Comments on Profile Post by ultrabike

What advantage over well-implemented USB or current spdif/aes?

A USB/I2S bridge and SPDIF/AES are distinct interfaces, requiring different ASICs. DAC/ADC vendors seem to seldom provide USB/I2S bridges for their flag ship solutions. Instead, XMOS, Cmedia and SaviAudio do so. One could argue about TIs TMS320C5x family, but I don't see a lot of design wins. Anyhow, advantage is that unlike Cirrus and AKM, AD seems interested in this not-so-negligible market for their solutions.

Also as far as the TMS320C5x family I don't think those support DSD. In fact you could go to the higher ups TMS320C6x and I don't think those support DSD either. Only high rate I/O I2S through their McBSP and McASP (PCM) - with some elbow grease. So yeah, AD seems to be breaking the mold, in a positive way.

Unlike SPDIF, the USB/I2S bridge seems like a real bitch. Lots of NDA, and not DIY friendly. Highly protected F/W with all kinds of configurations.

Well... maybe you could do DSD through the TI DSPs, but it's not so obvious. Might as well buy a SA9227 and beg does guys to give you the FW, which proly won't happen unless you are a MOT.

The big deal is, if AD does this and handles it as most other random companies handle SPDIF, that would be sweet for the DIY folks... As long as one stays with AD, which may be a bit not-so-sweet. Time will say.

This is why I use a Pi and bypass USB and go straight I2S to S/PDIF.

I didn't know, but USB to I2S is lame. Not because it has to be lame, but because it seems the conditions all around were such that it became lame.