Digital Audio Converters Archives

Both the D1 and the D2 work great with a Chromebook! We were able to test them out with a couple of Chromebooks here in our offices and didn't run into issues with them.

We've tested the D3 with a couple of Chromebooks and found that while the computer will recognize the D3, we couldn't get any audio. The Chromebook does not have the right audio playback software that is necessary to support 24-bit audio, which the D3 requires to work.

The DAC built into speakers like the A2+ and HD6 is solid and makes sure you get a consistent experience. With that said, DACs like the D1 would bring you extra features like a dedicated headphone amp and easily accessible volume knob. In the case of the HD6s, this could also free up the optical input to use with another source, like a television, if you want. If you're considering the D1 with your A2+s, it would be considered an upgrade from the A2+s DAC.

You should be able to incorporate the Airport Express with the D1 easily. All you would need to do is run an optical cable from the output of the Airport Express into the optical input of the D1. Then all you would need to do is connect the D1's RCA output into the analog input of your Audioengine Speakers or your AV receiver.

Optical takes priority on the D1, so if you had something like a computer hooked up via USB and another device hooked up via optical, whenever the optical connection was active it would be automatically switched to that. That means that, depending on how the second device's optical out behaves, it might automatically switch back to USB when nothings playing, or you might need to power down the device (or unplug it) to get USB back. If the second source's optical output does not shut off, one option would be to use an optical switch. You could connect both the computer and other source to the optical switch, and the switch to the D1. Then you'd have an easy way to see which was active and switch between them.

Our DACs should still work great with computers that feature USB C ports. In order to use our DACs with USB C, you can use a USB B to USB C cable to connect the DAC to your computer. For the built-in DAC for the HD3, you would just need a micro USB to USB C cable.

You shouldn't have an issue using our products with the new Tidal Master service. We've been keeping a close eye on Tidal and the new MQA format that they're offering through their HiFi membership; basically, when using Tidal through it's desktop application, the application itself will decode the MQA file to a 24/96 file that can be read by any DAC connected to your computer, whether it is MQA-certified or not. This basically means that any of our USB/optical DACs (such as the D1, D2, D3, A2+, HD6, etc.) will work great with the MQA files streamed through Tidal Masters through the desktop app.

The D1 will work with any device that can operate as a USB host, can provide enough power via USB, and includes generic drivers for standard USB audio playback. A device with Android 5.0 or later should have both USB host mode and native plug-and-play functionality for USB audio, so you could connect the two together using a USB OTG cable along with a standard USB cable.

You should be able to use the D1 with an iPad or iPhone with the right connections. In this kind of setup, you'd just need Apple's USB camera connection kit and a powered USB hub. Here's how you would connect everything together:

iPad/iPhone w/ USB CCK --USB-> Powered hub --USB-> D1 --RCA/Mini-> Speakers/Headphones

The iPad or iPhone should just automatically start playing audio over USB when its connected.

If you wanted the functionality of both the D1 and the B1, you can actually use both connected together. Since the B1 has an optical output, you can use an optical cable running from the output of the B1 to the optical input of the D1. From there, you can connect the D1's RCA outputs into the line level inputs of either your Audioengine powered speakers or your AV receiver.