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I just bought a FireWire DAC/ADC for digitizing vinyl. From everything I've read, it's the better connection scheme but it's rare on non-Apple computers, so less supported in the hi-fi world.
USB endowed DACs appeared all over CES last week. Do you have need for one?
Manufacturers and designers, take note: Stop being stuck in your ways and support USB/PCs. If you're going to support digital with CDs, then why not support real digital with PCs? I want to see more DACs with the ability to decode 24/96-and-up over USB.
FireWire is a better audio interface. In the '60s, sound quality took a back seat to looks and that gave us nice furniture that sounded just okay. Now we have USB DACs because the great unlearned public has heard of USB. There is no sound quality issue that points to using USB. I didn't know Steven Jobs was qualified to spec audio interfaces. I think he should stick to colors and cute little apples that light up.
I bought the dCS Puccini U-Clock sight unseen as soon as it was announced. The convenience factor of having ready access to your online music (350GB and counting) combined with the sound quality made it a worthwhile addition to the system, despite the price tag.