reliable DDC

@mitch2 

I think the best solution for you is the Denafrips Gaia https://www.denafrips.com/gaia

If you go with the Mutec MC3+ USB to get the best out of it you will need to attach a 10Mhz master clock, the internal clock is trash.

Cybershaft in Japan make great clocks, no need to spend more.

Of the thousands of ChiFi DDCs sold this is the first post I’ve seen here about any units failing, which is a pretty strong indication there is no widespread issue with these products or we’d undoubtedly be hearing a lot more about it.  I’ll also say Gustard in particular has had reliability issues in the past so may not the best indicator of overall ChiFi product reliability.  So avoid these DDCs if you want, but it does not seem justified by the overwhelmingly positive experiences and comments made by people here. 

On a good dac or streamer dac combo, the equivalent of ddc function should already be built in. It should happen right before the conversion with negligible signal travel, etc.

You could screw it up when you have a separate ddc box to do such things, run a wire from it and so on..

@tony1954 

Bye.

@deep_333

The main issue is that I have a DAC with only S/PDIF in. No USB.

I also have a DAC with USB in and I probably wouldn't use the DDC with that.