2-channel from Mac mini ==>> XMC-1 : USB 2.x or HDMI 7.1/5.1

[sahmen]

Tidal and i-Tunes 2-channel music on the Mac Mini  - Is there any advantage of playing this through the USB strictly 2-channel input on the XMC-1, as opposed to the HDMI input which allows both 2-channel and Multichannel (7.1/5.1) play?

I have the Mac mini currently playing through the HDMI input because of the relative versatility of this option (it handles both 2-channel stereo for music, and 7.1 for movies (Kodi/XBMc), blu ray music, videos, and any format that requires hdmi).  However, if 2-channel music would sound better through the USB input, for any reason, I would be willing to go that route too, even though, I may need to set up one additional input on the XMC one for the USB port.

Of course, I could easily try the USB port in order to find out whether 2-channel sounds better on it, as compared to the HDMI port, but I would like to know whether there are any technical/scientific reasons why one of the options would be better (or not) for 2-channel.

Any helpful input would be welcome.

Thanks.

[KeithL]

They really should sound very similar.

Aug 13, 2015 0:15:55 GMT -5 sahmen said:

Tidal and i-Tunes 2-channel music on the Mac Mini  - Is there any advantage of playing this through the USB strictly 2-channel input on the XMC-1, as opposed to the HDMI input which allows both 2-channel and Multichannel (7.1/5.1) play?

I have the Mac mini currently playing through the HDMI input because of the relative versatility of this option (it handles both 2-channel stereo for music, and 7.1 for movies (Kodi/XBMc), blu ray music, videos, and any format that requires hdmi).  However, if 2-channel music would sound better through the USB input, for any reason, I would be willing to go that route too, even though, I may need to set up one additional input on the XMC one for the USB port.

Of course, I could easily try the USB port in order to find out whether 2-channel sounds better on it, as compared to the HDMI port, but I would like to know whether there are any technical/scientific reasons why one of the options would be better (or not) for 2-channel.

Any helpful input would be welcome.

Thanks.

[sahmen]

Aug 13, 2015 14:02:11 GMT -5 KeithL said:

They really should sound very similar.

Aug 13, 2015 0:15:55 GMT -5 sahmen said:

Tidal and i-Tunes 2-channel music on the Mac Mini  - Is there any advantage of playing this through the USB strictly 2-channel input on the XMC-1, as opposed to the HDMI input which allows both 2-channel and Multichannel (7.1/5.1) play?

I have the Mac mini currently playing through the HDMI input because of the relative versatility of this option (it handles both 2-channel stereo for music, and 7.1 for movies (Kodi/XBMc), blu ray music, videos, and any format that requires hdmi).  However, if 2-channel music would sound better through the USB input, for any reason, I would be willing to go that route too, even though, I may need to set up one additional input on the XMC one for the USB port.

Of course, I could easily try the USB port in order to find out whether 2-channel sounds better on it, as compared to the HDMI port, but I would like to know whether there are any technical/scientific reasons why one of the options would be better (or not) for 2-channel.

Any helpful input would be welcome.

Thanks.

Keith:  Thanks for clearing that up. It is mostly what I have also found out from a little research I have done on the net since opening this thread.  There are.however, some who think that the USB connection  is more capable of dealing with/removing jitter, and yet it is not clear how much such jitter is relatively audible on the HDMI port, or whether the presence of removal of the said jitter makes any difference to human ears at all... I am not one to be dismissive or make sweeping generalizations about such technical matters, though...  It seems to me that if USB solutions tout their Asynchronous protocols for the purposes of handling "jitter," then there has to be some sonically relevant point to it, although I do not know how to evaluate the importance of that function.