single BNC connector…and good luck finding any device besides something from BMC using 4 BNC connectors for I2S. I suppose there are other companies using their own some other 2 wire connectors to do I2S as well. That does not make them worth mentioning.
Wow, sorry you haven’t found my posts helpful.
I don’t recall stating that it could be done with a single BNC. Reading the spec, it cannot.
I’m out.
Actually, Audio Alchemy was resurrected a few years back then purchased by ELAC. Now called ELAC Alchemy. They still use the DIN connector for I2S and on their preamp/DAC they also have a HDMI connector for I2S for use with other manufacturers equipment. Peter Madnick, the founder of Audio Alchemy, works for ELAC now and still looks the same (a shock of white hair)!
I know it an old post but found the quote below interesting.
Here is what Innuos says the Phoenix does for your music system and this is direct from Innuos:
“The PhoenixUSB does mainly three things:
It regulates the 5V line from the source, helping remove some noise from the source itself
It replaces the 5V power by one of the included Statement-level linear power supplies existing on the PhoenixUSB
It reclocks the USB signal with a very high-end OCXO clock, which is powered by its own power supply. Do not confuse this with the clocking for the audio signal, we are not touching the audio signal at all. We are reclocking the USB commnunication between the source and the DAC. You could even connect a USB drive to the PhoenixUSB if you like, although that probably would not make sense – this is just to illustrate the PhoenixUSB does not work at the audio level but at the USB protocol level.
If you can hear a difference? Given all the feedback we had so far and the numerous shows we have done A/B, it is 100% guaranteed you will hear the difference right in the first seconds of hearing a track. it’s not a subtle change…
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Nuno Vitorino
Director”