A couple of months ago, just prior to Hifistatement re-launching officially, I was asked to pen a review of Lindemann's USB/SPDIF converter. Supposing that this is a decent sounding converter, it would be Lindemann's official and first step in attracting those users who have switched, if not abandoned, their disc playing days for files streaming off their Mac or PC. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with getting music files off your computer the old fashioned way, i.e. a dedicated sound card.  Let's face it: Prior to the essential "craze" that is otherwise known as streaming music off your computer via a USB interface, most people (in particular professional studios) where quite happy using dedicated PCI bus sound cards. While many of these cards offer on board digital to analog conversion, most (studios) would opt to use dedicated D/A converters, i.e. utilizing the PCI bus powered sound cards to act as only data carriers.

While there are no particular sonic reasons for or against this means of data retrieval, it does sort of represent a past sort of 90's way at looking at things. Considering that you will have to deal with the usual issues such as making sure you are running the correct audio card drivers and in some cases, specific playback software, plugin' and playin' your favorite iTunes library sounds so much more hip and cool, nay chique.  Since the only existing computer bus which doesn't require special drivers (as they are by definition embedded into the device, hence the term "plug n' play") is USB, Universal Serial Bus, it only makes sense for audio or should we say, high-end audio manufacturers, to offer such playback capabilities. Given the shear dominance and ubiquitousness iTunes offers, music lovers everywhere stand to benefit from this latest emerging audio technology.

Considering that some, if not most of us in high-end circles, feel that we need to embrace iTunes, the iPod and 350+ million users thereof in order to truly survive as an industry, I naturally fully support anyone who makes products available to this audience. Alas, all other things being equal, it's not all pastries and coco puffs in USB land. For one, many myths abound surrounding this mystical, magical place called USB. Perhaps the most erroneous and flat out false rumor is that USB does not suffer from jitter. Another persistently false rumor is that USB will automagically make your music sound better than ever before, simply because you are playing it back via a USB device. Kind of like my favorite Sacher torte tasting better because it was baked in a french oven. Naturally, none of these myths and legends are true.

Without getting too much into the technical aspects of why these myths are nothing but nonsense, consider that USB was never really intended to act as a high quality audio carrier (I'll console you by saying that ironically, neither was SPDIF) – unless you care for your printer's favorite beeps coming to you in hi-fi. Due to initially low transfer speeds, USB was intended to be used as low-cost, easy to use connector between printers, mice, keyboards, etc., i.e. all those peripheral devices that typically used a serial bus connection to your computer. FireWire, USB's big brother, was designed from the ground up to act as a carrier for high-speed signals that demanded high bandwidth: audio, video, hard drives, etc. The fact that today we can stream high-res music (USB 2.0 technically has enough bandwidth for 24/192 data) via this 16 year old standard can be considered a near miracle of modern day ingenuity and innovation.

Therein lies the issue with most modern day USB converters: since it is economical suicide to design, manufacture and market your very own homebrew audio USB receiver chip, only a handful exist in the market place today. Of those, there are even less that have any right to be used in a high performance audio application, which pretty much limits what audio gear manufacturers can sink their teeth in, all the while making it sing like your favorite canary. Hence, many if not most available USB DACs or USB/SPDIF converters use nearly all the same chipset and drivers. Lindemann's USB/SPDIF converter is no different, in fact, it's innards are nearly identical to those found in Bel Canto's USB/SPDIF converter, namely a USB chip made by the good old boys at Texas Instruments.

Unlike an all-in-one solution, say, Ayre's stunning QB-9 USB DAC, using only a USB/SPDIF converter makes sense to those who either already have a considerable existing SPDIF DAC, or those who wish to sample different sounding DAC chips off one main computer USB source. 

In my case, my reference DAC model Lessloss DAC 2004 MK II presented itself as the recipient of Lindemann's USB converted data streams. While popular in Europe and elsewhere in the world, Lindemann is still a relative unknown here in the US (not to mention the Lessloss DAC, though that's a different story). Their cost no object, audio jewelry build quality product lineup (with price points to match) not withstanding, this USB/SPDIF converter can be seen almost a gift at all of USD 650.  Setup and connectivity is – as one would expect – a fair summer breeze. One end plugs into your Mac (or PC), the other into your favorite SPDIF input accepting DAC and off to the races you go.

Having used the LL DAC as my reference for going on two years, I knew the sound rather well: stout, dynamic, well extended in both frequency extremes and soundstage width and depth that are first rate. Images are razor sharp, if anything, the DAC is a bit too stout at times – having compared it to other DACs and such over the years I have found it to be missing a certain sense of musicality at times, though that is largely dependent on the musical genre I pass through it. How would Lindemann's little cube alter that, I wondered. On first listen, images appeared somewhat less focused, more diffuse. Bass and overall dynamics appeared in line within the norm of what I was used to hearing, though on certain (mostly) electronic music (Junior Boys, Yello, LTJ Bukem, Kraftwerk, etc), bass output and definition were ever so slightly less pronounced compared to other digital sources. 

On vocal tracks, from crooners (Dean Martin, Sinatra, Hartmann) to classics from Jonny Cash and Peter Gabriel, that apparent softness did however add a certain sense of musicality which actually came across as an added bonus – it was as though you were listening to a really lush cartridge on your vinyl setup. Billie, Ella sounded more natural, dare I say less digital compared to my other setup. Mind you, Lindemann's converter was perfectly capable of demonstrating shortcomings of iTunes and internet radio streaming as well.

Perhaps it was that lack of definition which amplified the effects caused by decimating a digital signal to its bare bones via low-res AAC or MP3 compression algorithms that caused those files to sound less exciting and musical than they typically could. I would say that while typically I can get away with 128k file streams, running these through the Lindemann/LessLoss combo made them more fatiguing and less enjoyable. Cranking up the resolution to say 192 or 256k returned things to more of what I was used to, alas, finding consistent, quality radio streams at those resolutions is a bit tricky and time consuming (I have found that www.filtermusic.net does a good job of housekeeping various radio stations, etc – give it a try).