Is Transit Pro the ideal USB-digital converter?
Small, sexy streamer · Source: http://m-audio.co.uk
Dual headphone outputs · Source: http://m-audio.co.uk
It powers over USB or the mains · Source: http://m-audio.co.uk
You know how it is : you need to get audio signal out of your computer but just running an audio cable out puts you at the mercy of the converters in your cheapo interface or worse still, your computer’s own hardware. M-Audio wants to help you avoid this with its new Transit Pro super hi-resolution USB-to-optical / DSD converter. It’s intended to take an analogue audio signal from a computer and deliver an extremely high quality digital signal to any audio gear that has an optical digital input. Basically it’s supposed to save you losing quality as you go.
If this doesn’t sound hugely sexy, well, it isn’t. But conversion is important when you’re moving audio between devices. Whenever it hits a lower quality stage it’s forever compromised, and boosting the quality back up later really adds nothing of value except file size. So if you can get your audio across without this happening, you really should. Running signal into optical ports is used fairly extensively for expanding the I/O of gear that has fewer physical ports, especially compact kit.
Transit Pro uses a 32-bit, 384kHz digital engine with an ultra-wide dynamic range and what is claimed to be an inaudible noise floor. That would be nice after years of listening to hiss at high volumes. You can use any quality setting between 44.1 and the frankly insane 384 setting, and it’s even USB bus powered, though you can add an optional adapter as well. There are dual headphone outputs at both 1/4 and 1/8 inch as well as digital and analogue outputs. In a very geeky way, it looks kind of cool as well.
Transit Pro will retail for £169.99.
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