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I am trying to get Ubuntu to output I2S output to my ODAC. When I go into sound settings, I get two options.

  • Digital Output (S/PDIF) (IEC958, so it must actually mean S/PDIF...)
  • Analogue Output (This is the one I am confused about)

From what I know, a DAC converts digital signal to analogue. I also know that the ODAC supports I2S.

The question I have is, which do I have to select to get I2S output via USB? I know that the ODAC does NOT support S/PDIF so it is very strange to see it there. Is Ubuntu displaying I2S as S/PDIF incorrectly? Or does the Analogue Output actually mean I2S? Or would selecting the Analogue Output process the sound through my laptop's DAC and bypass the external DAC?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

landroni
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Michael Yoo
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1 Answers1

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As discussed in What does USB DAC "Analog Output" mean?, I suspect that Analog Output means that the OS will first pass the digital stream to the inbuilt, computer DAC device (i.e. sound card), and then the analog stream will be passed on to the USB device for amplification and further to your headphones/speakers. The improvement in quality (versus the computer DAC) will be minimal, and will come only from the external DAC amplifier.

Digital Output means tha the OS fiddles not with the digital stream and passes it directly to the external DAC device for conversion to analog, amplification, and then to your headphones/speakers. The quality should be much better, and will depend on the quality of the external DAC (since the inbuilt DAC will be completely bypassed).

So for best quality you would choose the Digital Output port.

See also:

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landroni
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