Clean USB on/off Switch

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories DACs
1

I am looking for in-line USB switches for multi-dac computer useage. Would prefer single switches 10x more over a hub.

EX:
one dac for gaming (GL1200)
one dac for speakers
one dac for normal headphones

windows doesn’t like to play with multiple output devices allegedly, so easily disabling them without unplugging them or making the usb signal noisy is ideal. If anyone has better ideas on how to manage multiple usb dacs on windows, often 2 at once (gaming with headphones using dac 1 on PC and using BT on dac 2 for playing music through speakers at the same time), comment below with suggestions for that as well.

2

When you say you prefer single switches over a hub, do you mean you’d rather not deal with plugging und unplugging cables in a hub as a solution? Because this hub has individual switches for each port and affects the data connection as well as power. Most of the inline cables with switches only deal with power…

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24261

4

I’m looking for power only, since it will kill all communication and make windows think it isn’t there in a way. I want to be able to pick and choose which dac is on/off, and switches are so dirt simple that as long as the cable itself is decent then the switch part shouldn’t matter (this is assumed, I’m not actually sure). I think as long as there is no EMI from the source (“iFi iSilencer+ | USB Audio Noise Eliminator/Suppressor/Adapter - System Upgrader” will be inline before any cables or switches, possibly highly necessary due to it being a high-end gaming pc putting off lots of it), putting a switch in line shouldn’t mess up the sound since it’s a digi-signal, but picking the highest quality option would give more peace of mind.

5

Then you’re after something like this:

I’m just wondering if it’ll kill the data connection if your amp is powered independently…

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6

Killing USB power should kill USB connection though right? if there is no power, then there is no data transfer I assume.

7

Never underestimate someone else’s wiring decisions.

Good news is these can be returned for free if they don’t work so it’s worth a try. I’m just saying they might not have the switch controlling all or enough of the wires to kill data connectivity to an independently powered device.

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8

I will keep looking for HQ usb switches, worst case scenario I just plug/unplug as needed (annoying as all hell)

I can probably just sound quality test with and without the switches, and if I seriously can’t tell a difference then the difference doesn’t matter lol

would turn off the dacs themselves but that is more of a hassle than unplugging the usb’s.

9

It doesn’t allow you to output the same signal to multiple devices at once, and there are multiple versions of some of the USB drivers, but I have 2 DAC’s connected most of the time and I’ve had as many as 4 connected without issues, just select the device in the app, or in the tray.

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10

Hmm, in that case I will try running things with no switches and see if I am satisfied. There is also software that makes switching between audio devices on win10 easier.

11

IMO you’re going about it the wrong way. A DDC will allow you to take the signal out of your computer and you can have all three DACs active at the same time if you so chose to. Turn on and off the individual amp or DAC/Amp. You’ll also get the benefit of cleaning up your signal from your computer and more likely get noticeably better sound.

You can find someone used for give or take $200 if you keep an eye out, or buy something new for around $350.

You just need one that has multiple outputs.

Another option is to just use a Toslink splitter so Toslink from your PC and split that signal out to the DAC. Same thing although the quality from PC Toslink out is a little sus, certainly won’t be as good as going the DDC route.

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12

Speaking of DDC’s, any in particular that you recommend? It’s one of those categories I haven’t really looked into much before, much less tried personally.

Sorry for the minor hijack.

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13

Something like this?;

micro iUSB3.0 by iFi audio | Low Noise USB Audio Power Supply with Dual USB3.0 (ifi-audio.com)

14

Stuff like this.

https://www.matrix-digi.com/en/products/314.html

And they keep going up in price, but they will all more than likely greatly improve your sound from a PC out.

If you keep your eye out they come up in the used market regularly for a healthy discount.

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15

Thanks, the SingXer SU-2 is one of the few I’ve looked at and it looks more interesting to my setup.

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16

That’s a nice unit. Denafrips makes the Iris as well, I think around the same price point.

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17

That makes for some good reading up on at work, thanks once again. Now I’ll leave the thread for the OP.

18

How can these output to a dac though?? Using coax instead of USB?

or buchardt A700s? Would I use the XLR output of the singXer into the “analog” XLR input of the a700s?

19

You’d take USB from your PC to the SingXer. From there you’d either go AES, COAX, BNC or I2S to a DAC. Then from the DAC of your choice to the Buchardt A700’s.

So you could potentially attach four different DAC’s to it, provided they have the right input.

No, the XLR on the SingXer is an AES out and it’s a digital interface.

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20

The a700s have 4 dacs built in already, how would I get from my PC to the xlr in on the A700s using the singXer? I’m pretty sure that would involve just using a preamp now that I think about it.

Actually I suppose I could use this: Soncoz SGD1 – Linsoul Audio

21

Oh, I see. I wasn’t aware they had that kind of feature. Then yeah I guess a preamp is the solution.