Hi and forgive me if this has been answered a ton of times… I expect my DSD MKII in the coming days and will run it via USB until the Airlens drops. Does the MKII require the USB +5v to be connected in order to shake hands with the source?
TIA!
Anybody?
In general, not hooking up the VBUS line deprives the upstream hubs and controllers information about whether a device is connected, etc. The results depend on the hubs and controllers you are using as well as he USB drivers in the host. I didn’t answer because I don’t know what the Mk II USB does with various combinations of hardware when the VBUS line is disconnected. Having the VBUS line connected in the Mk II will cause much less interference/noise that it does with most DACs. There will no power drawn from it and the whole USB implementation is galvanically isolated from the rest of the DAC. Having it connected will probably be less flaky than not connecting it.
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Many thanks, I am awaiting my MKII when the next batch ships out so am just getting my ducks in a row, so to speak. I will try it (with the Matrix element H USB card) and see what happens. I will be getting the Airlens when it ships but it will be fun to experiment a little with USB in the interim. With DSD Mk1 I am not sure that I ever spent time directly comparing USB to the Bridge, but my sense was that I liked the bridge a little better.