To DDC or not to DDC. That is the question.

Just to add a small note on the Merason DAC1 Mk II USB input, as I’ve looked into this a bit out of personal interest.

It’s my understanding that while it builds on Amanero technology, the implementation isn’t a standard off-the-shelf Amanero module, but a modified design with its own clocking and galvanic isolation.

So some generalizations about typical Amanero-based inputs might not fully apply here.

Just mentioning it for completeness.

From what I’ve read the Merason DAC is built with the USB connection as primary which takes advantage of Asynchronous USB. Its made in Switzerland (think excellent watches and clocks) and at around $6,000 retail they put a lot of attention on the isolated crystal oscillators. The USB input is galvanically isolated, as you’d expect. I think its designed to minimize the effect of the quality of source data. That’s the main reason for my origInal question which I meant to be Merason specific. In theory, I don’t think a DDC is needed, but as we know, audio is not about theory. I could try a DDC but I also get @audphile1. Would a <$2000 DDC beat the Merason’s clocks? Doubtful from what I read about Merason. 

You might try a conversation with AI, by asking about different scenarios related to your specific equipment.  I occasionally find some holes in the output but in general I learn quite a bit and find it to be more accurate than not.  I was curious about DDCs and asked Google AI mode about three of them with respect to my specific streamer (Sonore Signature Rendu SE Deluxe optical), DAC (Merason DAC 1 MkII), and my use of a linear power supply to power the supercapacitors in the Singxer SU-6.  Here is a short summary of the output:

• Your Singxer SU-6 (especially with the external LPS) is likely very "clean," but it can lean toward a "technical" or "dry" presentation
• Moving to the Berkeley will make your system feel more sophisticated and organic
• Moving to the Gaia will make your system feel more muscular and grand.

@mitch2 Interesting. How did the AI come up with that? From synthesizing reviews of all components??? Is it accurate??? 

@hannesdieter @maprik  Internal photos of the Mk I and the Mk II clearly reveal they do not use the same USB card. One difference is the Mk II card has galvanic isolation that is plainly visible from the underside of the PCB. The Mk I specifies the Combo384 card in Merason’s original description for the Mk I, but not the Mk II. The Combo384 is not galvanically isolated. If in doubt, contact Merason directly, but the Mk II description cannot be applied to the Mk I.