µDDC

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis, HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Earth, Furutech; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: Sonnet Pasithea; Headamp: Kinki Studio THR-1; Speaker amp: Crayon CFA-1.2; Speakers: Acelec Model One Headphones: Final D-8000 & Sonorous X, Audeze LCD-XC, Raal-Requisite SR1a on Schiit Jotunheim R
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7, COS Engineering D1, Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €849

Bridge over a stream. I'm an unrepentant fan of DDC between computing sources and decoders. I exploit them in three different systems, from Soundaware's D300Ref upstairs to a Singxer SU-2 on my desktop and its SU-6 sibling in the main system. These reclocking signal routers and protocol changers double as galvanic isolators and jitter reducers. Typically they're one in, many out. We enter USB then exit via any/all of the going digital connections so AES/EBU, coax, BNC, Toslink, I²S over HDMI or RJ45. So they also act as output multipliers. A single USB feed can supply reclocked buffered digital signal to multiple devices or systems, simultaneously. That's true for the category of so-called USB bridges. Laiv's new µDDC inverts that concept. It's many in, one out. And the output isn't any of the conventional digital transmission protocols but I²S. If your DAC/streamer does no I²S, you're on a dead-end bridge. That makes today's little box a very specialized very limited problem solver. It's exclusively for those whose current I²S-fitted DAC never had a source that could output to that input. With the µDDC, any USB, AES/EBU or coax stream can convert to pin-configurable I²S. It even accepts an I²S and 10MHz clock¹ input whilst powering off USB-C or an equivalent 5V/2A brick. Signal routing is overseen by FPGA control, reclocking by onboard crystal oscillator, accessorizing by black or silver skin.
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¹ Thinking readers will immediately predict that Laiv's roadmap must include a future standalone master clock. Why add that functionality only to send purchasers to the competition?

Signal path: Router ⇒ HP Z2 work station ⇒  USB ⇒  Singxer SU2 reclocked by LHY ⇒  I²S ⇒ Laiv Harmony DAC ⇒ Enleum AMP-23R ⇒ EnigmAcoustics M1 or Final/aune headphones

Why might we want to board the I²S hype or gravy train? If we ask John Darko, he'd give us a laconic answer: "Audiophile catnip." What if we're no pussy but slobbering pooch? Then we're reminded that as a protocol, I²S was never intended to transmit digital signal between two components. Instead it was the original protocol to transmit binary signal across very short traces or parallel cable inside a component. The first time I ever came across external I²S involving cables, connectors and sockets was, I believe, Yamada-San's Zanden disc transport executed via S-video port. I've since seen it via quad BNC by Ancient and B.M.C and via HDMI and/or RJ45 by Denafrips, Laiv, PS Audio, Singxer and others. It seems fair to say that HDMI and RJ45 have become the current defaults. Agreement over what plugs to use simply doesn't equal agreement over how to assign their pins; or whether RJ45 executes balanced or not. This confusion has led to the need for user-configurable pins. Denafrips execute this via a push-button routine, Antipodes and Singxer by dip switches, Laiv in menu software.

"Okay" you allow, "but I'm still hazy on why." Unlike S/PDIF which serializes left/right-channel music and clock signal onto a single cable or trace to be descrambled on the receive end, I²S runs discrete cables or traces for each signal portion/type, no descrambling involved. As we know well from other categories, audiophiles love to be discretniks. They hate to integrate anything. Apartheid rules. Separating signal lines for left and right music and clock data is thus a far more audiophile-approved way even if we're not touching the signal, just its means of transport. If you're a family of four leaving the airport, why take one taxi if you can use four? It's why John Darko calls it catnip. It gets hifi extremists into a trance whilst regular alley toms fail to smell a thing. Today's µDDC invites the latter to get a whiff, inhale deeply then judge whether sonic advances are worth the extra box and cable. Meow or meh?

That's today's question. It inexorably leads to audiophile-approved HDMI cables. Do we spot a theme? We're certainly smoking far more cashish than using a generic USB cable between PC and DAC; a generic CAT5 cable between router and streamer; no cable at all with WiFi or Bluetooth. Being an accredited 'phile tends to mean complications and extra coin. It's when the sound improves as does our enjoyment that it all makes sense; to us. Onlookers could still shake their heads. That's true for all deep dives anywhere. If we don't care enough, it's just obsessive behaviour. Curiously, nearly all of us have deeper interests to socialize with those who share them. It fulfils our tribal needs to belong. We could collect garden gnomes, wines or wrist watches, pub crawl every Friday to get sloshed, join a book, painting or rowing club. Once we do, we learn of our endeavour's many layers, levels and leagues. We slowly migrate from beginner to advanced practitioner, from novice to old hand, from casual to committed. It could mean new lingo and skills, new ways of noticing and caring. The deeper we delve, the farther we leave the uninitiated and disinterested behind. C'est la vie. Today that's about i-squared-s and having ourselves some audiophile streaming catnip.

If we inspect its individual leaves, we spot upsampling, resampling PCM to DSD, varying algorithms to perform said math, fibre-optic conversion, external clocks set to sine or square wave, network switches aka LAN distributors possibly cascaded, software players Audirvana and Roon, Leedh digital volume, linear PSU to upgrade switching bricks, impedance-matched high-speed digital cables at 50, 75, 90 or 110Ω – the lot.