Since USB 2.0 has the required bandwidth for the formats supported by the DS dac, is their any advantage feeding from 3.X usb ports, or are they inherently more noisy? My understanding is that 2.0 is less noise from lower clock speeds, although the extra speed is disabled in 3.X ports when connected to 2.0 cable and sources.
I donāt have any hard knowledge here. USB 3 provides more current when needed so itās power supplies have to be a little better. That may lower VBUS noise a little. You are correct that noise over the USB cable from a USB 3 source isnāt affected by the potential extra speed, but if you have a USB 3 hub doing other things between the PC and the DS you might have more noise. I have a 10 port USB 3 hub with (among other things) five USB drives with my music library. I donāt hear the results of electrical noise from the data reads of the USB drives in the DS, but I do see just a little more noise on the scope.
One thing that I always liked to do is to put a powered USB 2.0 hub right before the DS with the DS being the only device on it. That can lower noise along that path to the DS and simple USB 2.0 hubs are cheap.
Iām sure most USB 2.0 hubs from reputable companies are fine these days. USB 3.0, 3.1, C, etc. are still changing and Iād be a little more careful to look at the warrantees and return policies for those. Iāve had a few USB C hubs be unreliable just because of how well the cables fit (or didnāt.) For now Iām sticking with non-USB C hubs.
Iām lucky here. I use a Bryston BDP-3 which provides both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. How do I choose what to use for what purpose? I store all of my digital music library on a USB drive connected directly to the BDP. For that application I choose the USB 3.0 ports because I want the speed it affords. It helps greatly for file transfers to and from the drive. For the BDP to DAC interface (I have a companion BDA-3) I use the USB 2.0 port because the industry in general seems to have settled on 2.0 as the interface best suited for highest quality SQ. For me this mix has worked out really well.
The sound quality is definitely better with the Matrix and can be improved further with an external power supply. The Matrix thread has many, many suggestions:
Thanks Ted !
I am always amazed as to how many āthingsā have to be considered when it comes to optimizing digital sound. Perhaps in the not too distant future life will become simpler in the digital sound world.