You wouldn't think it would be hard to find a device just to catch digital audio bits and move them unchanged into a PC, but when I was looking to set up needledrops from my Puffin a year ago, I had a really hard time finding a USB interface with coaxial S/PDIF input. The Sound Blasters that I came across with S/PDIF all had optical input but not coaxial. Of course you can get a coaxial-to-optical converter, but it seems like an unnecessary extra box plus power supply/cable plus optical cable. The Tascam was the only USB interface I could find with coaxial S/PDIF input short of high end professional devices that were expensive (>$500) or older models that no longer had drivers supporting current versions of Windows. Also, many of the options were PCI interface cards for desktop PCs, so not suitable for use with a laptop. (The prior poster didn't specify whether he's using a laptop or desktop computer.) If you know of a specific Sound Blaster model with coaxial S/PDIF input, please post here, as I'd be interested in seeing any options I might have missed.
Here's an option. Better than a Sound Blaster and under $300. https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Sc...la-793710959179&ref=&adgrpid=75348279559&th=1 I have a first gen of this product (tops out at 24/96) sitting on a shelf, but when I was using it, it worked well.
That does look like a viable option. Interestingly, the "full specifications" for it on the Focusrite website don't even mention the S/PDIF input and output.
This one Shannon recommended on his facebook site. Hifime SPDIF Optical to USB converter, record DAT/minidisc to computer (hifimediy.com) Cheers, Doug
I'd forgotten that the coaxial Sp/dif input are rarer than hens teeth on sound cards. I was actually thinking of toslink. I just use a cheap $20 converter to convert from coax to Toslink. It's a less elegant solution, but I can't hear any sonic degradation when I have played around with mine. Although one advantage of using one of these is that they will provide galvanic isolation between my PC and my stereo, and these can also act as splitters by simultaneously providing coaxial outputs which can be routed straight into a high-end DAC, without needing to unplug the PC. The internal cards are usually better than the USB ones. For whatever reason, I've never seen an external USB sound card that will accept above 24/48 via its digital input. This includes cards which can natively digitize at 24/96. But most internal sound cards do not have this limitation. I have a Sounblaster SBX USB soundcard which has a toslink input. But it doesn't go above 24/48. However, this isn't an issue with the puffin since it has a selectable output sample rate.
The Tascam US-366 external USB interface can definitely handle 24/96 via coaxial S/PDIF from a Puffin, and may even be able to handle 24/192 although I don't have such a source to test. But as I noted upthread, it is now discontinued. I've been lucky in that I haven't encountered any ground loop or other noise problems connecting my turntable system to my PC via coaxial.
I'm using the Tascam into a PC with Windows 11. The latest driver posted on the Tascam website works without any hitches.
I've done quite a bit. I was a little underwhelmed by the phono output from the puffin when doing needle drops, but got amazing results from SPDIF output. I first used my old HD minidisc (I know... It's all I had at the time with optical input...) and it did great, but then I grabbed a sound blaster G3 and got amazing results recording 98/24 audio to my laptop. I'm still incredibly impressed with the Puffin, and use it over phono stages that cost me more than twice the price. It was my pursuit of making a DIY real time de-click box to use with my old phono stage that led me to discover the Puffin , but I've ended up ditching the old phono stage, and just use the puffin now. Love the adjustments you can make with it, and running the coax output through my Chord DAC64MKII sounds sublime. Something I never thought I would find myself doing or saying. My signal path was 100% analogue all stages using tubes before, but I can't see myself going back any time soon. A cheap coax to optical adapter off ebay will help with compatibility with your recording device. One thing I really love about the puffin is that it can make bad recordings better. Neil Young - Harvest first pressing sounds like s**t, but using the treble, warmth and air settings on the puffin, you can make the record listenable! I also have loads of Deutsche Grammophon mono records that were recorded with the TELDEC/DIN EQ Curve, and now sound phenomenal through the puffin.Same with some early Decca recordings I have.
My PC developed a ground loop issue that was driving me mad. There were occasional recording problems if I opened a program recordings might stutter or lose half a second. I ended up buying a Tascam DR100MKiii field recorder. I was using it for 192/24-Bit from my Phono Pre-amp. It let me turn my PC off so one less thing running while I'm recording. Soon after I got the Puffin. I bought a splitter and send one Coax out to my receiver and the other to the Tascam. It records 96/24 but my recordings are better now there is no PC in the signal chain. I then transfer them to the PC to edit.
96/24 has the ability to handle all the dynamic range you'll get through a vinyl signal chain (vinyl, cartridge, phono preamp). No loss in that respect compared to having done needledrops at 192/24 before.
It’s well established that there is an issue with the first U.K. pressing of Harvest. The high end is swamped by boomy base. All subsequent pressings sorted this. It has been discussed on this forum. I much prefer later pressings.
Here we are nearly a year later--as usual, I'm 'way late to the party--and I'm curious: have you in fact tried the Puffin's wide array of curve options with 78s? If so, what was your experience? I'd also be interested in how it handled vertical cut disks, assuming you tried it with any.
I only tried it with one so far - a Columbia 78 (Duke Ellington). The 78 was sort of beat up, so not a great sample, unfortunately. The Puffin played it fine but I couldn't get into any subtleties behind the snap-crackle-pop of the record itself. I had planned to get more 78s, but ended up feasting on a bunch of end-of-year 33rpm releases, so that plan got delayed....
I just wanted to post about something I tried today with my Puffin: I have been using the Puffin in my main Family Room system. It consists of a TV with a Denon AVR-X3700H (home theater receiver). I am using the Denon in preout mode to a Monoprice Monolith Amplifier. My turntable is a Marantz TT-15S1. The Puffin has the Toslink out option (to the Denon). The speaker system is 5.2 surround sound setup. The main (L&R) speakers are Revel F36 towers. I was listening to some albums while I was working on a report for work. When I listen to vinyl, I always use the “Pure Direct” stereo setting (Audyssey DSP bypassed). For some reason, I got the idea that I was going to completely eliminate the Denon AVR and go: Marantz Turntable —> Puffin (RCA OUT) —> Monolith Amplifier —> Revel Speakers I was curious if eliminated the Denon AVR would improve the sound in any way. WOW!!! It sure did. A major improvement. I now understand why they make stereo preamps with Home Theater bypass. I know the Denon isn’t the best AVR out there (not even close - although it does test well on some websites), but I was amazed how much better it sounded removing it from the equation. Now, after this album, I need to hook everything back up the way it previously was before my wife gets home from work.
I'm noticing a possible quirk in the Grade functionality. I played 2 different copies of New Order's "Blue Monday" 12" single (45 rpm). My older pressing (circa 1985) graded in at C-/C- (sounds better than that on my speakers). I wasn't very surprised, as my roommate in college played this on his crap turntable (heaven knows what kind of stylus was on that POS) quite a bit, and the media made it across country several times by US Mail and car. Still... it sounds better than what Puffin gave it. Well, I tried a newer pressing thinking it would grade out much better. To my ears, it sounds slightly cleaner (clicks/pops) than my older pressing. However, Puffin did not see it that way and graded it at D+/C+. Now, I'm grading my older pressing of "Confusion," and it looks like it will end up being D/D-. Like "Blue Monday," it sounds a lot better than that. Very little crackle and pop - if any (and only audible on dead wax or really quiet sections). It will be interesting to see how the Puffin grades my newer pressing. FWIW, I don't raise my eyebrows at how the Puffin has graded my 33 1/3 full-length LPs. Crackling and popping is punished fairly, and quieter LPs are rewarded with good grades.
Good idea. I’m going to collect more information before I do that. For example, I would like to see if there is an issue with 12” singles playing at 33 rpm and LPs at 45 rpm. I’m looking for patterns, etc.
I’ve had similar somewhat harsh grading that I wasn’t expecting. I figured it was very low level noise that wasn’t noticeable via my speakers when music was playing, but maybe would have been audible through headphones. Meaning, maybe the Puffin is catching things not obviously heard and doesn’t take magnitude of imperfections into consideration- just quantity, so a lot of those low level clicks/pops add up to a poor grade.
"Super Mono is coming later this week via a new Puffin firmware beta release. Long Players never sounded so good." From SPs Facebook page today. I thought mono on preamps, amps etc was mono, didn't know there were varieties.
